No matter what filed you work in, you likely know that in today’s world, organizations are increasingly recognizing the importance of measuring and communicating social impact. But it’s not just about picking a few metrics and sharing the numbers. A robust social impact measurement strategy allows an organization to assess their effectiveness toward their mission, improve their programs, and communicate their achievements in a transparent and compelling way.

Mothers continue to exit the workforce, the demand for paid caregiving outweighs the supply, and the economy is suffering as a result. Investment in the care economy is a $1 Trillion+ opportunity that has the potential to improve gender equity, workforce retention, economic growth and have deep social impact. It also requires a collaborative and multifaceted effort from both the public and private sectors

Some of the most exciting new social impact enterprises are addressing the undervalued care economy through innovations in technology, organizing and care supply models.

The Theory of Change is a critical component of an organization’s “Roadmap to Impact.” As an organization’s grounding social impact framework, demonstrates how activities lead to the desired impact. It sketches out assumptions, research that underpin those assumptions, the stakeholders involved and helps guide your measurement and learning framework.

Illustration of a diverse group of women

International Women’s Day, and Women’s history month broadly, is an empowering time for women to reflect on our accomplishments, how far we’ve come - and also the importance of continuing to push for gender equity - because we still have 132 years to go at the current rate of progress. Proactively working toward gender equity should no longer be viewed as optional – it is and should be viewed as imperative to smart business practice and risk mitigation.

Library with curved full. bookshelves.

We see many opportunities worthy of more impact investment in Latin America’s healthcare sector – particularly as it relates to women’s health. But for these investments to happen, investors will need to embrace a more a flexible approach to funding, delivering the kind of support required by different health models at various stages of growth, and approaching these investments with realistic expectations around risk and returns. They’ll also need to recognize the fact that remaining on the sidelines represents another kind of risk: the risk of missing out on a sector full of profitable, impactful opportunities – including the opportunity to improve the overall investment climate in the region.

We know that gun control works to decrease gun deaths. And we know that this is now a health epidemic in the united states, as gun deaths have surpassed vehicle accidents as the #1 killer of children and adolescents in the United States. Yet even after these horrific acts, nothing changes to make military-grade weapons any harder to purchase than a pack of cigarettes. One often overlooked strategy involves examining where our money is invested.

With 500 delegates from 35 countries participating over two sessions to accommodate time zones, the 2021 virtual gender smart investing summit was a space for rich conversation, deep insights, and a smattering of powerful musicians and poets. Here are just four of the high-level areas in which I deepened my knowledge and that stood out as particularly important from this year’s summit.