The Business Fights Poverty Fortnightly Round-Up

By Annabel Beales, Challenge Researcher, Business Fights Poverty

Following a busy week of live events, peer networking and structured learning at our online conference, Annabel Beales provides a round-up of the wealth of video, podcast and written content we’ve published over the last fortnight. 

The team were delighted this week with the number of you – over 1,000 – who joined us for Business Fights Poverty Online 2020: Rebuild Better.  This is the first time Business Fights Poverty has put together a full-week programme online, and our Founders Zahid and Yvette Torres-Rahman said afterwards that “the most special part was being able to connect and meaningfully engage with such a diverse, global set of people – both panelists and participants – in a way we have never been able to before.” So thank you to everyone who joined us and contributed to a week that was both uplifting and intensely practical.

 

We were also delighted to receive a wealth of content from around our network, supporting the daily themes of the conference – Purpose, Opportunity, Skills, Equality, and Collaboration. I’m particularly excited about the variety on offer;  in addition to excellent written articles, blogs and podcasts, we’ve published how-to videos and educational seminars as well as insightful fireside chats with thought-leaders and expert practitioners.  And don’t miss the Business Fights Poverty Online 2020 Digital Pass, which gives you access to recordings of every session, as well as concise written summaries.  

 

This week, I’ve really enjoyed hearing the personal perspectives aired in our fireside chats and podcasts. In particular, Jane Nelson, Director, Corporate Responsibility Initiative, Harvard Kennedy School of Government and Philip Thomson, President, Global Affairs, GSK explored how a developing sense of social purpose has influenced the pharmaceutical industry’s contribution to strengthening health systems around the world. Looking to the future, we need to build on the existing response to COVID-19 with cross-sectoral action to prepare and prevent future pandemics. In addition, our fascinating interviews have included:

 

 

We’ve also had articles exploring practical challenges and the action being taken to meet them. For example, we’ve heard: 

 

As a consumer, it was interesting to find out which supermarkets are best protecting the rights of workers according to Oxfam’s 2020 Supermarket Scorecard, with Rosa Polaschek, Private Sector Policy, Oxfam.  But having the choice of where to shop for our food is, in itself, a privilege. As we begin to understand the full impact of COVID-19 on exacerbating poverty and food insecurity, Michelle Thompson,  Director, Head of Partnerships and Brands at The Power of Nutrition explains why nutrition is still such a problem,and what we can do about it

 

An important theme of the week has been inclusion, ensuring that diverse voices are heard and that no-one is left behind as we rebuild better.  During Thursday’s webinar on the inclusion of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic people in core business, Dazon Dixon Diallo, Founder & CEO, SisterLove, reminded us powerfully that inclusion unleashes “the creativity which has been ignored and undervalued  for a long time”. Many of our written articles addressed this in one way or another:

 

 

After a packed week, we are taking a little time to reflect on our next steps, and invite your feedback on the conference as well as the opportunities and challenges that you face as we Rebuild Better together.  

 

 

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