Campus Sustainability Grants: Building Better Businesses through the B Corp Framework

This post originally appeared on the website of the University of Georgia’s Office of Sustainability.

University of Georgia MBA student Zack Godfrey is challenging business owners in Georgia to rethink their practices and consider using their companies as a force for good.

Godfrey’s Campus Sustainability Grant project connects students with businesses to help companies improve their social and environmental impact on their communities by implementing sustainable practices. The ultimate goal of this clinic is to help local businesses improve their operations and to give students tools to be able to make a difference in their careers.

The B Corp certification is granted to businesses with the “highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose,” according to the B Corp website.

To become B Corp certified, businesses must earn at least 80 points out of a possible 200. Businesses are scored in categories like workers, customers, community, and environment.

The B Corp assessment is completely free, so businesses can get assessed to see where they stand and then work to improve their scores in any lacking areas.

Godfrey’s project connects MBA and sustainability capstone students with local companies looking to improve their scores. The students act as consultants for the companies, assisting them in solving problems and pinpointing areas for improvement.

“If you want to grow and be better, we have people here in place at the university who want to plug in and help those businesses,” Godfrey said. “It’s one of the best ways a company could choose to go through the process is by engaging students who want to help.”

There are currently 13 B Corp certified businesses in Georgia, and students are working with three more Atlanta and Athens-based companies that want to achieve this certification.

The Atlanta-based companies are the Sustainable Community Solutions Network, which provides consulting for Black-owned businesses, and The Come Up Project, an organization that provides at-risk youth with support, employment and entrepreneurial opportunities. The third business, the Imery Group, is an Athens-based construction company that builds sustainable, efficient homes.

Godfrey said Georgia is behind on its number of B Corp businesses when compared with other southern states like North Carolina, which has around 50 B Corp businesses.

“It’s really interesting because it usually takes somebody being a champion and saying we need to put ourselves to the test,” Godfrey said.

Godfrey sees this push from businesses that want to improve their score as necessary for not only the sustainability of businesses, but also for the sustainability of the community as a whole.

“Cutting your costs, being more efficient operationally, building more loyalty by having these programs in place that make you an attractive business, that’s how you keep your business going long term,” Godfrey said.

Godfrey hopes to engage people from all across the university to use their skill set to help with this project.

UPDATE: Goodr, a foodwaste management company based in Atlanta, became Georgia’s 14th B Corp in April 2019.

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The Georgia Social Impact Collaborative (GSIC) provides resources to connect, educate and inspire stakeholders for the purpose of accelerating the development of Georgia’s impact investing ecosystem. Recently, GSIC announced the launch of the Georgia Social Impact Map (the “Map”), an interactive platform designed to connect and educate stakeholders interested in accelerating impact investing for social outcomes. Intended as a resource for communities around the state, the Map connects new forms of capital to sustaining and scaling solutions to social challenges. GSIC also provides workshops and programming for training specific groups of stakeholders on ways to leverage impact investing to achieve their impact goals.

Atlanta Lands Largest Impact Investing Conference for Foundations

Atlanta Lands Largest Impact Investing Conference for Foundations

Mission Investors Exchange (MIE) takes biannual conference south in 2020

On May 16, 2019, Mission Investors Exchange (MIE) officially announced to its members that Atlanta will host the 2020 National Conference. As the leading association for the field, MIE is the go-to resource for social investors to connect, access resources and build their impact investing practice. Slated to take place May 11-13 in downtown Atlanta, the convening will attract all of the leading experts in the field and highlight many of our region’s most impactful successes in the social sector.

Atlanta’s many renowned qualities put it on the short list for MIE, and with a growing ecosystem of impact investing in the state and region, the center of the south became the clear winner. The founders of the Georgia Social Impact Collaborative (GSIC) have worked with MIE’s management for years and were important resources for their vetting process. As momentum builds towards May of 2020, GSIC will continue to pull together the region’s stakeholders to support a successful and mission-driven MIE conference next year.

Though Atlanta has amazing attributes, it also tops the list of U.S. cities in the area of income inequality, which has been a major focus for MIE and its members. The conference will provide national and region leaders a chance to highlight initiatives and investments that are moving the needle on this subject and many others facing low income and distressed communities.

