Adaire Fox-Martin, member of the Executive Board of SAP SE, has been appointed Global Buy-Social Ambassador by the Board of Social Enterprise UK, a leading social-enterprise advocacy group.
In this new role, Fox-Martin will encourage organizations across industries and geographies to innovate with and procure from social enterprises. She will serve in a voluntary capacity while maintaining all of her responsibilities running Customer Success, SAP’s global sales, services, and customer engagement organization.
“The past few months drastically highlight the need to think and act differently. We must seek out opportunities to be cooperative and find ways to support each other while confronting some of the world’s greatest challenges,” Fox-Martin said. “It is clear that purpose and profit can and must co-exist. The social enterprise movement is more than evidence of that; it’s inspiration. Customers, employees, and partners need to see an environmental or social mission woven into the fabric of every business. Supporting social enterprises provides an entry point to meeting that demand while also creating a new path to growth.”
“SAP’s leadership and commitment to galvanize large companies into creating positive change through their everyday business spend will benefit the communities they work in and those the world over,” said Social Enterprise UK CEO Peter Holbrook. “Now is the time for businesses to look at their social and environmental impact and recognize the power and influence they can have in building a fairer, more sustainable economy.”
Social enterprises are businesses culturally and operationally focused on changing the world. They are similar to other commercially viable businesses, but with three crucial differences. They are founded and governed on the basis of a clear social or environmental mission. They reinvest the majority of their profit back into this mission. And they are majority-controlled solely in the interest of this mission.
Since 2019, SAP has significantly increased the amount it spends with social enterprises in select markets, and under Fox-Martin’s leadership has sought to expand its social procurement strategy and encouraged customers and partners to follow suit.
