As always, the Impact Forum ended with the wonderful elated feeling of ‘we can do it’ and ‘we can make it happen’. Of course ‘it’ in this case is sustainable development. With the theme of ‘Investing in Inclusion’, Impact Forum2013 brought together over 500 participants from over 45 countries and reminded everyone about the role they play in inclusion.
In his inspiring key note speech, Prof. Yunus promoted the idea of creative thinking and innovative business models focused on people and planet rather than profits and dividends. Prof. Yunus and Mr. Wayne Silby both highlighted that the poor must not only be perceived as beneficiaries but should also be given the right to be fully active participants in the creation of their own destiny.
At IIX and Shujog, we are all about inclusion and we are doing that through our various investment platforms, research, impact assessment and technical assistance initiatives. It was wonderful to see others also doing their part for inclusion and declaring their pledge to more in the next 12 months. To name a few — Jawahar Kaninjal from Nokia Life promised to reach 200 million users by next year with the help and encouragement of the development community, Frank Levinson from Small World group pledged to fund/incubate 2 Social Enterprises over the next year, Jiwan Archarya from ADB promised to provide clean energy access to 100 million people by the end of 2015 through the Energy for All Partnership.
Thank you all for making Impact Forum2013 such a success.
Enjoy our Summer IQ and remember your part in Investing in Inclusion.
Warm wishes from the beautiful, sunny (and hazy) Singapore,
Durreen Shahnaz
Founder IIX and Shujog
“We share the responsibilities of solving problems together. Like (the) government does its part and we do our part, and we learn from each other. In the total process, we (can) solve the problem.”
IIX has partnered with Stock Exchange of Mauritius (SEM) to launch the world’s first public trading platform for Social Enterprises, enabling everyone to participate in impact investing. “It’s surreal but supremely exciting,” said Durreen Shahnaz when launching the Impact Exchange at the Impact Forum on the 14th June. “This partnership with the SEM to develop Impact Exchange is an important step in consolidating the interest from impact investors globally to two regions that have the most potential to impact millions of lives for the better.”
The IIX and Shujog staff had the honor during the Forum of spending time with Wayne Silby, a pioneer and giant in the space of inclusive investment, and a keynote speaker at this year’s Impact Forum. Despite his busy schedule, Wayne spent two full days at the event, attending panels and talking with countless friends, colleagues and actors in the space who have all followed in his footsteps and joined him on the long journey to inclusive growth. Participants had numerous questions for Wayne after he outlined his vision for the growth of Impact Investing, and his responses were insightful and thought-provoking.
The proof of a successful commercial business is the creation of a viable and growing enterprise with a specific focus on the benefits of a few individuals – the owners of the enterprise – through economic dividends.
Impact Leaders are the silent champions that go the extra mile to advance the Impact Investing field — be it on in their individual capacity or through their organizations. On June 13, 2013, IIX presented the very first Impact Leader Awards to acknowledge these champions at its Impact Forum in Singapore.
Held last June 13-14, 2013, Impact Forum was attended by over 400 participants in Singapore, including speakers such as Prof. Muhammad Yunus (top left), Mr. Piyush Gupta (2nd row, right), and Ms. Marina Mahathir (4th row, left).
Impact Dinner
IIX and Shujog were joined by 150 conference-goers, including Mr. Wayne Silby (third row, right), at the Impact Dinner, a gala launching Shujog ACTS, last June 13, 2013 at the Jewel Box.
SE Series
Making the Mark
By Joo Teh (intern) and Pooja Sinha (Counsel), O’Melveny & Myers, Singapore
Social Enterprises (SEs) can now tap an independent assessment tool that will enable them to convey to other market participants if they are creating positive social impact, allowing them to raise their profiles and draw more investment capital.
Bioenergy in Burkina Faso: A Story from the Field By William Kwende, Agritech
Food production and agricultural output in most African countries has not improved in several decades unlike in Asia where Agriculture output rose significantly during the same period. The exciting ”Asia to Africa” session of the Impact Forum in Singapore provided the opportunity to explore some of the factors hindering the potential of African Agriculture.
Sign-up here and use the promotional code Impact2013 to offset your carbon footprint for free today!
Employment Opportunity
IIX and Shujog are hiring. If you are a dynamic individual looking to grow your career in impact investing, click here for opportunities at IIX and here for Shujog.
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Invest in Impact. Invest in Meaning.