While most national conferences have experienced declining attendance in recent years, MIE’s popular every-other-year conference has done just the opposite, with double-digit growth. The same is expected for 2020. The conference, hosted only every two years, will bring the country’s largest philanthropic impact investors to Atlanta. Attendees will explore burgeoning trends in impact investing and participate in site tours of some of Atlanta’s neighborhoods where impactful ventures have worked with communities to change local narratives.

Urging the Georgia Senate Judiciary Committee to Vote In-Favor of HB230, the Georgia Benefit Corporation Act

May 17, 2019

By: Jeff Woodward, Steering Committee, Georgia Social Impact Collaborative

 

The Georgia Senate Judiciary Committee disappointed the social impact community in failing to vote in favor of HB230, the Georgia Benefit Corporation Act.

Benefit Corporations are Georgia businesses that incorporate the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit for their shareholders and addressing social and environmental problems.  The business model supports new businesses with capital investment, to create high quality jobs, along with a healthier environment, stronger communities, and businesses that solve society’s most challenging problems.  Known as “triple bottom line” companies, benefit corporations simultaneously focus on maximizing returns that affect people, profit and the planet.

There are more than 1,200 B Corps across the country.  Most are concentrated in one of the 34 states that have already passed benefit corporation legislation, including Delaware (passed in 2013) and the southern states of Florida (2014) and South Carolina (2012).  Around the world, there are more than 2,500 globally across 50 countries.

In Georgia, there is a fast-moving, surging effort to coordinate and develop the market for social investment in our region. A group of nearly 400 Georgia investors, foundations, public sector officials, corporate executives as well as entrepreneurs, social enterprises and nonprofits, are part of the Georgia Social Impact Collaborative’s (GSIC) network that is helping to build investment platforms, funds and workforce development efforts using private and social capital to drive economic development and social outcomes simultaneously.

According to an article in the Harvard Business Review, B Corps are riding a wave of consumer interest in sustainable companies. According to several studies, such as Nielsen’s The Sustainability Imperative, global consumers say they will pay more for sustainable consumer brands, and sales of consumer goods with a demonstrated commitment to sustainability have grown more than 4% globally, while those without grew less than 1%. Not to mention, 42% of millennials and 37% of Generation Z claim that they want to know what goes into their products before they buy.

But while consumers are clearly rewarding values-based businesses, there’s a very big catch: Consumers are not accepting brands’ social and environmental claims at face value. This means that companies must take steps to convince consumers that they “authentically demonstrate commitment to social and environmental impact build consumer trust and business value,” according to the study.

This is where benefit corporations come in.  Benefit corporations identify the specific impact that their company will have on their employees, community, supply chain, and environment, and then measures that impact and reports it to its shareholders and the general public.  This transparency, often measured against an independent third party, allows business owners, their investors, employees, and consumers to know whether the company is truly a “good” and “responsible” company, and not one that is using advertising techniques and methods of “green washing” to increase sales.

Right now, Georgia is trailing other states and needs to catch up. Until Georgia adopts benefit corporation legislation, Georgia companies wishing to run their business as a part of the impact economy, appeal to younger workers that prefer to be employed by a company that cares and makes a difference, and be able to attract the fastest growing segment of investment capital, impact funds, must go elsewhere, like neighboring states Florida and South Carolina, to incorporate. We don’t want to lose any more top business or talent for lack of legal infrastructure in Georgia, or close our doors to benefit corporations that have formed in other states from expanding to Georgia.

While the debate over B Corps this year is over, we’re already looking forward to the conversation in 2020, where five other states are currently working on benefit corporation legislation.  That would leave Georgia as one of only 11 states that fail to recognize the newest form of business.

We urge the Georgia Senate Judiciary Committee to pass legislation next session that allows these triple bottom line companies to attract new start-ups in the impact economy, and allow benefit corporations to form, thrive, and bring jobs to Georgia communities.  By following similar triple bottom line legislation in the majority of states, Georgia benefit corporation will likewise be recognized in other states that embrace such companies.

Its time Georgia found its place in the new, exploding, impact economy.

