At this year’s Business Fights Poverty Global Goals Summit, a number of sessions turned their attention to the launch of our new Five Bridges to 2045: How Business Can Build a Fairer, More Resilient Future. Eighteen experts from our global network took part in online sessions and an in-person event hosted with Barclays in New York, where representatives from Ikea, Natura, Vodafone Foundation, ABF Sugar and Fundación Paraguaya shared their perspectives on how to bring the report’s vision of embedding social impact and sustainability into core business closer to reality.
As globalisation widened the gap between corporations and communities, CSR often became marketing gloss. “CSR 2.0” calls for a systemic approach that embeds social impact into commercial strategy—aligning profit with purpose. By addressing beyond-the-firm constraints and fostering inclusive growth, businesses can turn responsibility into resilience, competitiveness, and genuine poverty reduction.
Accelerators are touted as engines of SME growth. Yet most target established businesses, leaving low-income women behind. Hand in Hand’s grassroots accelerator proves their potential: over 8,000 women have scaled businesses, boosting incomes, creating jobs, and lifting families well beyond the poverty line. Amalia Johnsson, Hand in Hand International CEO, explains why inclusive growth demands we accelerate women too.
Watch this Workshop with Walmart to explore how to expand MSME growth opportunities in the face of disruption. We examine strategies for strengthening local
Challenging stereotypes through marketing isn’t just good ethics—it’s smart business. With global ad spend nearing $2 trillion, brands have immense power to shift harmful beliefs. This article explores how inclusive communications can reduce discrimination, boost ROI, and unlock competitive advantage—if businesses act now, before the window of opportunity closes.
Innovation thrives when knowledge is shared. In this piece, Chris Lawrence explores how open learning—rooted in humility, transparency, and collective wisdom—can unlock solutions to global challenges. Moving beyond open source technology, he argues for a business philosophy that values shared experience and human connection to foster lasting social impact and inclusive innovation.
Social entrepreneurs are driving inclusive, sustainable solutions, but they need stronger support. Åsa Skogström Feldt, Managing Director of IKEA Social Entrepreneurship, reflects on over a decade of experience, highlighting the urgent need for blended capital, inclusive circular solutions, and empathetic leadership to scale impact for the world’s most vulnerable communities.
Tradeable impact credits—like those issued on the Common Good Marketplace—are transforming how businesses fund global poverty alleviation. With verified outcomes, clear valuation, and rigorous auditing, these credits enable companies to invest in real results and receive measurable social returns. This article explores the promise of impact credits as a tool for scalable, accountable, and high-impact funding.
Meet Stefan Engels, an international development leader with a remarkable cross-sector journey—from corporate boardrooms to grassroots innovation hubs across Africa. Now based in Nairobi, Stefan brings nearly two decades of experience working at the nexus of private sector development, inclusive business models, and entrepreneurial ecosystems.
A project to build the resilience to climate change of coastal communities in Sierra Leone, and a partnership with world-leading researchers on how the private sector can contribute to a fair and just energy transition, are just two examples of AXA XL’s work on social impact. As part of managing the risks and seizing the opportunities of the transition and navigating the extreme weather events from a changing climate, AXA XL are working to deliver positive social impact for people and communities around the world and accelerate an inclusive transition.
With trust and supply chains under pressure, companies need more than good intentions—they need smart strategy. In this new piece, Alix Lebec shows how a portfolio approach to impact can align capital, philanthropy, and business goals to drive efficiency, resilience, and value. Discover how leading companies are integrating purpose to navigate a complex future.
Sustainability and social impact leader Nyika Brain, joins the Social Impact Pioneers podcast to share her experiences in global supply chains, delivering impact through business and explains why resilience is the new social impact and could be the way to navigate CSR and ESG challenges.
In the nonprofit sector, the phrase “stronger together” has never been more relevant. As organizations face mounting challenges—from funding cuts to political uncertainty—there can be a tendency to turn inward. However, for purpose-driven organizations to thrive in the face of adversity, it will be essential for them to leverage this season of change as an opportunity to build and strengthen effective partnerships, thereby maximizing their impact.
Youth Business International (YBI), the global leader in youth entrepreneurship, is calling for urgent action to support high-growth potential youth-led businesses trapped in the “missing middle.” YBI’s new policy paper sets out strategies to de-risk youth entrepreneurship and unlock sustainable economic growth, job creation, and innovation — particularly among underrepresented youth, women, and businesses outside traditional tech hubs.
In partnership with Visa Inc, Business Fights Poverty launched yesterday a new report, at Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, calling for the private sector and governments to recognise the economic potential of refugees and to support approaches that work for refugees and host communities.
