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Pollinate Impact




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Maggie Flanagan offers candid feedback to a workshop of people in a classroom-like setting.

Above: A Peer-Powered workshop during a mock pitch session (February 2025) Photo courtesy of Pollinate Impact.

Pollinate Impact is a member-led network with a vision to create a thriving, resilient, and mutually supportive ecosystem of social impact incubators and accelerators operating in the Global South. 

Despite the critically important role impact incubators and accelerators play in the entrepreneurial ecosystem, they receive the least support and operate under some of the most restrictive funding mechanisms. By giving them a collective voice and a shared sense of agency, Pollinate Impact aims to change the overall dynamics of impact incubation in emerging markets.

Launched in 2023 by Villgro USA, Pollinate Impact provides a peer community and a collaborative space for impact incubators, that support entrepreneurs who are seeking to create transformational change in their communities through invention and innovation. The Lemelson Foundation is a partner and collaborator in its mission to raise visibility about the crucial role of incubators, increase awareness of their unique needs, create channels for multi-stakeholder dialogue, and build pathways to sustainable funding.

Participants of Peer-Powered workshop in Abidjan brainstorm the shared challenge of entrepreneur commitment and explore potential solutions. (March 2024)
Participants of Peer-Powered workshop in Abidjan brainstorm the shared challenge of entrepreneur commitment and explore potential solutions. (March 2024) Photo courtesy of Pollinate Impact

“We firmly believe that locally based incubators, with teams that have deep knowledge of the markets where they are located, are critical to supporting the growth and development of enterprises that aim to address the greatest social and environmental challenges,” shares Maggie Flanagan, Senior Program Officer for The Lemelson Foundation. 

Pollinate Impact adopted a network approach to encourage collective action and a unified voice of impact enablers to innovate and advocate for the systemic changes they want to effect. By providing incubators safe and structured opportunities to network, build trust, learn, and share with peers and stakeholders, they will form meaningful collaborations, adopt strong processes, attract the right talent, diversify revenue streams, and become more efficient, effective, and resilient organizations. They will also work collectively to become an influential voice in advancing the impact incubation field and the entrepreneurship ecosystem. 

Five participants connect and network with like-minded peers during Peer Powered Workshop, Nairobi. A man wearing a suit in the center of the photo holds up a list.
Four participants dive into a Human Bingo icebreaker activity during Pollinate Pulse, Dakar. The individuals look down at their bingo cards.

Left: Participants connect and network with like-minded peers during Peer Powered Workshop, Nairobi. (February 2024); Right: Participants dive into a Human Bingo icebreaker activity during Pollinate Pulse, Dakar. (February 2025) Photos courtesy of Pollinate Impact

Learn more about the latest news and developments from Pollinate Impact: 

  • Pollinate Impact’s vision of an impact incubator community is realized at the first in-person Pollinate Potluck. This three-day gathering brought together diverse incubators and accelerators across South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa to find solutions to challenges such as strategic growth, team management, and financial sustainability. 
  • Their Tool Library for Impact Incubators is an ongoing and comprehensive, crowd-sourced and co-created knowledge repository to equip incubators with valuable tools and resources to strengthen their organizations and improve efficiency and effectiveness in supporting entrepreneurs. Among these many resources is this Collaborative Learning Document curated from conversations with incubators globally.
  • Their Growth Guidance Program designed for executive leaders of impact incubators offers one-on-one support for strategic and operational guidance as well as solutions to the challenges they are facing.
  • Their convenings offer a platform to build meaningful multi-stakeholder connections and foster trusting relations, enabling exchange of ideas and pathways for collaboration. Additionally, Pollinate Impact provides ongoing opportunities for peer learning and sharing amongst members and the broader ecosystem to foster community, deep engagement, and co-creation of solutions to address shared challenges.