60 Decibels

Is proxy data hurting your investment process? It might be. Let me share a recent example. An investor we work with at 60 Decibels has a mandate to prioritize investing in companies that serve low-income customers. In early diligence on a prospective investment, their team estimated the company's poverty reach was only 40%, based on the country where it operates. What they didn't know was that our direct impact assessment with that company revealed that their actual poverty reach was 70%. The investor was candid: "We would have been more likely to invest if we had known." This gap between proxy assumptions and reality isn't rare. It's systemic. And it's costing investors meaningful impact and returns. After a decade collecting insights from hundreds of thousands of the world's hardest-to-reach customers, we've seen this pattern repeatedly: proxy data is a blunt instrument that is wrong as often as it’s right. Capital allocation decisions suffer as a result of this bluntness, hurting both investors—passing on great, high-impact companies—and the companies themselves. We built 60dB Signal to address this exact challenge by exploring how we could put our rich customer insights—more than 1,000 engagements, representing data from more than 900,000 customers—directly into the hands of investors. The result is a platform that lets you evaluate social impact with the same rigor as you would financial data, side-by-side with customer experience data that tells you about the growth prospects of a company. Would love to hear how others are navigating this challenge! You can see what we’ve been working on as a solution here: www.signal.60decibels.com

Fast payments or fair payments? Why not both? We surveyed 279 Colombian coffee farmers working with Caravela Coffee. Here’s what they told us: ?? 75% said Caravela’s payment timing is “good” or “very good”—even though payments take 7 days, and farmers expect them in 3. ?? 61% of alternate buyers pay in cash—usually within 1 day or on the spot. But Caravela offers a better price, which many farmers prefer. ?? 73% actively use a bank account, and 25% use digital wallets like Nequi or Daviplata. But over half don’t use any other financial tools. ?? 20% of farmers didn’t receive any payment notification—highlighting a key opportunity to improve communication. As digital payments scale in agriculture, farmers’ voices need to be at the center. If we want a more inclusive, transparent value chain—we have to listen first. Explore the full report here: https://lnkd.in/ePjE5Mnq Huge shoutout to everyone who made these insights possible! Alejandro C., Giancarlo Ghiretti, Maria Camila Bedoya Ovalle, Tripti Singh, Aayushi Kachalia, Malavika Rangarajan, Jacob Thamarappally, Charles Sebastian, Maria Jose Gomez Torres

What does it take to truly build self-reliance in refugee communities? According to Tamsin Scurfield (Opportunity International), writing for e-MFP, it starts with listening — and then designing for what people actually need. In Uganda, Opportunity International and its partners have reached 40,000+ refugees and host community members and delivered over $2M in microloans ?? And because we’ve taken the time to speak directly with refugees using financial services, we know the impact goes deeper. As part of a 2024 study we found that: > Nearly 1 in 4 refugee clients hired employees > 91% of businesses were still operating 18 months after their loan > 79% of clients increased their savings Refugees are not just surviving — they’re growing businesses, hiring staff, and saving for the future. This is what happens when financial services meet dignity, data, and human-centred design. ?? Read the full piece here: https://lnkd.in/dxpHUNFF

$236 billion. That’s the annual profit from forced labour, according to the International Labour Organization. Unilever’s newly released 2025 Modern Slavery Statement shows what it looks like when a company takes that number seriously—and takes action. In 2024, we partnered with Unilever and &Wider to help strengthen suppliers' HRDD processes and improve workers' ability to access rights: ?? Over 4,700 workers were engaged across 4 countries ?? Scaling to 25+ more sites in 2025 ?? Informed by real worker experiences—not assumptions Proud to play a role in this work—and even more excited about where it’s headed. Read the full statement: https://lnkd.in/ez6FG6JF For more on how companies like Unilever are navigating the latest EU sustainability regulations, check out this piece from Sancroft featuring our Co-Founder, Tom Adams: https://lnkd.in/ejYee247 #HRDD #CSDDD #humanrights

Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) continues to champion digital innovation that enhances financial well-being and workforce resilience. A recent study by 60 Decibels, in collaboration with the International Labour Organization; an agency of the United Nations highlights the transformative potential of Earned Wage Access (EWA). The findings reveal that 80% of Paywatch users experienced an improved quality of life, reinforcing EWA’s role as a strategic investment in human capital. ? The findings were unveiled during a media briefing, officiated by Ir. Wan Murdani Wan Mohamad Head of Digital Industry Acceleration?& Digital Exports at MDEC. This was followed by a panel discussion titled "EWA in Action – From Global Study to Workforce Transformation in Southeast Asia," whose panelists included Alex Kim, President and Co-Founder of Paywatch; Billy Lim, Country Manager, Paywatch; Andrej Slivnik, Technical Officer at the ILO Global Centre on Digital Wages for Decent Work and Pradyot Komaragiri, Manager at 60 Decibels. ? As Malaysia accelerates its digital transformation, MDEC remains committed to enhance financial inclusivity and innovative solutions that drive sustainable economic growth. Once, again congratulations to Paywatch!