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The Georgia Social Impact Collaborative (GSIC) provides resources to connect, educate and inspire stakeholders for the purpose of accelerating the development of Georgia’s impact investing ecosystem. Recently, GSIC announced the launch of the Georgia Social Impact Map (the “Map”), an interactive platform designed to connect and educate stakeholders interested in accelerating impact investing for social outcomes. Intended as a resource for communities around the state, the Map connects new forms of capital to sustaining and scaling solutions to social challenges. GSIC also provides workshops and programming for training specific groups of stakeholders on ways to leverage impact investing to achieve their impact goals.

The Triple Bottom Line Approach

May 7, 2019

By: John Lanier, Executive Director of The Ray C. Anderson Foundation

 

I wonder how linguists feel when they hear frequently misused words and idioms. Is it like nails on a chalkboard, or do they find this vernacular normalization to be fascinating? Do they ever accidentally use them, or avoid them like the plague? Do they feel a compulsion to inform the speaker of their misstep, or let the mistakes just pass by? Irregardless…er…I mean……regardless, as a non-linguist myself, I am quite tickled when I hear them pop up.

My favorite one is “I could care less.” It literally means the opposite of the intended and correct expression “I couldn’t care less.” That one is rather tickle-inducing. Runners up in my book include “for all intensive purposes” (it should be “for all intents and purposes”) and “they did a 360” (it should be “they did a 180,” as in degrees, unless you mean they did not change at all).

There is another commonly misused phrase, this time from the world of environmental sustainability, and I have to admit that I’m a bit less tickled when I hear it incorrectly utilized: the triple bottom line.

The phrase is derived from income statements in business accounting, where the last line on the page is usually the business’s financial profitability. When a business pursues a triple bottom line, it chooses to focus not solely on this measure of financial performance, but also accounts for its impact on society and the environment. Often, you’ll see a triple bottom line approach represented by a commitment to the three Es (equity, environment, and economy) or the three Ps (people, planet, and profit).

That’s all fine and well, but the problem comes when businesses think that a triple bottom line approach means that a profitable-but-harmful business practice can be excused by environmental and social side projects. Diverting profit to do a bit of good here and there is a common and unfortunate misconception of triple bottom line thinking. The correct understanding of the term is much stronger, and a much higher bar.

True triple bottom line thinking is not about doing well and doing good, but rather about doing well by doing good. Strong triple bottom line companies seek to operate in a way that creates value in all three realms simultaneously. It’s about more of all, not some of each, and it requires a business to be honest about the harms it inflicts and authentic in seeking to eliminate those harms.

I’ll give you an example from Ray Anderson’s company Interface, a manufacturer of modular carpet tile. In the mid-2000s, Interface’s engineers were trying to design glue out of the carpet tile installation process. As the commonly used method for keeping carpet tile in its place, glue had the problem of off-gassing VOCs (volatile organic compounds), thereby contributing to poor indoor air quality.

Motivated to solve this environmental and social harm, Interface developed TacTiles®, which are small one-sided adhesive stickers applied to the underside of carpet tiles. They link tiles together at intersection points and allow gravity to then hold the connected carpet in place, all without any VOCs. Further, this innovation now allows Interface to sell carpet tiles as area rugs to residential customers, increasing revenue for the business. TacTiles were a true triple bottom line innovation.

If you’d like to learn more about Ray Anderson and Interface’s commitment to sustainability, I’d be honored if you’d take a look at the following video by our Foundation.

Fortunately, Interface isn’t the only company committed to a strong triple bottom line, with businesses like Patagonia and Unilever joining the ranks. Each of these companies is proving the business case for sustainability, doing well by doing good, and representing what triple bottom line thinking is really about. That’s something that totally jives…er…I mean………jibes with me. I hope it does for you too.

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The Ray C. Anderson Foundation was created in honor of the late Ray C. Anderson (1934-2011), founder of Interface, Inc. During his time at Interface, Ray championed the notion of businesses doing well by doing good. It’s these noble qualities of advancing knowledge and innovation around environmental stewardship and sustainability that recognized Ray as a pioneer in industrial ecology. The purpose of the Foundation is to perpetuate these shared values and continue the legacy that Ray left behind. Through research and funding, the Foundation aims to help create a better world for future generations—tomorrow’s child. Learn more about the Foundation’s work at https://www.raycandersonfoundation.org/. 

