Mobilizing impact through thought leadership.
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BRIDGESPAN
Opportunities for Impact Investing to Champion Reproductive Care After Dobbs
Since the Dobbs ruling, private investors and philanthropic organizations have stepped up their pursuit of mission-driven impact investments in reproductive care enterprises, especially those serving systemically underserved individuals and communities. This research identifies opportunities for timely impact investments in the reproductive field as a complement to existing philanthropic funding, including nine areas to invest in new or existing reproductive health enterprises, grouped into five categories based on their stated goals.
BUSINESS INSIDER
Pandemic Recovery Should Be Equitable for Low-Income, Minority People
Life after COVID-19 and the recent uprisings demand new thinking from our government, philanthropy and our largest institutions to flatten the inequity curve in the subsequent recovery. Without it, we will be left with the same debilitating disparities and despair we are seeing today. Wholesale change, like social distancing to reduce coronavirus spread, ultimately requires many people to change the way they navigate daily life. Making these changes, or wide-spread social innovations, isn't just about replicating a particular solution by itself: it involves policy change, awareness building, and coordination.
STANFORD SOCIAL INNOVATION REVIEW
Building a Trust-Based Philanthropy to Shift Power Back to Communities
Philanthropy has committed billions to meet the urgent needs unearthed by the global pandemic and demands for racial justice. But deploying more money may address deep-seated inequities only at the surface. We need to correct them at their root: philanthropy, like other public and private institutions, needs to reckon with its own power and the imbalances it creates with the very people it strives to serve. To realize this required systemic change, philanthropy must reorganize to build and demonstrate a trust-based culture, invest in community leadership capacity-building, and open up decision-making and information-sharing structures.
BEECK CENTER FOR SOCIAL IMPACT + INNOVATION
Hard-wiring Corporate Purpose in the Age of COVID-19
Real commitments to positive social impact are taking center stage as leaders know publicity ploys alone will not attract customers, and certainly won’t keep existing employees or their supplier base safe and healthy. COVID-19 is a litmus test for corporate leaders to think beyond maximizing profit and instead reimagine their relationships with workers, communities, and natural systems. Reimagining will require hard-wiring and building impact into their DNA, not just tinkering on the edges of CSR or marketing.
STANFORD SOCIAL INNOVATION REVIEW
Is the Venture Model Leading Us Astray When it Comes to Social Impact?
People too often conflate scaling impact with scaling enterprises. When we evaluate social ventures, why would we port over the Silicon Valley venture capital lens which incentivizes bigger, better, faster when positive impact may not always have this intent. What if the pitch format used different judging criteria to promote scaling the venture and the impact itself? Here are six must-ask questions to drive impact at scale for judges of social enterprise pitch competitions.
BEECK CENTER FOR SOCIAL IMPACT + INNOVATION
Corporate Social Impact: An Analysis of the Movement
As public trust of business and markets wanes, everyone must play a critical role in reforming the system so that it delivers prosperity for the many, rather than the few. The Beeck Center has been observing trends in the corporate social impact (CSI) space as mainstream rhetoric has shifted from a shareholder to stakeholder-centric view of capitalism. The question remains, where does the CSI movement stand and where do we go from here? The Center links grassroot and institutional efforts poised for action, and puts our energy toward the messy work that can accelerate and sustain the CSI movement.
Fortune
Why Every Entrepreneur Should Want To Save the World
Today’s business landscape is changing. Consumers, employees, regulators and investors have a growing expectation for the role that companies should play in society. In this environment, social impact is becoming an asset for companies to differentiate and find new growth opportunities. Big business and new start-ups alike will need to adapt accordingly and consider the most appropriate, most authentic model to compete with their Born Social rivals.
Deloitte
Four archetypes to drive corporate growth through social impact
Social impact has evolved from a pure PR play to an important part of corporate strategy. In our recent study, we identify the four social impact archetypes companies typically fall into from "shareholder maximizer" to "social innovator." Where do you fall?
Deloitte University Press
The purpose-driven professional: Harnessing the power of corporate social impact for talent development
As employees increasingly look for meaning and social impact in their corporate jobs, companies are seeking—and finding—ways to link talent development and rewarding, purpose-driven work, for both employee engagement and competitive advantage.
Deloitte & World Humanitarian summit
The Humanitarian R&D Imperative: How other sectors overcame impediments to innovation
Innovation, and R&D as a driver for innovation, could potentially have a significant impact on the humanitarian sector. But there are concerns that key impediments will prevent the sector from realizing the impact of R&D. While these are valid concerns, other sectors face similar bottlenecks and still achieve significant impact. More R&D investment in the humanitarian sector should yield results—as long as it is accompanied by investment in the critical success factors.
Read Report → | Read about Promoting Innovation Exchanges →
Other Publications
SoC ent city*
Social Enterprise Ecosystems in the U.S.| Year 2
We conducted a national study among over 400 social entrepreneurs who helped us identify four pillars of successful social enterprise ecosystems. See the city rankings to engage with unique "Sparks" of inspiration for your city. Which city is best for your social enterprise? Read Executive Summary → | Read Sparks →
Wall Street Journal*
The Roadmap Toward Effective Strategic Social Partnerships
Many multinational organizations have realized that creating positive social impact is not necessarily an act of charity; it also helps improve the bottom line. This has led to a move from philanthropy-oriented social responsibility programs to closer-to-the-core initiatives—or strategic social partnerships (SSPs)—in which the impact on return on assets (ROA) and return on investment (ROI) are recognized and recorded. Read More →
Deloitte
Bringing the vision care crisis into focus: Accurately sizing the issue to maximize impact
Every day around the world, untreated vision problems have ripple effects on health, human dignity, education, and livelihoods that are difficult to measure. Now we can measure the size of the problem: In a joint effort aimed at helping align resources around this intractable issue, Deloitte and OneSight found that economic, physical, and cultural barriers prevent 1.1 billion people—1 in 7—from receiving treatment as basic as prescription eyewear or quality sunglasses. Read More →
deloitte university press*
Partnerships for the Future: Redefine public/private cooperation
The growing complexity of social and economic challenges is driving new, innovative forms of collaboration between governments and businesses. There is a sense that these problems are increasingly complex, requiring new responses. Faced with mounting pressure to resolve these complex challenges, government is introducing regulations to prevent future crises, and seeking innovation to execute its mission more effectively with fewer resources. In spite of these actions, there is an increasing recognition from government that it cannot solve these challenges alone. Read More →
Acumen Blog
Finding purpose through courage
Courage in unlikely places. My pathway to Acumen and the impact investing space is a bit circuitous, but is inspired by the courage that I met in quite unlikely places. It took traveling to Assis, Brazil, for my heart to be arrested. Read More →
endeavor Blog: Field Report
In Egypt, change is in the air
As I disembarked the aircraft in Cairo, I was not fully prepared for the mix of excitement and frenzy that would take place over the next few weeks. I arrived at the peak of Egypt’s runoff elections – an historic time for Egyptians and a culmination of the infamous 18-day revolution that ousted former President Hosni Mubarak last February. For the first time in history, Egyptians would usher in a democratically-elected president. Read More →
endeavor Blog: Field Report
Research and teamwork in Egypt
The feedback session with the uFollow team was a great way for me to meet my colleagues and has resulted in some great friendships and bonds. The team was eager to try Chinese food, so I treated them to a Chinese feast the day before Ramadan started for everyone to try. For many, it was their first foray into Chinese food and eating with chopsticks – yes, we had lessons prior to eating! Read More →
*Collaborative effort