?? What is a fundamentally sustainable supply chain? That’s simple isn’t it, it’s one where the people in it, or environment upon which it relies, aren’t being extracted from to the point of collapse. And if we set our sights a little higher, it’s one where people and planet can thrive. Clearly, no supply chain can be deemed sustainable if it harbours widespread child or forced labour. To address these challenges, we need reliable, high-quality data to uncover and understand these risks. Yet here lies the problem: there is currently no global, scalable, and trusted source of data on these critical issues. Why? Because gathering robust, honest, representative data on these topics is hard. The systems in place today don’t reach enough people—and, critically, they don’t ask the questions in a way that people can give honest answers. At 60 Decibels we’re working to change that. Using cutting-edge research methods, we’re overcoming social desirability bias to help future-oriented companies gain a clearer understanding of human rights risks in their supply chains. And the results speak for themselves... ?? 11x more reports of discrimination at the workplace based on gender, caste, or religion. ?? ?5x more accurate reporting of workplace sexual harassment. ?? ?3x more reports of child labour. We're applying this in projects worldwide, including: Tracking workplace discrimination & harassment in South Asian manufacturing. Unpacking child labour & deforestation risks in African agricultural supply chains. Investigating gender-wage discrimination & school dropout rates in South & Southeast Asia’s rice fields. For those working on HRDD, how do we ensure we’re asking the right questions—and getting the real answers? Drop your thoughts in the comments. #HRDD #SupplyChains #WorkerVoice

JUST LAUNCHED: Off-Grid Solar: Powering Climate Resilience 685M people still lack access to electricity. The majority live in regions at high risk of climate hazards. For many, #OffGridSolar provides the fastest route to power:? ? ?? Critical infrastructure and services,?? ??? Climate-resilient livelihoods,?? ?? Climate information and early warning systems,?? ?? Post-disaster response and recovery. As world leaders meet at the Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) Forum to urge more action to power a just climate transition, Practical Action, the IKEA Foundation, and Efficiency for Access have launched three resources to be used by companies, climate funds, governments, development organizations, and other key stakeholders to better understand, evaluate, and enhance the contribution of off-grid solar to climate resilience and adaptation, while also calling for increased funding, partnerships, and action. ? Learn more about the Framework, Guidance and Report. https://lnkd.in/ddwRTHYc #Solar4Adaptation #SEforALLForum #CleanEnergy #ClimateAction Transforming Energy Access | International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) | ESMAP - Energy Sector Management Assistance Program | SunCulture | d.light | Sun King | 60 Decibels

Even with the best intentions, social impact isn’t always evenly distributed. Our India Impact Report, based on 24,000+ phone interviews, highlights some key disparities: > Wealth distribution gap – Only 33% of respondents fall within the bottom 60% of India’s wealth distribution, meaning impact-focused products and services are not proportionally reach those living in extreme poverty. > Agriculture leads in first-time access – 8 in 10 respondents had no prior alternatives. > Women report greater quality of life improvements than men—particularly in financial inclusion and quality jobs. These insights help organizations refine their approach to better serve those who need it most.

I’m reflecting on last week’s Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) Global Forum in Barbados, and was asked what I thought the call to action was. I know, for my part, it’s not new. It’s about listening. In preparation for speaking on a demand-side panel following a supply-side panel, I thought, do we still need to persuade people that focusing on demand-side is critical? But we do. Still. There are many moments in history where a paternal development approach has been used; where sensitisation, awareness, training are tools to persuade people to adopt certain practices, habits, or technology we believe they should. Perhaps there are times when this might be necessary; particularly related to health care behaviours. But this approach normally fails to frame the activities and our measurements of success from an end-user perspective. It often doesn’t require listening to and designing to meet populations where they are at, meeting their expressed needs and wants. Needs and wants that aren’t in the discussions at Forums and conferences as the "demand-side" isn’t there in the room. And these perspectives are integral. We know a lot about the impact of energy access, we at 60 Decibels have listened to tens of thousands of customers across the globe. But we don’t know enough about those who don’t have access. What their needs are, their wants, the barriers they face, the reservations they have, their current energy access status, what they can afford, what their aspirations for future energy access are. This is critical as we focus on leaving no one behind and trying to reach the SDG7 goal of universal energy access. I believe we will be a more inclusive sector and get closer to universal energy access than we ever have before, if we listen better. Get in touch if you want any help with this, we’re quite good at it at 60 Decibels! :-) #EnergyAccess #SDG7 #OffGrid #JustTransition His Excellency Austin Demby, Minister of Health of Sierra Leone, Luc Severi at Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL), Christine Egan at CLASP, Raihan Elahi at ESMAP - Energy Sector Management Assistance Program The World Bank Group.

Before you launch your next farmer income study, ask yourself: ? What decisions will this data drive? ? Can you afford to track it over time? ? Would a simpler method get you to the same answer? Income measurement is valuable—but only if it’s done right. We help organizations take a lean approach to income data, ensuring they collect only the insights they actually need. #incomemeasurement #farmervoice #impactdata