WEF SOCIAL INNOVATOR OF THE YEAR REPRESENTS AFRICA IN DAVOS

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Reconstructed Living Lab [RLabs]

Adrian Barnes

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media@rlabs.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

WEF SOCIAL INNOVATOR OF THE YEAR REPRESENTS AFRICA IN DAVOS

Cape Town Start Up Set to Represent Social Innovation in Africa at the WEF Annual Meeting

Cape Town, May 18, 2022 – In January, RLabs was recognized as 2022 Social Innovator of the Year. They were subsequently invited to attend the WEF Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland, from 22-26 May 2022. A special Awards Ceremony will be hosted where RLabs and fellow Social Innovators of the Year will receive their awards from the Schwab Foundation. The 2022 Social Innovator Award is proof of the incredible and impactful work this Social Enterprise has done since its inception in 2009. They have since expanded their model to 23 countries, across 5 continents and have impacted over 20 Million people. To date, more than 800 000 community members have directly accessed their skills training and economic empowerment programmes.

Under the theme, Working Together, Restoring Trust, the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting is likely the first in-person global leadership event since the start of the pandemic. In response to the pandemic in 2020, RLabs launched an essentials campaign to address the immediate needs of communities at risk where over 40,000 young adults and their families received access to vouchers, allowing them to buy essential items such as food, electricity and data via the Zlto Rewards Platform.

“The honour of being a Schwab Foundation Awardee is not just recognition of the work by RLabs but also highlighting what is possible with an incredible team of partners supporting the vision of hope. This award is also to celebrate every social innovator in South Africa who is willing to make a difference,” says RLabs CEO, René Parker.

The vision of RLabs is to reach 2 Billion people by 2030. Their work began on the Cape Flats, offering Hope to communities at risk. They have done this through education, digital skills training, entrepreneurship, technology, innovation and the building and nurturing of creative spaces where at-risk youth discover their potential. Their work has inspired communities to use their knowledge to create new innovations for social and economic change. This is what the organization refers to when they say that their mission is to Make HOPE Contagious. They have since evolved toward also growing a strong global community of entrepreneurs and consistently pursue socio-economic transformation.

RLabs has the focus and approach to increase its impact and reach their vision of “2 Billion by 2030” by working with strategic partners to drive community-based solutions, social change and economic development.

ANNEXURE

More About RLabs

RLabs is an award winning South African non-profit established in Bridgetown, Cape Town, in 2009. Their main aim is to create spaces in which people can be empowered and transformed by Hope, through technology, innovation, training and economic opportunities.

They have since expanded their model to 23 countries, across 5 continents and have impacted over 20 Million people. To date, more than 800 000 community members have directly accessed their skills training and economic empowerment programmes.

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Note to Editor

For more information on the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting please visit: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/01/davos-2022-world-economic-forum-annual-meeting-may/

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