Insights from 2024 Social Innovation Summit
Our Corporate Reputation team returned from the 2024 Social Innovation Summit in Chicago, a powerful two-day event that brought together global corporate, nonprofit, finance and government leaders to discuss issues and address solutions key to scaling social impact today and in the future.
We concluded that there is no backing down from the “S” in ESG. Companies need people to operate and need to show real engagement around issues impacting people.
Watch all the expert takeaways here.
Five Trends on Social Impact
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
It was no surprise AI came up repeatedly during the conference. From empowering better decisions to ensuring equitable access to technology to safeguarding data, AI presents both significant opportunity and risk for corporate social responsibility.
Place-based Strategies
More companies are seeing real value in leveraging Place-based strategies to shape their community engagement efforts. But what does this actually mean? Rather than taking a top-down approach to corporate giving and engagement, this gives community leaders a seat at the table with corporate leaders to ensure the creation of custom-fit solutions to really address the unique needs and characteristics of a specific community.
Trust
It sounds so cliché, but real progress and impact only happens when there is authentic and credible engagement. Trust is earned over time so companies expecting a silver bullet or immediate lift because they say they care will be left out of real results.
Depth, Not Breadth
Effective strategies and efforts require the meaningful involvement of multiple stakeholders, and stewarding such programs requires significant commitment. Establishing and maintaining a clear, narrow focus helps ensure efforts are manageable and meaningful.
Shared Purpose Drives Progress
A common thread throughout the conference was the criticality of partnerships across industry and sector to advance progress around societal issues. The qualities of a successful partnership are three-fold. They require:
- Alignment on shared value and desired outcomes to drive mutually beneficial impacts.
- Understanding of the potential of collective community impact as a framework to maximize resources between a corporate and nonprofit partner, beyond monetary contributions, to do more together.
- Data to benchmark progress, demonstrate impact and evaluate opportunities for a shift in approach.
We’d like to keep the conversation going. Please reach out to our team to learn more.
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