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

Every year, the SEEP Annual Conference convenes hundreds of inclusive development leaders from around the world to inquire, debate and learn.

This flagship event offers a platform for attendees to share experiences of common challenges and collectively explore opportunities for greater impact. The conference has been held for more than 20 consecutive years, each year focusing on a different theme. The 2017 Conference, Catalyzing Transformative Change, welcomed 400 thinkers and doers from 52 countries representing 155 organizations from a cross-section of academic, research, international development, government and private sector.

The 2018 Conference, Collaboration for Impact, is taking place at the Renaissance Arlington Capital View Hotel, Arlington, Virginia, USA on October 1-3. Member Day on October 1 kicks off the SEEP Annual General Meeting, followed by lunch discussions highlighting three exciting SEEP programs: mainstreaming the Minimum Economic Recovery Standards, the Responsible Finance through Local Leadership and Learning Initiative and the Savings Groups Evidence & Learning Initiative. The afternoon is devoted to highly interactive annual meetings of the Markets in Crisis community of practice, the Savings-led Working Group and the Women’s Economic Empowerment Working Group. The conference days – October 2 and 3 – feature energizing Plenaries with industry experts, 25 member-led Peer Learning Sessions, 4 donor-sponsored Lunch Dialogues and the third edition of the much-acclaimed SEEP Fail Fest.

Each year, the ANDE Annual Conference is the largest gathering of ANDE members from around the globe. The event is targeted at senior-level executives of ANDE member organizations, including leading investors, capacity development providers, foundations, banks, corporations, DFIs and research institutions. The highly interactive agenda features workshops on solutions to common challenges, networking sessions, and plenaries with leading thinkers in the SGB space.

Co-hosted by the Poland-based Microfinance Centre (MFC) and the Belgium-based European Microfinance Network (EMN), this event’s theme for 2018 is “People and the Digital Revolution: Advancing Our Social Mission through Technology.” Although the agenda of conference is still in development, it will include subjects such as Capitalising on Big Data for Financial Inclusion, MFI (Microfinance Institution) Partnerships with Fintech, Innovative Risk Management Including Alternative Risk Management Tools, and Microfinance Clients’ Financial Health and Ways to Measure It. The event will also include the presentation of the 11th Microfinance Research Award, offering a prize of EUR 1,000 (USD 1,157) to authors on topics such as digitalization in the microfinance sector, job creation, social entrepreneurship or social investment performance measurement.

Background on Organizer: MFC is a network of 111 MFIs operating in 36 countries that aims to promote a socially oriented and sustainable microfinance sector. Its services include knowledge management, policy advocacy, technical assistance, and research and development. As of December 2016, MFC’s member MFIs serve approximately 1.5 million customers.

EMN aims to bring together microfinance practitioners and other industry stakeholders in Europe with the purpose of promoting best practices in microfinance, self-employment and microenterprise development. It also seeks to improve the regulatory framework for microfinance at the EU and member-state levels. The NGO disseminates its information via webinars, conferences, peer-to-peer visits and publications. As of 2018, EMN has 112 members and partners located in 25 European countries.

The goal of this conference is to consider how to create “impact economies” as part of “a unified vision for the development of impact investing ecosystems across the world.” While the agenda has not been released, the participant list includes Ratan N Tata – the former CEO of Tata Group, an India-based conglomerate valued at approximately USD 126 billion – and Sir Ronald Cohen – the Chairman of the Global Steering Group for Impact Investment (GSG) and the founder of Apax Capital, a British venture capital firm worth approximately USD 51 billion.

Background on Organizers: GSG is a network of 19 member nations plus the EU. The organization traces its roots to the Social Impact Investment Task Force, which was established in 2013 by Sir Ronald Cohen and UK Prime Minister David Cameron. Its mission is to bring together leaders of government, business and philanthropy to catalyze impact investing – investing in which societal impact is as important as financial returns – and social entrepreneurship – the use of profit incentives to solve cultural, social and environmental issues.

On October 10-11, 2018, PYXERA Global will convene an invite-only forum focusing on four specific solvable problems. Leaders and experts from across sectors will come together for two days of intensive collaboration to move the Global Goals from aspiration to achievement.

This is not your average conference. Participants are expected to engage in intensive collaboration for the entire two-day event, sharing their own unique understanding, expertise, and approaches through a series of interactive work sessions aligned to a specific issue track.Through this facilitated collaboration, the event aims to drive insight and inspiration to catalyze scalable solutions.

The Opportunity Collaboration is a global network of leaders dedicated to building sustainable solutions to poverty and injustice. We convene two 4-day collaborative summits, one in the United States and one in Mexico. Both are all-inclusive and uniquely designed to help you forge alliances and advance your organization’s social impact initiatives.

The entire purpose of the Opportunity Collaboration is to connect you with new people and new ideas. Come prepared to share best practices, illuminate partnership opportunities or reveal a current passion or innovative idea. Engage your fellow Delegates with your mission.

Together with HEC Business School and Ashoka, we are holding an Executive Education Program on inclusive business and value creation that provides a unique and comprehensive package to prepare corporate executives in charge of designing, launching or scaling inclusive business projects. Designed for corporate executives, it also welcomes social entrepreneurs, executives from large NGOs, international aid agencies and impact investors. Its format is based on experiential learning and immersion, cutting-edge academic content, insights from pioneers in the field and peer-to-peer learning, condensed into an intensive 3.5 day session held in English.

This training is NOT about how to raise money in the Silicon Valley style where your investors will expect you to grow as fast as possible at any cost so that the company can be acquired in 5-7 years and the investors make a killing. We will not waste your time teaching you how to make yourself more appealing to this kind of investor! Why? Because in our opinion, that model is wrong for 99.9% of businesses – especially woman-owned mission-driven businesses.

This training event IS about designing a capital raising strategy customized to your unique situation, values, structure, and goals. Our approach works for companies at any stage and in any industry.

Fund and Fuel Your Dreams is a 3-day intensive event where you will get hands-on, expert training on how to raise money for your business. You will leave with a step-by-step plan and resources to move the plan forward. At the event there will be opportunities for support from experts on messaging, your financials, and more. This is also a place to connect with like-minded mission-driven, heart-centered women entrepreneurs in a supportive fun environment! You’ll even have an opportunity to hear from socially conscious investors who are especially interested in women-led businesses!