Revising Our Vision of Value
Attendees at the ReVisioning Value Conference held in Portland, OR, this past April.
By Amy Pearl, Founder & Executive Director, Springboard Innovation
I continue to reflect on the ideas and inspiration I gained at the 2010 ReVisioning Value conference (ReVV), held in Portland, Oregon, this past April that addressed the questions: “How can we get capital into the hands of those who will use it to improve our world?” and “What can we do to accelerate the process of solving problems with innovative ideas?”
At the conference, I was inspired by passionate entrepreneurs tackling our most pressing problems using new business models. I was encouraged by the powerful ideas of measuring social profit, funding blended value, and impact investing. The combination of new business models and innovative new funding structures may well be the only way to create a future we can live in. It is based on a revised definition of profit—and a new vision of value.
We can’t continue to do business-as-usual, motivated by quick returns and financial gain. We’re still reeling from the results of that kind of thinking from Wall Street. So, what’s changing in business?
The shift to a revised business model blends a social and/or environmental purpose with traditional financial return to create a new breed of business—social business—that seeks a blended return. “Social business” includes environmental or “green” businesses since any chance we have of reducing our impact on the planet will be because of behavior change. It is, ultimately, a social challenge.
Traditional nonprofits are also changing, moving away from the charity based model. They are adding income streams to their business models (they are, in fact, corporations) and launching mission-aligned ventures to attract investors and partners. They are combining mission with financial viability. It’s clearly not business-as-usual for nonprofit organizations.
These new hybrid organizations need to be able to do three things: raise capital, measure their social and environmental profit, and grow. This new model opens the door for the upsurge of a new, different kind of investor, and creates the need for new tools and methodologies, and for citizen leaders—all of which we need to cultivate at the community level.
The ReVV conference provided an opportunity to showcase this model and inspire all of us to act. We learned that all community sectors must play a role in nurturing this new breed of business. We also learned that we have a lot of work to do to optimize the potential social and financial profit. There is little precedent, a lack of shared meaning, and a need for better data. That’s why, together with ShoreBank Pacific, Springboard Innovation created a leadership group to grow these ideas right here in the Pacific Northwest.
We’ve convened leaders from throughout the Northwest to address some key areas: increasing connections between interested investors and entrepreneurs that need capital; improving understanding through shared language and meaning; gathering and sharing data; and implementing best practices. The group is exploring which new mechanisms and tools might be developed within a framework of making money matter in the Northwest. The group includes representatives from investment, academia, nonprofits, for-profits, finance, and government sectors.
We have an opportunity to lead in this new movement to use money to shape a sustainable, just, and vibrant world. The notion of “investing in the future” has never meant more than it does right now.
We invite you to contribute your ideas and suggestions.