Reckitt Catalyst: Social Innovation at Scale
Innovation Collaboration
YSI designed and drives a global innovation hub to integrate impact and business in key Reckitt markets.
The Reckitt Catalyst innovation hub combines acceleration and partnership building for 80+ entrepreneurs, employee leadership development and a community of practice with the goal to impact five million people by 2030 with greater access to water, sanitation, hygiene and health
we support
we operate in
helped direct
Programme pathways
For over five years, YSI supported the Reckitt team to pivot from philanthropy to aligning social entrepreneurship and core business strategy. The structured programme design draws on rigorous impact measurement and management practices to align social impact with business outcomes.
Impact accelerator
Yearly impact accelerator cycles with a multi-country open call, identifying leading health and hygiene entrepreneurs with the potential to scale an innovation addressing pressing challenges.
Catalyst Academy
Linking Reckitt mentors with entrepreneurs to create a two-way talent exchange, supporting entrepreneurial thinking within Reckitt and providing insights and expertise to entrepreneurs.
Community of Practice
Facilitated multi-stakeholder network building across cohorts to share insights, identify collaborative solutions to common barriers and build impact.
Business Integration
Identifying and supporting mature enterprises to connect to Reckitt’s value chain, extending access to markets and unlocking partnerships.
Supporting Reckitt's ambition to accelerate community-led social enterprises as a way to enable access to water.
YSI bridges the gap between our social innovators and the corporate side, translating impact into something our mentors can actually work with. That's not easy, and frankly, nobody else does it the way they do. We couldn't have got here without them. They're true partners in every sense.
YSI’s training through the Reckitt Catalyst was solid, encompassing empathy mapping, strengthening impact measurement, and crafting partnerships with Reckitt’s brands. They have been present and thoughtful, diligent and creative, and have contributed important cultural frameworks. I felt both challenged and supported in equal measure.
The Catalyst prepares Reckitt employees to be better leaders, but also better people as well. Those who go through the Academy program come away with profound questions and reflections about their personal and professional contributions, as part of the learning journey. This is what makes the Catalyst a valuable program.
Partnership is central to a robust entrepreneurship ecosystem. As part of the Reckitt Catalyst, it’s been a privilege to work closely with YSI to support innovators in health, hygiene and water. We bring our respective strengths to not only ensure that the entrepreneurs are able to maximize their impact but also to help strengthen the broader social innovation ecosystem.
