The Impact World This Week: 5 June 2025

Global: Impact leaders including Michael Sheen and Darren Walker were recognised in this year’s TIME100 Philanthropy list of the most influential people in the world of giving. Sheen, who refers to himself as a ‘not-for-profit  actor’ using much of his income to fund social projects, is also a Social Enterprise UK patron. Walker pioneered impact investing at the Ford Foundation. Other impact investing and social enterprise trailblazers on the list included: John Palfrey, the president of John D and Catherine T MacArthur Foundation, Pam and Pierre Omidyar, the founders of the Omidyar Network, and social entrepreneur Badr Jafar, who co-founded the Arab World Social Entrepreneurship Programme with Ashoka.

Japan: The GIIN is launching a working group to build upon the “inspiring” momentum for impact investing in the country. The GIIN Japan Working Group, which is due to hold its first meeting this month, will bring together Japanese impact investing actors with global networks to exchange ideas and practices and “connect the world with Japan”. It will be chaired by Hiroyuki Nomura from life insurance company Japan Post Insurance Co., and Masahiro Kato from the Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corporation. The Japanese impact investing market has been growing fast in recent years, reaching ¥17.3tn (US$115.3bn) in 2024 – a 50% increase on 2023 figures, when impact investments in the country totalled ¥11.54tn.

Scotland: Scottish enterprises have a chance to shine as the 2025 Social Enterprise Awards Scotland open for submissions. The awards will recognise “outstanding organisations and individuals making a real difference in communities across Scotland” and span 11 categories, including Social Enterprise of the Year; Environmental Social Enterprise; Tech for Good; Social Enterprise Employee Champion and the new People’s Choice Award, which will be chosen by public vote from among all shortlisted finalists. With a new flexible and accessible application process – in which candidates can answer some questions via video if they wish – the organiser, Social Enterprise Scotland, hopes to “remove barriers and make space for even more voices to be heard”. Interested social enterprises can apply until 7 July.

UK: The number of community-owned businesses has risen by 70% in the past decade, according to Plunkett UK, a charity that supports community-owned businesses in rural areas. In its Impact Report 2025, Plunkett estimates that 2m people benefit from rural community businesses, which have a combined turnover of £166m. The report also finds that community-owned businesses have a survival rate of 99% over five years (compared with 39% for other forms of businesses).

Global: There were 9,402 B Corps around the world at the end of 2024, up from 8,051 the year before, employing more than 900,000 people, according to B Lab Global’s 2024 Annual Report published this week. The report shows that most of the workforce is focused in services (354,000 employees) and in manufacturing (248,000). The number of publicly-traded B Corps grew, from 65 in 2023 to 75 at the end of 2024. B Lab Global also reported being part of a number of initiatives beyond the certification, including a campaign for a new legal status for purpose-led businesses in Spain and the creation of a new country-level partner in Japan. A financial overview shows 90% of B Lab Global’s income came from certification fees and 9% from philanthropy.