Our system is failing. Profound anger at a rigged system has led many voters to reach for something different – even if it means turning in a dangerous new direction. The voters have rejected a stale elite consensus, but we are now confronting a still greater threat. What remains of Madisonian checks and balances has […]
Beyond Investing News
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Towards a New, Green Economy
Download the PDF This paper by Tim Jackson and Peter A. Victor, published alongside three others, is one of many proposals for a systemic alternative we have published or will be publishing here at the Next System Project. You can read it below, or download the PDF. We have commissioned these papers in order […]
Trump is like the dog that caught the fire truck. Some ideas for what he does now.
It may be foolish to think that Donald Trump actually has solutions for addressing the wave of anger he rode into the White House. He’s spent decades stiffing contractors, outsourcing jobs and avoiding taxes. But if he’s looking for good ideas, let’s show him where to find some. There are at least a few areas where at […]
US$100 Billion to Finance Climate Triage
Clever Kanga works for the Foundation for Irrigation and Sustainable Development in the central African country of Malawi, working to install solar powered irrigation projects, April 2016. (Photo by Trocaire) Creative Commons license via Flickr. By Sunny Lewis WASHINGTON, DC, November 3, 2016 (Maximpact.com) – Finance is always a hot button issue at the UN’s […]
Six Theses on Saving the Planet
Download the PDF This paper by Richard Smith, published alongside three others, is one of many proposals for a systemic alternative we have published or will be publishing here at the Next System Project. You can read it below, or download the PDF. We have commissioned these papers in order to facilitate an informed […]
The millennial is the message
Illustration by Meaghan Way Millennials may be forgiven for not knowing Marshall McLuhan. But for insight as to why millennials invest the way they do, look no further than his extensive Wikipedia page. In fact, visiting any Wiki page would provide insight into McLuhan’s famous phrase, “the medium is the message,” meaning society is shaped […]
Sustainable Goals and Social Impact: Do You Have What you need to succeed?
By Maximpact Sustainable Goals and Social Impact: Do You Have What you need to succeed? At the nexus of change Maximpact.com is a work space for projects, businesses, ideas and endless opportunities. A global marketplace of qualified consultants, experts and services. Maximpact.com today announced the launch of their consulting and advisory services to support the […]
7 Ways to Teach Your Kids About Money — Even If You’re Bad With It
Talking to your kids about money can be overwhelming. After all, when you aren’t even that “good with money” yourself, you shouldn’t be teaching your children about it, right? Wrong. The important thing isn’t to be perfect with your money; it’s to be open about it. A recent T. Rowe Price study found that […]
The millennials who don’t want to call themselves philanthropists – and why we must listen to them
The term philanthropist, it seems, is getting a bad rep. The next generation of philanthropists at this year’s Philanthropy Australia conference made it perfectly clear that they would prefer to be known as ‘change-makers’ or ‘social entrepreneurs’, and so, are ‘consciously uncoupling’ from being known as philanthropists. It appears today, as discussed at the Conference, […]
Framing the challenges of a next system after fossil fuels
Systemic Crisis and Systemic Change in the United States in the 21st Century This new working paper from The Next System Project was prepared as an invited contribution to the “After Fossil Fuels: The New Economy” conference taking place in Oberlin, Ohio from October 6-8, 2016. In the paper, Next System Project co-chairs Gar Alperovitz […]
UN Global Compact Launches Next-Generation Business Solutions to Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals
New York, September 19, 2016 /3BL Media/ – Today, the UN Global Compact will announce four new platforms – in partnership with GRI, Monday Morning/Sustainia, Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) and Volans – to help shape the next generation of sustainable development initiatives and partnerships for business. The announcement is part of the multi-year Making Global Goals […]
The best place to be a social entrepreneur? The results are in
Thomson Reuters today published the findings of their global perception poll of the best places to be a social entrepreneur. This poll was conducted in partnership with UnLtd and Deutsche Bank, and asked 900 experts in 45 of the world’s biggest economies a series of questions relating to this business-for-social-good sector, ranking the countries accordingly. […]