The Georgia Social Impact Collaborative (GSIC) provides resources to connect, educate and inspire stakeholders for the purpose of accelerating the development of Georgia’s impact investing ecosystem. Recently, GSIC announced the launch of the Georgia Social Impact Map (the “Map”), an interactive platform designed to connect and educate stakeholders interested in accelerating impact investing for social outcomes. Intended as a resource for communities around the state, the Map connects new forms of capital to sustaining and scaling solutions to social challenges. GSIC also provides workshops and programming for training specific groups of stakeholders on ways to leverage impact investing to achieve their impact goals, such as the workshop described below, which was attended by 30 leaders of some of GA’s top social enterprises and nonprofits.

Atlanta’s Creative Financing for Green Projects

April 26, 2019

Funded in part by a grant through the Rockefeller Foundation’s Innovative Financing program, Atlanta’s Department of Watershed Management (DWM) recently raised $14M to provide storm water improvements in the Proctor Creek Watershed.

Only the second Environmental Impact Bond (EIB) in the country – following one by DC Water in Washington, DC – this is the first publicly traded EIB. Mission-oriented broker dealer Neighborly, which went through the Atlanta-based Points of Light’s Civic Accelerator program, issued the bond.

Instead of raising capital through municipal bonds, the way city departments traditionally raise debt to fund capital improvement projects (CIPs), EIBs provide departments direct access to investors seeking measurable impact – in this case, captured storm water.

Mohamed Balla, the Department of Watershed Management’s Deputy Commissioner

Why use an EIB?

It wasn’t hard for DWM to decide to raise capital through an EIB; not only is the EIB expected to save 30 to 40 basis points on the bond’s rate, but the feasibility and transaction costs were covered by the Rockefeller Foundation. Quantified Ventures, which worked on the DC Water EIB, provided technical assistance.

The EIB also provides financing for storm water infrastructure now, something the department lacks.

“For us, the EIB route is because we have a need for storm water funding,” said Mohamed Balla, DWM’s deputy commissioner. “But we don’t have any stormwater funding mechanism.”

Without dedicated funding for stormwater infrastructure, any improvements would have to be prioritized among DWM’s many CIPs.

So having investors with an impact lens changed the equation: “To the extent that we have a funding source or an investment source that is willing to fund these types of projects, we were all over it,” added Balla.

Realigning risk and reward

The investors’ return will be determined in 2025 by the amount of stormwater captured by the infrastructure improvements. If they exceed 6.52 million gallons – surpassing expectations – the City will pay investors a one-time “performance payment” in addition to regular interest payments.

On the flipside, DWM expects to save money through decreased stormwater treatment and remediation costs – a savings of up to $18M over the bond’s life. For example, with less flooding the city won’t have to spend as much on neighborhood clean-up, and these savings will continue throughout the useful life of the improvements.

According to Balla, DWM is tracking workforce development, environmental education, and greenspace created. While not tied to the bond’s payout, the Proctor Creek Watershed has several brownfields, deals with regular flooding issues and is rather economically depressed. Their hope is that these improvements will ripple positive social benefits through the area.

“Residents will share in the success with us,” said Balla.

While storm water improvements could be funded through traditional capital markets, Balla and his colleagues at DWM found a way to leverage this creative financing mechanism to solve an immediate problem.

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The Department of Watershed Management is dedicated to providing the highest quality drinking water and wastewater services to 1.2 million residential, businesses and wholesale customers at the lowest possible cost, while protecting urban waterways, conserving natural resources, and providing clean, safe water for downstream customers. For more information, please visit www.atlantawatershed.org. (Press release.)

The Georgia Social Impact Collaborative (GSIC) provides resources to connect, educate and inspire stakeholders for the purpose of accelerating the development of Georgia’s impact investing ecosystem. Recently, GSIC announced the launch of the Georgia Social Impact Map (the “Map”), an interactive platform designed to connect and educate stakeholders interested in accelerating impact investing for social outcomes. Intended as a resource for communities around the state, the Map connects new forms of capital to sustaining and scaling solutions to social challenges. GSIC also provides workshops and programming for training specific groups of stakeholders on ways to leverage impact investing to achieve their impact goals, such as the workshop described below, which was attended by 30 leaders of some of GA’s top social enterprises and nonprofits.

