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 This argument is outdated, says GSG Impact chair Nick Hurd.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.
PLUS: Resonance makes raft of SITR investments ahead of crunch time for relief scheme; first impact fund for French investment firm Founders Future; Dutch social impact bond repays investors; new Conduit EIS Impact Fund; and more.
Burnout, stress and long hours have become the norm for employees, but social businesses can do it differently, writes Year Here fellow Emily Horton – who has seen first-hand that prioritising workers’ wellbeing is entirely possible.
The Westminster government's minister for civil society says she draws energy from learning new things, but is her brief simply too wide for social enterprises to get the ministerial attention they crave?
Crunching the numbers from social sector organisations that have closed could help others to predict and prevent financial fragility. From salary spend to income type, financial benchmarking specialist MyCake suggests key questions to explore.
Coverage of companies’ sustainability performance is increasing, creating increasing pressure on corporates to meet ESG standards. Can the power of the press be a catalyst for change? How can it help the move towards stakeholder capitalism?
PLUS: A first crowdfunded impact bond Israel and a new ‘career impact bond’ for American students; MacArthur Foundation’s catalytic capital investment; new climate fund from Aberdeen Standard and Big Issue Group, and more.
The threat of misinformation is being felt across the world. But, from Turkey to Ghana to Northern Ireland, entrepreneurs are finding novel ways to help the truth spread faster than lies.
Impact measurement is not only challenging – it can also be a distraction from what really matters, argues our columnist, who draws on conversations with some of the women critiquing and reimagining this burgeoning industry.
Impact reports deserve more than the usual platitudes and a superficial glance – but without broad agreement on what makes good quality impact measurement, it’s impossible to learn from each other’s work. Time for a new starting point?