I had the absolute pleasure to explore more of Ian's perspective on social entrepreneurship and life in general given his vast experience in the space. It was specifically thrilling given that he's been working from and in South Africa for an extended time and shared his view on the potential he witnesses and the differences in culture and the difficulties they face.

To give you more on his background, Ian Calvert is an internationally recognised expert on purpose-driven business, innovation and entrepreneurship, with 32 years of leadership, marketing and entrepreneurship experience. 

Ian led the creation and expansion of Red Bull Amaphiko, an international programme aimed at enabling early-stage, community-based social entrepreneurs. He drove the global growth of the programme which ran in 15 countries, including the USA, UK, Brazil & South Africa, and which enabled thousands of early-stage social entrepreneurs. 

At the beginning of 2020, Ian spun-off the Amaphiko programme into an independent impact venture called FURTHER, using a high performance human development approach to grow a global fellowship of impact-driven entrepreneurs. He is also a strategic advisor and fellowship selection panelist for Ashoka, the world’s authority on social entrepreneurship. 

An Honours graduate of Birmingham (UK) and Aix-Marseille (France) Universities, he began his career at Ogilvy & Mather London before moving to Ogilvy in Cape Town, becoming the youngest ever Board Director at the age of 29. 

He founded a number of internationally successful advertising and marketing agencies, including Instant Grass, collaboration agency that harnesses networks of influential consumers to collaborate in the innovation process for global brands such as Levi Strauss, adidas, Nike, Red Bull and Diageo. Ian drove the expansion of Instant Grass International into Russia, Japan, Middle East and Africa. It is now recognised as a global authority on youth in emerging markets.