Business
Saskia is Co-founder and CEO of Yunus Social Business (YSB), which is co-founded by Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Prof. Yunus. YSB aims to create and empower Social Businesses to sustainably solve social problems. YSB sets up and manages incubator funds that provide training, advisory and support services, as well as debt and equity financing to social business entrepreneurs in developing countries. YSB aims to build up entrepreneurial ability and business infrastructure in parts of the world that originally rely on development aid and philanthropic donations, thus bridging the gap between impact investment capital and high-potential businesses that are designed to solve social and environmental problems. Social Business is a concept defined by Prof. Yunus as a business which is financially self-sustainable, but recycles all profit into addressing developmental needs. YSB is based in Germany with subsidiaries in Haiti, Albania, Tunisia, Uganda, Colombia, Brazil and India. Saskia and her team have helped to set up social businesses with major corporations including BASF, Brasil Foods, McCain, SAP, Florida Ice and Farm, Crédit Agricole, etc. She was appointed to the EU Commission’s expert group on Social Business and has assisted Prof. Yunus on Ban Ki-Moon’s MDG Advocacy Group as well as Richard Branson's B-Team. Saskia was named Generation CEO 2010 member, a prestigious network of woman in top management in Germany and has also been named a Young Leader of the Atlantik Brücke, a network promoting transatlantic cooperation. She is on the Board of L‘Action Tank – a Social Initiative founded by ten French corporates. Saskia was a speaker at events in over 15 countries and co-authored a report with the Boston Consulting Group on 'Success Factors for Social Businesses' that has been published in 2013. Saskia was one of the founding members of the Global Social Business Summit, which has developed into a global platform for Social Business with over 500 participants from over 50 countries. Prior to that Saskia was the Co-CEO of Grameen Creative Lab and started her career at the Boston Consulting Group in Munich and New York. She holds an MBA from EBS Germany and an MSc in International Relations from LSE and has dual German and Canadian citizenship.