July 2021: Latest news from EIIP
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Welcome to our latest round up on news and views from EIIP and the wider field of equality impact investing. 'There is no such thing as an equality neutral impact investor or investment' – so goes one of the foundational premises of equality impact investing. Staying on the fence is no longer an option. This is increasing being recognised and acted on more and more investors, whether they are concerned with profit margins or just doing what is right. As they do, both we at EIIP and others in the wider field are stepping efforts to support this move from commitment in principle to action in practice.
We are delighted to launch the new digital EII Toolkit, a practical guide to setting and delivering in equality impact goals. For an insight into some the debates that building this involved listen to Ceri Goddard and Bonnie Chu talk about them and what the tookit offers.
Do also check out and add to our growing resources from the field section. Action was also the focus of this month's 'Letting Go' event which saw 100+ investors hear from leading thinkers and doers in the movement to shift power in investment and philanthropy.
Being clear on the difference you want to make and measuring if you have done it is also important to that action impacting, as Dr Jess Daggers and Kevin Osborne discuss in two important opinion pieces.
This month has also seen us issue a call for expressions of interest from investors to get involved in another practical initiative – reimagining deal terms so they work to advance equality not perpetuate power imbalance.
In wider developments, we have seen welcome recognition of equality and social justice pioneers in investing and of Access’s important work on inequality, along with a recommendation they keep it up. But we have also seen calls for more blended and flexible finance gather pace as key to this and the wider fairer finance agenda.
As we head into the summer, we have certainly seen growing efforts and momentum build to not just keep up but accelerate this work. However, as this month's EIIP UK Taskforce reviewed their last year, we know there is much more to do, as the inequality challenges exacerbated by the last year's pandemic, like COVID, are going nowhere fast.
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New EII digital toolkit launches
We're delighted to share our new Equality Impact Investing Toolkit, our introductory guide for social and impact investors on EII fundamentals and how to put them into practice. Read more
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Shifting power in impact investing and philanthropy
There was a vibrant discussion at the book launch of Ben Wrobel and Meg Massey’s book Letting Go last week. Read more
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Equalising Investment Terms: Invitation for Expressions of Interest
How can investment terms, legal documentation and processes within impact investing better embed the principles and values of equality? Get involved with a new EIIP project on equalising investment terms. Read more
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What gets measured gets done
Setting and measuring progress on clear equality impact goals is key to harnessing investment to effect real change. Check out these blogs from Dr Jess Daggers and Kevin Osborne on why and what next? Read more
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Announcing the EII Toolkit
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We're delighted to share our new Equality Impact Investing Toolkit, our introductory guide for social and impact investors on EII fundamentals and how to put them into practice.
Designed to support those working across the spectrum of capital - from mainstream asset managers to impact-first investors to grant-makers - it sets out practical steps, tools, cases and resources you need to operationalise key EII principles and strategies.
It guides you through all the five key steps you should follow to develop an impact thesis and interrogate your investment processes to genuinely impact inequality. Alongside this, you will find a series of practical tools and case examples from around the world that bring the strategies to life to help you in this journey. This resource supplements the videos and materials from our Equality Impact Investing introductory training which are also available on our website here.
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Listen in on our website to EIIP director Ceri Goddard and The Social Investment Consultancy's Bonnie Chiu discuss some of the key questions that arose producing this the Toolkit - an insight into the work of bringing together the fields of equality and human rights and impact investing as we build a the new one of equality impact investing.
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Catch up on a great discussion on shifting power in impact investing and philanthropy
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We’re pleased to share here a vibrant discussion at the book launch of Ben Wrobel and Meg Massey’s Letting Go: How Philanthropists and Impact Investors Can Do More Good By Giving Up Control hosted by Equality Impact Investing Project, Centre for Knowledge Equity and Big Society Capital (15 July).
Attendees heard from a growing reform movement inside philanthropy and impact investing who are shifting decision-making power to the communities that such funds are intended to benefit and serve. The panelists discussed practices for shifting and moving power, and shared ideas for how UK social and impact investors and philanthropic funders can accelerate the movement to let go.
Curated by Rana Zincir-Celal (EIIP) and Manprit Vig (CKE), other contributors included Baljeet Sandhu (Centre for Knowledge Equity), Philipp Essl (Big Society Capital), Ceri Goddard (EIIP), Chloe Hardy (Sheila McKechnie Foundation), Ishita Ranjan (Big Society Capital), Ben Rick (Social and Sustainable Capital), Fuad Mahamed (ACH) and Derek Bardowell (Ten Years’ Time).
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Letting Go of Power in impact investing and philanthropy: A discussion with Letting Go authors Meg Massey & Ben Wrobel and other key UK voices
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Equalising Investment Terms: Invitation for Expressions of Interest
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Get involved with a new EIIP project on equalising investment terms.
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How can investment terms, legal documentation and processes within impact investing better embed the principles and values of equality? To what extent do investment terms replicate forms of control and power that are poorly aligned with trust and collaborative partnership?
