In short

HR&S offers coaching on research management, innovation, and social enterprising in Sub-Sahara African countries.

As a result of our strong presence and understanding of the local context, HR&S is able to reach both the served and the under-served population. The HR&S team has 20 years of experience from research and laboratory management coaching at scientific institutions in Sub-Sahara African countries, we offer a flexible and innovative management package. We also have ten years of experience from coaching on social enterprising among the served and the under-served population and we target flexible and innovative business models.

HR&S has an honest and transparent win-win agenda that targets social good and financial sustainability. We focus on maximizing the social impact of our target beneficiaries while finding fair ways of generating income that can cover the costs and thus make the programmes sustainable.

We work in equal partnership and share input, responsibility, and benefits equally and collaborate with hard-working and ambitious scientific researchers, innovators, and social entrepreneurs. We build our ties based on truth, trust, transparency and accountability. We are flexible and act fast on direct needs, we face challenges and learn the lessons, and we are resilient in case we see something that went wrong but that can be addressed. Moreover, we have love, we have care, and we do not judge.

Our model has proven successful and we claim to be part of a shift of paradigm that shall sustainably improve livelihoods in Sub-Sahara African countries.

We provide services to

  1. Social entrepreneurs in Sub-Sahara Africa with a profitable business that would benefit from scaling.
  2. Academic institutions in Sub-Sahara Africa that seek to empower their research management and laboratory management strategies.
  3. Development institutions and private sector targeting social entrepreneurs in Sub-Sahara Africa.
  4. Supporters of Sub-Sahara African social entrepreneurs.

Method

Our programmes benefit from our own six PracticalStrategies (PS) and nine ActionAreas (AA). Our practical strategies address core values and ways of implementing them, while our ActionAreas are the implemented versions. The PracticalStrategies address; ethics, trust, accountability, cross-cultural understanding, planning, finances, coaching, and impact assessment while our ActionAreas target: local support centres, start-up loans, accountability management, branding & public relations, motivation, business management, research & laboratory management, survey plans and assessment.

HR&S RISE Support Centres

HR&S has established HR&S RISE Support Centres in six Sub Sahara African countries; Burkina Faso, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, Uganda, and Togo, and we are expanding. Each RISE Centre carries out the HR&S’ mission through a unique programme of cooperation developed together with local stakeholders. Four local coaches from the RISE Centres supports and controls each project, a local and professional auditor ensures annual auditing and the HR&S in Sweden together with the RISE Centre management oversees the operations. The four coaches ensure real-time outcome evaluation planning, real-time evidence based outcome and impact assessment, branding & public relations as well as proper accounting.

The HR&S RISE Support Centres are part of the non-profit side of HR&S and the strta- and scale up capital of the RISE Centres depends on donations.

User driven social good

Each project is initiated and managed by a local social entrepreneur and capture; user driven social good, a profitable business and accountability management. We seek collaboration with “genuine” social entreprenerus. These are, according to our own definition, driven by passion, they are active, bold, caring and professional at the same time.  Thus, our social entrepreneurs are not driven by the motivation of generating money, cause that type of motivation is short lasting and tend not generate a purely commercial businesses that may not serve the community, and they are also not seeking aid donation but see the benefit with international win-win equal partnership. Still they see the value of generating and income to cover the costs and thereby generate a sustainable business. As long as our social entrepreneurs serve the community, if they are skilled enough their business can generate profit. Thus we seek collaboration with both for-profit and non-profit social enterprises. The key to HR&S success is to work with these special people. They can obviously appear in any sector; among the served and among the under-served, among researcher, innovators, rural and urban communities, policy makers, private sector, media etc.

Start- & scale up business loans

HR&S offers investment capital to facilitate social enterprising start- and scale-up.

  • The loan is given with 10 % annual interest. The loans are always combined with local coaching and annual external auditing and the interest from the programme is used to co-fund programme coaching and auditing. The coaches and auditors are reimbursed a minimum annual amount of Euro 300. 
  • The loans are given out as “soft loan” and the HR&S definition of soft-loans is that legal actions will not be taken. HR&S gives out loans even if the loan-taker does not have the capacity to guarantee the loan by a value-securing object or capital. The purpose with this approach is to also reach social entrepreneurs who lack opportunities. The risk with lack of formal guarantees is addressed through; cooperative responsibility, branding and public relations with the targeted community and a accountability management package designed by HR&S.
  • Each project starts small and scales firmly. The first loan is usually around € 1,000, and a second twice the amount. Usually, the total loan for each project is € 15,000.
  • The income above the loan and the interest is kept by the social entrepreneur to cover the business running costs.
  • A potential loan-taker becomes eligible for a loan by attending a series of mini-courses that ends with an exam, those who pass the exam are welcome to bring their business models to a series of workshops. Those who work ambitiously and have a promising business model will be invited to discuss a loan-taker and a coaching agreement. If we agree the new partner is welcome to become a member of the HR&S RISE Support Centre.
  • The purpose of giving loans and not donations, is to have an opportunity to coach on the generation of a sustainable economy as well as being able to support a larger number of entrepreneurs, if the capital van be used over and over again. The start- and scale-up loan capital is part of the non-profit side of HR&S and is raised through donations. The paid back capital is always kept on the local account re-invested in order to scale-up the on-going partner business or to start- or scale up a new business. 
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The HR&S value propositions

