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adamspence

Sarona Asset Management commits $3.5 million in new impact investments - 0 views

www.newswire.ca/...c5936.html

impact investing deal sarona

shared by adamspence on 19 May 11 - No Cached
  • Sarona Asset Management announced today that its Sarona Frontier Markets Fund I LP has committed US$3,500,000 to two private equity funds: US$2,000,000 to the South Asia Clean Energy Fund and US$1,500,000 to the Fanisi Venture Capital Fund.
  • adamspence on 19 May 11
     
    "Sarona Asset Management announced today that its Sarona Frontier Markets Fund I LP has committed US$3,500,000 to two private equity funds: US$2,000,000 to the South Asia Clean Energy Fund and US$1,500,000 to the Fanisi Venture Capital Fund."
Tim Draimin

HP 2010 Sustainability Performance Report - a mixed bag | ZDNet - 0 views

www.zdnet.com/...1495

social innovation CSR

shared by Tim Draimin on 13 May 11 - No Cached
  • HP sustainability reports are always a meaty read which provide an interesting insight on the performance and impact of one of the world’s largest tech companies. 2010 marks HP’s 10th annual report and while it doesn’t disappoint as an interesting read it does cause pause for both admiration and concern in almost equal measure.
  • First the good news: HP delivers 2.5% reduction in energy consumption and 9% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from direct operations. The improvements were driven by efficiencies associated with the EDS integration, other corporate initiatives and the purchase of green credits. Frustratingly though, HP is unable to report 2010 supplier manufacturing energy and greenhouse gas data and existing estimates for this and transportation appear to be just this - estimates.  HP have had really stellar results in their operating performance but we really have no idea if the carbon & energy savings have just been merely displaced elsewhere on the value chain. HP also reported that the Carbon Disclosure Project had marked down its score in the CDP leader index to 66% from 89% the prior year.
  • Now the not so hot news: Investment in social innovation does not seem to be keeping pace with the rest of the business which reduces HP’s ability to showcase its technology and inspire on how technology can change the world. For instance, technology donations collapsed by a whopping 50% in 2010 and yet cash donations increased by 23%. Finding the ways and means to distribute technology, provide after donation support and monitoring is more challenging than writing a fat check but its the most relevant and appropriate social intervention HP can make. Rate of supplier ethics audit has declined 29% since 2008 but HP reports that excessive working hours at supplier facilities remains a high concern. With the intensification of supplier engagement and the additional publicity associated with key HP supplier Foxconn one might expect supplier ethical audit activity to increase rather than shrink.  At a rate of just 92 audits a year it will be difficult for HP to stay abreast of manufacturing labor issues let alone start to get to grips with the emerging issue of conflict resources. Supplier transparency - as previously posted here HP is to be applauded for publishing a list of suppliers. But prioritizing transparency by spend volume rather than risk rather missed the point for the needed transparency. For example, HP publishes a case study on its remedial work to help Foxconn improve its performance yet Foxconn does not appear on the list of strategic suppliers published. This picture has become more muddied over time. When HP first started publishing its supplier details in 2007 it said that its list represented 95% of spend but just 25% of suppliers. We are no longer told what percentage of suppliers are declared and whether they are high risk or not but somehow I doubt if listed Intel, Microsoft, Seagate or Sony are deemed high risk on social responsibility.
  • Tim Draimin on 13 May 11
     
    A critical analysis of the HP Report...
Joanna Reynolds

Daily Exchange - 0 views

www.exchangemagazine.com/...051209.htm

social innovation

shared by Joanna Reynolds on 13 May 11 - No Cached
  • WATERLOO - A University of Waterloo social innovation expert will join more than 50 leading thinkers, including 17 Nobel Laureates, next week for a high-level meeting to draft an action plan to save a world under siege from climate change, deteriorating ecosystems and poverty.
  • Frances Westley, the JW McConnell Chair in Social Innovation at Waterloo, will chair a session on sustainable development at the third Nobel Laureate Symposium on Global Sustainability, which will take place May 16 to 19 at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm, Sweden.
  • Joanna Reynolds on 13 May 11
     
    Frances Westley, at Nobel Laureate Symposium
Joanna Reynolds

Research Survey: Evaluating the Impact of the Social Economy | The Canadian CED Network - 1 views

www.ccednet-rcdec.ca/...10063

socialeconomy survey canada

shared by Joanna Reynolds on 11 May 11 - No Cached
  • To this end the researchers are launching a survey for practitioners, academics, policy makers and "clients" of the Social Economy to understand how each group values and conceptualizes measurement both within their organization and within the Social Economy as a whole.  Participation is completely voluntary. Completing this survey should take from 30 to 45 minutes of your time. Be assured that the information you provide will be kept strictly confidential and is anonymous. Results will only be presented in the aggregate so that no individuals can be identified.  If you are interested participating please click the following link:   http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/evaluating_impact
adamspence

Santander invests £1m in game-changing social enterprise | Social Enterprise - 1 views

www.socialenterpriselive.com/...ame-changing-social-enterprise

deal uk impact investing social finance

shared by adamspence on 11 May 11 - No Cached
  • A brace of £1m debt finance deals is just the beginning of a much bigger plan to take banking services to excluded communities, Faisel Rahman tells Chrisanthi Giotis The business case for social enterprises lending small amounts to the poorest people in the UK is about to be seriously tested as east end lender Fair Finance partners with global financial powerhouse Santander.
  • Santander is the latest big bank to invest in Fair Finance putting in £1m in debt finance, to follow the £1m debt finance Fair Finance raised from Societe Generale and BNP Paribas – this earlier deal last month was possibly the first commercial deal of its kind for a personal finance community lender in western Europe.
  • adamspence on 11 May 11
     
