According to a 2020 report by the Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment, approximately one of every three dollars in U.S. professionally managed assets is invested in assets defined as “sustainable.” That’s more than $17 trillion in wealth.
As impressive as that figure is, it doesn’t account for direct investments by self-directed individuals. Nor does it account for private placements, private equity investments in non-public enterprises, or early-stage investments by socially conscious angels and venture capitalists. (And more.)
Increasingly, socially conscious investing is investing — the distinction is less meaningful with each passing month. And that’s creating boundless opportunity for entrepreneurs and backers eager to do right by the world.
None of this would have been possible without the efforts of a diverse collection of visionaries and early adopters. The momentum continues, meanwhile, thanks to an equally vibrant host of strategic partnerships between business, political, and cultural leaders. Let’s take a closer look at some of these and tease out what they might mean for the future.
- Buy a Pair, Give a Pair (Warby Parker)
Warby Parker’s long-running partnership with Vision Spring — Buy a Pair, Give a Pair — has sent more than seven million pairs of eyeglasses to low-income clients around the world. That’s a small fraction of the more than 600 million who can’t “learn or work due to vision impairment,” according to Warby Parker, but it’s a dent in the problem nonetheless — and a low-cost, high-return investment in human capital.
- The B Team (Sir Richard Branson, et. al.)
Sir Richard Branson’s The B Team launched in 2013 with a modest goal: to develop a better way of doing business and repair what the initiative’s founders believed was a “broken economic system.” Nearly a decade on, they’ve made the world a bit safer for socially conscious enterprises. That’s thanks in no small part to founding CEO and sustainable investing evangelist Derek Handley, a New Zealand-based entrepreneur and investor.
- Abahizi/Kate Spade (on purpose)
Handbag giant Kate Spade’s on purpose is one of sub-Saharan Africa’s most successful business-led women empowerment initiatives to date. The initiative employs more than 200 women in Ahabizi, Rwanda, where nearly half the female inhabitants own businesses that directly serve the community. It’s nothing less than a model for mutually beneficial relationships between multinational firms and local entrepreneurs.
- Grameen Bank
Led by microfinance pioneer Muhummad Yunus (also a member of The B Team), Grameen Bank has partnered with hundreds of lenders and countless entrepreneurs over the years to revolutionize capital flows in the developing world. Grameen’s model remains the gold standard for supplying low-cost capital to microbusinesses where traditional forms of financing aren’t available.
- Better World Books
Better World Books began as an idealistic partnership between three social entrepreneurs. Today, it’s one of the leading literacy charities in North America and beyond. Better World Books’ Book for Book program, a “buy one, give one” initiative similar to Warby Parker’s, has donated more than 26 million books since its inception. BWB makes direct grants to literacy and education nonprofits as well.
- Partnering for Good
These powerful partnerships reshaped (and, in some cases, continue to reshape) how the world does business. They’re ones to watch, even if you have no direct stake in the relevant industries or firms. The future truly is being made before our eyes.
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