NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

TBLI is the worlds leading authority on ESG and Impact Investing (investing 2.0) and has been educating and advising institutional investors for over 25 years. Our story is to make the financial system work for all. Explore investment opportunities and learn about latest trends in the ESG & Impact Investing!

What to expect?

▪ A carefully curated program addressing a diverse set of topics of interest for both ESG as well as Impact Investors.

▪ Networking opportunities with a diverse, high-quality audience ▪ TBLI Workshops on case studies, market analysis and lessons learned

▪ Interactive TBLI Masterclasses on opportunities, innovation and risks

▪ Entrepreneur Salons featuring pre-qualified entrepreneurs

▪ High-Level Plenary Sessions with experienced investors, social entrepreneurs, and Responsible Investment specialists

From a global pandemic to climate change to the urgency of achieving the SDGs, the coming decade is set to be one of the most important in human history. Join Impact.Engineered 2020 – A Virtual Event & Networking Experience – for inspirational keynotes, mindful conversations, celebration and networking to advance the role of engineering and technology in sustainable development.

Convene with our global network of pragmatic optimists including engineers, designers, entrepreneurs, investors, academics, and disruptors to explore their shared commitment to making a positive impact and figuring out how.

From organizations that have worked for many years to build infrastructure in emergency settings, to ventures on the journey to launch new hardware, Impact.Engineered celebrates innovators shaping the future of global development.

This is the decade of action! As various engineering disciplines quickly converge into an interdisciplinary field, IE offers a cross-society vehicle to recognize and amplify the engineering profession’s contribution to achieving SDGs.

COVID-19 has had, and continues to have, devastating impacts on the lives, livelihoods and learning of millions of people, particularly the most vulnerable. While efforts have rightly focused on mitigating the immediate impacts, we need to start thinking about efforts to recover and rebuild, because action taken now will have long-lasting effects on people’s well-being and resilience.

The pandemic has exacerbated deep inequalities and fragilities in the current system that have always been there. We as a community have the opportunity and the responsibility to act now to build a better future.

The Business Fights Poverty Virtual Summit Series builds on the success and experience of their recent online conferences, Business Fights Poverty Online 2020 and Business Fights Poverty NYC 2020, to dig deeper into a specific issue over the course of a day.

In partnership with CDC, The 2X Challenge, UN Women and CARE International, the next Business Fights Poverty Virtual Summit on 3 December will focus on gender.

Timed to coincide with the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence campaign, the first of three webinars will focus on the actions companies can take in response to the increase in gender-based violence witnessed during the COVID pandemic, including in the workplace; and consider the role of new international regulation in the form of the ILO’s Violence and Harassment Convention (C190).

Hosted in partnership with UN Women, Business Fights Poverty will hold a session on strengthening women’s economic empowerment, which will give you the chance to hear the voices of women entrepreneurs and learn about how you can get involved in UN Women initiatives to support gender equality and women’s economic empowerment in Europe and Central Asia.

A third webinar will focus on gender-lens investing. Despite the ever increasing business case for improved gender equality and diversity in the workplace, COVID-19 has set back progress, with widening gender pay gaps, job loss and increasing caring responsibilities for women. The case for gender-lens investing is therefore even more urgent. We will explore current thinking on the latest tools from CDC and 2X Challenge. Experts will share practical advice for investors and other businesses.

Participants will come away with fresh insights, new peer relationships and the opportunity to engage in collaborative action.

The Heads of the e-MFP Green Inclusive & Climate Smart Finance Action Group are pleased to invite you to this webinar on the long-term changes that COVID-19 will bring to the off-grid solar energy sector. They are confident the results of this research will be useful for the industry.

First webinar of a series – organised by the e-MFP’s Green Inclusive & Climate Smart Finance Action Group

Off-grid solar (OGS) energy is instrumental to achieve access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all (Sustainable Development Goal 7, SDG7). More than half of the progress made in the last decade towards SDG7 was owed to path-breaking OGS start-ups. The global crisis brought by the coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) can reduce OGS customers’ ability to pay, disrupt OGS value chains, and freeze capital flows into the sector. This study proposes a set of hypotheses on the long-term changes that COVID-19 will bring to the OGS sector. These hypotheses were discussed throughout 20 in-depth interviews with senior level representatives of key investors and OGS companies. The interview results reported in this paper are aimed at documenting the collective intelligence of these stakeholders, which may be instrumental in guiding the OGS sector to weather the COVID-19 crisis.

Invited speaker:
Catalina Martínez Gutiérrez, PhD
University of Geneva – Geneva Finance Research Institute

Moderator: Dr.-Ing. Natalia Realpe Carrillo, HEDERA – IASS

Time: 4:00 PM CET / 10:00 AM ET

VeriStell Institute and The Walrus are the first in the world to launch a global online forum about Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) and Corporate Purpose as the new business essentials.

A global societal shift has been set in motion by the events of 2020. It is redefining the contract between businesses and their communities—from simply “being responsible” to creating real social value. Irrespective of where you are located in the world or the size of your firm, the “purpose of the organization”—within the context of broader society—is rapidly undergoing the most important sea change of our time.

• Register now to join the conversation.

Competitive advantage is founded in trust, and trust is at an all-time low. Ignoring ESG and your Corporate Purpose can erode your brand image and jeopardize long-term competitiveness. Failure to leap is your biggest risk. Courageously daring to leap is your biggest opportunity. People expect business to not only drive shareholder value but to concurrently create social value. Pinpointing and addressing a pressing societal issue that leverages your corporate DNA will enable long-term competitive advantage.

Their global forum will explore the competitive benefits of “Daring to Leap” and illuminate the complexities, challenges, and opportunities of this new “making society sustainable” journey. They plan to highlight the global brands that are in the midst of making the leap—and to explore their key learnings.

They want to probe some of the following questions:

• What is the definition of Corporate Purpose?
• Does the strategic duo of “ESG and Corporate Purpose” enable a competitive advantage? Why? Can you have one without the other? Is there a new, additional currency at play—and what is the role of trust?
• Will new market forces push organizations to have a greater desire to add value to society? Do you think a government policy is needed to nudge firms in that direction or can firms get there with no regulatory intervention?
• What is the new leadership model for the sustainability frontier? How is the S in ESG different from Corporate Purpose? Can it be measured?
• Is investor power the real engine behind a governance shift post-2020—and will the rapid shift in capital allocation continue? Will cost of capital or availability of capital be the catalyst for change?

Together, we will share a clear definition and principles of Corporate Purpose (for small, medium, and large firms) and how ESG and Corporate Purpose stay cohesive. They will speak to what is happening on the cutting edge of sustainability and shine a spotlight on those global brands who are actually doing the work. Daring to Leap will tackle these questions on a global stage to spark conversations around the world.

Join Impact.Engineered 2020 – A Virtual Event & Networking Experience for inspirational keynotes, mindful conversations, celebration and networking to advance the role of engineering and technology in sustainable development. 

Their partners and sponsors have made it possible for participants to register for this event at no cost. Space is limited so register for FREE through December 1.

Join them as representatives of Fifth Third Bank and the National Urban League discuss their efforts to remove barriers to equity, and how Fifth Third is working to close the income gap through innovative financial empowerment tools to improve financial health for all.

Time: 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM CET