Creativity is essential to the success of any endeavor. Whether it is driving major corporations, shaping global organizations, fueling ambitious startups, or powering personal passion projects, creativity plays a defining role in ensuring longevity, relevance, and meaningful impact.

A report highlights how strongly this is reflected in the region. The UAE has emerged as a leading force in the MENA creative economy, recording the largest creative sector and exporting creative goods and services valued at $13.7 billion. The scale of this growth underscores how creativity strengthens economic resilience and competitiveness.

But creativity is not only an economic engine. It has the power to influence society, inspire cultural progress, and spark real social transformation. This idea sits at the heart of the second edition of the Creativity for Social Change Award in Doha, which celebrates the people and organizations leading these movements and shaping conversations that matter.

Set to take place in April, the awards are hosted by the Creativity Pioneers Fund in partnership with the Democracy and Culture Foundation. Adama Sanneh, CEO of the Moleskine Foundation and founder of the Creativity Pioneers Fund, describes creativity as the capacity to imagine alternatives and turn them into reality.

“We now live in an era where this capacity is essential. Economically, it generates new markets, jobs, and resilient business models. Societally, it rebuilds trust, dignity, and agency where systems fail.”

He notes that creativity’s true value lies in making complexity understandable and transforming ideas into action that people can believe in and actively support. In a world navigating uncertainty, creativity continues to prove that it is more than just a skill. It is a powerful catalyst for progress.

THE POWER OF CREATIVE VENTURES

Sanneh highlights the growing influence of creative entrepreneurship in driving social change alongside policy and philanthropy. He notes that creative leaders often move faster than policy, are more adaptive than philanthropy, and embed impact directly within communities.

“By combining cultural insight with change-making sensitivity, they build transformative responses that people actually use, trust, and sustain, especially in volatile and rapidly changing environments.”

He also points to several initiatives that have reshaped his understanding of the power of creative intervention.

“There are many, but if I had to choose one, partnering with The Wonder Cabinet in Bethlehem changed how I understand creative intervention in contexts of deep complexity,” he says, referring to The Wonder Cabinet, a cultural space in Bethlehem created by two Palestinian architects that has evolved into a hub for artistic and social initiatives.

He explains that the nonprofit brings together art, design, craft, music, food, and research, demonstrating how creativity can strengthen community agency and cultural resilience in places where infrastructure is fragile.

“It demonstrates how creativity can sustain dignity, livelihoods and social cohesion when conventional institutions are under strain,” he adds.

THE STRUGGLE TO SUCCESS

As creatively driven organizations work to scale, Sanneh explains how they can grow without losing their cultural identity.

“The key is rethinking what scale and impact mean in the first place, as scale should be modular, not extractive. Growth should not be about uniform replication or sheer size, but about amplifying meaningful influence.”

He notes that creative organizations thrive when they protect their values, decentralize decision-making, and treat culture with the same rigor and importance as strategy.

“The goal is coherence and authenticity, not conformity, promoting local expression, experimentation, and adaptability while staying anchored to a shared purpose and ethical compass.”

When it comes to creative organizations in the region, they thrive by offering creative solutions that address complex realities, rooted in culture and community. “These regions often leapfrog outdated systems, creating approaches that are relational, resourceful, and deeply human, driven not by disruption for its own sake, but by dignity, opportunity, and resilient collective progress.” 

WHAT THE FUTURE ENTAILS

Sanneh emphasizes the importance of belonging within organizations, arguing that performance is rooted in meaning. In a time marked by fragmentation and burnout, he says, a genuine sense of belonging fosters trust, motivation, and resilience.

“Organizations that cultivate genuine belonging unlock creativity not merely through transactional incentives, but through shared purpose, psychological safety, and the sense that one’s contribution truly matters.”

He reflects on what success could look like if creativity were treated as a driver of transformation. “Success would mean creativity is not seen as a ‘soft’ add-on, but as core infrastructure, funded, trusted, and integral.”

In this vision, creativity would shape how policies are designed and how societies function, grounded in care and human connection. Cities, companies, and institutions would approach problem-solving with imagination and empathy, embedding collaboration at the heart of social and economic life.