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, […]
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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 […]
Beyond Wall Street: Transforming the Way We Use Capital
This article originally appeared in The Huffington Post. By Don Shaffer I’ve been talking to a lot of people lately about RSF Social Finance’s decision to walk off Wall Street, and urging others to consider doing the same. The obvious question that comes up is, OK, but where do you go? What are the investment and […]
‘The Face of the African Entrepreneur’
The Sankalp Africa Forum focuses on challenges facing entrepreneurs like Angwenyi Editor’s note: The third annual Sankalp Africa Summit takes place Feb. 24-26 in Nairobi and is centered on the theme “Spurring the Entrepreneurship Economy.” Sponsored by Intellecap, the conference advances conversations on entrepreneurship, innovation and inclusive development. This Q&A previews some of the summit’s planned discussions and themes. […]
FedEx to Invest $200 Million in More Than 200 Global Communities by 2020
MEMPHIS, Tenn., February 3, 2016 /3BL Media/ —FedEx Corp. (NYSE:FDX) today unveiled its new global giving platform, FedEx Cares. The company will invest $200 million in more than 200 communities by 2020 to create opportunities and deliver positive change around the world. “FedEx and our team members have a long history of supporting the communities where […]
Building Efficient Social Sector Initiatives Through New Generation Impact Measurement
The social sector is going through a massive change never seen before. Thanks to the advocacy of innovative foundations, impact investments are now becoming mainstream, along with collective impact programs and other initiatives like social impact bonds and Pay for Success programs. In the U.S. alone, impact (or socially responsible investing) has grown to $6.57 […]
Is Student Debt Crushing Millennial Entrepreneurship?
Mention the words entrepreneur or founder, and images of ambitious, be-hoodied youth might arise. Thanks to Silicon Valley, youth and entrepreneurship are intertwined in the popular imagination. But the reality is starkly different. Millennials lag behind older age groups in starting and running their own businesses. And a new study suggests that student debt loads […]
WEF16: Promises and Perils of the Hi-Tech Revolution
DAVOS-KLOSTERS, Switzerland, January 25, 2016 (Maximpact News) – At the World Economic Forum in Davos last week, 2,500 business, government and civil society leaders from over 100 countries visualized a future rich with technological advances as they addressed the forum’s theme, “Mastering the Fourth Industrial Revolution.” On January 20, at the opening of the four-day […]
Metamapping the ecosystem building the next economy
At the end of December last year the Next System Project co-hosted a webinar with Real Economy Lab (REL) and the New Economy Coalition on “Mapping the Next System” (video viewable in its entirety here). Over 500 people signed up for the webinar, testimony to the growing level of interest in understanding the evolving […]
Markets in the next system
Markets before capitalism In her seminal work “The Origin of Capitalism,” the late scholar Ellen Meiksins Wood took on the credo that “capitalism emerged when the market was liberated from age-old constraints and when, for one reason or another, opportunities for trade expanded.” Schoolchildren in the US are commonly taught to conceive of the broad […]
Seven Wishes from Seven Thought Leaders for Financial Inclusion in 2016
2015 was an important year for the world of financial inclusion. Starting with the publication of the six randomised controlled trials results in January that sparked debate on the impacts of microcredit, the sector went on to celebrate (and question) an increase of 700 million people with access to financial services since 2011, with the […]
Global Alliance for Banking on Values Advisor David Korslund and First Green Bank CEO Ken LaRoe Talk About Money & Spirit
The GABV Scorecard as a Strategic Tool for Values-Based Banking a conversation with David Korslund David Korslund began his banking career at the storied ShoreBank of Chicago, the nation’s first community development finance bank. He went on to work at a succession of mainstream banking institutions, finally at ABN AMRO, where he had responsibility […]
RSF Winter Quarterly: What is the Nature in Art?
In the latest RSF Quarterly, we explore the role of nature in education and the arts. Brad Miller, a teacher at High Mowing School, shares with us the life lessons his students gain through their study of biodynamic horticulture. RSF’s John Bloom and Enrique Perez reflect on a sculpture recently gifted to RSF, and contemplate […]
Michael Shuman on Pollinators, Social Enterprise and Remaking Economic Development
Michael H. Shuman is an economist, attorney, author, entrepreneur, and one of the world’s leading experts on community economics. (He is not, however, a famous rock drummer). His eighth book, (we think, we’ve lost count) The Local Economy Solution: How Innovative Self-Financing “Pollinator” Enterprises Can Grow Jobs and Prosperity, takes on the economic development profession […]
2015: The Year in Impact Investing & Social Enterprise
The idea that business can be a force for good has been gaining steam for years, but 2015 may have been the year that it went mainstream. Here’s a look back at some of the year’s most notable developments in the world of social enterprise and impact investing. Mark Zuckerberg embraces impact investing. When the Facebook […]
Women Around the World Face Hurdles to Financial Inclusion
Presented by MetLife Foundation in collaboration with WSJ. Custom Studios, Multipliers of Prosperity takes a look globally at the challenges we face in confronting the issues of financial inclusion. The program dives deep into what’s working, questions what isn’t and finds the possible fixes. Most importantly, the program chronicles the triumphs of people who […]
Closing the Loop: EU Quarrels Over Circular Economy Plan
BRUSSELS, Belgium, December 30, 2015 (Maximpact News) – The European Commission has adopted a new Circular Economy Package it says will help European businesses and consumers contribute to “closing the loop” of product lifecycles through greater recycling and re-use. But Members of the European Parliament are critical of the new package. The Commission says its […]
A Better Path to Impact Careers for MBAs
As I stood in front of my booth at the Net Impact Conference Expo, I watched eager MBA students stride between tables. These aren’t your typical MBA students. They’re not interested in climbing the corporate ladder or the highest-paying careers. These MBAs want to use their degrees to create a better world. The exhibit floor was buzzing […]