🌿Nature v capitalism | Unfriendly UK? | Funding, fellowships, events

Impact & Insight: February 2021

News, ideas, research & resources, in social
entrepreneurship and philanthropy

(🕒This month's newsletter is 1712 words long and takes 14 mins to read)

📢News

+ A report on UK philanthropy this week called on the government to be friendlier to British and international philanthropists. The report, by the Beacon Collaborative, recommends appointing a "Philanthropy Commissioner" and using the honours system to encourage international philanthropy in the UK. The report's release coincides with news that the number of UK honours awarded for philanthropy has almost halved over the past five years.

+ The Economics of Biodiversity, a report commissioned by HM Treasury, published this week, argues that the UK must take a radically different, and more sustainable, approach to economics in the future. "Our unsustainable engagement with nature is endangering the prosperity of current and future generations," the report concludes. In his recent annual letter to CEOs, BlackRock's Larry Fink, echoed this concern, warning that the coronavirus pandemic has focused the minds of investors on the "existential threat of climate change". Fink called on companies to focus on ESG commitments. A recent proposal, by the International Financial Reporting Standards Foundation, to create a Sustainability Standards Board, aims to standardise ESG reporting, to improve corporate transparency and accountability.

+ Also this week: a former social enterprise has been banned from supplying supermarkets, leading to calls by UK social entrepreneurs to tighten accreditation rules; innovations, including transforming waste milk into sustainable fabric, are highlighted in the list of 40 social entrepreneurs to watch in 2021. Plus: was this the greatest pitch ever seen in Silicon Valley?; and.... should we be eating more insects?

+ Nat West is giving an extra £1bn to female entrepreneurs; the UK government is giving £11m to energy entrepreneurs; opportunities to work with Year Here, Nesta and the Social Business Trust; 2021 Fellowships with Acumen; and a free course on financial markets from Yale University.

+ (Virtual and mostly free) Featured Events; New Research; Reading, Watching, Listening to; Volunteering, Fellowships & Awards; Internships, Jobs & Job Boards; Courses & Resources

We are....

📚 Reading:

> Philanthropy:

Can the UK become a global centre of excellence for international philanthropy and social investment?
New report from the Beacon Collaborative (1 min intro + report)

Will Jeff Bezos' philanthropy provide a halo effect for Amazon? Critics say yes
Bezos, worth an estimated $197bn, has always been reticent about his philanthropy. Many are wondering what type of donor he will be | Marketwatch (8 mins)

Billionaire capitalists are designing humanity's future, don't let them
Is the future being invented - and privatised - by private companies owned by tech billionaires? | Guardian (8 mins)

‘Toxic philanthropy’ versus ‘egalitarian principles’: artists, art workers and activists call for Leon Black’s removal as MoMA board chairman
US campaigners calling for the removal of MoMa board chairman, say this is only their first demand: "Beyond his removal, we must think seriously about a collective exit from art’s imbrication in toxic philanthropy and structures of oppression..." | The Art Newspaper (4 mins)

The seven deadly sins of dysfunctional boards and how to fix them
Chronicle of Philanthropy (6 mins)

> Impact Investing:

A fundamental reshaping of finance: Larry Fink's 2021 letter to CEOs
The BlackRock chief executive believes the pandemic has focused the minds of investors and companies on the "existential threat of climate change", and accelerated an economic transformation | BlackRock (6 mins)

Time to clean up climate reporting standards
Companies should back up their rhetoric with accounts that reflect the true risks, argues the FT Editorial Board (3 mins)

The future of ESG is... accounting?
A proposal to set up an international sustainability standards board, could help investors and other stakeholders understand a company's sustainability performance as easily as its financial performance | Harvard Business Review (4 mins)

Building the first sustainability unicorn
Swedish impact investor Norrsken Foundation is launching an eight-week impact accelerator this year with a focus on achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals | Sifted (4 mins)

> Economics:

Nature is a blind spot in economics that we ignore at our peril
The Economics of Biodiversity, a new UK government-commissioned report, argues for a fundamental change in how economics is approached, to reverse biodiversity loss and protect and enhance prosperity | HM Treasury (4 mins + report)

These are the top impacts of the Davos Agenda
11 initiatives, announced during the recent Davos Forum, with a focus on the pandemic, racial equality and climate | World Economic Forum (WEF) (8 mins)

How we measure stakeholder capitalism will determine our recovery
How common metrics, which account for gender and race, can stimulate global efforts to support inclusive capitalism | WEF (4 mins)

> Charity

Charities should not 'go out of their way to divide people': Baroness Stowell
In one of her final speeches before stepping down, the Charity Commission chair warned charities not to be “captured by those who want to advance or defend a view of the world that excludes others” | Third Sector (3 mins)

> Entrepreneurship:

40 social entrepreneurs to watch in 2021
Inspiring list includes entrepreneurs whose innovations include sustainable fibre created from waste milk; edible cutlery; personal alarms disguised as jewellery; and geothermal heating | Cause Artist (10 mins)