To Social entrepreneurs

Our local RISE Centres offers tools for local social entrepreneurs to be able to implement their ideas; Start- and scale-up loans. HR&S Practical strategies and ActionAreas.Local coaching on evaluation planning, survey management, branding & public relations and accounting. Accountability management coaching and auditing. Expert advice, state-of-the-art reviews and training. Access to the internet and other products and services. An international network.

To Scientific institutions

Research Management coaching with the aim to support scientific institutions and scientific researchers with generating, disseminating, and implementing scientific findings. The coaching entails compiling and addressing the necessary conditions required to bring about a given impact. The ambitions are compiled and also related challenges. Strategies for addressing the challenges are agreed on and the different activities are addressed together until the expected impact has been reached.

Laboratory management coaching with the aim to support scientific Institutions with selection, transportation, installation, calibration, operation, maintenance, servicing, use and decommissioning of advanced scientific equipment. The service is offered in the form of support packages; i) equipment procurement and delivery, ii) equipment management, iii) construction of laboratories and iv) operational & Financial plan development.

To Development stakeholders

We coach and facilitate the implementation of other institutions’ programmes, while benefitting from our Practical strategies, Action Areas and local RISE Support Centres. Our coaching addresses: Strategy for change. Stakeholder analysis. Business model, business plan & venture. Accountability management. Real-time outcome planning and evaluation. Evidence-based impact assessment.  Our coaching is implemented through Practical strategies. Guiding manuals. Networking & expert advice. Fieldwork. Surveys. Team-building & motivation sessions. Round-table sessions with external stakeholders. Seminars. Pieces of training. Workshops and Consultations.

To Supporters

The investment capital is generated and the RISE Centres are started and scaled up through donations. 

For-profit and non-profit hybrid social enterprise

We are a non-profit and for-profit  hybrid social enterprise without external shareholders.
Social enterprise: The purpose is social good and the sustainability is ensured through a business model.
Non-profit: Our RISEinvest, ActionInvest and RISE Centres programmes are non-profit. We seek donations for the non-profit side of our operations, the generation of the RISE invest and ActionInvest fund and for the start-and scale-up of the RISE Support Centres. We partner with individuals world wide that are interested in investing in Sub-Sahara Africa.  ActionInvest  is managed by Action10, which is sub-division of HR&S. Action10 is registered as an independent Association, is run by volunteer staff with institutionl capacity support from HR&S. 
For-profit: Our coaching services are for-profit.We do not have share-holders and the profit is re-invested and also shared among the owners and the empoyess as bonuses.
The overall management and administration takes place at the HR&S headquarters in Stockholm, where overall policies are shaped. We partner with companies and institutions world wide that are interested in investing in Sub-Sahara Africa. 

STRUCTURE

HR&S offer practical strategies and coaching on research management and social enterprising for researchers, innovators and social entrepreneurs in Sub-Sahara African countries.

Social enterprising
Evaluations demonstrate that public resources spent on provision of goods and services by social enterprises represent a more efficient, inclusive, and sustainable way of using resources than alternative methods. Consequently, governments and donors can benefit from fostering a strong social enterprising sector integrated in the service delivery system.

HR&S is a social enterprise. Due to our strong presence and understanding of local communities, HR&S is able to reach under-served populations through flexible and innovative business models.

HR&S offers employment, both in Africa and in Sweden, profit for the local partners in Africa and its owner, services requested for by everyone, products requested for by everyone and tax to the government. We focus on maximizing the social impact for our target beneficiaries while covering our costs and possibly generating short-term profits for our shareholders and private owners. We are a for-profit and non-profit hybrid Social Enterprise. Our RISE invest and our RISE Centres are non-profit, where as our consultancy services are for-profit. Our model has proven successful. We claim to be part of a shift of paradigm that shall end aid dependency.

