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Launching a new collaboration - helping impact-focused MBAs ‘bloom’ through a supportive, inclusive platform

Published

During the Skoll World Forum, the preeminent global event for social innovators and changemakers to advance social change, a new partnership has been announced.

The collaboration between Saïd Business School, The Skoll Centre for Entrepreneurship, and The Bloom will support MBA students interested in impact-based careers, giving them access to an inclusive social impact platform. Launched at the 21st annual event at Saïd Business School, this year’s Skoll World Forum features prominent leaders and panellists, including the Right Honourable Dame Jacinda Ardern, Amal and George Clooney, and other notable speakers.    

Founded by Oxford alumna Jasmine Anouna, an impact entrepreneur and SDG 5 Goalkeeper at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, The Bloom offers Oxford Saïd MBA students' exclusive access to its social impact platform, which includes direct referrals from top employers in social impact, 1:1 coaching, networking with social impact industry leaders, and a community-driven job board.  

Our partnership will offer students and alumni a competitive edge in social impact careers, and resources needed to thrive in purpose-driven careers. The platform offers access to a network that will impact students' journey far beyond Oxford.

Jasmine Anouna

Founder, The Bloom, and Oxford alumna

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Jasmine Anouna, The Bloom founder

Jasmine shared how the platform, home to more than 40,000 social impact leaders and subscribers, will help support Oxford Saïd MBAs. She commented, ‘Our partnership will offer students and alumni a competitive edge in social impact careers. With The Bloom, they will find the inspiration, community, and practical resources needed to thrive in purpose-driven careers. The platform offers quick access to a top-quality network that will impact students' journey far beyond Oxford.’ 

Increasingly, more professionals are aligning their careers with social and environmental values. However, they often lack access to a community where they can learn about diverse organisations and leaders in the social impact space. Many social impact professionals experience burnout due to the time and financial cost of accessing high-quality resources, jobs, and mentors. Jasmine experienced exhaustion firsthand during her dream role at the United Nations and became disillusioned by the bureaucracy she encountered. With no access to a safety net, social impact platforms, mentors, or jobs, she decided to fill the critical void by creating her first-of-its-kind platform.   

More people than ever want to do good for society through their work. A resource like The Bloom helps our most impact-focused students search for jobs, find mentors, and participate in a like-minded community.

Dan Kiernan

Head of Global Industry and Impact Careers at Saïd Business School

Dan Kiernan, Head of Global Industry, and Impact Careers at Oxford Saïd, spoke about the significance of the partnership, saying, ‘More people than ever want to do good for society through their work, whether it is thinking about climate, sustainability, poverty, or other challenges we face. But,social impact careers do not follow clear pathways and can be hard to navigate. A resource like The Bloom helps our most impact-focused students search for jobs, find mentors, and participate in a like-minded community.’

Many social-impact organisations also find it difficult to access social-impact professionals. Addressing one of the top pain points for the platform’s B2B partners, The Bloom has built a double-sided marketplace, allowing access to diverse social impact talent. On the B2C and B2B2C, they offer peer-to-peer career education, which has not been available. Most of the 40,000 professionals in the network have never felt supported by a global social impact community before, and with The Bloom, 75% report feeling less lonely, and more hopeful growing in their career.  

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Left to right, Jasmine Anouna and Princess Agina, social entrepreneurs

The Bloom has experienced massive organic growth, expanding from 15 users to 40,000+ social impact professionals around the world, primarily through word-of-mouth referrals. Since 2022, the platform has been quoted alongside notable social impact careers platforms such as 80,000 Hours, Idealist, and Devex; it was nominated to the Gates Foundation's Goalkeepers for its focus on underrepresented talent; and it partners with leading social impact organisations such as 2X Global, the International Coaching Federation, Stockholm Environment Institute, and Vitala Global Foundation.