The Purpose Pod Investing for Purpose / Richard Mullane

"We can help the land, so the land can help us"
How to solve the problem of rodent infestations costing farmers in Thessaly, the breadbasket of Greece, more than EU100m each year, while mitigating overuse of rodenticides that harm biodiversity, ecology and human health? With the perfect nature-based solution, of course…
 
Spend some time in the home and in the fields at dusk with agricultural ecosystem expert Vasileios Bontzorlos to hear all about Tyto, the company that expertly researches, fosters and manages communities of wild barn owls across 100s of kilometres of farmland, while enabling a thriving and biodiverse ecosystem. 
The question is, as the dusk light fades, will we see one of the elusive barn owls?...
 
Discussions include:
 
- The myth surrounding the barn owl and why they are so connected to humanity
- What it takes to change the mindsets and practices of rural communities
- The true definition of Regenerative Agriculture
- Why you should read E.O Wilson after Dawkins
- How to pave the way for a career connected to nature
- Why you might want to approach barn owl boxes with an umbrella...! And much more besides.
www.tyto.org.gr
#naturebasedsolutions #barnowl #raptor #agriculturalecosystems #wildlifeconservation #ecology #communityengagement
"Barn owl populations locally move like a cloud"
Links mentioned in the podcast:
Alexandre Roulin
https://barnowl-research.ch/en
 
https://www.cambridgeblog.org
 
Richard Dawkins 
https://richarddawkins.net/
 
E.O. Wilson 
https://eowilsonfoundation.org/
Convention on Biological Diversity
https://www.cbd.int
Additional links
Investing for Purpose
Investing for Purpose
Impact Frontiers
https://impactfrontiers.org/norms/five-dimensions-of-impact/
 
UN SDGs
https://sdgs.un.org/goals
 
Social Value International
https://www.socialvalueint.org/
Impact Europe
https://www.impacteurope.net/
Hellenic Impact Investing Network
https://thehiin.org/
Global Impact Investing Network
https://thegiin.org/

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“We always provide food supplies that we would give to our children”
In 2013, in the depths of the financial crisis, when Melina Taprantzi visited a regional social grocery supplying food for the unemployed, the only thing that was available on the shelves was razor blades. 
 
This stark reality was a turning point for Melina, who has since focussed her energies on building Wise Greece into a uniquely circular Social Enterprise that now supports over 100 small Greek farmers and food producers to grow and export 2500 food products - including award winning innovations such as salads in a jar and mushroom flavoured sweets!
 
Profits are used to buy food from the same producers to supply soup kitchens and charitable institutions across Greece, with over 180 tons of food donated to support over half a million people in need so far.
 
Have a listen to Melina’s incredible story in our latest podcast, with insights including:
 
- How to design social enterprise business model generating positive compound Impacts from indivuduals to ecosystem
- Equality lessons learned from over 20 years of being a woman on the workplace
- Why being overreactive to natural disasters can have limited or even negative Impact
- Tips for start-ups: Why having a brilliant idea is not enough; and how to genuinely bootstrap with limited funding
- Investment opportunities across the Greek education, tourism, food, services sectors
- Why social enterprises are part of the real economy
- Why a career in impact is about enjoying the grind and celebrating every small win
- Why being adaptable is the core skill that students (and all of us!) need to develop
And more - including how to send the finest herbs via postcard....!
www.wisegreece.com
World Bank SDGs and Her
 
“When I stepped into my career I stepped in as a ‘man’. After 10 or 20 years you get to discover your female side more.”
#food #foodinnovation #compoundimpact #equality #socialenterprise #womenintheworkplace #socialgood #circularimpact
Investing for Purpose
Impact Frontiers
https://impactfrontiers.org/norms/five-dimensions-of-impact/
 
OECD wellbeing Index
https://www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org/
 
UN SDGs
https://sdgs.un.org/goals
 
Social Value International
https://www.socialvalueint.org/
Impact Europe
https://www.impacteurope.net/
Global Impact Investing Network
https://thegiin.org/

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“The paradigm shift embodied in the impact investment community is from Egosystem to Ecosystem”
 
Why should we be building Impact Economies across the world? And how can it be done?
 
This is the mission of The Global Steering Group for Impact Investment (GSG). Spearheaded by Sir Ronald Cohen, GSG are already enabling impact capacity building by establishing and supporting national impact advisory boards across 75 countries, including with our colleagues at the Hellenic Impact Investing Network (HIIN), here in Greece.
 
With a goal to harness influence, stimulate innovation and foster the building of impact economies, GSG also push for knowledge sharing and collaboration, a natural trait of the impact community and something that is close to our hearts at Investing for Purpose.
 
To hear more, Krisztina Tora, GSGs Chief Market Development Officer, tells the full story in this pod, including:
 
- Why we need to develop impact investment globally and how local-to-global impact networks are key to the solution
 
- The need to focus attention on early-stage companies 
 
- The stark differences between ESG and Impact investing
 
- The importance of channelling capital flows into emerging markets and SDG aligned solutions
 
- Why post-growth thinking is not comfortable, but is essential in an AI dominated future
 
- The ABC definitions of impact categorisation
 
As well as the Impact community as a 'family', how we can all get better sleep - and more!
 