Black entrepreneurship, the opportunity gap explained
by Abdullah Snobar, Executive Director at the DMZ, a tech incubator for high-potential startups | Forbes (3 mins)

How Square's co-founders gave 'the greatest pitch Silicon Valley's investors had ever seen'
How Jim McKelvey and his business partner, Jack Dorsey, won over venture capitalists in 2009 with their pitch for Square | Forbes (4 mins)

> Social business:

Waitrose suspends orders from troubled former social enterprise, Clarity
Questions about a former social enterprise's employment and marketing practices have led to calls for more scrutiny of social enterprise accreditations | Pioneers Post (4 mins)

Let's stop measuring impact
Impact measurement within the social impact sector has almost become an industry, but is this process a waste of time and money? | Pioneers Post (4 mins)

🔊 Listening to:

Gender norms, rule of law and female entrepreneurship in developing countries
Female entrepreneurs in developing countries prefer to collaborate with other women. Nava Ashraf, Marshall Institute, and Edward Glaeser, Harvard University, discuss why | VoxDev Talks (21 mins)

📌Featured Events

16 Feb: How capital markets can take sustainability to the next level
Should corporations be presenting their ESG debits/credits as part of their standard financial reporting? | Said Business School

17 Feb: How can we measure the success of social science collaboration?
With Julia Black, Susana Mourato and Stephan Chambers, of LSE, and Ian Diamond, National Statistician | Aspect, Webinar

18 Feb: Wealth inequality across the globe
Discussion, with contributions from Russia, China, South Korea, Brazil, as well as Europe and North America | LSE, International Inequalities Institute

22 Feb: Philanthropy - from Aristotle to Zuckerberg
Are the super-rich secretly shaping our world? Paul Vallely, Fran Perrin and Robert Reich, discuss how the history of philanthropy has influenced its changing political role | LSE, Marshall Institute

24 Feb: Making your voice heard
How to develop your leadership presence and be more influential in the workplace, with Professor Connson Locke | LSE, Department of Management

24 Feb: Harvard Business School Fireside Chat with Scott Jacobs, co-founder of Generate Capital
Scott Jacobs on founding McKinsey’s Clean Tech practice, to creating Generate Capital, one of the world's most influential sustainable investment firms

25 Feb: The costs of connection: how data is colonising human life and appropriates it for capitalism
Nick Couldry and Ulises Ali Mejias will discuss their new book | LSE, Media and Communications

2 March: Start-up survival: how do young innovators navigate the new normal?
Part of the LSE Festival of recorded 15 minute talks by LSE experts

3 March: Better business
Professor Christopher Marquis, Cornell University, on the B Corp movement, entrepreneurship and social impact | LSE, Marshall Institute

13-15 April: Skoll World Virtual Forum 2021
Sign up for this year's global online event - registrations open in February

🔎 New Research

Entrepreneurs benefit more from emotional intelligence than from other competencies such as IQ
Research from the Indiana University has found that emotional intelligence may be more vital to the survival of a business than previously thought

Policy pathways to accelerate transitions to zero carbon economies
The world is facing three interrelated challenges: climate change; the COVID-19 induced health and economic crises; and rapid technological development. COP26 briefing paper outlines how responsible policies for transitioning to a zero-carbon economy can address the climate crisis and offer co-benefits for addressing other challenges | British Academy, 2021

Can you help? MyAlvie, a new social enterprise, founded by Marshall Institute EMSBE alumni, Kate Evans and Amr Maud, aims to help social media users understand how their online activities might be harming or helping their mental health. They have devised a short (five mins) survey to learn more about how people feel about social media and mental wellbeing. Please take a few minutes to take part. Learn more about MyAlvie (Alvie means 'wise friend')

💸 Resources, Funding

+ Ideas for Impact
A call for ideas on how social impact investment can address a social issue in the UK. Up to £30,000 in development funding available | Big Society Capital

+ Grants for Good
Grants of up to £10,000 available for social enterprises that have a positive impact on communities, people or the environment and have an average income of less than £50,000 in the last 12 months | Matthew Good Foundation

+ Nat West doubles female entrepreneurship funding to £2bn
The bank has announced an additional £1bn in funding to help support female-led businesses in the UK recover from the coronavirus

+ more resources: Good Finance, tips and tools for social enterprises; UnLtd Awards Portal; the foundation for social entrepreneurs offers funding and support opportunities in Scotland, Wales and Ireland; Social Enterprise UK, national membership body

💡Learn

> Financial Markets, with Robert J Shiller, Professor of Economics, Yale University
An overview of the ideas, methods, and institutions that permit human society to manage risks and foster enterprise. Free online lectures (recorded 2011)

> Executive MSc Social Business and Entrepreneurship
Marshall Institute's programme for business leaders and entrepreneurs across the private, public and non-profit sectors

> Master of Public Administration in Social Impact (Marshall Institute)
Create social impact and maximise the effectiveness of private action for public benefit

About the Marshall Institute

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