Chubb Foundation’s Inaugural Pitch Night Makes Impact

April 24, 2019

By: Brandon Chubb, Chubb Foundation

 

What better way to spend an evening than to hear elementary school kids pitch innovative products and ideas that they’ve created all on their own? Well, that’s exactly how the Chubb Foundation’s evening was spent with its Inaugural “Pitch Night” at The Gathering Spot in downtown Atlanta. NFL brothers Brandon and Bradley Chubb started their foundation in 2017 with a mission to activate human potential.

Last year, the Chubb brothers identified the lack of entrepreneurship (as a subject) taught in schools at a young age and made that the sole focus of where they wanted to make an impact. “We believe entrepreneurship is so important at such a young age,” Brandon Chubb said. “We want to plant that seed early and better these kid’s futures.”

They created “Moving the Needle: Effecting Change Through Entrepreneurship,” a 10-week program with Active Youth Academy, an Atlanta Public School after school program, with curriculum focused on entrepreneurship. Over these 10 weeks, a 25-student class with 10 and 11-year-old students met after school at Dobbs Elementary School to learn how to activate their inner entrepreneur.

“Pitch Night” marked the end of the program. Students from Active Youth Academy pitched their innovative products in a Shark Tank-inspired presentation and received a certificate for completing the 10-week entrepreneurship program. Year one was a success and the Chubb Foundation looks forward to continuing to activate human potential across metro Atlanta.

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The mission of the Chubb Foundation is to activate human potential. Whether it’s coaching a camper’s efforts on the field or challenging a student in the classroom. From the early stages of the foundation, Brandon and Bradley Chubb knew they wanted to come up with solutions to problems their communities faced, but it wasn’t until a thought-provoking conversation with a mentor that sparked the inception of the “Moving The Needle” program-a 10 week program with Active Youth Academy, an Atlanta public school after school program, with curriculum focused on entrepreneurship. For more information and to donate please visit chubbfoundation.com.

The Georgia Social Impact Collaborative (GSIC) provides resources to connect, educate and inspire stakeholders for the purpose of accelerating the development of Georgia’s impact investing ecosystem. Recently, GSIC announced the launch of the Georgia Social Impact Map (the “Map”), an interactive platform designed to connect and educate stakeholders interested in accelerating impact investing for social outcomes. Intended as a resource for communities around the state, the Map connects new forms of capital to sustaining and scaling solutions to social challenges. GSIC also provides workshops and programming for training specific groups of stakeholders on ways to leverage impact investing to achieve their impact goals, such as the workshop described below, which was attended by 30 leaders of some of GA’s top social enterprises and nonprofits.

ONCE by WildArk: Linking Ecosystem Protection to Consumer Behavior

April 22, 2019

By: Sydney Hulebak, ONCE by WildArk

Human activity around the globe is causing the sixth mass extinction. In the last 50 years alone, 50% of the world’s individual species, 58% of the world’s biodiversity and 45% of the world’s forests have been lost. And the iconic species that protect our ecosystems and bring joy and happiness to populations around the world are being eradicated at astonishing rates. Now is the time to take action to protect what we have left. But how?

WildArk’s mission is to secure space for biodiversity protection worldwide.

It accomplishes this mission through (1) positive Storytelling of the individuals and organizations around the world making a difference, (2) funding solution-oriented Science research, (3) partnering with and providing financial, marketing and administrative Support of seasoned and new conservation organizations, and (4) protecting wild Space through more dedicated programmatic work on conservation projects, including our recent work in Papua New Guinea.

WildArk’s strategy and priorities are driven by the WildArk 100, a list of 100 iconic species that live within 50 wild areas around the world that if protected could provide up to 89% biodiversity benefits. Although this is a big task, WildArk approaches it one project at a time, with focused support of local partners and indigenous communities.  

Through this work, our team of optimistic planet-protectors identified a need for a for-profit model that reinforces this mission by nudging the public towards more conscious consumerism. From those discussions, ONCE was born.

ONCE is a platform for sustainable living. It aims to inspire changes in consumer behavior by sharing news, stories and tips from people who are choosing sustainability in both their personal and professional lives.

And since the fashion industry is the second largest polluter in the world, just after the oil industry, with challenges emerging as vast as extreme water consumption, microfibers in our oceans, waste accumulation and greenhouse gas emissions, companies need a solution.

