My journey into philanthropy didn’t start with a grand gesture of charity, but with a sense of urgency ,and the conviction, shaped by my entrepreneurial experience, that systemic problems require systemic solutions.
My entrepreneurial journey began in entrepreneurship and later in real estate. I built, sold, bought back, and restructured businesses. I learned to understand power dynamics and to anticipate risks. Discovering the “petites bonnes” (young domestic workers) issue during a YPO trip to Morocco triggered my urge to act. It wasn’t abstract outrage but a very concrete and entrepreneurial question: Why is this tolerated? What needs to change for it to stop? Why aren’t all kids are given the same opportunities ?
That’s how the Womanity Foundation was born in 2005. I wanted to create an agile structure capable of intervening where others were absent or too slow. A foundation that was both local and international, that didn’t fund projects but co-developed tools, supported transformations, and adapted quickly. Because at the end of the day i am an entrepreneur.
Business and philanthropy are often portrayed as opposites: one driven by efficiency and profit, the other by emotion and selflessness. But I believe the best companies carry a philanthropic dimension, and the most effective foundations operate like social enterprises,with strategy, vision, and accountability.
What I’ve learned as an entrepreneur deeply informs my philanthropic work: reading environments, building long-term visions, surrounding myself with the right people, and pivoting when needed. I’ve also learned to trust local partners, delegate wisely, and assess outcomes without obsessing over ROI. A good foundation doesn’t just invest funds,it seeks lasting impact, a word often overused but still essential.
And philanthropy has transformed how I view business. It made me ask different questions: Who do we serve? Who benefits? Who remains invisible? Does what we build reinforce or dismantle inequality? It also made me reflect on my role: how to redistribute power, not by playing savior, but by creating real autonomy for those too often unheard.
One of our flagship initiative, Land for Women, reflects this link between entrepreneurial strategy and social action. It emerged through my connecting with Ashoka’s and our Women Change Makers program in India, which supports social entrepreneurs working on gender. We formed a coalition of NGOs based on fellow-led themes and our research. Each NGO brought a specialty, law, microcredit, training,and together they fostered learning and resource-sharing.
Coalition work is essential because social issues are rarely isolated. Gender equality touches on health, education, economic empowerment, and even climate change. Yet, most of the sector still operates in silos, which hampers collaboration. Donors, too, often prefer narrowly focused, easily packaged projects, while reality is much more complex. My advice to social entrepreneurs: make complexity accessible so that your mission resonates widely.
That said, coalitions are not easy. They come with real-world frictions: misaligned goals, governance challenges, and coordination issues. At Womanity, we’ve had to work through these tensions,defining roles clearly, aligning incentives, and investing in shared processes. Being transparent about these hurdles makes the work more credible and grounded.
Fragmentation is a real challenge in the philanthropic world. Too often, initiatives are shaped by “ego-philanthropy,” where each actor wants to highlight their own role instead of pursuing collective impact. This also complicates funding,donors often prefer to support a single organization, even when coalitions might be more effective. At Womanity, we actively invest in donor education to promote collaborative approaches.
In this regard, philanthropy could take a cue from the business world, where competition forces ecosystem mapping, positioning, and value creation before launching an initiative.
Another example is the Womanity Award, which tackles violence against women. It supports two NGOs: one with a proven program and another aiming to replicate it in a new context. Every two years, we choose a theme, urban safety, domestic violence, online violence,and support both organizations for three years of adaptation and collaboration. This is not a simple copy-paste. Local context, culture, and stakeholder dynamics make each replication unique. Philanthropy, in that sense, requires great nuance and adaptability.
One of my core beliefs is to involve more business leaders. I’m a member of YPO, a global network of 36,000 business leaders. If we can activate this network to create thematic philanthropic collaborations, the impact could be substantial. Still, it’s important to recognize that business leaders must listen and learn from those closest to the issues to avoid imposing top-down solutions.
I believe action shouldn’t be delayed. We learn by doing, and nothing replaces lived experience. For me, philanthropy isn’t about easing my conscience,it’s a space for experimentation and risk-taking, where the state doesn’t reach and business hasn’t yet built models. Today, I try to bridge the world of capital and the margins, not to merge them, but to create meaningful connections. That, to me, is the strength of truly entrepreneurial philanthropy.
More about the author
Yann Borgstedt is a Swiss entrepreneur and philanthropist. Born and raised in Geneva, he pursued his studies in the USA. He created Womanity in 2005 and has been recognised for his work to accelerate gender equality. In 2016 he received the BNP Paribas Award for Individual Philanthropy. In 2018, he was awarded the Global Philanthropic Philanthropy Prize for his innovative work with women and the YPO 2018 SEN (Social Enterprise Network) Sustainability Award for Equality.
Yann also sits on the board of the “Gender Equality Project”, a Swiss Foundation working towards equal professional opportunities for men and women. He is also on the board of Internews, an international non-profit organisation and is a member of YPO network (Young Presidents Organization).
