Scaling High-Impact Innovations of Social Entrepreneurs Quarterly Report 3

As an implementing partner, Mercy Corps screens, investigates, evaluates, and proposes high-potential candidates; provides selected subrecipients with funding; and manages implementation on behalf of USAID for their portion of this program. Mercy Corps works closely with Skoll to ensure alignment between the parties. The program's goal is to showcase and bring to scale high-impact, sustainable innovations proven to produce systems-level change in the developing world, in conjunction with the alliance partners. Two strategic objectives have been proposed for Mercy Corps' work under the alliance: the alliance effectively leverages partners' resources and expertise to more powerfully support organizations at critical points for scale and transformational impact, and social innovations provide and share meaningful data that demonstrate the impact of their approach as well as measure the value and impact of the investment alliance as a whole. In this quarter, one subgrant agreement was signed with Imazon for BRL 6,859,675 ($3,047,000) to scale an approach to control, manage, and reduce deforestation by 80% in 50 municipalities in the state of Para, Brazil. The Innovation Investment Alliance partners reviewed the selection and application process and made revisions for the second round. Round 2 began in May and continues into the next quarter. The IIA also showcased this investment at the Skoll World Forum in Oxford, the Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE) metrics conference, and in various publications, including the Christian Science Monitor. The program's success will be measured on three levels: Mercy Corps' management of the partnership activities and USAID's funds distributed to recipient organizations, aggregate program results across all recipient organizations, and individual recipient organizations' reports against their own Performance Monitoring Plan. At the end of Quarter 3, the IIA partners identified 7 organizations that are being considered for funding in Round 2: Pratham, VisionSpring, IDE-I, Entrepreneurial Finance Lab, Water for People/Everyone Forever, Evidence Action/Innovations for Poverty Action, and Instiglio. A Gate 2 call is scheduled for late July to narrow this list down to 2-3 organizations. Mercy Corps contracted with Mission Measurement to perform much of the work related to monitoring and evaluation (M&E) as part of the program. Mission Measurement developed an aggregate results framework for measuring progress and activities across the portfolio of investments and creating evaluation rubrics for the monitoring and evaluation components of the program. The goal of the overall alliance is to showcase and bring to scale high-impact, sustainable innovations proven to produce systems-level change in the developing world, in conjunction with the alliance partners. The program's implementation involves several key components, including the selection of recipient organizations, the process of selection of prospective organizations, and the management of the partnership. The selection of recipient organizations involves a thorough evaluation of potential candidates, including their prior evaluations and cost-effectiveness. The process of selection of prospective organizations involves a revised process that was developed by Mercy Corps and partners, which includes a two-day meeting in Washington, DC to review the Round 1 experience and put forward recommendations. The management of the partnership involves the coordination of efforts between Mercy Corps, Skoll, and USAID to ensure the effective implementation of the program. This includes the development of a revised process and timeline for the second round of investments, which was implemented after the first round of selection. The program's implementation is ongoing, with Round 2 continuing into the next quarter.