    Debt financing deal for community lender in the UK.
  • Peter Deitz on 11 May 11
     
    Interesting article. Thanks Adam for sharing with the group.
adamspence

Selling up without selling out | Social enterprise network | Guardian Professional - 0 views

www.guardian.co.uk/...selling-up-without-selling-out

uk impact investing social

shared by adamspence on 10 May 11 - No Cached
  • Ben and Jerry's ice cream sold to Unilever and Seeds of Change sold to Mars in the US. Closer to home, The Body Shop sold to L'Oreal and Green & Blacks sold to Cadburys.
  • The sales of these businesses have certainly generated rich financial rewards for the entrepreneurs that founded them but have done little to further the social missions of those businesses. The argument that somehow the positive values and social intent of these companies percolates through the multinationals that bought them is nonsense akin to trickle down economics. It also ignores the fact that these social businesses were acquired for commercial reasons and for their potential to generate significant profits into the future.
Joanna Reynolds

Social Economy - 1 views

www.hrsdc.gc.ca/...social_economy.shtml

Social Economy

shared by Joanna Reynolds on 09 May 11 - No Cached
  • Joanna Reynolds on 09 May 11
     
    A good summary of the Social Economy from HRSDC
Tim Draimin

Social Innovation Europe Initiative Launched in Brussels :: wbc-inco.net - 0 views

wbc-inco.net/...112035.html

social innovation europe innovation socialenterprise

shared by Tim Draimin on 06 May 11 - No Cached
  • On March 16 and 17, 2011, Social Innovation Europe was launched in Brussels. Funded by the European Commission, Social Innovation Europe will create a dynamic, entrepreneurial and innovative new Europe. The time has come for Europe to embrace the broad concept of innovation and set an example globally. By 2014, Social Innovation Europe will have become the meeting place - virtual and real - for social innovators, entrepreneurs, non-profit organisations, policy makers and anyone else who is inspired by social innovation in Europe. Through a series of gatherings, and a new online resource, Social Innovation Europe will: connect projects and people who can share experiences and learn from each other; develop an easily accessible resource bank - so you can find about other projects, organisations and ways of working; develop a resource bank of up to date policies at local and national levels and provide information on funding opportunities; facilitate new relationships between civil society, governments, public sector institutions and relevant private sector bodies develop concrete recommendations in financing and in upscaling/mainstreaming of social innovation in Europe Download the conference report.
  • Tim Draimin on 06 May 11
     
    Social Innovation goes mainstream in Europe as European Union launches SI Europe March 2011 conference with presentations by Geoff Mulgan, Vickie Cammack of Tyze, many others including José Manuel Durão Barroso, President of the European Commission. His speech included: SPEECH/11/190 José Manuel Durão Barroso President of the European Commission Europe leading social innovation Social Innovation Europe initiative Brussels, 17 March 2011 Ladies and Gentlemen, It is a pleasure to be here and see all of you around this very important issue - how to pursue our dialogue on social innovation. I would like to thank Geoff Mulgan and Diogo Vasconcelos for their kind invitation and also to congratulate them together with Louise Pulford for having won the call to set up the pilot initiative "Social innovation Europe". I also would like to thank DG enterprise for having organised this launch event today. As you know the Commission is fully involved. Lázsló Andor was with you yesterday. Máire Geoghegan-Quinn will be with you today, so this idea of innovation is indeed a major issue for the Commission I am proud to lead. Europe has a long and strong tradition of social innovation: from the workplace to hospices, and from the cooperative movement to microfinance. We have always been a continent of creative social entrepreneurs who have designed systems to enhance education, health, social inclusion and the well-being of citizens. By nature social innovation is an ever-evolving field to keep pace with fast-changing challenges in society. But what concretely do we mean by social innovation? I think it is important to recognise that this concept is not yet fully accepted in the political debate. I think social innovation is about meeting the unmet social needs and improving social outcomes. It is about tapping into the creativity of charities, associations and social entrepreneurs to find new ways of meeting pressing social needs, which are not adequately met
Tim Draimin

FT.com / UK / Politics & policy - Plan on staff mutuals found lacking - 0 views

www.ft.com/...b4-11e0-80d5-00144feabdc0.html

socialenterprise uk co-ops social innovation

shared by Tim Draimin on 06 May 11 - No Cached
  • The UK is not equipped for the revolution in public service mutuals that the government seeks, according to a report from an organisation enthusiastic about making the idea a reality.Francis Maude, the Cabinet Office minister, has been vigorously promoting the idea that staff can leave public service employment to sell their services back through various forms of mutual and social enterprise, sometimes through joint ventures with the private sector.
  • A “right to request” to form a mutual has been set up, and a national taskforce along with a string of pilot projects have been created, in the hope of getting perhaps 1m public service employees in to mutuals by 2015.
  • Tim Draimin on 06 May 11
     
    Important Financial Times update on UK's deficient mutualisation process, ie spinning government services out into mutual and social enterprise.
Joanna Reynolds

HP Global Citizenship: Social innovation - 0 views

www.hp.com/...social_innovation.html

metrics

shared by Joanna Reynolds on 05 May 11 - No Cached
  • At HP, our approach to social innovation is integrated into our overall business strategy. We apply our global reach, broad portfolio, and the expertise of our employees to help improve social and economic conditions worldwide in ways that only enterprises with HP's reach can. At the same time, our initiatives have successfully opened up new markets and developed existing ones.
  • Joanna Reynolds on 05 May 11
     
    Adam J said this has an extensive report on metrics. Could be a useful model to review.
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