What Is A Social Innovator And How Can You Become One?

Gen Z has inherited a world in need of saving. According to the Copernicus Climate Change Service, 2024 is the hottest year on record, meanwhile the UN has declared it to be the deadliest year in history for humanitarian workers—due to conflicts such as Palestine and Ukraine.

It’s no surprise that 37% of Gen Z say that being involved with meaningful work is their number one career priority.  

Few people embody this sentiment more than Ukrainian immigrant Olha Vasyliv (pictured right) an HEC Paris Master’s in Sustainability and Social Innovation graduate now working as an ESG auditor with KPMG. 

Within her role Olha identifies greenwashing in major corporations, that’s alongside working as a social innovator operating a startup geared towards those caught in the conflict in her native Ukraine. 

But what is a social innovator in business? And how did a business master’s help Olha become able to make an impact? 

What is a social innovator?

If you ask Olha, the definition of a social innovator is simple: “In many cases, people think of social innovation as something groundbreaking, but it really isn't. It's about your imagination and creativity. It’s about understanding the resources you have that can be applied to a new situation.”

Born in Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, Olha always dreamt of pursuing social and environmental justice. She won a scholarship to study a bachelor’s in sociology in the US, and from there she aimed to enter the field of journalism or sociology research. 

Olha’s ultimate plan was to return home. But, in February 2022, Russian forces invaded Ukraine. Olha quickly realized that despite her family and friends still living there, there was no safe way to go back. 

“I wasn’t sure I'd be able to pursue my dream,” she says. 

To reconfigure her life, Olha decided to move to France, a country where she had previously studied. It was in Paris where she was first inspired to help her homeland. 

After noticing the surge of Ukrainian refugees who couldn’t speak French and who were struggling to access resources, Olha volunteered at the Ukrainian embassy, where she helped manage cultural events to connect those fleeing the war.  

Her humanitarian work exposed Olha to many of the faults that exist within public institutions, hindering aid. 

“I realized there was a lack of management skills, efficiency, and communication,” she says. Looking to sharpen her business skillset, Olha quickly came upon the HEC Paris Master in Sustainability and Social Innovation program. 

Offering customizable courses such as Climate Change Economics, Biodiversity Policies, and Business and Human Rights, it appeared specifically designed for students to become changemakers in business—perfect for Olha’s altruistic ambitions. 

What social innovation skills can you learn at business school? 

A major draw for Olha was the HEC Paris focus on green energy consumption and the energy transition, which emphasizes using renewable energy in a less costly way than traditional fossil fuels.

Since the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine, the subject of renewable energy has become a key humanitarian and environmental issue. It’s a hardship Olha knows well: “There were times my parents had to refrigerate their food on the balcony because there was no electricity.” 

The degree also covered a range of pertinent social issues, including optional courses such as Sustainable Urban Development and Innovation, AI, and Impact. These resonated deeply with Olha.

“The social aspect of war is very important because of migration and refugees, as well as people who are traumatized by the situation,” she says. 

Perhaps most significantly, the program brought Olha into a community of like-minded students through the Imagine Fellowship; a funding program offered to candidates from war-torn regions. 

Olha took part in projects through the fellowship, including providing mental health materials for art therapy for kids in a Ukrainian school, which involved hiring therapists to run the sessions.

“The first step for me to start accepting war and how I perceive it was through stepping foot on the HEC Paris campus. I met peers who understood me.”

How to use a master’s as a social innovator?

After graduating from the HEC Paris program, Olha found a job as an ESG specialist at KPMG—one of the Big Four accounting firms. 

A major part of Olha’s role today involves examining various aspects of the company’s supply chain and conducting an audit of the ethical practices involved in sourcing materials. 

Questions she regularly asks companies include: Where are materials being sourced from? Are workers further down the supply chain being paid a fair wage? 

“My hope is that is that I will be able to spot the things that they don't understand in their value chain and highlight risk areas,” she explains.

On top of her role at KPMG, Olha also works as an admissions officer for the Ukraine Global Scholars mentorship program, which aims at helping low-income Ukrainian students access education in the US. 

This involves hosting webinars in the US and informing students of education and scholarship opportunities.

It’s a lot to take on, but Olha says she is grateful for the support she continues to receive from the HEC Paris network: “It’s great having HEC Paris to pick me up if I shatter.” 

Using the skills and the connections Olha picked up on her master’s, she is actively innovating a better future others, as well as herself. 

“My ultimate dream is to show my partner a peaceful Ukraine. I want to make him try traditional Ukrainian food, to go to my grandma's village, to look at the house where I spent my summers, to do my usual hiking route when we go to the mountains, and, hopefully, to go to the beautiful beach there with the big views of the sunset.”