March 2022 Social Impact News Roundup: Prioritizing Social Value

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 March 2022:

Social Procurement Continues to Gain Momentum

Tens of trillions of dollars are spent between businesses every year, and now, thanks to the folks at the Sustainable Procurement Pledge (SPP), March 21st was the first global Sustainable Procurement Day. Over 6,800 procurement professionals have committed to using their roles to ensure that this money is being spent with sustainable and impact enterprises. While SPP is a bottom-up movement of procurement professionals, progress is also being made from the top-down in terms of new legislation. In the UK, a new initiative was launched this month to build on the 2012 Social Value Act – a piece of legislation aimed at putting social enterprises in a better position to win public contracts. The Social Value 2032: Shaping The Future of Social Value initiative was launched by Social Enterprise UK, PwC, Siemens, and others to explore how social value considerations can be integrated into 100% of spending within the public sector and the largest private sector companies. This represents an exciting step towards holding companies accountable to their social value commitments.

Proposed New Rules to Standardize Climate-Related Reporting

On March 21, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission formally proposed new rules that would for the first time require businesses to report their greenhouse gas emissions, along with details of how climate change is affecting their businesses. Although some companies have voluntarily reported climate-related information, until now there have not been any standardized requirements imposed by the SEC – representing a meaningful step towards more impactful and universal ESG reporting.

Investing in the Entrepreneurs Tackling the Climate Crisis

Since the pandemic began, impact investor Mercy Corps Ventures has been aligning all of its energy, conviction, and resources to invest in founders who are developing solutions to address climate disruption and financial exclusion — solutions in inclusive fintech, adapted agriculture, climate-smart communities, resilient food systems, sustainable supply chains, crypto, decentralized finance (DeFi), and Web3. Learn more about the trends shaping the impact investing space, and lessons learned since the pandemic began in Mercy Corps Ventures’ Annual Impact Report. 

Social Impact Job Opportunities

• Amazon is hiring for a TCFD Lead – EU Sustainability (based in Luxembourg) 
• ANDE is hiring for multiple positions, including:
  • Senior Finance Manager (based in Washington, D.C.)
  • Research Analyst (based in the U.S. or Latin America)
  • Communications Manager (based in Washington, D.C.) 
• Angaza is hiring for a Head of Credit & Risk (remote)
• Ashoka is hiring for multiple positions, including:
  • Leadership Group Member, Global Framework Change & Marketing (based in Washington, D.C.)
  • Global Empathy, Leadership Group Member (based in Arlington, VA)
• Aspen Institute is hiring for an Associate Director, Communications (based in Washington, D.C.) 
• Climate Catalyst is hiring for a Business Engagement Manager – Europe (remote)
• Community Credit Lab is hiring for a Director of Revenue & Investor Relations (based in Seattle, WA)
• Expedia Group is hiring for a Senior Manager, Social Innovation (based in New York, NY)
• Google is hiring for a Program Manager, Solutions and Go-to-Market, Geo Sustainability (based in New York, NY) 
• Mercy Corps Ventures is hiring for a Crypto & Climate Pilot Lead (based in Portland, OR, Washington, D.C., or remote) 
• MicroMentor is hiring for a Global Programs & Innovation Manager (based in Portland, OR or remote)
• Nike is hiring for a Social & Community Impact Manager (based in Beaverton, OR)
• The North Face is hiring for a Senior Social Impact & Advocacy Manager (based in Denver, CO)
• Zoom is hiring for a Grantmaking Partnerships Program Manager (based in London or Amsterdam, or remote within Europe)

Upcoming Events & New Programs

• April 6-8: The Skoll World Forum is hosting its annual virtual conference, this year with the theme of “Face/Forward.” Register here to take part in the plenaries, sessions, networking, wellbeing activities, and other avenues of learning and connection for the social innovation community.
• April 8: Catalyst2030 is hosting a free webinar, “Unlock Major and Legacy Giving,” with special guest Wahid Kamalian, Founder of the social enterprise Amaly Legacy and alumnus of the MovingWorlds Institute. Register here. (Bonus: you’ll also get to hear from two other inspiring MovingWorlds Institute alumni on the panel – Belén Roldán from the UNHCR, and Marisa Rizzuti from UNICEF!) 
• April 11: Deadline for social enterprises to apply to the Unilever Biodegradable & Sustainable Cosmetics & Packaging Challenge. 
• April 13: Deadline to submit a speaker nomination for the upcoming Social Enterprise World Forum.
• April 26-28: FSG & Collective Impact Forum are hosting their annual Collective Impact Action Summit – a virtual conference to elevate cutting-edge thinking and lessons on how cross-sector collaboration can help address the issues we are facing. Register here.
• April 25: UnLtd andConscious Innovation are hosting a free webinar, “House of Trust “Think-in” Session: How to Activate Allyship in your Social Investment Organisation” for women of color. Register here.
• April 30: Deadline to apply to the May cohort of the MovingWorlds Institute Global Social Impact + Career Growth Fellowship. Learn more and apply here.

Congratulations to….

• Incluyeme for being selected as one of only 77 organizations globally to be listed in The Valuable Directory, the world’s first global directory of disability inclusion specialists!
• Kushi Kantha Founder, Laura Rana, for being named as one of the Natwest WISE 100 – a list that recognises the most inspiring and influential women in social enterprise, impact investment and mission-driven business!

A Final Bit of Inspiration

“I think we’ve got to demonstrate that [social value] is not a nice-to-have, it’s not sort of ‘cookies on a Friday’, it’s genuinely, absolutely intrinsic to the way we do things, the way we do business, the products we create, and the values that we share.”
Chris White, former MP and author of the Social Value Act