HR&S is cross-cultural, non-political and non-religious.

Business model

We are a for-profit and non-profit hybrid Social Enterprise. Our RISEinvest, ActionInvest and RISE Support Centres programme is non-profit, whereas our consultancy services are for-profit. HR&S is cross-cultural, non-political and non-religious.

HR&S seek donations for the non-profit side of our operatios, the generation of the RISE invest and ActionInvest fund as well as for the start-up of the RISE Support Centres.
Twenty per-cent of the RISEinvest funds collected will remain with HR&S for administration and 3 % of ActionInvest furnds remains with Action10 for administration. Action10 is a volunteer driven organisation that depend on institutional support from HR&S. The rest, minus tax (HR&S only), transfer costs and crowd-funding site fees are transferred to our accounts in Africa.

We aim to earn income on our consultancy services and shop to cover running costs, and possibly profit that will be invested in company improvements and bonus for employees. We are also looking for opportunities to set up own profitable social enterprises in Africa. HR&S does not have share-holders. The profit is re-invested and can also be shared as bonus among the partners, employees and owners.

Scaling-up
We are still operating with minimal resources, but we have already achieve a lot. We have RISE Centres in six Sub-Saharan African countries, have links to twleve  and have had a positively effect on the lives of 10,000 people. We are eager to scale up.

Business Partners
We also partner with companies, institutions and individuals world wide that are interested in investing in Sub-Sahara Africa. The HR&S headquarters is located in Stockholm, and our country offices are located in our target countries.

unsplash - passion

Ethics
HR&S has an honest and transparent win-win agenda that targets social good and financial sustainability for all partners. We value transparency and accountability in ethics and in governance. We are flexible and act fast on direct needs. We face challenges and learn our lessons. We have love and we have care, we do not judge and we are resilient in case of mistakes.

Equal partnership

We work in close partnership with local stakeholders in Sub-Saharan African countries.  We share input, responsability and benefits equally with our partners. We build our ties based on truth, trust and accountability. We collaborate with hard-working and ambitious social entrepreneurs and aim to be on our tip-toes for them, as they are doing their best for us. All team-members honour and respect each other.

Company data
Full name:  Human Rights & Science
Short name:  HR&S
Registration name: Human Rights and Science by Cecilia Öman
Type of institution:  Social enterprise
Legal status: Private limited company registered under the Swedish law (“privat aktiebolag”).
Registration number: 559014-6568
Registration date: 22 May 2015
Registration Country: Sweden
CEO: Assoc. Prof. Cecilia ÖMAN
Address: c/o Impact Hub, Jakobsbergsgatan 22, 111 44 Stockholm, Sweden
E-mail: info@humanrightsandscience.se, Phone No: +46 707 148 150
Website: www.humanrightsandscience.se
Facebook: humanrightsandscience 
Twitter CEO: ceciliaoman
LinkedIn: Human Rights & Science
LinkedIn CEO: in/cecilia-oman
Instagram Shop: african.shop.in.sweden
Moms nummer / VAT. No: SE559014656801
Bank: SEB, Bank address: SEB 5273, 10640 Stockholm, Sweden
SWIFT/BIC: ESSESESS, IBAN: SE9350000000052731032863
“Bankgiro” No: 896-6608, Bank account No: 5273-1032863

OPERATIONS

HR&S build its activities on its own practical startegies and ActionAreas. With RISE Support Centres in six Sub Sahara African (SSA) countries and operations in twelve, HR&S  significantly contributes to the strengthening of research, innovation and social enterprising in SSA. While still small in its operations, we have potential to scale and affect even more peoples lives.

The heart of HR&S’ work is in the field. Each RISE Centre country office carries out the HR&S’ mission through a unique programme of cooperation developed together with local stakeholders. Each project is initiated and managed by local social entrepreneurs and captures user driven social good, a busines model and accountability management programme. Coaches from the RISE Centres supports and controls the project development and the RISE Centre management oversees the operations. Impact is measured using scientific methods. The situation before initiating the programme, togther with achievements, challenges and lessons learned are compiled in a programme journal. We benefit from the “Strategy for Change” and stakeholder analysis tools.

Overall management and administration takes place at the HR&S headquarters in Stockholm, where overall policies are shaped. HR&S also operates Action10 in Stockholm that manages the ActionInvest programme. Action10 is registered as an independent Association, is run by volunteer staff only and with support from HR&S.

