Impact conferences are an opportunity to discover perspectives from around the world. This month, Pioneers Post was in India and Brazil to bring you the latest on the conversations that matter for social entrepreneurs and impact investors.
Autocracy is on the rise worldwide, and impact investors seem reluctant to step in. But large-scale transformations to health, education or the environment need a strong democratic base, the Latimpacto event heard last week.
Social Enterprise World Forum’s Social Investment Manifesto calls for a reframing of social investment, as social enterprises remain excluded from investment opportunities in a market still split between profit maximisation and philanthropy.
Powerful stories of the fight for a safe place to learn find a global audience in New York and beyond, as Theirworld’s annual youth-led newspaper is launched on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
Thirteen representatives of impact investors, local government, asset managers and institutional investors will advise the Treasury on the development of a new social impact investing vehicle – but no social entrepreneurs are included.
This week: impact investors unite against US foreign aid freeze; sustainability gets lukewarm embrace at Paris AI summit; concerns raised about UK government’s social investment advisory group members; and more.
The EU’s position as a leader in building sustainable economies is at risk, warn impact leaders, as complex sustainability laws are threatened by the bloc’s drive to become more competitive.
Women entrepreneurs still struggle to raise capital, and it is because of systemic gender bias, says Marta Zaccagnini. Her experience with impact-focused founders proves that women have enormous untapped potential.
USAID's near-shutdown is a reminder of the importance of catalytic capital in impact investing – and also of the question of whether access to cheaper money is necessary for impact investing to really work.
This week: the financial fragility of Black-led social enterprises and charities in London, a bonanza of multiyear grant funding for creative enterprises in Scotland and a bumper harvest of payouts for employee-owned veg box firm Riverford.
As Donald Trump pulls the plug on the world’s largest aid donor, the impact investing community warns the existing funding gap to meet the SDGs will widen by billions of dollars. But is China now poised to step forward?
Yes, blended finance has its flaws, but Mariana Mazzucato’s critical UN briefing creates a misleading narrative around its role, says Joan Larrea of Convergence. The approach’s real promise is not as a gap-filler, but a market enabler.
Can the DEI agenda survive Trump's attack? Davos's diversity problem and fund managers feel ‘squeezed’ by Better Society Capital. This week’s view from the Pioneers Post newsroom.
