July 2021 Social Impact News Roundup: Business as a Force For Good

In July, we were inspired by the way that actors across sectors are leveraging business as a force for good. Here are some highlights from July 2021:

Business as a Key Partner in the Development Sector

In 2014, India became the first country in the world to mandate CSR spend through legislative action. In its recent CSR landscape study, Sattva details how CSR has grown in the years since to occupy an important role in sustainable development. For companies thinking about developing new partnerships to drive sustainable solutions, Resonance released a Partnership Development Toolkit to help identify your organization’s applicable assets and gaps, map potential partners, and prioritize and select your best options. MovingWorlds also shared 7 leading social impact frameworks to add to your problem-solving toolkit when partnering with social enterprises to scale impact.

Increasing Investments in Social Enterprises

Catalyst2030 published a new report, Catalysing Collaboration: How & Why Corporates & Social Enterprises Should Partner to Achieve. According to the report, “Strategic global companies are stepping up, making ambitious pledges for the SDGs and integrating sustainability investments into core business strategy. To advance this work, companies are, increasingly, on the hunt for new partners—and new ways of driving impact. Here, we argue that social enterprises are a vital part of the equation.” Read the full report here. Social enterprises that are looking to build the skills and connections to develop these partnerships should consider applying to S-GRID Accelerator.

Breaking Down Barriers to Inclusion

For business to be used as a force for good, it has to be inclusive. One way to do that is through impact investing, which we break down in our latest “What is Impact Investing” guide. Microfinance is another way to drive financial inclusion, and in its annual report Kiva shared that in 2020 alone it funded $127 million in loans to over 300,000 borrowers. On the capacity-building side of things, MicroMentor is driving inclusion by investing in the skills and networks of early-stage entrepreneurs, particularly from BIPOC communities.

Social Impact Job Opportunities:

• Acumen is hiring for multiple positions, including:

  • Gender Specialist (based in Kenya or Nigeria)

  • Digital Marketing Associate (based in New York, NY)

  • Instructional Design Senior Associate (based in New York, NY or London, UK)

  • Fundraising Manager (based in San Francisco, CA)

  • Business Development Associate (based in New York, NY)

• Feeding America is hiring for Manager, FARM Salesforce Lead (based in Chicago, IL)

• HP is hiring for a Climate and ESG Program Manager (based in Oregon, USA)

• Landesa is hiring for part-time Program Coordinator, Program Operations with the potential to move to full-time in November (based in Seattle, WA)

• LEGO is hiring for a Senior Director, Social Impact & Partnerships (based in UK or Denmark)

• Mercy Corps Ventures is hiring for a Venture Studio Lead (multiple locations)

• MovingWorlds is hiring for two positions:

  • Data & QA Engineer (remote, with preference for EST time zone)

  • Founding Product Manager (remote, with preference for EST time zone)

• Niantic is hiring for a Social Impact Associate (based in California or Washington, USA)

• Nuru is hiring for two positions:

  • Administrative Associate (remote)

  • Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Senior Associate (remote, US preferred)

• PepsiCo is hiring for a Sustainability Associate Manager (location flexible)

• Resonance Global is hiring for multiple positions, including:

  • Internal Communications Consultant (remote within USA)

  • Senior Manager, Project Operations (based in Burlington, VT or Washington, D.C.)

  • Manager, Business Development (remote within USA)

  • Private Sector Engagement Specialist (based in Kampala, Uganda)

• RSF Social Finance is hiring for multiple positions (based anywhere in the USA with a preference for the San Francisco Bay Area):

  • Senior Manager or Director, Credit & Portfolio Management

  • Senior Associate, Credit & Portfolio Management

  • Senior Relationship Manager, Lending

• Sattva Consulting is hiring for multiple positions, including:

  • Senior Consultant, Nonprofit Advisory (based in Gurgaon or Mumbai, India)

  • Senior Consultant, Research (based in Bangalore, Gurgaon, or Mumbai, India)

  • Associate Consultant, ESG (based in Bangalore, Gurgaon, or Mumbai, India)

  • Sales Consultant (based in Bangalore, Gurgaon, or Mumbai, India)

• Sistema.bio is hiring for a Training & Learning Lead (based in Mexico City, Mexico) 

• Tides Foundation is hiring for a Director of Special Initiatives (flexible location within the USA) 

Featured Experteering Projects

Looking for an opportunity to use your skills for good while challenging yourself to grow? You could be the perfect fit for one of this month’s featured projects from our S-GRID social enterprise network if you have any of the following: 

• Skills related to digital architecture for open banking: Catu.ai equips financial institutions with a digital platform to personalize and simplify loan application processes. The team is looking for support to transition our applications to an open-banking architecture suited for digital services, in a way that is sustainable.

• Connections to impact investors or donor advised funds: Re-Mat is producing the first circular economy dog bed. The team is looking for connections to impact-centric funds so that it can raise the money to launch a nonprofit mattress recycling operation.

• Connections to hardware and home improvement retailers: Arqlite is a recycling technology company serving massive industries, developing highly efficient materials made 100% from discarded materials. The team is seeking connections to sustainability leaders at large corporations in hardware and home improvement retail to help scale its products.

Upcoming Events & New Programs

• August 10-12: Conveners.org and its partners are hosting the 2021 Accelerating the Accelerators: Thriving Forward conference. Learn more and get your ticket here.

• August 16th: Yunus Social Business is hosting a webinar, “Transforming Your Company Into a Force for Good” to share lessons learned from Peace Nobel Prof. Laureate Muhammad Yunus & former Unilever CEO Paul Polman. Learn more and register here.

• August 26th: Charity Village is hosting a webinar, “How to Use Design Thinking to Advance Your Social Impact Career Post-COVID” featuring MovingWorlds Institute Director Cole Hoover. Learn more and register here. 

A Final Bit of Inspiration…