More than 150 representatives from governments, investment firms, foundations, corporations, international financial institutions and NGOs attended the Royal Netherlands Embassy and SNV Netherlands Development Organisation’s Global Forum on Impact Investing in late February in Washington, D.C. The Impact Investing Forum was co-organized with the Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE), the Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN), the Rockefeller Foundation and the Small Enterprise Assistance Funds (SEAF).
Impact investing is a targeted investment strategy designed to earn a financial return on investments while at the same time advancing positive social, economic and environmental change. While interest in impact investing has grown, this is a relatively new field, in which challenges remain. Leading experts in impact investing shared lessons learned from their organizational experience and discussed possible solutions to challenges in the field, such as the view that impact investing and making profits are mutually exclusive. According to Dutch Ambassador Renée Jones-Bos, “impact investing unifies all of us behind a singular and ambitious purpose: to change the way business is done, so that people across the globe benefit in the fullest possible way. To demonstrate that sustainable, environmentally and socially beneficial business can at the same time be profitable.”
For his part, Dirk Elsen, Chief Executive of SNV, stressed the need for the sectors to increase collaboration and noted, “The development community and the business community have not been the most intimate of friends.”
View video segments from the event, and read the press release.
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