COVID-19 has evoked another discussion around the urgency of businesses to address major social challenges. But are market-based solutions alone sufficient to address global challenges, like this pandemic? Front-running companies in Europe started to realise that they need to go further than that. They also pursue impact-based strategies through corporate social investors, like corporate foundations, impact funds, or impact accelerators.
Why these companies do so and what the benefits are from combining market-based and impact-based strategies, will be the central theme of this webcast. The European Venture Philanthropy Association’s will share insights from their community of 70+ corporate social investors. We also hear from leading practitioners how the partnership between corporate social investor and company works in practice to create both social and business value.
Key Takeaways:
- Spectrum of corporate impact strategies
- Opportunities for companies to strategically align with corporate social investors
- Different approaches to pursue corporate social investment
Agenda
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15.00-15.05 |
Introduction |
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15.05-15.40 |
Opening remarks: Scene setting on why companies are moving towards building sustainable and inclusive brands. |
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Introduction into what corporate social investing is, how it can help catalyse companies to move further on their journey, and sketches the European landscape. |
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Practitioner - A CSI explains how they work together with the company. The focus is on the business and the social case of corporate social investing. |
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15.40-15.55 |
Discussion |
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15.55-16.00 |
Closing remarks |
Steven Serneels
Next to chair of EVPA, Steven is also chair of EVPA's Corporate Initiative. During his career, he has been working over 20 years with both executive teams of corporates to reshape their strategies towards an inclusive business, and social entreprises, to create impact at scale.
In 2011, he joined Ashoka Global, Washington, as strategic advisor. In this capacity, he focussed on how citizen sector organizations (and social entrepreneurs in particular) and corporations can work together successfully in creating social impact at scale in a commercially viable setting. Since then, he has been working together with many social entreprises, investing in some of them.
Having worked with both social and business actors, his focus today is very much on the sweet spot where doing business and doing good are coming together.
Steven is also an investor and member of the Investment Committee of SI², a for profit social impact fund, providing growth capital to European for profit social enterprises.
He is chairman of Kampani, a social impact investment fund to unlock the potential of entrepreneurial farming in the South, and board member of the Impact Investment Institute in UK.
Furthermore, he is board member of the Impact Investment Institute in UK and co-founder and chair of Iristick, an industrial smart glasses company blending Tech for Business with Tech for Good.
He is the (co-)author of papers and books on various topics dealing with the role of business in society, such as:
- EVPA's report on 'Corporate Social Impact Strategies - New paths for collaborative growth'; May 2016
- The book 'Everyone Social: Can entrepreneurs save the world', WPG/Manteau, 2016
- Stanford Social Innovation Review article: The Rise of the Corporate Social Investor; May 2020
Dr. Uwe G Schulte
Dr. Uwe G. Schulte is Leader, Global Sustainability Centre, and Program Director for the European Sustainability Council at The Conference Board.
Schulte was executive director of the INSEAD Social Innovation Centre and spent most of his professional career at Unilever. In his final role, he led the creation of the global Unilever procurement function.
Other roles include serving as head of the Personal Care supply chain for Europe; technical director for the Elida board; works manager of the Elida Gibbs Personal Care factory (in Germany); head of development and quality assurance of Lever Division Household Products and Personal Care (Sao Paulo, Brazil); head of production for detergent powders and liquids and product development (Lever Germany); and scientist/chemist in England and Germany.
Annette Jung
Annette is the Managing Head of Philips Capital Southern Europe & Africa for Royal Philips. She has a background in banking and helds various senior functions in customer, export & project financing at Deutsche Bank and Philips, covering various industries. Annette is a founding member of Philips Capital and since August 2017 she leads the Southern Europe & Africa team. She is also the representing Philips Capital in the "Captives Forum", an Industry Association of global finance captives.
Next to her role in Philips Capital Annette is a volunteer of the Philips Foundation since inception. She is the strategic lead for the Ashoka Partnership Program for the Philips Foundation. Annette started her career at Deutsche Bank in Germany where she was focusing on trade- and export financing. Moving to Philips, she led the customer financing activities in various businesses; in 2003 Annette joined Philips Treasury in the Netherlands starting to focus on the Philips Healthcare financing activities and eventually moved to this sector in 2009 where she held various regional and global financing functions. In 2014 - as "founding member" - Annette moved to Philips Capital.