Walking the tightrope on social impact
Navigating Rollbacks, Resistance, and Relevance
Join our virtual session on Wednesday 30th July:
Time: 16:00 – 17:00 BST / 11:00 – 12:00 EDT / 10:00 - 11:00 CDT / 08:00 - 09:00 PDT
Location: Microsoft Teams
Globally, large businesses are having to recalibrate their social impact agendas against a context of turbulence and uncertainty:
Regulatory retreat: Key regulations, notably EU regulation including CSRD and CSDDD, are in the process of being rolled back (in timing and scope), easing the imperative for businesses to disclose and act on social impact priorities.
Political backlash: Political agendas are actively undermining established social priorities, particularly in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI).
Environmental dominance: Sustainability and impact teams often find social impact priorities are being overshadowed by the environmental agenda, a justified but challenging dynamic given the relative immaturity of some dedicated social impact efforts.
Exacerbated inequality: The prevailing macro-economic climate is deepening income disparities and hindering societal development.
Despite these challenging conditions, integrating social impact into core business operations remains a strategic imperative for nearly all businesses. Led by sustainability practitioner insights and perspectives, this session is designed to unpick what the ‘how’ and the ‘why’ of social impact as a strategic imperative looks like in today’s context, for different businesses.
What you can expect from the session
Hear views from SB+CO and our expert panel including Richard Donovan, Head of Social Innovation at Experian, and Maureen McDonagh, Head of Sustainability at Arm. We’ll explore:
how global businesses are navigating the current challenges posed by the wider political and regulatory context and its impact on topics like DEI and human rights;
why there’s an increasing imperative for ‘social impact’ to be more focused, in order to be integrated into core business strategy and approach;
how to effectively embed impact-led decision-making across the business, beyond dedicated "impact teams", and into functions like product development, supply chain, or HR;
where there are still opportunities for social impact to be a meaningful competitive differentiator in key industries.
How to sign up
We welcome sustainability practitioners and corporate communications professionals with a focus on sustainability to join us. Please fill out the form below and you’ll receive a calendar invite within 24 hours.
If you have any questions about the session, please do get in touch at info@sbandco.com - we look forward to seeing you there!
Please note, we are not including other consultants in these sessions.
The session will be led by:
Phoebe Whittombe
Sustainability Strategy Director | SB+CO
Lynn Schwartz
Associate Director, Sustainability Communications | SB+CO
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