Leading voices from UK social enterprise, co-operatives and social investment have raised concerns over a “landmark” definition of the ‘impact economy’ that risks alienating a number of impactful organisations.
Impact Europe today revealed the name of its new chief: Angela Wiebeck, praised for “building bridges” between mainstream finance and impact over her two decades at UBS and Aquila Capital. She speaks to Pioneers Post from Brussels.
OPINION: There’s a message blowing across the Atlantic that the business of investment is to maximise return, and considering people and planet is woke nonsense. This argument is outdated, says GSG Impact chair Nick Hurd.
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.
ACF, School for Social Entrepreneurs and Access Foundation set up taskforce to boost earned income through grants – billed “the missing piece in the finance jigsaw” – by building on success of match trading.
Social Value International adds explicit requirement to ‘be responsive’ – as too few organisations have reached the stage of managing, not just measuring, their impact.
The B Corp idea disrupted entrenched narratives in business. But certification of companies like Nespresso shows that it must now evolve to embrace newer, bolder ideas in business – or risk being adapted to the needs of the “old economy”.
PLUS: EdTech Provider APDS gains US$7m to 'transform the correctional system'; new report calls for US$6trn in impact investing improve urban slums; Wysa raises US$20m to expand AI-powered mental health services, and more.
New study by Global Steering Group for Impact Investment calls for a change in viewpoint from seeing slums and their inhabitants as a problem and instead acknowledging the potential to transform urban liabilities into assets.
When organisations select their preferred impact metrics in isolation from others, it wastes time and makes it difficult to compare results with others. A promising solution: indices.
The UK social enterprise is facing allegations of unethical behaviour after increasing fees for property guardians. We explore what happened when tensions stretched between market constraints and stakeholders’ expectations.
Around £738m is up for grabs in England as government reviews Dormant Assets Scheme's current priorities of social investment, financial inclusion and youth.