The empowerment as well as welfare impact of the implementation of the Feminisation of Poverty Alleviation Program (PFK Program) on its beneficiaries – the underprivileged Female Household Heads (KRTPs)- in East Java, can be considered as range from low to moderate. In this, there is a need for furthering the empowerment impact of the program, which can be done, amongst other, through the adoption a social business model, namely Business Model Canvas (BMC). This study aims to examine key partners’ role in supporting the adoption of Business Model Canvas (BMC) elements for a government-initiated entrepreneurship program at the grass-roots level. The study employs qualitative case study research using observation, document analysis and interviews with 98 key partners in four districts (Banyuwangi, Lamongan, Nganjuk, and Trenggalek). The key partners are divided into three categories, namely local governments, KRTPs, and local institutions/communities. The study finds that to further the empowerment impact of the PFK Program, Trenggalek is the readiest among the four districts, followed by Nganjuk, Lamongan, and Banyuwangi, to adopt Business Model Canvas (BMC). It is further argued that the application of Business Model Canvas (BMC) can contributed to an adequate description of key partners’ readiness to support the program by establishing the customer segments, value propositions, channels, revenue streams, customer relationships, key resources, and managing the cost structure that accelerate the role of key partners in moving towards social entrepreneurship.

COVID‐19 has revealed the policy capacity of some governance institutions, both resilience and vulnerability. Hence, this circumstance has demanded public administration scholars and practitioners to rethink the existing governance practices, particularly in making effective crisis‐related policies. This paper reviewed primary and secondary studies exploring the application of policy capacity competencies in facilitating COVID‐19 handling in Asia. In achieving so, we did a systematic literature review of relevant studies published between January and October 2020. Applying the agreed search term to several databases, we found 2541 studies, while merely 30 were included for review. Findings from the studies are predominantly closely linked to operational capacity ( n = 21). Other studies are related to political and analytical capacity ( n = 14 and 7, retrospectively). We found that there are some dilemmas and inadequacy of understanding concerning the role of features in certain capacities (such as technology use versus individual privacy, the paradox of trust and legitimacy, or centralisation versus decentralisation), particularly in the time of crisis, which is a calling for future research.