I cannot say this strongly enough: we do this work to make the world a better place. Here’s the rub though: we don’t get to decide what someone else’s ‘better’ looks like. By now you know how much importance I put on participation from stakeholders into every step of Read more…
If you really want that social impact review to be meaningful and worthwhile, make sure you get your head around these four factors: Purpose: why do you want to do the social impact review? Have you been asked to do a review by a donor as part of your grant Read more…
The one thing that we have seen in the era of Covid is just how important it is to both collaborate over distance and trust your colleagues in different parts of the world it is. This comes at the same time as a growing unease (again) about how and why Read more…
This is a variation of a post I first published in May 2020, which has proved popular. This version was also shared in January 2021 with an evaluator’s forum in South West England that has a health focus – so the timing was rather perfect…. In case you missed it, Read more…
Here is something to ponder on over the holidays. I’ll also admit that I don’t have the answers here and will be pondering it myself. I’ve been speaking with a lot of philanthropists, social investors, impact investors and their professional advisers lately. One thing that comes up time and again Read more…
Over the past few months regular readers will have realised that there are certain themes to these posts. I talk a lot about participation. I talk about concepts that sit within systems thinking and complexity; and I’ve now added access to the list. These four ideas form the core of Read more…
I’ve been working on a social return on investment analysis for a carbon storage programme in Indonesia, when I came across a relatively new concept in valuing social impact. The project currently uses the Climate Community Biodiversity (CCB) Standards and has structured its outcomes accordingly, which has been very useful for identifying Read more…
If you read even half of what I write on this blog you’ll know that participation is a regular topic. A theme almost. Many years ago I realised that the best kind of social impact is designed by the people who will benefit from that social impact. I’ve also seen Read more…
The world is more than a little topsy turvy these days. I was reading an excellent thought piece on LinkedIn by a colleague of mine Iulian Circo recently where he outlined 5 pointers for dealing with a deep global super-crisis such as Covid-19. He noted that while no-one really knows Read more…
Black lives matter. Gay lives matter. Trans lives matter. Women’s lives matter. But our systemic inequality means that some lives matter more than others. The opposite of inequality isn’t always equality. To begin with the opposite of inequality is equity. Equity and equality are two different things and it is Read more…