Facebook Live from SOCAP
The Social Capital Markets (SOCAP) conference is again upon us. And this year, we’re trying something new. NextBillion will broadcast a series of interviews through Facebook Live, starting this evening and continuing through the end of the conference on Friday. We have more than 10 (and counting) discussions lined up with a diverse group of […]
Champions for Social Good Podcast: A New Resource for the Social Good Movement
Today, the new resource for the social good movement, the Champions for Social Good Podcast hosted by Jamie Serino, Director of Marketing at MicroEdge + Blackbaud, launched and is available online and for download on mobile devices. Through the Champions for Social Good Podcast, Jamie brings together thought leaders and practitioners to share key […]
New Book: Inhabiting Interdependence
RSF Social Finance’s Vice President of Organizational Culture, John Bloom, published a new book this week titled Inhabiting Interdependence: Being in the Next Economy. In this collection of insightful essays, John explores approaches to transforming conventional habits of mind and practice that have led to an imbalance in our economic life. Acknowledging that money permeates […]
Credibles: Supporting Local Businesses With ‘Edible Credits’ is Just the Start
Investment crowdfunding may get all the attention these days, but there are other ways of support businesses you love—without all the red tape. One of those is Credibles, an app that lets you pre-pay at your favorite restaurant or food purveyor (like Love & Hummus, shown in photo above), and earn edible credits. Think of […]
SOCAP16 – where it comes together
SOCAP16 takes place September 13th-16th at Fort Mason, in San Francisco, CA. Join more than 2,500 changemakers, impact investors, social entrepreneurs, and related thought leaders at the world’s largest conference dedicated to increasing the flow of capital toward social good. From emerging leaders to established players, SOCAP brings together global innovators, investors, foundations, governments, institutions, […]
Today Is Earth Overshoot Day 2016
GENEVA, Switzerland, August 8, 2016 (Maximpact.com News) – Earth Overshoot Day this year falls on August 8. Today, humanity’s demands on nature this year exceed what the Earth can regenerate before year’s end calculates the international sustainability think tank Global Footprint Network , the international conservation group WWF and more than 30 other partners. […]
The Mousai House: A Cooperative Vision for a New Creative Economy
We asked Jennifer Bryant—a DC-based writer, organizer and radio host—to highlight an emblematic example pointing towards what Dr. Jessica Gordon Nembhard calls a cooperative solidarity commonwealth, which she details in her essay in Volume 2 of our “New Systems: Possibilities and Proposals” series. Bryant’s exposition of The Mousai House gives us a glimpse into a […]
How does The Commons work? Animating David Bollier’s next system
David Bollier, in his paper for our “New Systems: Possibilities and Proposals” a series exploring viable political-economic alternatives to the present order, suggests that a commons-based framework could provide a critical template for de-commodification, mutualization, and the organization and control of resources outside of the market. We’re excited to share with you our latest animation that illustrates some of the principal features […]
Making Waves on World Oceans Day
NEW YORK, New York, June 14, 2016 (Maximpact.com News) – Musician Jack Johnson started the Wave for Change conservation social media campaign just in time for World Oceans Day this year. The Hawaii-based performer is asking people around the world to do something for the ocean – cut down on plastics, use more renewable energy […]
Gates Offers $80M to Close Gender Data Gap
By Sunny Lewis SEATTLE, Washington, May 31, 2016 (Maximpact.com News) – Compared to the lives of men, little is known about the lives of the world’s women – how much time they spend on unpaid work, if they own land, if they can get credit, if they die in childbirth, which programs meant to help […]
Clients in Conversation: Marian Moore and Lorene Arey Play BIG
Originally published in the RSF Spring Quarterly Fresh off the heels of 2016’s Play BIG, co-founder Marian Moore and attendee Lorene Arey talk takeaways from the four-day event. At Play BIG, participants—all with significant discretionary wealth—are challenged to reimagine their money in the context of the broader vision and mission of their work and their […]
Webinar: Toward a Caring Economy