“Impact should become the driver for all decisions in business, investment, policy and consumption” 

GSG Global Steering Group for Impact Investment 
https://gsgii.org/
 
Hellenic Impact Investing Network
https://thehiin.org/
 
Impact Management Platform: ABC
https://impactmanagementplatform.org/?s=ABC
 
Impact Frontiers
https://impactfrontiers.org/norms/five-dimensions-of-impact/
 
OECD wellbeing Index
https://www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org/
 
UN SDGs
https://sdgs.un.org/goals
 
Social Value International
https://www.socialvalueint.org/
Impact Europe
https://www.impacteurope.net/
Global Impact Investing Network
https://thegiin.org/

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"The relationship between entrepreneurs and investors is like a marriage. You really have to be certain that on the human side of things you are also aligned".
In the world of impact finance it’s easy to focus a lot of attention on the myriad challenges: How to source and support the most impactful enterprises; how to find like-minded investors with skillsets aligned to the entrepreneur business; how to design innovative, smart and patient capital models; how to assess the impact of enterprises; how to help enterprise growth and valuation in parallel with impact; etc.....
But how often do we also step back to celebrate the impact of social enterprises that are going from strength to strength as a result?
Ellinor Schweyer, Co-Founder and MD of Munich based impact finance advisors FASE, which was born out of the original social entrepreneurship funding organisation Ashoka, tells of their success stories ranging from a triple-win solution to detecting breast cancer, to insuring the health of previously uninsurable field workers in developing nations, and making civic sports clubs sustainable to reliably provide a priceless framework that so many teenagers benefit from.
Ellinor also delves deep into the best approaches to bootstrapping a social enterprise to be sure of attracting impact funding- and on the importance of choosing wisely when it comes to committing to the right investor 'marriage'. As well as her thoughts on:
- The corporate saturation that led her to jump into impact and careers advice for those looking to switch to impact finance
- Impact finance vs VC start up failure rates
- The challenges thrown up by the positive reality of Impact investing becoming trendy and attracting an increase in venture funds
- Using Ashoka Impact metrics to measure Impact
- The FASE approach to structuring debt, mezzanine financing, social bonds and impact ROI
- How to stay healthy in an age of climate anxiety
"Impact is not equally defined and often in impact investments you still see that the brain rules over the heart"
https://fa-se.de/en/
 
https://www.ashoka.org/
 
https://www.discovering-hands.de/international/page-international
 
https://www.elucid.social/
 
https://klubtalent.org/
#SocialVentureCapital #matchmaking #impactsuccessstories #impactfinance #ashoka #SocialEntrepreneurs

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"I've realised that being close to nature gives you a different understanding of what growth is, of what a meaningful life may be."
Is it possible to tackle climate change and soil-degeneration with a nature-based solution while at the same time building a resilient social economy for an existing remote community and for those that migrate there? Yes.
Staramaki is a Social Cooperative Enterprise based in Kilkis Greece, which produces straws from the stems of wheat as an alternative to plastic straws which, despite the ban, are still omnipresent and for paper straws that often contain harmful PFAs and are typically shipped in bulk containers (containing mostly air) from Asia.
"The wealth created by the company is distributed in an equal and fair way. The salaries of everybody in Staramaki is the same, no matter the position, no matter the experience."
Born out of a reaction to the Greek crisis and from a new perspective arising from moving back to his rural roots, this is the story of the impact Staramaki co-founder/manager Stefanos Kamperis and the like-minded collective that formed around a simple idea. The collective both set up a resilient NGO to tackle the rehousing and integration crisis stemming from the mass migration that at one point had 25,000 people walking barefoot through Kilkis village each day - and resulted in one of the most progressive organisations in Greece, currently producing over 3m natural straws per year.
"Without Impact Investing, it's almost impossible for a social enterprise in Greece to find the investment necessary for it to grow"
With social enterprises struggling to raise vital growth funding, we were delighted, along with our investors, to enable the highest funding round for a social enterprise in Greece to help Staramaki build resilience and acquire new machinery to expand production.
www.staramaki.gr
"It's something that money cannot buy. It's passion."
www.nestle.gr
https://www.nespresso.com/gr/en/
#Ikigai #valueeconomy #circulareconomy #naturebasedsolutions #socialenterprise #impactinvesting
Other useful impact industry resources:
Ellen Macarthur Foundation
https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/
SDG Goals
https://sdgs.un.org/goals
Social Value International
https://www.socialvalueint.org/
UNDP / Duke University free course: Impact Measurement and Management for SDGS for enterprises and investors
https://sdgfinance.undp.org/news/undp-and-case-duke-university-launch-impact-measurement-and-management-course
Impact Measurement & Management - investment best practice:
https://impactfrontiers.org/
Global Impact Investing Network
https://thegiin.org/

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"There is this bridge between philanthropy and business that cannot be filled by foundations"
Since 2012, IKEA Social Entrepreneurship has partnered with and supported social entrepreneurs to create a positive impact for vulnerable and marginalised groups around the world.
Join Åsa Skogström Feldt for a wide ranging conversation including how Ikea SE optimise various approaches to supporting social entrepreneurs to become financially sustainable, how to implement a systems change approach to circularity from global conglomerate perspective, the importance of Theory of Change, using qualitative approaches for Impact Measurement & Management, careers advice, the key to beating stress and more!
#ikea #ikeasocialentrepreneurship #circularity #theoryofchange #socialimpact
https://www.ikeasocialentrepreneurship.org
Inclusive Loops: The Crucial Role of Social Enterprises in the Circular Economy
https://www.ikeasocialentrepreneurship.org/-/media/ikeasocialentrepreneurship/inclusive-loops-social-enterprises-in-the-circular-economy-report.pdf
Other useful impact industry links:
Ellen Macarthur Foundation - How to Build a Circular Economy
https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/
SDG Goals
https://sdgs.un.org/goals
Social Value International
https://www.socialvalueint.org/
UNDP / Duke University free online course: Impact Measurement and Management for the SDGS for enterprises and investors
https://sdgfinance.undp.org/news/undp-and-case-duke-university-launch-impact-measurement-and-management-course
Impact Measurement & Management for investment best practice:
https://impactfrontiers.org/
Global Impact Investing Network
https://thegiin.org/

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