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Viewpoint: Impact Investors are not Funding the Patagonias of Tomorrow—and That’s a Problem
By creating a sense of shared identity, a “cool factor,” and sensitizing parka buyers to technocratic topics like supply chain transparency, Patagonia has transformed the conversation around environmentalism and made it a defining part of many people’s identity. That shift is incredibly hard to quantify and to value in dollars and cents .
- Categories
- Environment, Investing
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Still White, Still Male: New Report Quantifies Impact Investing’s Diversity Problem
As interest and investments have grown, it’s time for an honest conversation about whether impact investing is perpetuating the inequalities it seeks to address, says Bonnie Chiu, managing director of the Social Investment Consultancy. She shares highlights from a new report that illuminates the challenges faced by women, ethnic minorities and others trying to break into leadership positions in the U.K.’s impact investing sector – and explores the broader implications of this research for the global industry.
- Categories
- Investing
- Tags
- impact investing, research
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The Rise Fund Spin-Off Marks Growth of Impact Investing
“A lot of what happens with impact investing and philanthropy is people measure afterward,” says Chris Addy, a partner at Bridgespan. The IMM is a metric “to quantitatively account for” social or environmental impact before an investment is made, he says, “with a goal being, you can actually look at hard numbers.”
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Investing
- Tags
- ESG, impact investing
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Viewpoint: Misaligned Hiring Priorities Risk Taking The Impact Out Of Impact Investing
There is a risk, however, that the ‘impact’ part of impact investing becomes diluted if the teams behind these funds - whether launched by corporates or established venture investment firms - lack the necessary expertise in creating social change. This is a very real possibility - in researching the hiring preferences of impact investment funds to help students identify routes to careers in the sector, my Stanford GSB colleague Bernadette Clavier and I found that hiring managers don’t value expertise and experience in social change as highly as they should in their decision-making.
- Categories
- Investing
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How to Help Social Enterprises Scale: New Research Suggests it’s Not Just About Financial Capital
For businesses that need to scale, human capital support can provide long-lasting benefits. But Mark Horoszowski, co-founder and CEO at MovingWorlds.org, says that in spite of the value of investing in the people behind the enterprises, initiatives for capacity building, coaching and consulting largely go underfunded. Horoszowski explores findings from a first-of-its-kind report that show the power of human capital, and discusses three paths for building talent in the sector.
- Categories
- Investing, Social Enterprise
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Press release: Women Can Use Impact Investing to Change Capital Markets for the Better, Says New Campaign
“Invest for Better aims to make it easier for women to take action and invest with purpose by addressing their need for information, inspiration, community, and support,” Remmer says. “Even joining the conversation at #investforbetter will connect women to others who are now ramping up or already leading the way.”
- Categories
- Investing
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Bono’s new venture takes aim at ‘fuzzy thinking’ in impact investing
The new company, Y Analytics, aims to bridge the gap between researchers and investors “to help decision-makers evaluate impact”, said a statement released on Wednesday.
- Categories
- Investing
- Tags
- impact investing
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Open the Spigot: The Way We Think About Impact Investing is Too Narrow
You hear about it all the time in impact investing reports, articles and blogs: The lack of deal flow. But Tanner Taddeo of ChangeSquare believes the industry's challenge isn't a lack of investible companies, but rather the industry’s narrow definition of impact and how it "blinds" investors to companies that are creating impact in other industries and geographies. Taking a more holistic, rather than plug-and-play approach, will contribute to a broadening definition of impact and subsequently open the spigot for deals, he argues.
- Categories
- Investing
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