Events / SEWF in 2024
Social Enterprise Day speakers


Juliana Adam
Juliana Adam is the CEO and a founding partner of Biji-biji Initiative, Malaysia’s pioneer impact-driven enterprise focused on championing sustainable living and practices. Having a strong passion for sustainability and the creative field, Juliana has also co-founded Me.reka, an alternative education space nurturing creativity and sustainability in STEAM-centric education, Taboo Enterprise -an events-based enterprise focusing on sustainable event management and Tick Talk, a sustainability consultancy and impact reporting company. Juliana is also an Acumen Fellow, part of the inaugural Malaysian cohort, and have made it to Prestige Malaysia’s 2020 Top 40 under 40, and also listed as Prestige Malaysia’s Women of Power, 2022.


Eduardo Bazan Agras
Eduardo Bazan Agras has led ProCuyo for a decade. He entered the world of microfinance unexpectedly but found his passion when discovering the sectors social potential. With a degree in international trade, a Master’s in social economy and a specialisation in impact finance, he has dedicated his career to promoting businesses that generate economic, social and environmental benefits.
At ProCuyo, he leads programmes that provide social entrepreneurs access to innovative financial products that foster social mobility. Recently, his company achieved social enterprise verification with People and Planet First, further strengthening its commitment to triple-impact values.


Annalisa Contini
Annalisa Contini is a Senior Social Entrepreneurship Expert with over a decade of experience in community development, public-private partnerships, social inclusion and the internationalisation of social enterprises. She has been involved in both the Italian and international development cooperation. Since 2016, her focus has been on transforming international development approaches through social entrepreneurship, fostering sustainable growth, social justice and market innovation. She has pioneered incubation programmes in emerging social enterprise ecosystems across the Balkans, Lebanon, Syria and Mozambique. As the founding member and director of COSV’s social economy unit and board member of Co-Profit Benefit Company srl, she is an expert in human-centered design and action research.


Rebecca Dray
Originally from the UK, Rebecca has been developing social enterprise businesses since 2005. Most recently she is Executive Director for Purchasing with Purpose, a network of networks in the United States, supporting businesses, government and other institutional buyers to purchase their everyday goods and services from verified social enterprise sellers.


Gerry Higgins
Gerry is the founder and Managing Director of SEWF where he works to develop a global impact economy. Gerry has a BA in Education and a MSc in Business Studies and was awarded an Honorary Fellowship of Social Enterprise UK in 2017. Gerry is Irish but has lived in Scotland for over three decades and leads the SEWF team to strengthen and grow the social enterprise movement through convening, influencing and capacity building.
Leading SEWF has come about after decades, working in, establishing and supporting social enterprises in the UK and Ireland and this brings an understanding of the challenges of sustainability and leadership in values-led businesses.


Dena Hirschberg
Dena Hirschberg is President & CEO of HHPLift, a Chicago-based NFP and a People and Planet First Verified social enterprise. HHPLift serves the b2b space by providing third-party fulfilment services, as well as the sale and distribution of branded products, including their own line of products produced by associates in their LiftWorks Program, as well as those produced by their global social enterprise partners. Dena’s primary focus includes establishing and strengthening strategic partnerships, educating companies about increasing ways they can source products for their programmes in a socially sustainable way and expanding the impact of its LiftWorks Program.


Adele Laughton
Adele Laughton is an experienced leader with a demonstrated history spanning the Social Enterprise, Not-for-profit and Agriculture sectors. Adele brings a unique blend of strategic vision and hands-on leadership to her roles, driving strategy development, revenue diversification and sustainability frameworks.
Steering Queensland Social Enterprise Council, Adele focuses on driving social innovation through strategic leadership and fostering entrepreneurial ecosystems. In parallel, as Head of Government Relations at Social Enterprise Australia, she advocates for policy that benefits both communities and the economy while building strong connections between the social sector and government.
When not at QSEC, Adele is a Non-Executive Director on the Board of Ability Agriculture, a charity that provides opportunities, pathways and access for people with disabilities in Agriculture.


Mohammad Makki
Mohammad Makki is a Social and Solidarity Economy Expert. He holds a PhD in Sustainable Development and Policy and brings extensive experience in research, coaching and mentoring, teaching and consultancy. He is the Co-director of the Social Economy Unit at COSV for the MENA region and a faculty member at the School of Business of the Holy Spirit University of Kaslik. He served as a national consultant for several INGOs and has conducted a series of financial mechanism reports for Lebanon given the country’s failing financial sector. He is a member of the National Task Force working on the draft law of Social Entrepreneurship. He has also co-founded Coprofit ME; a consulting firm in the development and policy fields.


Hélène Malandain
Hélène currently serves as the Chair of SEWF. She is part of Pocketknife, a collective of impact-driven professionals who bring their passion for systemic change to initiatives that build bridges to better futures for the communities of Aotearoa New Zealand.
Hélène is a strategist, a coach, and a weaver and works with entrepreneurs, community groups, local anchor organisations, charities, corporates and government bodies. Her facilitation process and methodology incorporate strategic thinking, coaching, co-design and action planning. She is committed to supporting communities, places and organisations to thrive – meaning that prosperity and wellbeing are intertwined and nourishing each other.
Shortly after moving to Aotearoa New Zealand, Hélène left her corporate job to join the Ākina Foundation and begin a journey growing social enterprise. She led the team that hosted the Social Enterprise World Forum in Christchurch in 2017, a 1600-person event that catalysed the social enterprise movement at a very auspicious time.


