Digital Innovation, Social Entrepreneurship, and Global Partnership for Sustainable Development: Leaders International as a Case

Leaders International (LI), founded in 2004 as a small startup receiving donor funding and serving the local community in Palestine, has grown over the past 19 years to become an international provider and contributor to economic growth across the Middle East and North Africa. LI made strategic decisions based on core competencies, dynamic capabilities, gender equality, digitization, and multi-stakeholders’ partnerships to expand internationally and become a leader in the sector of innovation economy, which contributes to achieving SDG 17. This paper aims to describe the business processes that have led LI to expand and sustain itself in a very competitive, donor-driven sector as well as to assess the impact of using innovative leadership practices that could lead to business sustainability and effectiveness.