Consumers are changing. Forty-six percent of consumers are willing to pay extra for products and services that give back to society, and 63% of those are under the age of forty. To that end, 90% of millennials have said that they will stop buying from a company with bad environmental practices and 81% expect the companies and brands that they support to make public declarations of their corporate citizenship.

And while these demands are growing, there are few marketplaces in existence that curate products transparently based on a list of sustainability and social standards while also directly linking sales and mission to organizations that are directly supporting, executing and partnering on ecosystem protection work.

Through ONCE’s multi-tiered approach, we aim to create a lifestyle brand that our consumers associate and want to interact with on multiple levels, with each engagement delivering something of tangible value to the consumer, while engaging them in our mission in a purposeful way.

Eventually, ONCE will launch a line of sustainable products through an eCommerce marketplace with the intent of giving away 50% of all profits generated to WildArk’s global, ecosystem protection work.

ONCE’s hope is that this won’t be a differentiator for our brand forever. We want others to join us on this journey towards sustainability, so that we can interact with our planet in a way that is not degrading, but rather regenerative- stewarding it for future generations.

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WildArk is a registered not-for-profit committed to supporting conservation initiatives that have tangible outcomes for biodiversity protection worldwide. We invest in scientific research for biodiversity protection and help protect land for conservation as well as share positive, uplifting stories of conservation successes in order to inspire others to reconnect with nature and work to protect it. For more information, visit www.wildark.org or follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

ONCE by WildArk is a platform for sustainable living for the planet. We are storytellers of those making sustainable choices working towards a healthier planet for future generations. For more information, visit www.once.eco or follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

The Georgia Social Impact Collaborative (GSIC) provides resources to connect, educate and inspire stakeholders for the purpose of accelerating the development of Georgia’s impact investing ecosystem. Recently, GSIC announced the launch of the Georgia Social Impact Map (the “Map”), an interactive platform designed to connect and educate stakeholders interested in accelerating impact investing for social outcomes. Intended as a resource for communities around the state, the Map connects new forms of capital to sustaining and scaling solutions to social challenges. GSIC also provides workshops and programming for training specific groups of stakeholders on ways to leverage impact investing to achieve their impact goals, such as the workshop described below, which was attended by 30 leaders of some of GA’s top social enterprises and nonprofits.

Selling Pecans to Feed Those in Need

April 10, 2019

By: Andrea Jaron, Chief Development Officer, Meals on Wheels Atlanta

Meals on Wheels Atlanta is a nonprofit organization dedicated to serving our metro area’s seniors in need. In exploring ways to diversify funding sources and expand our impact, our leadership – with the help of the 2018 class of Leadership Atlanta – recognized that we were using our kitchen only during the mornings from Monday through Friday.

We thought, what if we took this asset – our kitchen – and used it for another purpose when it wasn’t in use?

Last summer, our team at Meals On Wheels Atlanta launched Purposeful Pecans to help support our flagship Home Delivered Meals program that provides nourishing meals to food-insecure and homebound seniors in Atlanta.

Georgia-grown and prepared in our own kitchen, these handcrafted, gluten-free pecans were created exclusively by Robert Gerstenecker, former executive chef at Four Seasons Hotel Atlanta.

In February, First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta named us a finalist in their inaugural Epiphany Challenge, a social entrepreneurship initiative that helps identify, nurture and fund projects and start-ups that align with the church’s values and mission by addressing social challenges.

After months of hands-on business coaching, workshops and presentations, First Presbyterian selected us as one of five recipients awarded a grant to provide start-up funding for the expansion of Purposeful Pecans. With this grant, our organization is in the process of growing the “Purposeful” product line into more than just pecans and will launch two new products later this spring: a gourmet popcorn in partnership with local Caja Popcorn and a dark and milk chocolate bar with Athens-based Condor Chocolates. We are developing a corporate and holiday gift box that will include all of the Purposeful products.  We deliver, wrap, and ship.  

Here’s the impact: Profits from Purposeful Pecans led to the delivery of an additional 2,200 meals in 2018; and this year, proceeds should lead to more than 12,300 additional meals.

This social enterprise is making a difference already, and we are committed to growing the business into a sustainable revenue source that knows no limits.

