{"id":2516,"date":"2017-05-18T04:33:05","date_gmt":"2017-05-18T04:33:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/educategirls.ngo\/blog\/?p=1789"},"modified":"2023-09-05T10:32:43","modified_gmt":"2023-09-05T05:02:43","slug":"highlights-from-the-social-progress-imperative-2017-summit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.educategirls.ngo\/blog\/highlights-from-the-social-progress-imperative-2017-summit\/","title":{"rendered":"Highlights From The Social Progress Imperative 2017 Summit"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cWhat if sociologists had as much influence as economists?\u201d That\u2019s the provocation with which Bjarni Benediktsson, Iceland\u2019s 46-year-old Prime Minister of Iceland, set the tone for recent global summit<\/a> of Social Progress Imperative<\/a> (SPI).<\/p>\n

The gathering in Reykjavik drew leaders from civil society, business, and government to apply the third edition of the annual Social Progress Index<\/a> to highlighting solutions with proven impact, and to ponder how novel and effective public-private partnerships can fix what\u2019s broken.<\/p>\n

Sound expansive and ambitious? Redirecting a global mindset that measures progress primarily (often solely) by GDP demands audacity. The conversations held in Reykjavik though were designed for practical action, and for cross-sector pollination, not overly clouded by grand theory.<\/p>\n

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At a time with deepening divisions along political lines and widening wealth disparity, the Social Progress Index holds a promise of a common language, a data-drenched equalizer that can inform evidence-based practices in the field, help ferret out solutions to thorny problems, and shape policy that will truly improve lives.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re rebuilding a system to be fit for the future,\u201d said Michael Green, CEO of SPI. \u201cThis is not meant to be a temporary fix.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Over the course of three days, Michelle Royal of RIDG<\/a> produced this detailed graphic record of the summit.<\/em>\u00a0Join their \u201cDisruption Readiness\u201d webinar<\/a> on May 3rd, 2pm EST.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The experiences of mayors from Somerville, Massachusetts (Joe Curtatone) and Kalamazoo, Michigan (Bobby Hopewell), both of whom use the index to push progressive policy, took center stage next to those of NGOs working across the globe, and philanthropic and corporate funders looking for solutions with scalable impact.<\/p>\n

Attendees got a sneak peek at the index which SPI will release in June, complete with its ranking by country (yes, there\u2019s been some interesting movement). Perhaps most notable are metrics on the rate of change within countries across the three areas the index measures: basic human needs, foundations of wellbeing, and opportunity.<\/p>\n

Quick takeaways from the 2017 index: overall, while the world is improving in access to education and information, there\u2019s a troubling global lag in human rights and inclusion. \u201cThe world has the resources to do better though,\u201d insisted Green.<\/p>\n

Those gathered in Reykjavik heard the stories of the long and ongoing march towards gender equity and secular governing in Bangladesh from Shireen Huq, founding member of Naripokkho<\/a>, that nation\u2019s leading women\u2019s right organization. \u201cWhat\u2019s your response to those who say \u2018we need development now, and rights can wait?\u2019\u201d asked Green. \u201cThat\u2019s not the kind of development we need at all,\u201d said Huq. \u201cWe have a saying in the women\u2019s movement in Bangladesh. We want bread, but we want roses too.\u201d<\/p>\n

The index could prove a valuable tool in meeting the sweeping aims of the Sustainable Development Goals<\/a> by 2030. \u201cThe goals have been vague and we need a clearer agenda,\u201d said Valeria Moy, Director of \u00a0\u00bfMexico, Como Vamos?<\/a><\/em>. \u201cThis index gives us a common lens.\u201d<\/p>\n

Will global capital rise to the challenge in that time frame, asked Greene at one point to a tepid response and a just a few hands raised, one belonging to Jens Molbak<\/a>. \u201cWe have no choice!\u201d he hollered from the back of the room.<\/p>\n

He built and sold Coinstar before he turned 40 and these days runs WinWin<\/a>, focused on data-centric, tri-sector approaches to solutions that exploit overlooked or previously unavailable resources. WinWin works with the U.S. federal government to improve the food stamp program, and has burgeoning partnerships with several municipalities.<\/p>\n

The big takeaway from a spirited conversation taking stock of the landscape of impact investing came from Julie Katzman, CEO of the Inter-American Development Bank<\/a>. \u201cFor progressive investors there\u2019s basically two buckets,\u201d she said. \u201cThere\u2019s the \u2018do no harm\u2019 bucket and there\u2019s the \u2018do some good\u2019 bucket. We need far better data to make the case for the latter.\u201d<\/p>\n

Development Impact Bonds were explored as a promising approach as well. \u201cWe have a 99 percent loan success rate,\u201d said Nigel Kershaw<\/a>, founder of the Big Issue Invest<\/a>. \u201cThe mainstream has been dead wrong. That\u2019s why we need to embrace payment for results.\u201d<\/p>\n

Educate Girls<\/a>, a 2015 Skoll awardee, has pioneered the Impact Bond funding mechanism in its community-based approach to establish gender equity in the schools of Rajasthan, India. What emerges there once complete data is collected will likely be a valuable case study.<\/p>\n

Alison Bukhari, UK Director for Educate Girls<\/strong><\/a>, joined me in conversation to look at how social entrepreneurs make equilibrium change from the ground up. We focused mostly on the practicalities of Educate Girls\u2019 work in the field and its partnership with government, but also touched on the DIB funding aspect. Look for another post soon that dives deeper into Educate Girls\u2019 approach to equilibrium change.<\/p>\n

[youtube https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=CtlZWSC97E0]<\/p>\n

Always an ace at crystalizing the abstract, lofty, and structural, Stephan Chambers<\/a>, Director of the Marshall Institute at the London School of Economics, pointed out there\u2019s no snap fixes in the push for social progress. \u201cThis is the work of generations,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s how we must think about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

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You can watch video of all sessions from the What Works 2017 event on SPI\u2019s YouTube channel<\/a>.<\/p>\n

By\u00a0Zachary Slobig<\/a>
\nWriter\/Editor, Skoll Foundation
\n<\/em>Original article published on Skoll.org here<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

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\u201cWhat if sociologists had as much influence as economists?\u201d That\u2019s the provocation with which Bjarni Benediktsson, Iceland\u2019s 46-year-old Prime Minister of Iceland, set the tone for recent global summit of Social Progress Imperative (SPI). The gathering in Reykjavik drew leaders from civil society, business, and government to apply the third edition of the annual Social […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2516","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-voices"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.educategirls.ngo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2516","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.educategirls.ngo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.educategirls.ngo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.educategirls.ngo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.educategirls.ngo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2516"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.educategirls.ngo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2516\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5835,"href":"https:\/\/www.educategirls.ngo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2516\/revisions\/5835"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.educategirls.ngo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.educategirls.ngo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.educategirls.ngo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}