HR&S is a social enterprise, and we have developed six Praactical strategies and five Action areas. Our business offer is : i) Seminars and workshops – We share knowledge about our Practical strategies. ii) Coaching – We offer coaching to other stakeholders who are interested in implementing their activities with our support. iii) Partnership around our Action areas – Partners may want to join our on-going programmes or Action areas.

We seek financial support donations for our RISE Invest fund and the funds is transferred to our RISE Centres in SSA and remains there. As we focus on social enterprising the funds are used a loans and is repaid, why it can help the start of new social enterprises over and over again. We seek partners and financial givers to run our five activities. ActionInvest is also supported entirely by voluntary funds. Monthly donors and Crowdfunding campaign donors contribute to the fund.

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Offices: lists by office type

HR&S Headquarters in Stockholm.
Action10 Headquaters In Stockholm.
RISE Support Centres per country.
Project offices of our social entrepreneur Partners.

PROFILE OF THE FOUNDER

Cecilia is innovative, tries new things and is driven by an ambition to act when she sees misconduct that she believes can be improved. From an early age, Cecilia was dedicated to contributing to a world that is good place to live for all humans and animals, and in harmony with nature. Cecilia began her career at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm and took a master’s degree in chemical engineering with a focus on biotechnology. She then took a job as a consultant and researcher at the Swedish Environmental Research Institute (IVL, Swedish Environmental Institute) in Stockholm, where she worked with organic environmental pollutants in water and with waste management. She remained at KTH and took a Ph.D. exam targeting organic pollutants and waste management, in parallel with her employment at IVL. After ten years with IVL, she left the institution for a job at the International Foundation for Science (IFS). The mandate of IFS is to support for research management in countries outside the OECD and Cecilia was responsible for the Water Resources department. She also managed a project targeting researchers in non-OECD countries and their availability to advanced scientific research equipment. She still remained at KTH and in parallel with her work at IFS, she took an Associate Professor exam for the Department of Land and Water Resources with a focus on water management in non-OECD countries. In 2009, Cecilia founded the volunteer organisation Action10, www.action10.org. Action10’s vision is a world without extreme poverty through equal partnership social enterprising and the organisation collaborates with social entrepreneurs in Sub-Sahara African countries. Action10 is run by 20 volunteer staff and manages 10 programmes in six Sub-Sahara African countries. After ten years with IFS, she resigned and also took a part-time job as Deputy Programme Director in Chemical Sciences at the International Science Program (ISP) at Uppsala University, where she continues her work with research management in countries outside the OECD. In parallel with her work at ISP, Cecilia founded the social enterprise, Human Rights & Science (HR&S), www.humanrightsandscience.se. The HR&S mandate is to promote social business cooperation between non-OECD and OECD stakeholders that benefits from equal partnerships, mutual trust and mutual benefit. Cecilia has established HR&S Resource Centers in six African countries and a network of 30 local coaches. Furthermore, HR&S is involved with 20 programmes in twelve African countries and is continuously seeking opportunities to scale. Cecilia has developed six practical strategies and seven “ActionAreas”.  Her work in Sub-Sahara African countries requires physical presence why she travels a lot. HR&S offers training and coaching to the private sector, governmental bodies, academic institutions and development organisation.

Cecilia’s ambition is to learn from experience, combined with scientific facts, the knowledge of others as well as lessons learned from her own mistakes. She reviews information and project status real-time, adjusts her methods, and shares her findings with others. She is also dedicated to cross-cultural learning and respect, as well as international human rights agreements, animal care, and nature care. In addition, Cecilia develops her spirituality; self-awareness, being here and now, and the ability to appreciate everything and everyone. As a mother, above all, are her children, her family, and her friends. She is also close to animals, her dog, and horses, as well as nature. Cecilia practices yoga, meditation, nature walks, physical training, dancing, horse-back-riding, motor-biking, skiing, and more.

