Impact community ready to drive transformational recovery
The European investing for impact community gathered today at EVPA’s flagship Annual Conference and gave concrete proposals to drive a sustainable and resilient recovery for our economies and societies.
Against the backdrop of social, environmental and economic hardships exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic, investors for impact can drive lasting social change – from achieving a just and green transition to empowering young people, from funding healthcare to advancing women entrepreneurship.
Roberta Bosurgi, EVPA CEO, said: “Today we brought together the full breadth of our impact community – foundations, impact investors, social entrepreneurs, market builders, and EU institutions and policy makers – to highlight how the disruption accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic can be reframed to drive change and a more inclusive society. Together, as a community standing for impact, we can unlock the desperately needed resources for a healthier, more just and inclusive world for generations to come.”
Kerstin Jorna, Director of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Growth, said: “Socially oriented finance and impact investments are the new paradigm as they can support and harness the power of business and entrepreneurship to tackle social challenges. We need drivers of innovative approaches to solve key social issues in Europe, from housing deprivation to migration and inclusion of vulnerable groups, and to environmental solutions for the green transition.”
Valeria Valotto from social start-up Progetto Quid, an Italian fashion brand which employs women from vulnerable social groups, said: "Where the pandemic showed us the worst, we showed the pandemic that we can be connected for the better. Alone we are nothing but together we achieved what we need thanks to our network's support.”
Steven Serneels, EVPA Chair, said: “We are excited to announce that our next Annual Conference will take place in Brussels on 1-2 December 2022. It will in fact be an Impact Week, anchored in the Belgian impact ecosystem, and in partnership with EU institutions and social enterprises networks. Stay tuned for more impact and more innovation!”
Today EVPA also launched a new standard-setting guide on how to measure and manage impact, which will enable investors to increase their positive societal impact throughout their investment journey. Advancing impact measurement and management practices is essential to ensure social investments achieve lasting impact and to prevent green and social washing.
Roberta Bosurgi said: “Rigorous impact measurement and management standards and practices are at the core of investing for impact and a lighthouse to inform and steer the investment journey. The guide represents a key milestone; it builds on the deep experience of our community in managing impact from the frontline and provides a practical perspective on key dilemmas and trade-offs.’’
For media enquiries, please contact:
Georgina Siklossy, EVPA Communications and Partnerships Manager
Email: gsiklossy@evpa.ngo
EVPA spokespeople and select speakers are available for interviews.
Notes to editors
- EVPA is a strong community of around 300 member organisations from 30+ countries sharing the same vision and a common goal: creating lasting societal impact through the practice of investing for impact. We are a unique network at the intersection of business and purpose, driven by knowledge and focused on impact.
- The recording of the opening session of the Annual Conference is available here.
We are grateful to EVPA Impact Month partners for making this event possible:
