3 Argentine Social Enterprises that Transform Realities

There's a different way to do business: focused on generating a positive impact on people and the planet. Learn about three cases of Social Enterprises in Argentina that are changing the game.

Social Enterprises are a type of organization created with the goal of solving or mitigating social and/or environmental problems, and they do so through a business model. They have a nonprofit heart and a business mind, combining the best of the business world with the best of the social world.

This type of organization, which may sound utopian, is developing in different countries around the world. They do not emerge as isolated initiatives, but rather are a validated and highly successful way of doing business in diverse contexts. Among the countries with the largest number of Social Enterprises are India, the United Kingdom, Brazil, and Kenya.

In Argentina, while the development of these types of businesses is less prevalent, there are also social enterprises that are transforming the communities they serve. At EKHOS , together with KEIDOS, Efecto Colibrí, the Faculty of Business at the Universidad Austral, the Center for Social Innovation at the Universidad de San Andrés, and Libertate, we created the IES (Promotion of Social Enterprises) Roundtable, through which we launched the first Mapping of Social Enterprises in Argentina, analyzing more than 60 social enterprises in the country.

We tell you about 3 inspiring cases that we found during the mapping:

1. Matriarch: a link between women with ancestral knowledge and the outside world.

It is a Social Enterprise that values the ancestral techniques passed down from generation to generation by artisan women and creates products of excellent quality and design, sold both domestically and internationally. It was founded to protect native art and culture. They work in the Gran Chacho Argentino region, with more than 2,000 artisans who joined together to form the Women's Artisan Cooperative (COMAR). They belong to three ethnic groups, and each group works with a specific fiber. They choose the fibers and colors that they then transform into native art products. They collaborate with designers and technicians who participate in the creation process, contributing technical, management, and soft skills. The Social Enterprise acts as the commercial link, bringing products to people around the world, meeting quality standards for both product and service, and ensuring transparency and traceability throughout the value chain.

2. 3C Constructions: transforming “trash” into opportunities

This social enterprise, founded in Córdoba, discovered that unrecycled plastics end up in landfills, increasing pollution. Furthermore, young people from vulnerable backgrounds are unable to access traditional jobs. Refusing to see the environmental or social "garbage," they decided to create a company that recovers discarded plastics and uses them as a construction material, using no water and very little energy. They use them to make blocks for building highly insulated, energy-saving homes. They also partner with organizations that bring together communities, such as young people who have experienced incarceration or addiction, providing them with training and decent employment. This social enterprise has already replicated its model in Mendoza and Santiago del Estero, and is also in the process of developing it in our city, Tandil, where, thanks to networking with local stakeholders, they have already been able to test this construction system.

3. Social Energy: Turning users into agents of change to accelerate the energy transition

The right of individuals to generate and market their own energy motivated its founder and CEO, Guillermo Lucero, to promote Law 27424 on Distributed Generation of Renewable Energy in the National Congress. From the Social Enterprise he founded, he has developed a network for the marketing and installation of small- and medium-scale solar energy systems, implementing his purpose-driven energy model through programs such as the Solar Academy and Sustainable Social Housing. They are committed to innovating with a focus on generating a positive impact, and today they are generating and developing community patents as a result of collaborative work, incorporating blockchain technology and Artificial Intelligence into their business models, developing comprehensive applications and open-source digital tools to quantify the impact of users and incentivize them to be protagonists in the transition toward a sustainable economy.

These three Social Enterprises show us that it is possible to do business differently, with a focus on generating a positive impact on people and the planet. When the desire to transform a reality is combined with the tenacity of entrepreneurial drive, even in a complex context, the spark of change is ignited, illuminating the path to a more promising future.

Social Enterprises are a business alternative for those who believe there is another way to do business, one that doesn't prioritize just generating economic profits, but rather knows there's something more to it, something that can positively impact people and the planet. We invite you to join this business revolution and spread the word that business can be done differently.

NOTE: https://www.eleco.com.ar/empresa-con-impacto/tres-empresas-sociales-argentinas-que-transforman-realidades