Weekly Announcement #56. January 14, 2022.

Compiled by Allyson Hewitt / VP Impact, MaRS Discovery District / Edited by Marek Nakonieczny, Associate, Business for Purpose Network

Welcome to this week’s B4PN Weekly Announcement. As the new year kicks off, so does the plethora of events and opportunities in the Business for Purpose space. It seems Omicron may be keeping us at home, but we are still managing to connect online, especially as this edition demonstrates, with colleagues across the globe. Please continue to share key articles with us so we can share them with our ever-expanding network.

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#ONE — Event: Financing Social Innovation

At the Propelling Purpose Summit we profiled what the Business for Purpose movement can learn from the field of social innovation. Allyson Hewitt, VP Impact at MaRS and co-founder of the B4PN, will be representing Canada at the upcoming Social Innovation Exchange (SIX) event on Financing Social Innovation. She will join a panel of global experts including Filipe Almeida, Portugal; Geoff Mulgan, UK; Suzanne Wisse-Huiskes, the Netherlands; Sven Giegold, Germany and moderated by Louise Pulford, UK. Please join us on January 19th from 4 to 5:30 pm CET (or 11 am EST). Registration is free.

#TWO — Event: The Long and Short of It

The focus on short term returns is one factor inhibiting corporates from embracing societal purpose. “Drawing on lessons from the Climate-KIC Long-termism Deep Demonstration, this session (by Volans in the UK) will explore cutting edge ideas about how we can instill long-termism in our financial, economic and political systems.”

Speakers: Richard Roberts & Charlene Cranny, Volans: Jakob Thomä & Anne Schoenauer, 2° Investing Initiative; and Raj Kalia, Dark Matter Labs. Register here for free. January 25th at 2 pm GMT (or 9 am EST).

#THREE — Program: Social Purpose Innovators Lab

The Social Purpose Institute invites you to join the (virtual) Winter session of the Social Purpose Innovators Lab, “a cohort-based, strategy-focused, intensive program that includes a mix of expert and peer-to-peer learning, collaborating, and hands-on work — both in and between sessions. Participant partners from each company work together to prepare for each session, present results of their learnings, and work with other organizations (non-competitors) to brainstorm go-forward approaches to help them define and refine their unique Social Purpose.”

Please head to the link above to find out more about this program and how you can get involved.

#FOUR — Research: Framework Papers on Purpose-Driven Companies

Dr. Victoria Hurth Co-Authored these Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership two thought provoking, framework papers on purpose-driven companies which you can access here:

• Unleashing the sustainable business: how purposeful organisations can break free of business-as-usual
• Unleashing the sustainable business: how purpose transforms an organisation

Thank you to Coro Strandberg, for sharing these.

#FIVE — Podcast: The Role of ESG and purpose

Sean Brown hosts Robin Nuttall, a leader of McKinsey’s ESG strategy work and Rupert Younger, founder of the Centre for Corporate Reputation at Oxford University and chair of the Enacting Purpose Initiative, in “The Role of ESG and purpose”, for McKinsey’s Inside the Strategy Room podcast. They discuss the rising pressure for organizations to focus on ESG with purpose, and where exactly that pressure is coming from. For insights like the value creation related to purpose-driven ESG operations, or the links between purposeful activity to productivity, performance improvements, and employee engagement, enjoy a ~30min listen or check out the transcript at the link above.

quote of the week

“Purpose does not come at the expense of profitability but, in many cases, drives outperformance.”

– Rupert Younger, on McKinsey’s Inside the Strategy Room podcast, December 2021.

Enjoy the reading and enjoy the weekend … on purpose.

Allyson