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

The October 8, 2018 IPCC Special Report on Global Warming states that“limiting global warming to 1.5ºC would require rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society,” necessitating significant systems change in the private (business), public (government), and social (non-profit) sectors. As emphasized in the Impact Entrepreneur Center/Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors September 2018 Report, Philanthropy Transforming Finance: Building an Impact Economy, there is a clear mandate to move “beyond incremental change to real transformation,” to the building of a new “impact economy” that is regenerative, resilient and circular, and which is distinguished by a business sector anchored to the triple bottom line.

Philanthropies and individual philanthropists can and should play a central role in building an impact economy, at the local/regional, national or global scales, according to the scale of their resources and scope of their charitable mandate. However, only a small number of foundations spend more than their legal minimum of 5% of assets each year on advancing their social missions, and individual philanthropists are generally not aware that they can make use of donor advised funds and other instruments to seed impact businesses. This needs to change.

This virtual fireside chat between Clara Miller, one of the pioneering figures in impact philanthropy, and Impact Entrepreneur’s Laurie Lane-Zucker, will address philanthropy’s shifting role in society, and the ways in which foundations and philanthropists can most effectively address the epochal challenges described in the IPCC Special Report and its urgent, 10-year timeline for transformational change, and contribute to the building of an impact economy.

Topic areas will include:

• Philanthropy’s historical roots
• Impediments to philanthropic engagement in impact economy building
• Successful philanthropic strategies in impact economy building
• Steps to achieving “all in” — 100% of assets aligned with furthering social mission
• Integrated finance strategies (blending philanthropic, government and private capital)
• Philanthropy and the early stage (seed to growth) impact entrepreneur