INTERVIEW WITH THE FOUNDER

What HR&S is, why Cecilia started HR&S (including ”the why” of HR&S) and her own story as an entrepreneur (both successes and setbacks).
– I started HR&S because I felt the pain of vulnerable people and felt obliged to do my best to contribute to a positive change. I am a scientific researcher by training so I started a social enterprise, as I believe that locally managed scientific research, innovation and  social enterprising is driving a healthy country and a positive development.
Managing my own enterprise is crucial also because it gives me the freedom I need to think freely, try new things, to be innovative, flexible and able to act fast on findings, it allows me to invest my work-hours, in doing what  I truly believe in.
I acknowledge that I am fortunate and am grateful for being a start-up entrepreneur in Sweden. My  country is very supportive, at all levels…  adminstration, access to support. The challenge for start-up entrpreneurs in Sweden is maybe the tax level, though I do appreciate the social security the Swedish taxes enables.
Concerning HR&S, I have made it my assignment to try to understand the mindset of vulnerable people. To put my self into the shoes of someone who is poor. If it was me, if I was living in a poor village or slum area, with my three kids that I love more than anything, who would I be, how would I think, what would I do? I have tried my best to interact closely, to live in and spend time with people in vulnerable settlements, to listen carefully, reflect and learn. I have also studies the scientific findings about diffrent cultures and how people’s mindset change when societies move from from farming to industry to knowledge based societies.
My stake is that, if it was me, I would know what to do, what I want, but I would be restricted by the lack of opportunities. HR&S aims to be an entitiy that link up with social entrepreneurs, innovators and scientific researchers in environments that lack opportunities and enables them to implement their ideas in their own communities.
From this platform of understanding, have I developed a set of practical strategies and implemented a package of activites.
The strategies include i) a set of core values, ii) means to ensure trust, iii) cross-cultural understanding, iv) evaluation planning, v) coaching programmes on-ground, and iv) assess evidence of impact. 
The imlemented activites are ; i) support centres with support staff, ii) investment fund, iii) coaching programme implementation and iv) real-time collection of monitoring data and assessment of  evidence for impact or no impact.
I have started my initiative in Sub-Sahara African countries, where the number of extremely poor is increasing every year.
I claim that HR&S is in the front-line of a change of paradigm, where we leave the concept of aid behind and become independent stakeholders working truthfully and trustfully together, cross cultures and for a common good.

The ”different user layers”, a user story and the everyday problems a certain user of her chosing faces, for example a social entrepreneur in Africa. 
– With a mandate like HR&S, we have to be close to several layers of users. We have:
1. The local customers of locally developed products and services,
2. The small and medium scale business owneres, we have
3. The scientific researchers, innovators and social entrepreneurs.
We are also working with:
4. A set of supporters; the auditors, the survey managers, the evaluation planning coaches, financial accounting coaches,  as well as the village chiefs, the heads of family and religious leaders. Netx level of users is:
5. The private sector who are interested in collaboration around enterprising in Africa,
6. The instiutions who aims for development or investment and also very importantly
7. Individuals who want Sub-Sahara African countries to grow; it can be leaders, philatropists, influencers, specialists, givers and others.
– A user story can be a social entrepreneur in a ghetto area, burning for helping her people, knowing exactly how, but failing because of lack of the key resources; infrastructure, information, partners, travelling and investment capital. She comes into contact with HR&S, partner up and guides HR&S in which way we can support. Together we agree on a win-win approach where we invest and benefit equally much.

Cecilia discusses with members of HR&S.
HR&S is a zebra, we mix black and white in unique and beautiful patterns. In Sweden and in Africa.
We are hard working and goal oriented,
We talk about the realities, also when they are painful.
We face challenges and we learn, together.
We do not tolerate nonsence, lazyness or corruption, at the same time, we do not judge and we are resilient in case of miss management.
We have love and care and we do not give up.
Honest and frequent communication between all, in Sweden and in our targeted African countries, is key.
Sharing knowledge and experiences, as well as respecting differences in culture, is the cornerstone of success and cannot be emphazised enough.

We reach out to and aim to maintain a close relations with all our parntres at all our levels of users.
We work according to our six strategies, thus including i) a set of core values, ii) means to ensure trust, iii) cross-cultural understanding, iv) evaluation planning, v) coaching programmes on-ground, and iv) assess evidence of impact. 
We  implement our four activites in actual practice ; i) support centres with support people, ii) investment fund, iii) coaching programme implementation and iv) real-time collection of monitoring data and assessment of  evidence for impact or no impact.
We are running about 20 programmes in twelve Sub-Sahara African countries.

”Headlines from the future” (in ten years HR&S has been a resounding success –
draft a headline and sketch for a New York Times feature of this success).
Our take is that  instead of assuming that innovation in Africa is simple, we expect it to be as big as anywhere else.
A scientific researcher, innovator and social entrepreneur in Sub-Sahara African countries have the same opportunities as in Sweden and therefore contribute equally much to the public and private sector.
New York Times features equally many black change makers as white, because the number IS equal, and their innovations ARE equally important.
The picture shows an amazing innovation, maybe in space or with AI, with only black people, and the focus is not on that they are black, but on the innovation it-self.
HR&S has Support centres in every Sub-Saharan African country, we have the resources to provide all our scientist, innovators and entrepreneurs with the resources they need, and their ideas are developed and implemented, not only locally but internationally