AVPN Global Conference 2023 | 20 - 22 June 2023

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Best of 2020 Social Investment Insights | Money Meets Mission Podcast Series

3 min read

What have been some of the most meaningful reflections this year? As we crossed into the new decade, challenges arose unabatedly. They exposed our fragilities, blind spots, and systemic failures. Yet, we have also seen humanity rising to meet the moment, activating communities for action, and walking the talk towards collective impact. 

In our new podcast series, Money Meets Mission, we curated some of the most insightful conversations and lessons learnt from the network. These topics range from hidden pockets of sustainable finance to successful systems change initiatives to embarking on a unique impact investing journey.

Better Cotton: GHG Emissions Reporting for an Ambitious Climate Change Approach

Photo Credit: Better Cotton/Demarcus Bowser Location: Burlison, Tennessee, USA. 2019. Cotton bales being transported from Brad Williams’ farm. 3 min read Reducing the amount of greenhouse gases (GHG) in our atmosphere is essential to limit the impacts of climate change. As agriculture is estimated to be responsible for up to 8.5% of all greenhouse gas […]

Big Data at AVPN: Mapping the Social Investment Universe in Asia Using Member Data

The Asian social investment scene has attracted a lot of interest globally and regionally, and an ongoing challenge is helping funders identify suitable investees, and vice versa. Currently, there is little transparency on the depth and breadth of the social investors in the Asia ecosystem. In order to glean some insight into the available sources […]

Big Grant, Big Learnings

5 min read

When it comes to funding organisations, I’m a big believer in product diversity: there should be different forms of grant making and different sizes of grants available in the sector; which is not necessarily the case right now.

Big Lottery Fund and CEO of Social Stock Exchange Talk about SSE launch in UK

Earlier this month, the Social Stock Exchange (SSE), an initiative to connect public financial markets with social impact investments, was launched in the UK by Prime Minister David Cameron. The SSE is an online platform that helps potential investors find social investment opportunities globally by informing them of the social impact of active organisations.The SSE, […]

Breaking Down Barriers to Climate Action in South Asia

Breaking Down Barriers to Climate Action in South Asia

2 min read

South Asia is currently one of the most diverse and vibrant regions in the world that has been experiencing strong growth over the past few years and is expected to continue its growth trajectory, driven by domestic demand. South Asia’s status as one of the fastest growing emerging economic regions has importantly lifted millions of households out of poverty and sets the region up as a viable hub for innovation and finance with the International Monetary Fund [IMF] predicting that South Asia will account for a-third of the world’s growth by 2040 (pre-COVID projections).

Bridging Social Investment

3 min read

Deal Share Platform as a curated platform to bridge social investment by showcasing projects for additional resources to continue their growth.

Bringing International Organisations to Singapore and Asia

Asia is increasingly becoming a hotbed of activity in the venture philanthropy and social investing space, with several social organisations either establishing or expanding their operations in Asia in recent months. One of such organisations is Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE). Jenny Everett, Associate Director at ANDE, believes it is “in part because as […]

Bringing SROI Training to Mumbai

International interest in SROI is growing as an approach to account for and manage the social and environmental impact of an organisation’s work. Over the last couple of years a number of organisations have started to explore SROI in India. AVPN is supporting the SROI Network to hold a one day workshop in Mumbai on […]

Building a Changemaker Community in Korea and Beyond

4 min read

In 2007, the Korean government kicked off the country’s impact ecosystem by promoting social enterprises and launching the Social Enterprise Certification. After 10 years, the second phase to reform the impact ecosystem began, this time with the private sector and large stakeholders, including corporations, educational institutions, and intermediaries, in mind.

Building Back Equal – The New Normal

Building Back Equal - The New Normal

4 min read

Just a month back, before the second wave of COVID-19 reared its ugly head in India, on my first field visit in a year to a small village in Uttar Pradesh, a young girl of 16 was narrating how the lockdown affected all of them in some ways. Rabia (name changed) was saying how her brother, the eldest male member of her family, would beat her, sometimes brutally, at any pretext almost every day during the lockdown. And how her mother would not say a word to the patriarchal family head. It was only when Rabia got her courage up, remembered her lessons from her Taaron ki Toli classes and went and spoke to the village head who came and spoke to the brother, that the ordeal finally stopped.

Building ESG and Climate Resilience in the Financial Industry

Co-author: Christopher Soh, Sustainability Consultant at KPMG 3 min read How can financial institutions remain resilient against climate change and address rising Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) expectations of their stakeholders? The latest IPCC report in 2021 highlights the urgency to do more, decarbonise and limit global temperature rise. COVID-19 has also put social issues […]

Building Stronger Families: The Role of Parenting Programmes in Preventing Child Abuse

Lessons from Malaysia Raising Future Leaders: Why Southeast Asia Needs to Invest in Parenting Programmes New research (Lachman et. al., 2023) on the Naungan Kasih parenting program to prevent violence against children in Malaysian has shown impressive results. These types of programmes have shown notable social and economic returns across the globe and should be […]

Building the Social Economy in Asia: The Role of Government

4 min read

Find out how different approaches adopted by the Hong Kong, Korea, and Malaysia’s government can create the right conditions for maximum social innovation.

This article is a preview to the Asia Policy Forum 2017, a convening platform for social impact leaders and policymakers across different countries to share lessons and build, not just the social economy, but a new economic system.

CAF Research: What Do the Public Think of Charities Using AI?

A recent study by Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) reveals the nuanced and cautiously optimistic perspectives about the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) by charitable organisations. The study involved over 6000 people across 10 countries (UK, USA, Indonesia, Brazil, Kenya, Poland, India, Japan, Australia, and Turkey).

Can Economic Empowerment of Women Combat Human Trafficking?

3 min read Human trafficking is an abhorrent practice that undermines human rights. Estimates indicate that women and girls may constitute up to 80% of the 24.9 million people trafficked globally, with more than 60% of those trafficked coming from the Asia region.  Factors that make a person vulnerable to human trafficking include poverty, lack […]

Can ESG be the Silver Bullet for the Agriculture sector?

Agriculture is one of the world’s largest industries, providing daily sustenance and livelihoods for millions. However, there are growing concerns about agriculture’s contribution to climate change as the sector accounts for over 70% of freshwater use and 23% of greenhouse gas emissions.

Can India Afford a Green Recovery?

4 min read

Green recovery – a COVID era buzz-phrase – has achieved instant stardom. It creeps into every discourse on the economy and the post-COVID state of the world. Although its definition and contours are nebulous, it broadly refers to ensuring that the post COVID economic recovery has a positive impact on climate change.

Can We Shatter this Glass Ceiling that Holds Back Asian Growth and Equality?

4 min read Traveling across the developing world over the last 30 years, I have met hundreds of parents who had dreams for their daughters.  To become a teacher, a doctor, to work in an office at a white-collar job.  They want their children to have a better life than they have had.  And when […]

Capacity building: what works, what doesn’t

4 min read

In the last few years, the attention that organization strengthening, capacity building, or organization development has been gathering, has increased many folds. The surge in the interest has been due to the effectiveness of this exercise in strengthening the institutional capacity of Not for Profit Organizations (NPOs).

Catalysing Venture Philanthropy Funds in Asia

As venture philanthropy finds its feet in Asia, AVPN continues to play an instrumental role as a catalyst for the setting up of venture philanthropy funds in the region. While philanthropy by itself is not a recent phenomenon in Asia, AVPN is helping crystallise the concepts of venture philanthropy and social investment in an attempt […]