The four blind spots companies working on purpose uncover
Avoiding difficult conversations, blaming others for our own mistakes, or going it alone too afraid of asking for help. We know what are personal blind spots and why they hold us back — even if we pretend we don’t. Similarly, by business blind spots, I mean those beliefs that companies are not aware of having, […]
The Business Fights Poverty Fortnightly Round-Up
The team were delighted this week with the number of you – over 1,000 – who joined us for Business Fights Poverty Online 2020: Rebuild Better. This is the first time Business Fights Poverty has put together a full-week programme online, and our Founders Zahid and Yvette Torres-Rahman said afterwards that “the most special part […]
Experts from the Business Fights Poverty Network share insights and practical tips in our new “How-To” Videos and Seminars.
The videos were put together by experts from across our network, as part of Business Fights Poverty Online 2020: Rebuild Better, and we are immensely grateful to them for sharing their expertise. All the Seminars and “How-To” Videos can all be accessed via this link. . Our Seminars are around 15 to 20 minutes long, […]
COVID-19 & Inequality Test Corporate Purpose
Last year, CEOs from 181 publicly traded companies signed on to the Business Roundtable’s (BRT) updated Principles of Corporate Governance to redefine “the purpose of a corporation to promote an economy that serves all Americans.” Today, the planet is under siege from a pandemic that has resulted in the most profound economic calamity since the […]
VIDEO: How do I measure my company’s sustainability performance?
Clara Barby is the Chief Executive of Impact Management Project. Also, Clara is on secondment from Bridges Fund Management, where she led the firm’s impact strategy throughout the investment cycle and across all fund types. “Impact measurement is a very precise tool of measurement that is increasingly what companies want to do in order to […]
Seminar Video: What are the socio-economic impacts of COVID-19 on the most vulnerable?
Dr Dirk Willem te Velde is a Principal Research Fellow and Director for International Economic Development at the Overseas Development Institute. He is the Director of Supporting Economic Transformation and a Research Leader for the DFID-ESRC Growth Research Programme. This crisis is likely to be much worse, two to three times worse [than the […]
VIDEOS: How to report on your company’s purpose, Integrated Reporting, GRI, SASB and more
Professor Robert G. Eccles is Visiting Professor of Management Practice at University of Oxford’s Said Business School. He was previously a tenured Professor and Professor of Management Practice at Harvard Business School. Bob is the award-winning author of a dozen books, including seminal works on integrated reporting, sustainability, and the role of business in society. […]
Financing impact start-ups: two solutions, two challenges
Way back at the dawn of the Internet age, a shiny new thing transformed start-up finance. Until then, entrepreneurs relied on friends, neighbours and family for loans, ideas, market research, help with a variety of tasks and first customers. Now you can do all these things by talking directly to 4.6 billion people who are […]
COVID-19: A Proposal for a Better World and an Opportunity Not to Be Wasted
The COVID-19 pandemic has given us a new purpose. We now have a rare opportunity to affect positive change. Beyond dialogue for creating awareness, it’s time to develop and implement tools that empower us to take committed action and credibly measure our progress toward affecting long-overdue transformations. The COVID-19 pandemic serves as a stark reminder […]
Join Us for Business Fights Poverty Online 2020: Rebuild Better
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 […]
The Business Fights Poverty Fortnightly Round-Up
The team is a hive of activity this week, in preparation for Business Fights Poverty Online 2020: Rebuild Better. Taking place 13th – 17th July, it will be a week of inspiring and engaging content, live events, peer networking and structured learning to explore how we can “Rebuild Better”. Of course, this year we are […]
Business has a vital role to play in fighting poverty after the DFID-FCO merger
By some estimates, half a billion people globally will be pushed into poverty by COVID-19. For many in the international development community, therefore, the government’s decision to merge its Department or International Development (DFID) into the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) is ill-conceived and poorly timed. On 19 June, 188 NGOs called on the Prime […]
Early actions to stop the spread of COVID-19 and help the most vulnerable
During the COVID-19 crisis, Business Partnerships Platform (BPP) partners are focused on protecting the wellbeing of their staff, repurposing their resources and networks, and finding ways to support livelihoods through their supply chains. Here are a few stories of how our partners are leveraging their unique social impact business models to support their communities during […]
The Fortnightly Business Fights Poverty Round-Up
My last roundup was focused on the importance of listening, particularly to marginalised voices. This week, the emphasis is firmly on translating new learning into tangible action, with a wealth of resources on how business can embrace purpose and rebuild better. Our Black Lives Matter Series continues, in which members of the Business Fights Poverty […]
Africa after COVID-19
The health emergency precipitated by the coronavirus pandemic has rapidly spiralled into Africa’s worst economic crisis in 25 years. Issues related to coronavirus aid, racism, and debt restructuring are resetting the critical China-Africa relationship. As funding levels drop and the macroeconomic outlook changes, the focus of investment in Africa’s promising start-up sector is rapidly evolving. […]
The post-COVID-19 world presents an opportunity for better business, but will it happen?
As COVID-19 wreaks havoc on lives and livelihoods around the world, fulfilling a social purpose has never been so important to businesses or their customers. The global outbreak has not only exposed the frailty and complexity of human needs, but also how quickly they can evolve – and thus how quickly organisations must adapt to […]
Purpose and Investors: Collaborating to #RebuildBetter
The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is creating the worst humanitarian and economic crisis in a generation, threatening the lives, livelihoods, and learning of hundreds of millions of people around the world. While the final impact is hard to predict – as it will depend on the future pattern of the disease spread and potential resurgence, […]
The Fortnightly Business Fights Poverty Round-Up
Following three busy months establishing the Business and COVID-19 Response Centre, our attention is turning to how to rebuild better. With the launch of our survey, we are entering into a period of listening – to our members, supporters, and the wider debate – so that our efforts to help build a more resilient and […]
Please Share Your Insights on Our COVID-19 Resources
Covid-19 and the Voluntary Sector
Businesses and the self-employed have received significant financial support from the UK Government during the Covid-19 crisis, and the debts of NHS hospital trusts have been wiped out. Many voluntary organisations and community groups are under pressure too, facing reduced income at just the time when demand for their services has risen hugely. Should voluntary […]