Articles by Tom Adams
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Friday
September 27
2013Scaling Impact Investing: Are there lessons from aid?
Will the impact investing sector ever be big enough to make a dent in the social problems it is trying to address? And what’s the best path to better financial returns and positive social or environmental impact? Acumen’s Head of Impact Tom Adams draws parallels to the history of development aid to ask how impact investing can truly scale.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment
- Tags
- impact investing, scale
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Tuesday
June 25
2013Measure for Measure: Is the phrase ‘Base of the Pyramid’ off base?
Today we’re launching a new series of posts, Measure for Measure, which focuses on trends, tools and viewpoints in impact measurement. In the series launch, Acumen’s Head of Impact Tom Adams thinks we need a new way to measure poverty, beyond the "BoP" catch-all.
- Categories
- Education, Impact Assessment
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Monday
April 15
2013NexThought Monday – Want to Scale Impact? Be Wary of Hard and Fast Conclusions: We know a lot, but there is much more to learn
Just because financial goals are good for long-term sustainability does not mean the converse holds i.e. that prioritizing social goals will undermine impact. The conclusion that I have most difficultly with is that “those who prioritized financial goals over social goals were much more likely to experience high rates of growth and have greater social impact.” It is a pretty bullish ‘and.’ The whole question hinges on one’s definition of impact.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment
- Tags
- scale