A key equality impact strategy is for investors – and their advisers – to take steps to improve their own organisational processes and practices, to ensure that these are consistent with their professed mission and values in promoting equality. EIIP is working with Bates Well to explore how this can be done.
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What gets measured gets done
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Setting and measuring progress on clear equality impact goals is key to harnessing investment to effect real change. Below we share two opinion pieces from people leading work in this area.
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Dr Jess Daggers, who is working with EIIP to explore and improved EII measurement, and Kevin Osborne, who is calling for firmer commitments on increasing levels of arts financing to BAME led organisations.
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Jess Daggers on impact management and equality impact investing
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EIIP is seeking to bridge two fields of practice: the field of impact investing, and the field of equality and human rights. Both of these fields have developed their own measurement practices and frameworks.
For impact investors, the challenge is to find a way to define and measure the impact created by the companies being invested in.
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Kevin Osborne on why funders must pledge to fund equitably
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I was optimistic about the possibility for change to the stark and urgent problem of only 2.4% of regular arts funding going to BAME* organisations when the BAME population is 14%. But as I plan to launch Create Equity’s campaign for arts funders to pledge to distribute their funding equitably within the next ten years, that optimism has waned.
Although I have many agreements in principle from initial conversations with funders, there has been no rush of firm, specific commitments, and it’s clear that I will face considerable inertia in achieving this.
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Social finance, equality and social justice pioneers honoured
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We were pleased to see number of social finance, equality and justice pioneers recognised in this year’s Birthday honours list, including Sara Llewellin DBE, Barrow Cadbury, Muna Yassin MBE, Fair Finance, Vidhya Alakeson OBE, Power to Change and our own EIIP director Ceri Goddard MBE.
Ceri and Vidhya also joined hundreds of other honours recipients in supporting the Excellence not Empire campaign that is calling for the honours system to break the link with colonialism.
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Review of Access highlights need for more blended finance and continued focus on equality impact
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An independent review of the work of Access – The Foundation for Social Investment (Access) has concluded that the charity has had significant positive impact on the charity and social enterprise sector since it was launched six years ago, and that further resources will be required to sustain the blended finance approach.
Access's role in continuing to support the sector in furthering its equality impact also emerged as a key strategic priority.
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Collective commitment made to advance gender equality using finance
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As the world’s political leaders came together in Paris for the Generation Equality Forum, The Criterion Institute joined partners UNICEF and Ford Foundation in making a catalytic commitment to catapult progress on gender equality. Together they are committing to equipping feminist movements to better engage and influence financial systems to address gender-based violence.
Global systems of public and private finance and investments have the potential to advance the vision laid out by Generation Equality’s Gender-Based Violence Action Coalition. Feminist movements—especially grassroots women and girls’ rights organizations—have a vital role in engaging and mobilizing these systems, as yet another lever to reduce and ultimately eliminate, gender-based violence, including in humanitarian settings.
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Place-based impact investing
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The Impact Investing Institute recently launched a joint white paper, Scaling up institutional investment for place-based impact.
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The research shows that there are real opportunities for investors to secure financial returns while addressing place-based inequalities and support more inclusive and sustainable development across the UK, which it believes could play a crucial in contributing to the 'levelling up' agenda and mobilising significant pools of private capital. In the coming months, they will be engaging with local government pension funds and other institutional investors on their place-based impact investing work and also provide resources from the white paper on their Learning Hub.
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Third issue of KOL Social is out
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Voice4Change England (V4CE), Britain’s first charity magazine for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities launched its third issue in Volume 8 of KOL Social magazine. Focusing on the theme of ‘Defending Our Freedom’, it looks at the benefits of restorative justice and explores the progress that the past year’s diversity drives have made. The KOL Social magazine further presents numerous exclusive features and interviews, from singer Chronixx discussing his part in Jamaica’s reggae revival to an exploration of Africa’s grassroots surfing community. Out now online here and in London newsagents and specialist retailers.
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The Return of the State: Restructuring Britain for the Common Good
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This newly published book considers different perspectives on how to achieve a sustainable and just recovery from Covid-19.
You can view the online launch of the book, chaired by Miatta Fahnbulleh, CEO of the New Economics Foundation with contributions by Shadow Business Secretary Ed Miliband, FT columnist Martin Sandbu and chapter authors Robert Skidelsky, Ann Pettifor, Will Hutton and Kate Pickett.
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Ed Evans, CEO, Social Tech Trust on 'Fair play: why sustainable impact needs a more flexible approach to investment'
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When Saka’s penalty was excruciatingly saved by the Italian keeper, Donnarumma, in England’s Euro 2020 final defeat, the torrent of online racist abuse was quick to follow. What wasn’t so quick, was the response of the tech platforms that play host to such abhorrent views. With plenty of time to prepare, they haven’t just failed to score with their response, they’ve barely kicked the ball.
What realistic chance is there that these platforms are going to accept some accountability and forge new ways to tackle hate speech and racism? How different would it be if they had a social purpose — if equality, inclusion and empowerment were genuinely at the heart of their model and in lock step with their business aims?
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