Top Social Impact Events in 2024
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Conference Guide for Entrepreneurs, Startups, Investors & Corporate Sustainability Leaders
Emerging technologies continue to make conference content accessible to an ever-growing audience. From live-streamed and recorded sessions available online to AI-generated transcripts and summaries, you no longer have to be in “the room where it happens” to benefit from expert insights.
This year, we will use our innovative tech tools to bring you key insights from the top events focused on social impact. Gain knowledge on hot topics like AI and sustainability from innovators, entrepreneurs, responsible business leaders, impact investors, CSR professionals, and ESG practitioners.
Our team has already started our 2024 event coverage with the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting. Below is our list of the other must-follow conferences we’ll be paying attention to this year. Read on for additional conference details, including links to some of our past reporting.
World Economic Forum Annual Meeting
15–19 January 2024 | Davos-Klosters, Switzerland
Nearly 3,000 leaders from 120 countries attended the 54th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF). Corporate executives, civil society representatives, social entrepreneurs, and the media participated in a packed, five-day agenda that focused “on the fundamental principles driving trust, including transparency, consistency and accountability.”
If you weren’t on the invite-only guest list, you can still watch these important global conversations. All of its 200+ official program panels are available to view on the organization’s website. Additionally, WEF’s YouTube channel contains recordings from select sessions and special addresses.
SXSW Conference
8–16 March 2024 | Austin, TX
There’s something for everyone at the SXSW conference, including dedicated tracks for:
Startups (8–11 March)
Creating the next big thing is a central theme at SXSW. These Startups track sessions cover the unexpected founders, funders, business plans, new revenue models, success stories, and epic fails that make entrepreneurism so compelling.
Artificial Intelligence (11–15 March)
With AI expanding into all industries, explore the development of this technology and where it’s headed next. Content will focus on the societal implications of AI as well as the ethics around its use.
Climate Change (12–15 March)
Explore the most promising ideas on mitigating (or sometimes living with) the effects of global warming and in-depth coverage of the consequences of unpredictable weather patterns and rising ocean levels.
Government & Civic Engagement (8–11 March)
The Government & Civic Engagement track highlights conversations around programs, policy directions, and new ideas for pushing positive change. Conversations will also cover the upcoming US elections and different angles on how the media tackles the issues.
SXSW offers several paid badge levels for in-person attendees to choose from. Organizers have historically offered a real-time, paid virtual access option for select sessions as well as posted certain keynotes and featured speakers on SXSW’s YouTube channel.
See our highlights from SXSW health equity and technology sessions.
Skoll World Forum 2024
9–12 April 2024 | Oxford, UK
Since its founding in 1999, the Skoll Foundation has been catalyzing “transformational social change by investing in, connecting, and championing social entrepreneurs and other social innovators who together advance bold and equitable solutions to the world’s most pressing problems.” Its annual forum brings together a global network of change-makers to drive collective action.
Anyone can apply to attend the forum in person (application deadline 31 January) and attendance is determined by the Skoll Foundation team. However, free virtual participation is open to everyone.
We’ve been sharing insights from the Skoll World Forum since 2017. Read our past coverage.
Mission Investors Exchange (MIE) 2024 National Conference
7–9 May 2024 | Los Angeles, CA
This conference is designed for foundations, philanthropic asset owners, and their partners. Even though in-person attendance requires approval and prioritizes member organizations, you can find recaps and session recordings from past conferences on MIE’s website. We anticipate that similar content from 2024’s National Conference will be added to this webpage shortly after the conference’s conclusion.
Produced every other year, the Mission Investors Exchange National Conference is one of the most anticipated events for impact investors in philanthropy. The National Conference offers an action-focused, collaborative, and personal space to renew and build partnerships, experience on-the-ground impact investments, share investment opportunities, meet leading voices in the field, and shape the future of the impact investing movement.
AI For Good Global Summit
30–31 May 2024 | Geneva, Switzerland
We expect that this in-person event will be made available for viewing via live-streaming and post-event uploads to its YouTube channel.
The AI for Good Global Summit is the leading action-oriented United Nations platform promoting AI to advance health, climate, gender, inclusive prosperity, sustainable infrastructure, and other global development priorities. AI for Good is organized by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) — the UN specialized agency for information and communication technology — in partnership with 40 UN sister agencies and co-convened with the government of Switzerland.
