If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
The UK government planted the Union Jack squarely at the center of social impact investing at the dedicated G8 meeting June 6 - hosted by Prime Minist...
But who will pay? Building these skills is neither easy nor cheap. And investors are certainly not lining up to lose money (despite the tremendous social impacts on offer), let alone to "get real", in West's words, and take significant risks with large sums rather than drip-feeding capital through smaller, short-term investments, and at a distance.
India and South America house immense innovation that can, and should, be centers of gravity for impact investing -- and a source of socially impactful innovation for the rest of the world. We eagerly anticipate the leadership of these two regions on the global stage.
All businesses should have an element of social enterprise and all social enterprises should not ignore the most important lessons from successful commercial businesses.
It is time to clarify precisely what we mean by investing with the intent to create social and environmental impacts, and measuring our progress.
Imagine if failure was embraced and organizations could openly speak about the attempts at new programs and campaigns that didn't work. Even better, imagine if donors, funders and supporters rewarded the failure with more money to try again.
While it may be harder to believe in people's potential, I believe the return on the investment will be worth it.
Picture a Detroit full of small mistakes. What if, as an existing or would-be community developer, I could be inspired and informed on an issue that affects me and my fellow citizens?
I hope that in three years, I'll be able to tell the same story about Tonee as I do Jen -- and see 25,000 kids in slum areas in Kenya using tablet computers. Yet we've got miles to go before we sleep.
What follows is a possible set of considerations per industry that, if followed by investors, might move investment values closer to our underlying human values. Check it out as an overlay on your investments and see if it jives or not.
I believe those investing in the durability of communities can learn from the advent of App Stores. The most cost-efficient and effective solutions will rise up where constraints exists and creativity thrives.
We are excited about the increased interest in Impact Investing on the part of investors. But in order for this burgeoning sector to continue to be successful we need to ensure that we are working together to support the development of the entire ecosystem.
Global poverty has, in fact, declined dramatically over the past 50 years, proof that this is not an intractable problem. Income inequalities may always exist, but extreme poverty need not always be with us.
Against a backdrop of rising income and wealth inequalities, high volatility in commercial capital markets and a growing sense that "business as usual" is neither sustainable nor desirable, it should perhaps not be surprising that impact investing has gained such traction.
Today, the impact investing industry is at an inflection point, especially as the recent global financial crisis made more apparent than ever that traditional government and philanthropic funding cannot keep pace with the scope of our current global challenges.
Impact investing is not for the faint of heart. The practice is unconventional and unpredictable. It requires key actors to step outside their comfort zones, in underdeveloped markets.
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