Our political-economic system is not working: families are struggling, the middle class is diminishing, one in five U.S. children lives in poverty, we have unacceptably high rates of homelessness and incarceration, rising underemployment, collapsing environmental systems, and a host of other problems. What would it look like if the system in all of its dimensions […]
A New Look at CSR – Corporate Social Responsibility (All-Videos issue)
To begin its 24 year of publishing on sustainable business and investing – the award-winning ‘GreenMoney Journal’ launches its first-ever all Videos issue on “CSR – Corporate Social Responsibility” (May 2016). The videos featured Biomimicry expert Janine Benyus; Patagonia’s founder Yvon Chouinard; Casey Gerald of MBA’s Across America; Marine Biologist and explorer Sylvia Earle; Former VP Al Gore; Judith […]
The Currency of Self
by John Bloom Technically, money is meant to be nothing more than a holder of assigned value and to serve as a means for facilitating the exchange of goods and services. However, money is also a complicated social reality, and it is encrusted with layers of perception, values, assumptions, and behaviors. For example, we say […]
Carbon Pricing Gathers Momentum
By Sunny Lewis WASHINGTON, DC, April 26, 2016 (Maximpact.com News) – “There is a growing sense of inevitability about putting a price on carbon pollution,” said World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim on the eve of the April 22 signing ceremony at UN Headquarters of the Paris Climate Agreement. Kim joined government and corporate […]
Democratic Finance for Affordable Space in NYC
New York City is the quintessential melting pot. People from all over the world come to the city in search of culture, cuisine, art and opportunity. Yet for many New Yorkers, their ability to stay in the city they’ve helped create has been compromised in recent years by soaring real estate prices. Between 2000 and […]
A Call for Systemic Impact
Foundations, Families and Funds can play a very important role in helping to redirect capitalism toward a more fair and just application, while also finding the right social enterprises to support. By playing a more comprehensive role in the creation and support of Community Capital Markets, these funding sources can build impact into a systemic […]
One Billion Take Part in Earth Day 2016
WASHINGTON, DC, April 20, 2016 (Maximpact.com News) – As Earth Day approaches its 50th anniversary in 2020, the Earth Day Network has set five major goals. Planting trees is the first; this year volunteers throughout the world plan to plant 7.8 billion trees. The Earth Day Network’s 2016 Trees for the Earth campaign will focus […]
RSF Spring Quarterly: Is Digital Money Transparent?
In the latest RSF Quarterly, we do a deep dive into digital money and the fast-growing fintech (short for financial technology) sector. Uphold’s Tim Parsa lays out a case for why blockchain technology may mean an end to banks. Jonny Price, senior director for Kiva Zip, critiques mainstream peer-to-peer lending for its lack of investor […]
Ripe for Action: How a 20 Percent Cut in Food Waste Could Yield $100 Billion in Benefits
Quick! What do these issues have in common: food insecurity, water conservation, economic development, and climate change? All these pressing social and environmental concerns can be addressed by reducing food waste. By reducing food waste at scale, we have a unique opportunity to help protect the environment, alleviate poverty, boost the economy, and reduce the tax […]
The Surprising Reason Why Savings Boosts Income: New Research Reveals an Unexpected Benefit of Financial Inclusion
Make it easier to save, and people will save more. This seems straightforward and holds true when offering savings accounts to customers in rich and poor countries alike. Make it easier to save, and people will save more and earn more. This sounds a little more surprising, especially if you posit that this increase in […]
Earth Hour: Going Dark to ‘Change Climate Change’
Engro Green Office Program personnel celebrate Earth Hour 2015 with a candlelight vigil in Karachi, Pakistan. March 27, 2015. (Photo by Green Office Engro) creative commons license via Flickr By Sunny Lewis SINGAPORE, March 17, 2016 (Maximpact.com News) – On Saturday evening, March 19 at exactly 20:30 local time, millions of people around the world […]
Building a Local Peace Economy: We Have the Power
Many activists don’t seem to think it matters where they spend their money. BALLE co-founder Judy Wicks knows otherwise. She shares this perspective in AlterNet’s new series, which explores the need for rethinking how we organize our lives and economy to be more just, peaceful, and sustainable.
SXSW: How Real is Tech and VC Turn to Mobile-Solar-Global Impact?
