Candidate Discovery
Strong candidates may be hidden inside large companies and may never apply.
Corporate Social Innovators Selection for Schwab Social Innovation Awards
For a Schwab Foundation / WEF case, I designed a process to find, assess and verify the 2026 Corporate Social Innovator awardees.
01 · Challenge
The Challenge
The challenge was separating real systemic change from strong corporate messaging.
Assessment
Leadership, culture and impact can be judged differently by each juror.
Verification
Most claims are self-reported. They needed to be checked before selection.
Approach
I reframed the task as a sourcing, scoring and verification system.
02 · Solution
Solution Overview
The process linked sourcing, assessment and verification.
Regions
Southeast Asia
South Asia
Africa
Middle East & North Africa
Europe
North America
Networks
WEF ecosystem
Schwab alumni
B Corp network
Impact investors
Universities
Regional enablers
Industries
Technology
Finance
Healthcare
Consumer goods
Blue economy
Extractives
03 · Original work
Inside the presentation
Three slides from the original case presentation show how the proposed process moved from sourcing to structured assessment and selection.
Slide 02 · Sourcing
Building a broad candidate pipeline
The sourcing logic expands discovery beyond candidates already visible within established networks.
Slide 03 · Assessment
Making qualitative evidence comparable
The assessment stage translates broad award criteria into a consistent basis for comparison.
Slide 04 · Selection
Moving evidence toward a decision
The final stages combine verification and structured discussion before the award decision.
04 · Frameworks
Frameworks
Each framework solved one risk in the process.
Multi-channel Sourcing
Purpose: find candidates who may never self-apply.
Assessment Framework
Purpose: turn soft criteria into comparable evidence.
Verification
Purpose: verify claims before the final decision.
05 · Problem → Decision
Problem → Decision
The work turned an open brief into a clear operating model.
Candidate Discovery
Problem
Corporate innovators may never apply directly.
Decision
Developed a multi-channel sourcing strategy using nominations, partner networks and proactive outreach.
Assessment
Problem
Leadership, culture and systemic impact are difficult to evaluate consistently.
Decision
Built an assessment framework with measurable indicators across six evaluation dimensions.
Verification
Problem
Corporate impact claims are largely self-reported.
Decision
Introduced independent due diligence before the final selection process.
Final Selection
Problem
Final decisions require both evidence and expert judgement.
Decision
Combined structured evaluation with panel discussion to support consistent decision-making.