Avon, Diageo and M&S Join Call for an International Treaty to Protect Women at Work
On International Women’s Day, Avon, Diageo and Marks and Spencer published a letter with CARE International UK calling for an international treaty to protect women at work. The letter, set out below, was signed by Amy Greene, VP Investor and Stakeholder Relations, Avon, Mairead Nayager, Chief HR Officer, Diageo, Fiona Sadler, Head of Ethical Trade, […]
Women are Power
What do you dream about today? My dream is that Led by HER, the organization I created will no longer exist. My dream is that events like She Innovates where I’m speaking today as part of UN Women will no longer exist. My dream is that my future daughters will grow up in a world […]
Moving Towards Gender Equality: A New Index Looks at Legal Reforms to Help Women’s Economic Inclusion
Do you think the world is becoming more equal for women at work? The recently published Women, Business and the Law 2019: A Decade of Reform gives us some insight. While achieving gender equality requires a broad range of efforts over time, the study focuses on the law as an important first step to providing an objective […]
Businesses and Social Change: We’re At The Starting Point, Not The Finish Line
More than three-quarters of people worldwide want CEOs “to take the lead on change” instead of waiting for the government to act, according to the 2019 Edelman Trust Barometer. Is this a good idea for society? What would this kind of leadership look like, and how could it be achieved? The past can provide answers. […]
Why Purpose Must be at the Heart of Business Strategy
So much for a gentle start to the new year. Early 2019 has been a challenging time for those of us who strive to make organisations a force for good – whether we call it purpose, CSR, sustainability or inclusion. We kicked off the year in the midst of heavy fire from Anand Giridharas, journalist […]
Business Integrity Initiative: Changing the Way We Do Business in Africa?
230,000+ UK SMEs need to export to Africa without engaging in corruption. They need clean business partners and intermediaries. Is this a business opportunity for your country? If your country is anything like mine (Nigeria) where corruption is endemic, pervasive and systemic, you will know the business case for spending scarce funds on demonstrating anti-corruption […]
How Can an Ecosystem Approach Help MSMEs to Thrive?
Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) are the lifeblood of many communities and a critical source of employment and livelihoods. Larger companies rely on their effective operation and success in their value chains as suppliers, distributors, retailers and customers. However, many MSMEs struggle on a daily basis for multiple reasons. They can find it difficult […]
Get Involved: New Challenges on Gender-Based Violence, SME Ecosystems, Transformational Partnerships and Purpose
Everything we do at Business Fights Poverty is driven by a belief in the power of purposeful collaboration – the simple idea that when you bring together the right people around a clear, shared challenge, with a focus on delivering a tangible, valuable output in a clear timeframe, you create the space for generating powerful […]
Welcome to the Business Fights Poverty Magazine Issue One
The ways in which business can and should be addressing social issues are many and complex. This magazine helps you to navigate the challenges and find out about some of the leading edge thinking and topics across the space. Brought to you by a team that share a common belief in business as a force […]
Large Companies Have a Key Role in Strengthening Small Supplier Integrity
The project, run by Business Fights Poverty, has sought to find out how to encourage small and medium-sized enterprises to take business integrity issues more seriously and adopt meaningful anticorruption compliance. They conducted an extensive literature review and complemented it with an online survey, 24 interviews, and two business roundtables in which we gathered […]
How is Business Rethinking Generation Purpose?
Who are millennials? A generation of people who reached young adulthood in the early 21st century (born between 1981 and 1997) Millennials make up 27% of the global population or about 2 billion people (Pew Research Center, Global Business Policy Council) By 2025 75% of workforce will comprise millennials (Brookings Data Now) Why might millenials […]
2019: Why Business Should Still Care About the Sustainable Development Goals
2019 will mark four years since the United Nations (UN) member states unanimously agreed on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and planet by 2030 – a deadline which is starting to loom ever-larger on the horizon. As the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) we […]
The Future of Work – A Social Challenge
“Worst case scenario: there simply won’t be enough jobs in the system in the future. Business cannot escape from this responsibility – we must join together to collectively take action, before this becomes a devastating social crisis.” Charles Tsai, Senior Manager, Fossil Foundation. If the transition to the future of work isn’t handled properly, trust […]
As Countries Turn Inward, Companies Stand Up for Humanity. Let’s Applaud and Encourage Them.
Skyrocketing numbers of people fleeing conflict. Increasing frequency and severity of natural disasters. Decreased diplomatic efforts. Slashed foreign aid budgets. A West that is increasingly embracing narrow nationalism and isolation. It all leaves us in the humanitarian community concerned for the future of our interconnected world. The inclination of political leaders to withdraw more than […]
Are B Corps an Elite Charade for Changing the World?
Recently, I was in public conversation with Anand Giridharadas, former columnist for The New York Times, about his new and important book, Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World. In provocative style and with compelling substance, Giridharadas speaks truth to power, calling elites to account for giving so much lip service to “changing the world,” […]
On Purpose
Larry Fink’s annual open letter to corporate CEOs is fast-becoming a fixture at the start of the year. Fink’s views matter. They carry weight. He is, after all, the co-founder and now Chairman and CEO of BlackRock – the biggest money-management firm in the world with more than $6 trillion in assets under management. His […]
How Can We Produce Enough Protein to Feed 10 Billion People?
Accessible, affordable, healthy and sustainable protein is critical to human nutrition and economic development. Yet academic analysis shows it will be impossible for a global population of 10 billion – a figure expected around 2050 – to consume the amount and type of protein typical of current diets in North America and Europe if we want to […]
Businesses Gain by Taking Steps in the Workplace to Tackle Domestic Violence
There is a paradox in the term “domestic violence.” It suggests that what happens at home, stays at home. But it doesn’t, especially in places like the Pacific Islands, where two out of every three women are affected by violence. In the Solomon Islands, a recent survey showed that the toll of domestic violence extends […]
Food System Failures in Our Age of Abundance
Twelve-year-old Lena is growing up poor and malnourished on Chicago’s West Side. She buys Blue Juice and Hot Chips from the corner store on her way to school. She and her classmates can afford the flavoured sugar water and salty starch, but this cheap “food” that fills up her stomach provides no nutritional value. Lena […]
The ‘Purpose Paradigm’: Solution or Scam?
In his recent interview at the BSR Conference 2018, Anand Giridharadas, author of “Winners Take All,” questioned the ability of sustainability professionals to change the world. “The kind of do-gooding, philanthropy, CSR, impact investing, social enterprise…that are essentially within a market frame”, he argued, “are intrinsically limited because..they are about changing the world in ways […]