We-Ness AB was founded by David Wiking mid-2019. Its mission is to help companies and other organisations becoming more successful by adopting more sustainable business models – and aligning company processes and values with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Since its inception We-ness has, among other things, helped companies and organisations with:
- Developing and improving sustainable business strategies
- Inspirational lectures and sustainability/leadership coaching
- Materiality analysis
- Footprint assessments, evaluations
- Reporting and learning
About David Wiking
Prior to forming We-ness David Wiking worked with different aspects of sustainable development for over two decades. He has worked in Sweden, Southern- and East Africa as well as in Central Asia, both as an advisor, as a manager and leader. He is known to be results- and solution-oriented and a firm believer in the power emanating from merging good efficient management solutions with a higher purpose. He has worked on shared value projects, with human rights and democracy, with education, knowledge and learning, with digitalisation for development, with diplomacy, negotiations and with trade promotion. He has led many different teams, including teams of other managers. He has also sat on Boards and committees in primarily multilateral forums. In his last position he was an Assistant Director General at the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida).
Currently David sits on the Board of Hand in Hand (Sweden) and the Better Governance Project.
Among his achievements David has:
-Helped a number of companies to understand their footprint and what matters to them – as well as to work on their business models
-Developed tools for and successfully managed to implement human rights and social aspects into e.g. infrastructure and agricultural projects
-Led a highly successful project aimed at stimulating a public and a policy discussion around a fundamental sustainability challenge
-Been part of the board and the establishment of what is now the Global Partnership for Education – the world’s largest fund for making schooling accessible to all (then a World Bank led project with members from major OECD countries, all concerned UN Agencies etc.). David was instrumental in the development of the management structure
-Been responsible for the development and the launch of a process and an IT-system for prioritising and managing developments projects. The system houses all Sida projects with an annual net worth of about 2 billion USD.
-Been responsible for the team and the decisions establishing the award winning “Beyond the Grid Fund for Zambia”, a social procurement impact fund that is about to have enabled 1 million Zambians access to clean energy.
-Led investigation(s) on how rules and regulations could be simplified within a large to medium sized Swedish government agency.
