January 2022 Social Impact News Roundup: Collective Action for Our Collective Future

Every month, we share leading social impact insights, trends, job opportunities, and events to help you drive positive change from wherever you are. Here are some highlights from January 2022:

Lessons from Social Entrepreneurs

As we shared in a recent end of year reflection, although the challenges of the last few years have taken a toll on us, “it’s also done something else: it’s made us stronger, it’s made us wiser, and hopefully a little more empathetic, too.” Nowhere is that tenacity more evident than in the vibrant community of social enterprises we have the honor of supporting in partnership with SAP through the S-GRID program. We asked a group of S-GRID social entrepreneurs: What was your biggest challenge and biggest win from 2021? See the wisdom they shared here. For more insights about creating impact over the past tumultuous year, check out these impact reports from MicroMentor, Proyecto Agua Segura, and Pawster Nashville.

Partnerships for the Goals 

Yasmina Zaidman from Acumen and Åsa Skogström Feldt from the IKEA Foundation recently co-authored an op-ed in Harvard Business Review about How Social Enterprises Can Help Corporations Meet Their ESG Goals, based on their Corporate Ready Research Report (which you can find a summary of here.) In particular, the piece highlights social procurement as a meaningful way that corporations can achieve their ESG targets while making value chains more sustainable. A great example of this is the recently launched Sorting For Circularity India Project, a collaborative, cross-sector project to understand both the pre-consumer and post-consumer textile waste streams in India, and to pilot sorting and mapping solutions. Almost one year ago, MovingWorlds published its own research report showing how corporate responsibility and ESG efforts were likely to head in this direction.

Investing in Future Changemakers

Actively engaging young people in sustainable development efforts is central to achieving a more equitable and sustainable future. India is home to ⅕ of the global youth population, and to better understand which interventions have the biggest impact, Sattva partnered with UNICEF’s Generation Unlimited to produce The Solutions for Young People of India Report – identifying five focus areas and recommending actions that government, private sector, and non-government actors can play to further strengthen them.  

Lessons from the Pandemic Shaping Approaches to Health Equity

At the end of last year, ThinkMD hosted community health workers from across the globe for an Open MIC to share their perspectives and experiences. ThinkMD published key takeaways from that conversation in this report, which include the need for meaningful inclusion, access to digital tools, and support from policymakers. Additionally, Resonance recently hosted a panel of industry leaders from Microsoft, the Novartis Foundation, Rwanda’s Ministry of Health, and the Global Fund to discuss what’s really needed to enable digital health equity in emerging markets. Check out the recording here. 

Social Impact Job Opportunities

• Amazon is hiring a Program Manager – Social Responsibility (based in Seattle, WA)
• American Express is hiring for a Manager – ESG & Sustainability (based in New York, NY)
• Civilla is hiring for multiple positions, including:
  • Design Lead (based in Detroit, MI)
  • Researcher-Designer (based in Detroit, MI)
  • Business Operations Associate (based in Detroit, MI)
• Environmental Defense Fund is hiring for a Senior Communications Manager (based in San Francisco, Boston, New York, Washington D.C., or remote)
• Exygy is hiring for a Senior Product Manager (based in San Francisco, CA)
• Flag is hiring for multiple positions, including Senior Account Director of Sustainability Reporting, Copywriter, Design Director, and more. Browse all open positions here.
• Greentown Labs is hiring for a Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Senior Program Manager (based in Somerville, MA or Houston, TX)
• IKEA Social Entrepreneurship is hiring for multiple positions, including:
  • Programme Coordinator (based in Delft, Netherlands)
  • Communications Specialist (based in Delft, Netherlands)
  • UX Specialist (based in Delft, Netherlands)
• Indeed is hiring for a Sustainability Data & Analytics Lead (based in Austin, TX) 
• Mercy Corps Ventures is hiring for two positions to expand its team working with startups in frontier markets:
  • Ventures Assistant Program Officer (based in Portland, OR or Washington, D.C.)
  • Finance Manager – Ventures and Innovation (based in Portland, OR or Washington, D.C.)
• MicroMentor is hiring for a Principal Engineer (based in Portland, OR)
• Pine Gate Renewables is hiring for a Director of External Affairs (based in Asheville, NC)
• REDF is hiring for multiple positions, including:
  • Accelerator Facilitator & Experience Manager (based in San Francisco or Los Angeles, CA)
  • Senior Manager, Loan Portfolio (based in San Francisco or Los Angeles, CA)
• REI is hiring Director – Racial Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (based in Seattle, WA)
• Rippleworks is hiring for a Head of People and Culture (based in Redwood City, CA)
• Rubicon is hiring for a Specialist to join its Circular Economy Solutions Team (remote)
• Sephora is hiring for a Social Impact Manager (based in San Francisco, CA)
• Sustainable Business Consulting is hiring for a Sustainability & ESG Reporting Specialist (based in Seattle, WA or remote)

Upcoming Events & New Programs

• February 8th: The Possibility Project is hosting a discussion on the topic, “How Do We Train The Next Generation of Changemakers?” Register here.
• February 9th: Unity Effect is hosting a free online workshop, “Building Trust & Psychological Safety in Teams.” Register here.
• February 16th: Deadline to apply to Unity Effect’s March Leadership Journey program. Learn more and apply here.

A Final Bit of Inspiration

There is a power that can be created out of pent-up indignation, courage, and the inspiration of a common cause, and that if enough people put their minds and bodies into that cause, they can win. It is a phenomenon recorded again and again in the history of popular movements against injustice all over the world.
Howard Zinn