Nthabi Modjadji
Nthabi Modjadji is a social justice activist, intersectional feminist and Rhodes University graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Political and International Studies. She co-founded the Breaking Down Borders Africa (BDBA) Initiative in 2016, a pan-African youth engagement and social justice programme that has connected youth from over 60 African states and the diaspora. Before joining the Social Enterprise World Forum (SEWF), Nthabi was the Programmes Manager/Administrator at BDBA. Nthabi has received several accolades, including the Sunday World Unsung Heroes Award and participation in the Nasser Fellowship for International Leadership and the World Youth Forum.


Mirabelle Morah
Fascinated by the power of digital media and storytelling, Mirabelle Morah is the Founder of BlankPaperz Media and also the Community & Communications Manager at the Social Enterprise World Forum. Through BlankPaperz, Mirabelle and her team began Z’axis Magazine to encourage young, African social entrepreneurs in 2020. And in 2021, also started the BlankPaperz GC Fund to support the education-based needs of individuals and organisations in Nigeria. So far, 4 organisations and 6 individuals have benefited from the funds in support of school tuition and training fees.


Álvaro Mur
Álvaro Mur is a leader in the social impact ecosystem in Latin America, currently serving as the Director of the Red de Impacto LATAM, an organisation dedicated to accelerating the regeneration of socio-economic and environmental systems across the region. With a background in entrepreneurship and innovation and an unwavering commitment to reducing inequalities, Álvaro works at the intersection of social entrepreneurship, community impact and technological innovation.


Jessica Oyarbide
Jessica Oyarbide is an expert in social enterprise, actively engaged in developing impact ecosystems across Latin America and India. She co-founded EKHOS, an organisation that connects these regions to tackle pressing social and environmental issues and is the regional partner for People and Planet First. Jessica also sits on the advisory council of Impact Latam Network, which has over 250 members across the region. She founded the branding agency Marcas que Marcan (MQM), offering consulting, workshops and creative projects. Additionally, she provides consultancy for international organisations and mentors social and impact entrepreneurs.


Selyna Peiris
Selyna Peiris, an Attorney-at-Law and social entrepreneur, is the Director of Business Development at Selyn, Sri Lanka’s only fair trade handloom company. She also directs the Selyn Foundation and co-created the #BleedGood Movement, a collaborative initiative to end period poverty in Sri Lanka. As a policy specialist, she co-founded Positive Impact Consultancy and The Institute for Future Creations. Selyna has worked with the Government of Sri Lanka and advises numerous organisations, including the World Fair Trade Organization as an Independent Director. As a committed youth activist, she advocates for equitable development and supports movements for a racism-free Sri Lanka.


Megan Pepper
Megan is Head of Sustainability at givvable, an AI-powered sustainability intelligence platform that automates supplier diligence and sustainable procurement to meet ESG requirements. Megan leads the delivery of sustainability insights on suppliers and the development of resources to support supplier engagement. With a background in sustainability, social impact, law and corporate governance, Megan is passionate about supporting businesses and governments to create positive impact through their purchasing decisions. Megan’s previous roles include Head of Governance, Australian Sustainable Finance Initiative, where she co-authored ASFI’s reports on the Australian Sustainable Finance Roadmap and Head of Governance, Sustainability & Directors, BHP.


Tizzita Tefera
Tizzita is the co-founder and a board member of Social Enterprise Ethiopia. Social Enterprise Ethiopia works to raise awareness around the field of social enterprise in Ethiopia as well as undertakes policy advocacy work on behalf of the 55000 social enterprises in Ethiopia. She has also worked with intermediaries such as Social Enterprise Kenya and is a board member at Social Enterprise World Forum. She is passionate about all things social enterprise, having worked in different capacities in the sector. She also works as a principal consultant at We Scale Impact, working to scale the impact of social enterprises.


Alexandra van der Ploeg
Alexandra van der Ploeg is SAP’s Global Head of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). In this capacity, she is entrusted with shaping the strategic direction of SAP’s CSR initiatives, aimed at fulfilling the company’s overarching purpose of “helping the world run better and improving people’s lives.” She does this through strategic partnerships and programmes that yield both sustainable social impact and long-term business value. Alexandra also manages corporate giving, employee engagement and the development of multi-stakeholder partnerships.
Beyond her role at SAP, Alexandra co-chairs the Corporate Leadership Council of WEF’s Global Alliance for Social Entrepreneurship and serves on the Global Leadership Council of Generation Unlimited. She holds an MBA from Henley Business School in Great Britain.


Duygu Vatan
Duygu Vatan is a multiple-award-winning social entrepreneur and business development expert with a background in Business Administration and Product Design. As one of the co-founders of Impact Hub Ankara, she combines creative and strategic expertise to support social enterprises in product enhancement, brand and supply chain development and procurement readiness. With extensive field experience, Duygu works directly with disadvantaged producer communities to improve product resilience and market access. She also designs and implements small-scale matchmaking and bridging programmes to connect cooperatives and producer communities with buyers, fostering sustainable and progressive relationships between these groups.


Hina West
Hina West’s two-decade career spans private, public and NGO sectors across multiple countries, driving forward sustainability and forging transformational partnerships to affect global systems change. She is now focusing on building a global movement for an economy that puts “people and planet first”, recognising the current system is broken and is destroying lives and our home but that there is a growing movement of purpose-led businesses who want to do things differently. Whilst at WWF, Hina led a global initiative called Nature Pays, which created market access opportunities for Indigenous People and local community-led enterprises within global conservation areas.