Stop Talking and Start Listening: Women Respond in Crisis
There are few certainties in life, but one I have come to recognize, is that women in crisis will always take incredible action – whether there is outside intervention or not. As we release the latest findings of our Women Respond survey – a major listening exercise with thousands of women in our Village Savings […]
Navigating Leadership and Governance on Sustainability
Navigating Leadership and Governance on Sustainability: Insights from The Sustainability Boards’ 2023 Annual ESG Preparedness Report In a world increasingly conscious of its footprint, the evolution of Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG) is a worldwide focus. The Sustainability Board’s 2023 Annual ESG Preparedness Report offers invaluable insights into global boards’ approaches to sustainability governance and director’s […]
Beyond Doing Good: Why ESG Makes Great Business Sense for African Fintechs
If you’re reading this, there’s a very good chance you’re already familiar with the acronym ESG. Standing for “environmental”, “social”, and “governance”, it’s a constantly evolving standard that emphasises the importance of doing business in a way that positively impacts the environment, society and stakeholders. In essence, it’s the idea that companies can grow and […]
How to Improve Strategic Planning by Using Foresight Tools
The business challenges involved in preparing for the future are becoming more difficult. From the “push” side, a more complex and more entangled world means that disruption comes more often, and from more unexpected places. From the “pull” side, employees, customers, and sometimes investors increasingly expect businesses to worry about more than the bottom line. […]
Unraveling the ToT Model: Insights and Best Practices for Effective Training of Trainers
Training of Trainers (ToT) is a frequently used model of delivering training content that reaches large numbers of individuals. The model relies upon a cascade of knowledge: where a Master Trainer trains Lead Trainers who then train others. Conventional wisdom is that ToTs work in practice and are a cost-effective way to reach large numbers […]
Why Doesn’t the Private Sector Talk More About Socio-Economic Inequality?
The private sector has a responsibility – and, in the long term, arguably a commercial imperative – to tackle inequalities through the levers that it can pull directly: improving pay and working conditions, tackling inequalities in recruitment and promotion, encouraging workers to unionise, ensuring that their products and services are produced and priced fairly, and […]
Now Is Time to Unite to Act for a Sustainable Future for All
As the SDG Summit in New York fast approaches, UN SDG Action Campaign Global Director Marina Ponti says that unity in action is the key ingredient to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals The world is now at the midpoint of our journey towards 2030 – the deadline set for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development […]
How Can We Better Articulate the Benefits of Managing ESG Issues for Businesses and Stakeholders?
The increasingly interconnected world and escalating poverty and climate change challenges have led to a surge of interest in Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) principles. While ESG has moved from a fringe topic to the forefront of business and investment strategies, questions persist about its real impact and how best to articulate its benefits. The […]
Three Actions for Business in the Face of the Global Polycrisis
If you’re struggling to wrap your head around the multiple crises facing the world right now, the phrase “global polycrisis” may help you get a sense of just how truly awful things are. The term reared its head at the just-completed World Bank Annual Meetings, and is forebodingly described by the Cascade Institute as happening […]
If We Want to Meet the SDGs, We Need to Ditch Empty Rhetoric and Invest in Young People
‘Youth is the future. The leaders of tomorrow. Youth will change the world’. This is all true. But the rhetoric banded around at leadership events is not being matched by actions that enable youth’s full and meaningful participation. Last month’s International Youth Day (12 August) serves as a powerful reminder that this needs to change. […]
The sobering reality of the UN’s Global Goals
The sobering reality of the UN’s Global Goals Remember the Sustainable Development Goals? It’s not a facetious question. Amid all the other corporate sustainability priorities of the past few years — net zero, ESG, the circular economy, social justice, resource constraints and all the rest — not to mention a seemingly never-ending drumbeat of political upheaval, […]
Facing The Poverty Tsunami: How Business Can Support the Lives, Livelihoods and Access to Learning of the Most Vulnerable People and Communities
The Poverty Tsunami: COVID, Conflict and Climate Change COVID, conflict and climate change are among a confluence of challenges driving a tsunami of poverty that is already crashing into the lives of vulnerable people and communities around the world. The COVID-19 pandemic and the measures to contain its spread led to 97 million more people […]
The time to accelerate the “S” in ESG is now
She looks up with tears in her eyes and explains in Bengali that her children are now too old, and she missed her chance to get the legal allowed months for mother’s leave. The scene takes place in a small humid room in one of the thousands of factories in the ready-made garment sector in […]
Why we need to radically reimagine leadership to achieve gender equality.
Gender equality matters. You know that right? Not just morally. Not just because all of the world’s people have a right to live on equal terms. Equality has a critical impact on whether economies and societies thrive. It is key to realising the UN Sustainable Development Goals and bringing about a fairer, more resilient future […]
Uncovering Vulnerability Inspires Authentic Leadership
What if executive coaching were made available to women early in their careers to increase and deepen their impact in the world? Executive coaching is typically a privilege offered only to the most valued business professionals. After 20 years of working her way into the C-suite, Jane Finette’s employer offered her that opportunity. The experience […]
Reflections on the 2021 Edelman Trust Barometer: How business can play a key role in restoring trust
After the extraordinary events of 2020 business has emerged as the most trusted institution, according to the Edelman Trust Barometer, which was released earlier this month. The annual survey of more than 33,000 people across 28 countries asked respondents how much it trusted various institutions to do what is right. Business was the most trusted […]
The shifting expectations of business: aligning strategy, business model and culture with a sustainable purpose.
These vulnerabilities are likely to be exposed further by global trends that, on our current trajectory, look set to get worse. As Unilever’s CEO Alan Jope put it “the other big problems in the world, things like climate change and inequality, are not going away”. This year UN conferences in Glasgow and Kunming will seek to further the intergovernmental ambitions and […]
SEMINAR VIDEO: WHY SHOULD COMPANIES HAVE PROGRAMMES TO DEVELOP WOMEN LEADERS?
PROFILE Vasanthi Srinivasan is Professor of Organizational Behavior & Human Resources Management, and Chair of Digital Learning at the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore. Also, Vasanthi is a Past President of the Indian Academy of Management. WHAT THIS SESSION COVERS In this session Professor Vasanthi Srinivasan talks about her work and research on leadership development, […]
How the development of women leadership generates positive impact
For more than two years I have been working directly with projects linked to gender equality in multicultural contexts. Explaining inequalities and its structures is crucial to understand how we engage on an agenda of development toward a future where people can thrive in balance with the planet. To comprehend the origins of gender inequality, […]
VIDEO: How can companies integrate human rights into their business purposes and strategies
Hannah Temple is Director of Consulting at twentyfifity ltd., the world’s first human rights and business specialist management consultancy. Since 2004, twentyfifty has helped some of the world’s largest businesses to powerfully and practically respect human rights across their operations and value chains. twentyfifty supports its clients to practically implement what is known as human […]