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The pecans are currently available in two flavors-cinnamon star anise and hot and sweet, and come in 8 and 16 ounce bags. You can buy the pecans at our online store and at specialty retailers around town including Pine Street Market and the Market at the Hyatt Regency Atlanta.  The St. Regis Atlanta sells a snack size bag in their mini-bars. And our team is at the Peachtree Road Farmers Market every weekend.  

Meals on Wheels was founded in 1965 to support seniors struggling with food insecurity and social isolation. What began as a small soup kitchen has now grown to an organization whose mission is to support senior independence through meals, shelter, education, and community. Over the years, we have grown and expanded program offerings to respond to other critical needs facing seniors in our community. Through our flagship meal services program, which provides nourishing meals to low in-income and homebound seniors in Atlanta, and home repair and maintenance services, our vision is to ensure that no Atlanta area senior is hungry, cold or forgotten. For more information, visit www.mealsonwheelsatlanta.org or follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

The Georgia Social Impact Collaborative (GSIC) provides resources to connect, educate and inspire stakeholders for the purpose of accelerating the development of Georgia’s impact investing ecosystem. Recently, GSIC announced the launch of the Georgia Social Impact Map (the “Map”), an interactive platform designed to connect and educate stakeholders interested in accelerating impact investing for social outcomes. Intended as a resource for communities around the state, the Map connects new forms of capital to sustaining and scaling solutions to social challenges. GSIC also provides workshops and programming for training specific groups of stakeholders on ways to leverage impact investing to achieve their impact goals, such as the workshop described below, which was attended by 30 leaders of some of GA’s top social enterprises and nonprofits.

Georgia Tech Hosted Eastern Regional Global Social Venture Competition Finals

Originally published on Scheller News on March 25, 2019

The Global Social Venture Competition (GSVC) empowers the next generation of social entrepreneurs by providing them with mentoring, exposure, and over $80,000 in prizes to transform their ideas into ventures that address the world’s most pressing challenges using technology for good. Since 1999, the GSVC has helped more than 6,500 teams from 65+ countries across the globe and distributed more than $1M in prize money. Highlights of this year’s competition included:

  • For the sixth year, Georgia Tech partnered with University of California Berkley’s Haas School of Business for the Global Social Venture Competition
  • Celebrating its 20th anniversary, this year’s theme was “Technology for Good”
  • Over 20 leaders from the for-profit & non-profit sectors met to judge regional finalists on business potential, social impact potential, and likelihood for success
  • Two teams from the Eastern U.S. region will participate in the Global Finals to be held at U.C. Berkley (on April 5) for over $80,000 in prizes

This year, the 20th anniversary of the competition, there were 692 social ventures entrants from 67 countries. Since 2013, Scheller College of Business at Georgia Tech has been a strategic partner school for GSVC, coordinating the competition’s executive and regional final rounds for all ventures coming from schools in the eastern United States. This year’s regional finals were hosted at Scheller Friday March 1st and featured 17 social ventures spanning industries such as healthcare, biotechnology, search & rescue virtual education, recycling technology, and adaptive technology solutions.

The day brought together over 20 judges, local Atlanta-area leaders from the for-profit and non-profit sectors, to evaluate all social ventures based on three primary components-business potential, social impact potential, and likelihood for success. Initially, judges met in small groups to bring the field of 17 ventures down to eight. The afternoon session, moderated by Sam Moss of the East Lake Foundation, narrowed the field to four, which were then interviewed virtually via video conference. Schuyler Baehman, a regional finals judge from Southern Company, said of the competition, “I was truly impressed by the thoughtfulness behind each and every presentation we heard as we work to find solutions to some of the largest issues facing our world today.”

Ultimately, two ventures, Magnomer and Key2Enable were selected to advance and compete in the global finals. These two organizations were distinguished from the rest of the competition through a combination of three potentials – business success, breakthroughs in social impact, and unique positioning for market success. Magnomer creates recyclable bottle packaging through use of magnetizable ink coatings – these coatings complement materials separation during recycling and allow for plastic bottles to be recycled back into plastic bottles. Key2Enable empowers people with disabilities to develop skills and provides access to technology through assistive keyboard technologies. Miguel Granier, a Regional Finals judge and Managing Director of Invested Development, said “I really appreciate the impact that both can deliver. It’s quite impressive.”

