INTERVIEW: Putting a price tag on a company’s social and environmental impact is the only way to demonstrate its true profit and loss, believes Sir Ronald Cohen, who is now focusing on driving forward the next accounting revolution.
INTERVIEW: Founded in 1990s eastern Europe, NESsT is still helping high-impact organisations to grow, and not rely on grants. We hear how it makes extra efforts to track its own impact – and how a new fund is tackling LGBTQIA+ discrimination.
Following record investments in 2021, deals are lower this year, Dealroom’s Impact Database reveals this week. Yet impact startups remain collectively valued at more than US$2tn and “impact unicorns” have reached 200.
INTERVIEW: As B Lab leads a "substantial revisit" of the criteria for companies seeking B Corp status, we ask the man who oversees these standards what will change – and if recent criticism of B Corp certifications is justified.
Company directors’ reliance on international accounting standards means sustainability issues are currently reported separately, if at all. But there are steps they can take to better meet their legal responsibilities, says our columnist.
The Adebowale Commission was a timely challenge to UK social investors. But to provide more enterprise-centric finance we need answers to some important questions, says the Social Investment Forum chair.
PLUS: Willicroft targets new markets with €2m raise; UK’s CDFI lending jumps by a third in one year; appetite for impact investing rises; Lendahand crowdfunding platform shifts gear; and much more.
IMPACT 101: Bewildered by buzzwords? Drowning in jargon? Our experts help you get back to basics on impact economy concepts. This month, Michael Gibson from the Government Outcomes Lab has the lowdown on outcomes funds.
Young people increasingly want meaningful careers, while the impact “sector” is growing at scale. How to connect the two? At ChangeNOW, three organisations explain how they connect purpose-driven job seekers with work “that makes sense”.
Boss of communications giant Edelman tells social innovators of Catalyst 2030 that civil society organisations have done a “poor job of positioning themselves” and rely on outdated PR methods – insufficient in an age of distrust.
Visa’s philanthropic arm to become anchor investor in the Beacon Fund, which invests in underserved, women-led small businesses in South East Asia and aims to grow to US$100m by next year.
The doughnut economics creator says too many impact startups are turned into mainstream companies under pressure of venture capital investors – we report from the ChangeNOW conference in Paris last week.
Impact investors must show ‘humility’ as market still highly dependent on those seeking below-market rate returns, says European Investment Fund’s Cyril Gouiffes. We report from day one of the ChangeNOW conference in Paris.
Social enterprises are perfectly placed to nurture the rich connections that emerge when people work together for shared benefit – creating this ‘social wealth’ should be embedded within every social enterprise, argues author Freer Spreckley.
