November 8 and 9, 2012
To meet different mandates and interests within the impact investment sector, we have created a wide-ranging itinerary for conference attendees.
To download a PDF version of the program, click here.
| 8:00 – 8:30 a.m. | REGISTRATION AND BREAKFAST |
| 8:30 – 9:00 a.m. | INTRODUCTION Ted Anderson, director, MaRS Centre for Impact Investing OPENING REMARKS Gordon Nixon, president and CEO, Royal Bank of Canada |
| 9:00 – 10:15 a.m. | OPENING PANEL Investor insights: What is impact? Moderator:
Panelists:
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| 10:15 – 10:25 a.m. | BREAK |
| 10:25 – 11:45 a.m. | MORNING WORKSHOP SESSIONS
1. Made to measure: Tools and practices GIIRS and IRIS and SROI, oh my! If you feel lost in the forest of measurement tools, methodologies and practices, this workshop is for you. You will learn about the intentions and uses of these tools and practices, and understand which may be best suited (or worst suited) for your purpose.
2. Is social finance right for us? The early mover experience Is social finance right for your organization? Social finance is one tool that can be used to address the challenge of how to diversify revenue sources that have traditionally been reliant on grants, government contributions and donations. Including earned income in an organization’s funding mix may be the right approach, but how do you know? This workshop examines some key considerations for assessing financial readiness and alignment with your organization’s strategic direction. Learn from the experiences of early movers who have used social finance to advance their public benefit missions.
3. How do social metrics matter to investors? This panel will explore how some of Canada’s leading impact investors use social impact metrics. These investors will share how they use social metrics to inform their investment decisions, and how they assess and communicate social impact creation over time. The panel will also provide new insights into how the challenges of measurement and reporting can be addressed, and will provide specific examples and tools from Canada and globally.
4. Social Impact Bond 101: What is it? What is it not? The Social Impact Bond (SIB) is a provocative new model capturing the attention of governments, non-profits and impact investors. It places at its centre a burgeoning number of activities that focus on demonstrating positive social outcomes and improving public benefits through leveraging new partnerships and private investment. Is the hype justified? Could it actually work in Canada? This session is an introduction to the SIB for all interested audiences, and will feature presentations, a case study and a Q-and-A period.
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| 11:45 a.m. – 1:45 p.m. | LUNCH
Remarks: Helen Burstyn, Special Advisor, Social Enterprise, Ministry of Economic Development and Innovation Remarks: The Honourable Diane Finley, Federal Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development
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| 1:45 – 3:30 p.m. | AFTERNOON WORKSHOP SESSIONS 1. Social return on investment (SROI) 101
SROI is a framework for measuring and accounting for the value created or destroyed by our activities, where the concept of value is much broader than that which can be captured by market prices. This workshop is an introduction to SROI. You will learn about the SROI principles and concepts, and work through practical examples and case studies.
2. Meet the impact investors: The development of private equity funds in Canada This session will outline the range of investors and activities at work in impact investing, including who investors are, what they are doing and where they are going next.
3. Make it local: How domestic micro-finance makes its impact Domestic micro-finance initiatives are on the rise in Canada. In this workshop you will hear how various organizations got started and what difference they are making, plus you will explore ways of growing the industry in Canada.
4. Sustainability and impact investing
Good Deals: A look at where sustainable investing and impact investing are moving on the global stage.
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| 3:30 – 3:45 p.m. | BREAK |
| 3:45 – 4:30 p.m. | CLOSING KEYNOTE
Accounting for value: Do incumbent accounting principles work for business and society today? The principles upon which accounting and reporting are based have a massive influence on the world we live in, and on relative prices and investment flows. As relationships between business and society, and between financial markets and inequality, become ever more critical, should we be having a wider discussion on the nature of accounting principles? Can principles be reshaped to be more relevant to the global economy? Introduction:
Speaker:
Moderator:
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November 9, 2012
| 8:00 – 8:30 a.m. | BREAKFAST |
| 8:30 – 8:45 a.m. | WELCOMING REMARKS
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| 8:45 – 9:00 a.m. | OPENING ANNOUNCEMENT Council for Clean Capitalism
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| 9:00 – 10:15 a.m. | OPENING REMARKS Where we’re headed: Envisioning the business community in 20 years Introduction:
Speaker:
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| 10:15 – 10:30 a.m. | BREAK |
| 10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. | MORNING WORKSHOP SESSIONS
1. Getting into GIIRS: Rating and analytics for impact investing GIIRS (Global Impact Investing Ratings System) is a comprehensive and transparent system for assessing the social and environmental impact of companies and funds using a ratings and analytics approach analogous to Morningstar investment rankings and Capital IQ financial analytics. What is impact and how do we measure it? How can investors use impact data to make investments decisions? Companies, fund managers, and investors who join this session should expect to roll up their sleeves and be ready to think through what impact means to them and use impact data to make an investment decision.
2. Finance lab
Collaborative initiatives, seeking to use financial tools as leverage for change, share their project ideas for feedback and insight from leaders in finance and innovation. Advisors:
Presenters:
3. It takes a village: Collaboration in shared outcomes and measuring together
The Stanford Social Innovation Review wrote: “Large-scale social change requires broad cross-sector coordination, not the isolated intervention of individual organizations.” In this workshop you’ll hear from different leaders about how they were able to achieve collective impact in their own communities and the measurements used to show their success.
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| 12:00 – 2:00 p.m. | NETWORKING LUNCH
1. Lunch Adress
2. Making your career move into impact: Networking session between interested talent and the firms that are growing the space in Canada
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| 2:00 – 3:30 p.m. | AFTERNOON WORKSHOP SESSIONS
1. The million-dollar question: How do we value outcomes? This session grapples with the question of how one assigns financial value to measured change. Participants will look at available financial proxies and other quantitative factors, as well as methods of understanding and capturing value from the stakeholder perspective (individual, community, society). 2. Financing community development models: Impacts and opportunities This session will help you in understanding Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), including the roles they have in impacting community development and increasing economic inclusion of vulnerable populations and the range of models and CDFI activity in Canada.
3. The failure report: Not afraid to measure If we truly believe in innovation, we must also believe that failure is necessary. How can we embrace our failures through our measures? In this workshop, you will hear from two different organizations about their own experiences of why failure is vital to the progress of an organization.
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| 3:30 – 4:00 p.m. | CLOSING ADDRESS
Moving the needle: Collaborating for impact Speaker:
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