The GSVC team at Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business is led by Dori Pap, Assistant Director for the Institute for Leadership & Entrepreneurship, as well as a board of MBA students and the GSVC Advisory Board. The eastern U.S. region has been successful in recent global competitions. NeMo finishing as runner-up in 2018 and Kheyti winning the global competition in 2017. NeMo is now working with key stakeholders to ensure user-centric design in product development process. They described the significance of the competition succinctly, “Along with the second-place award, we are thankful for the connections formed with extraordinary entrepreneurs from around the world and continued conversations with experts in social innovation and building successful startups.”

The GSVC at Georgia Tech is made possible by title sponsor, Southern Company, as well as sponsorships from Hands On Atlanta, Invested Development, and Mosely Ventures. The GSVC has also received support from the Georgia Tech community through the Ray C. Anderson Center for Sustainable Business, Venture Lab, CIBER, and the Scheller College of Business. Additionally, GSVC is supported by a generous volunteer community of over 50 judges and mentors who assist with coordinating the competition and coaching competitors. Thanks again to all who supported the GSVC at Georgia Tech and best of luck to Magnomer and Key2Enable at the Global Social Venture Competition Finals in Berkeley in April!

Update: Key2Enable won the top award at the 2019 Global Social Venture Competition and Magnomer placed in the top 6 of 692 entries worldwide.

The Georgia Social Impact Collaborative (GSIC) provides resources to connect, educate and inspire stakeholders for the purpose of accelerating the development of Georgia’s impact investing ecosystem. Recently, GSIC announced the launch of the Georgia Social Impact Map (the “Map”), an interactive platform designed to connect and educate stakeholders interested in accelerating impact investing for social outcomes. Intended as a resource for communities around the state, the Map connects new forms of capital to sustaining and scaling solutions to social challenges. GSIC also provides workshops and programming for training specific groups of stakeholders on ways to leverage impact investing to achieve their impact goals, such as the workshop described below, which was attended by 30 leaders of some of GA’s top social enterprises and nonprofits.

What If We Only Paid for Success?

How can nonprofits create sustainable programming? How can impact investors ensure scalability? How can governments spread dollars furthers to actually fix social issues?

Pay for Success answers all three questions at once. Pay For Success (PFS), a financing mechanism that allows public entities to pay only for successful outcomes – according to pre-determined measures. Outside funders front the money for programming until results can be measured, and public dollars pay for the results. If targets are not met, the public entity does not have to pay or pays less. (The Nonprofit Finance Fund put together the handy flow chart above.)

This week, Georgia Social Impact Collaborative (GSIC) brought Mary Wickersham, Founder of Social Impact Solutions, and Debby Kasemeyer, a Senior Vice President at Northern Trust, to Atlanta to meet with leading foundations and nonprofits, as well as government officials. They have helped with feasibility studies, transaction structuring, providing the investment capital and the implementation of more than half-a-dozen PFS deals around the country.

What we found is that there are three main reasons to consider PFS as a financing option:

1] Pay for Outcomes: Instead of paying for a program up front, the government would only pay for a program that works.

2] Shift Risk and Increase Revenues: Instead of putting all the burden on politicians and government, PFS builds coalitions of individuals and organizations who are committed to solving public problems. PFS aligns priorities and shares responsibility, which provides avenues for better decision-making.

3] Scale Evidence-based Policymaking and Smart Expenditures: Instead of spending large sums of taxpayer dollars on the same problems we had yesterday, with little hope they will be fixed tomorrow, why not leverage others’ money with the confidence that we’ll achieve better outcomes? PFS increases the available capital, by including private and philanthropic investors, to implement evidence-based solutions that work.

PFS ultimately changes how governments consider policies; instead of focusing on input, it focuses on outcomes. PFS pushes governments to pay for preventative, instead of corrective, policies.

It isn’t always “all or nothing” – other financing mechanisms, such as Pay-for-Performance (or Progress), include hybrids of payments sources and triggers. These innovative tools are convincing leaders in business, philanthropy and government to explore partnerships and think more collaboratively than ever before.

After all, shouldn’t we all seek to address systemic issues head on instead of relying on band-aids to solve our problems? Maybe then we’ll see some policy successes.