Spoken word poet Jamal Raslan rhymes his way on Investing in Inclusion through a video he has made. Watch it here.
Get ready to Invest in Inclusion.
The video everyone has been raving about is now on our youtube. Watch the different SEs who are Investing in Inclusion here.
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Meet our New Team Members
Shujog welcomes its new team member.
Holly Pham joins Shujog in its Research team, opening the office in Vietnam. Holly has co-founded and led 2 business ventures in Vietnam, one specializes in Design and the other in Talent Management. Prior to embarking on these entrepreneurial ventures, Holly worked as a Consultant for PwC Vietnam’s Strategy Unit, a Reporter at the Phnom Penh Post, and an External Relations Officer at VietAbroader. Holly holds a BA in International Relations and Economics from Beloit College (Wisconsin, USA). Upon college graduation, Holly received a fellowship from the East-West Center to conduct an in-depth study on the state of social enterprises in Southeast Asia.
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Summer 2013 Team
Every quarter, IIX and Shujog both take in a group of dedicated volunteers. Get to know them below.
Lujie Chen is the co-founder of the Young Leaders Circle and Gift for Reading, two social initiatives that develop and empower young people to make positive impact in the world around them. His passion for personal and professional development has led him to become the Vice President of AIESEC UCL – SOAS where he led an international team to provide internship opportunities to over 100 countries worldwide. He is also a Sandboxer, a Kairos Global Fellow, and one of the winners of Intuit 100Up Business Plan competition.
Urvi Doshi was a management consultant at Accenture, with experience across the corporate and non-profit sectors. Projects include global sales and marketing transformation programs with consumer goods clients, operating model development, process improvement and business planning for global non-profit clients. Prior to joining Accenture, Urvi volunteered at a women’s center in rural Peru, providing basic business skills to enable the women to become independent. She has also worked with Youth Business International, a global network of non-profit initiatives supporting young people to start and grow their own business and create employment. Urvi has a BSc International Business with Spanish from the University of Warwick.
Yassine El Mansouri is currently pursuing his bachelor’s degree with a major in International Affairs and a double minor in Social Entrepreneurship & Business at Northeastern University. He recently worked with an early-staged microfinance institution in Pajarillos, Honduras. Prior to that, he gained experience in public relations through his work with the Ogilvy & Mather office in Sydney but is currently dedicating his focus towards social innovation and impact investing. Before joining IIX, Yassine completed the Frontier Market Scouts training program at the Monterey Institute of International Studies.
Justin Kim is a rising junior in the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, concentrating in Finance. Last year, he facilitated a pilot project of rural poultry business development in Malawi as a business-consulting intern for goods for good, a US-based NGO. Justin has also interned with various iNGOs both on the field and the headquarters, including Helen Keller International and Plan International. On campus, he is actively involved with Penn Society for International Development and Penn Social Entrepreneurship Movement and serves as an executive board member and treasurer. He is part of Penn Glee Club, the oldest running collegiate singing group in the U.S.
Takuya Kiriyama is an MBA candidate of Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, majoring international business and SEEK (Social Enterprise at Kellogg). Prior to that, he worked for Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA) in Jakarta, where he worked as a political advisor to Southeast Asian governments. He devoted himself to develop basic infrastructures in the region by fully utilizing public private partnership (PPP). He also worked for an investment bank in Tokyo, where he successfully closed more than thirty mergers and acquisitions. He has a BA in economics from the University of Tokyo.
Monica Ochoa is an MBA student at the National University of Singapore. Prior to her MBA, she worked for 5 years for the largest financial conglomerate in Colombia in the asset and wealth management divisions. As a wealth manager advisor she counseled different non-profit organizations and high net worth individuals. During that time she also volunteered as financial and marketing consultant for different charities in Colombia. Before working in the financial sector, Monica was a design engineer at the Transportation & Transit Department of Medellin, Colombia. Monica has a Bachelor’s Degree in Civil Engineering and a Diploma in Corporate Finance from the School of Engineering of Antioquia, Colombia.
Patrya Pratama is entering his last year as a candidate for Masters in Public Policy at the National University of Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. After earning his undergraduate degree in International Relations, Patrya volunteered as a primary school teacher in an Indonesian village of East Kalimantan through the Teach for Indonesia program. He then went on working as a communication consultant for the European Union’s development cooperation with Indonesia and ASEAN. Patrya will spend his second year of his master program at the London School of Economics and Political Science.
