Asili Social Enterprise Model Announced As Finalist For 2020 P3 Impact Award

MINNEAPOLIS, Aug. 26, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Office of Global Partnerships at the U.S. Department of State, the  University of Virginia Darden School of Business Institute for Business in Society  and Concordia announced Asili, a transformative social enterprise model conceived by Alight and subsidiary Eastern Congo Initiative (ECI), as one of five finalists for the 2020 P3 Impact Award. The Award recognizes exemplary public-private partnerships (P3s) that provide solutions to pressing issues in areas such as economic growth and development, sustainability and global health.

An independent and diverse judging committee selected five finalists for the 2020 Award based on the partnerships' operational structure, measurable social impact, financial sustainability, innovation and scalability. Finalists in addition to Asili include Eye Bank of Ethiopia Elimination of Corneal Blindness Partnership (Ethiopia), Localizing Development: IAF-Mott Public-Private Partnership (Mexico), State Affordable Medicines Program (Ukraine) and WASH UP! (Global).

"When we were co-creating Asili alongside the communities it would serve, our overall goal – for Congolese mothers and humanitarian workers alike – was that we could feel 100% confident having our children drink Asili water or go to the Asili clinic for care," said CEO of Alight Daniel Wordsworth. "This program embodies one of our guiding principles at Alight, to co-create and raise industry standards for human-worthy services, and we are grateful for the recognition of this special partnership."

"The Asili business model was built from scratch with critical contributions from all partners, including many community members," said Abraham Leno, Executive Director of Eastern Congo Initiative which now operates Asili. "Starting from zero and turning 'aid recipients' into customers has enabled us to offer a radically new level of quality, while still allowing access for everyone."

Co-created by mothers and families in eastern Congo, Alight, The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), IDEO.org and Eastern Congo Initiative (ECI) and launched in 2014, Asili aims to address the lack of quality healthcare, the scarcity of clean drinking water and the shortage of meaningful economic opportunities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo through a radically new solution based on market principles. By creating marketplaces with clusters of businesses in one location, Asili generates community demand for high-quality services and makes those world-class, affordable services reliably available in a scalable and self-sustaining manner using the principles of customer-focused business.

Praised as "a new model for 21st-century NGOs" and an "inspiration and example" for a new generation of philanthropy, the Asili model reinvents humanitarian aid as startup capital for self-sustaining essential services, operated by and for the people who need them. In 2019, after just five years, Asili services reached an average of 120,000 customers every day, cared for 10,919 patients through four health clinics and sold 43 million liters of clean water through 28 Asili retail water points. Today, Asili is on its way to serving 500,000 people by 2023, and is piloting new service lines in sanitation and clean energy.

With day-to-day operational management from ECI, Alight continues to support the development of Asili services, and maintains overall financial responsibility for it.

The winner of the P3 Impact Award will be announced at the  all-digital  2020 Concordia Annual Summit, September 21-25, 2020.  Stakeholders representing the finalists will showcase the partnership before judges and an audience.  Judges will evaluate each partnership based on the strength of cross-sector collaboration, measurable impact, economic and social benefits, innovation, financial effectiveness and scalability.

To learn more about each of the finalists and the award, please visit:  https://www.concordia.net/p3impactaward/.

Follow @GPatState, @IBiS_Darden, @ConcordiaSummit and #P3Impact on Twitter for updates.

ABOUT ALIGHT
Established in 1978 by founder Neal Ball, Alight, formerly known as American Refugee Committee, provides health care, clean water, shelter, protection and economic opportunities to more than 3.5 million people in 19 countries each year. Alight believes in the incredible creativity, potential, and ingenuity of the displaced and works to shine a light on their humanity, the tremendous amount of good that's already happening and the possibilities to do more. The organization exists to see and help every person make meaningful change in the world – from displaced and marginalized communities in Africa, Asia and the Americas to...anyone, anywhere. Learn more about Alight at www.wearealight.org.

ABOUT EASTERN CONGO INITIATIVE
Eastern Congo Initiative (ECI), a subsidiary of Alight, is the first U.S.-based nonprofit dedicated to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The organization works shoulder to shoulder with Congolese communities as they build health, freedom and prosperity for life. Founded by Ben Affleck and Whitney Williams in 2010, ECI has invested more than $10 million to support visionary Congolese community leaders who are solving the country's most urgent problems. With ECI's support, those organizations have made life better for tens of thousands of people—60 percent of them girls and women. With partners like Starbucks, Theo Chocolate and Nespresso, ECI has introduced the excellence of Congolese coffee and cocoa to customers worldwide. ECI's transformative business model Asili provides clean water and world-class primary healthcare to 120,000 customers in Congo every single day. Thanks to the brilliance of the Congolese people, ECI is transforming the whole idea of humanitarian aid. Learn more at easterncongo.org.

SOURCE Alight

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