Nothing about us without us

It's time for impact investors to engage the voice of the end-users of our work, and to give space for their work, their agency.

We have built the first foundations of impact investment, from the early pioneers to increasingly rapid adoption of impact investment.

We are starting to see the fruits of our work, showing the impact of our investment in real results.

We seek a revolution in the purpose and impacts of investment: a system change for a better world.

We stand for the improvement of people’s lives: people who are poor, who are disadvantaged, who face threats.

And we stand not just for them, but with them: to hear their voices, to understand what they believe good would look like, to provide the space for their agency and their self determination.

Because we are not just investing to do some good: we are investing to enable people to be more confident, more capable, more able to solve their next challenges.

No revolution comes solely from the privileged: revolutions come from the poor and the oppressed, demanding a more equitable world. What we can do is never to disable them, always to support their efforts.

No new vision of a better future can be built without trust: and trust is something that must be earned, by sharing power, sharing control, sharing goals.

So as we develop impact investment, have we yet done enough to hear the voices of the people we seek to help? Have we yet shared enough power? Have we yet done enough to build trust?

All of us in the impact economy want to see the inspiring vision set out by the global agencies such as the GSG, GIIN, OECD and more. We all know that without sound foundations, that vision would crumble. We can build the sound foundations: by listening, sharing power, building trust.

It is these measures that will ensure our revolution, the impact revolution, will endure, will thrive, and will build the better world and better lives that we all seek.