It’s only halftime in the global mobile revolution. The first part largely redefined how rich countries accessed the Internet. The second part will reinvent how the developing world gets education, healthcare, financial services and other basic needs. If you ask me where the next big whitespace for VC is…I would point to the developing world.Fred Wilson, Union Square […]
Major Companies Weigh in on Proposition 1 Water Storage Investment Program
As the California Water Commission readies for a March 16 public hearing on implementation of California’s Proposition 1 Water Bond, six major businesses—Clif Bar, The Coca-Cola Company, Dignity Health, Fetzer Vineyards, General Mills, Sierra Nevada Brewing Company, Symantec and The North Face—urged the Commission to adopt regulations that would allow for the widest range of […]
Entrepreneurs’ dreams of saving the planet being crushed by economic reality
By Guest Contributor Martin Boonham, Warwick Business School (Opinion on Maximpact.com News) Environmental entrepreneurs are being forced to forgo some of their green ideals despite the historic Paris COP21 summit agreement to cut greenhouse gas emissions, new research has found. The 1,000 largest companies alone are responsible for one-fifth of total global greenhouse gas emissions […]
‘Planet 50-50 by 2030’ Means Gender Equality
NEW YORK, New York, March 8, 2016 (Maximpact News) – “Women and girls are critical to finding sustainable solutions to the challenges of poverty, inequality and the recovery of the communities hardest hit by conflicts, disasters and displacements,” said Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka of South Africa in her message for International Women’s Day – today. Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka […]
Regenerative Business Mentors Visit First Green Bank
In late January, as “The Year in the Life” project moved into its final months, we once again paid a visit to First Green Bank. This time we invited along two mentors who are leading thinkers and doers in the Regenerative Economy space—author, business advisor, and educator Carol Sanford; and Vincent Stanley, author, poet, […]
Are You Investor Ready?
If you are in the midst of launching your own business or if you are currently in business, you are likely wondering if your enterprise is investor-ready. “Investor readiness” hinges on a variety of factors. Simply preparing a strategic business plan and financials is not an indication that your business is ready to take on […]
Finance Innovation: The Next Frontier in Fair-Trade Supply Chains
Originally published on TriplePundit By Kate Danaher Rising demand for fair-trade products is creating an emerging need for growth in fair-trade supply chains. This is a fantastic opportunity to put more people to work under fair pay and labor standards — but the time and cost involved in scaling these supply chains while maintaining fair-trade […]
What’s new at maximpact and how can we help you
Tens of thousands of promising projects and ventures are being developed around the world, but too many fail for one reason — the services they need to get to that next step cannot be found or are out of reach. Finding the right people to support your project is time-consuming. Identifying the right expertise, selecting […]
What is Circular Economy
Citizens of the world have realized that people do not have infinite resources. Demand on raw materials has escalated, with no management of waste and the limited supply we have of those materials. Environmental repercussions of climate change and sustainability are now at the top of the global agenda and are mission-critical. Today’s article focuses […]
Chair in Philanthropy a first for the continent
A collaboration between the Southern Africa Trust and Wits Business School (WBS) will see a Chair in African Philanthropy established on the continent in a pioneering move to take forward the study of gifting in Africa. Full vesting of the chair will be assisted by the temporary appointment of Dr Alan Fowler as a visiting […]
Why We Need Expert Consultants?
Seeking advice experts brings benefits of learning valuable insights from someone who knows exactly what you need to know but you get answers that are objective, precise and valuable. Experts qualified to offer advice in finance, marketing, green technology, non-profit and many other industries relevant in circular, impact and sustainability sectors will also help you avoid making mistakes that […]
Learning from Emilia Romagna’s cooperative economy
An interview with economic historian Vera Zamagni With the release of the new short film WEconomics highlighting the vibrant ecosystem of cooperatives in Italy’s Emilia Romagna region—produced by our friends at Moving Images, who also made the excellent worker cooperative documentary Shift Change—we reached out to Vera Zamagni, the cooperative economist featured in the film, to learn […]
The Regenerative Generation – A Young Rockefeller Speaks
The Regenerative Generation by Christopher Lindstrom, Co-founder of Catalyst Bioenergy Group and the great-great grandson of John D. Rockefeller As I write this COP21 meetings are over, having culminated with a commitment to keep the planet’s temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit. However, the path to achieve this goal is still vague with many questions […]
20 Years On: Is Sustainability Reporting Actually Making a Difference?
It’s a question all sustainability practitioners face: is sustainability reporting making a difference? At GRI, we believe the answer is yes. But we also know there’s still much more that needs to be done to create a sustainable economy and world that lifts people out of poverty while preserving our precious resources. Still, it’s important […]
How Millennials Think About Money and Investing
Impacting the Next Generation Without a doubt we, the Millennial Generation, believe that we can change the world. There is a “change agent” in each and every one of us. How do I know? Well, becaus we are different. Huge economic, cultural, and social shifts have changed our view on the world, and as […]