领英推荐
2023’s AI for Good Global Summit is worth a second look, which is easy to do using our recap article from last year.
Gates Foundation Goalkeepers 2024
September 2024 | New York, NY
We expect the full Goalkeepers Event to be live-streamed on YouTube as in previous years.
The Goalkeepers community is a global collective of collaborative and diverse changemakers. Members include both emerging and well-known leaders who live all over the world and represent an eclectic range of cultures, professions, and interests. As a community, they are committed to achieving the 17 Global Goals for Sustainable Development, an ambitious blueprint for reimagining a better future for all by 2030, agreed upon by all member states of the United Nations. As individuals, Goalkeepers are developing fresh ideas and doing innovative work to accelerate the progress across the goals in their region.
Concordia Annual Summit
23–25 September 2024 | New York, NY
You can register to attend the Summit on Concordia’s website beginning in March. We expect that many Summit sessions will be available on Concordia’s YouTube channel post-event.
The world faces a critical juncture, with geopolitical fragmentation, shifting socioeconomic developments, and immense technological advancements among a whole host of far-reaching issues that are perhaps more pressing than at any time in human history. Navigating this new era requires unique perspectives, public-private sector collaboration, and the creation of market-led solutions. Above all, it requires coming together to facilitate human-to-human interaction. Against this backdrop, Concordia presents Navigating a New Era, its theme for its 14th Annual Summit, providing the preeminent forum for the private sector and equipping the Concordia community with the network and platform to understand the unique challenges and opportunities presented by today’s global environment — along with the tools and partnerships to build for tomorrow.
Check out our coverage of the Gates Goalkeepers and Concordia events from back in 2017.
CGI 2024 Annual Meeting
23–24 September 2024 | New York, NY
In person attendance is by invitation-only, but live-streamed and on-demand recordings of CGI sessions are typically available for free via CGI’s website, as in 2023.
Timed to coincide with the U.N. General Assembly, CGI (Clinton Global Initiative) brings together business, government, and civil society leaders to drive progress on climate resilience, inclusive economic growth and recovery, health equity, the full participation of women and girls, and humanitarian response efforts to crises around the globe.
Business Fights Poverty Global Goals Summit 2024
24–25 September 2024 | New York, NY
This hybrid summit offers in-person and virtual options, and BFP typically shares real-time content through its social media platforms.
Together, we will explore how businesses can collaborate more effectively with each other, governments, the UN, and civil society to deliver the Summit of the Future’s goal to “forge a new international consensus on how we deliver a better present and safeguard the future.” We will focus on actionable strategies and innovative partnerships to address global challenges and foster a more equitable, resilient world, through engaging in-person and online discussions. Our events are crafted to foster an informal yet impactful environment, encouraging genuine connections and the exchange of diverse perspectives in a safe and welcoming space. Participants, whether joining us physically or virtually, will be invited into small groups to ensure everyone has a voice and the opportunity to contribute meaningfully.
GIIN Impact Forum
23–24 October 2024 | Amsterdam, The Netherlands
This is an in-person only, paid event. You can register to receive advanced information about program details and access early-bird discounts. While there are no virtual participation options, many attendees share their insights in real-time on social media.
The GIIN Impact Forum is a global impact investing event with unparalleled networking, thought-provoking speakers, interactive sessions, and a diverse range of impact investing leaders from six continents. With a reputation for fostering valuable connections and providing a platform for sharing innovative strategies and industry developments, this is an opportunity you can’t afford to miss. Discover new opportunities and learn from the best in the industry as you explore ways to drive continued growth and momentum in the impact investing market. With more and more people recognizing the importance of considering societal and environmental impact in their investments, now is the time to position yourself at the forefront of this rapidly evolving industry.
SOCAP24
28–30 October 2024 | San Francisco, CA
This is an in-person only, paid event, with discounts and scholarships available. However, we expect that many sessions will be available on SOCAP’s YouTube channel post-event.
Unlike any other conference in impact, SOCAP convenes the whole ecosystem to catalyze investable and profitable businesses and industries that can solve the greatest challenges of our time. For more than 16 years, the SOCAP conference has been the flagship event and leading convener in the impact economy, gathering more than 100,000 people since our first event… We invite changemakers from every sector and across the globe who are ready to dig in to help drive urgent change for people and the planet. SOCAP serves as one of the world’s largest gatherings for the impact ecosystem driving market-based solutions to the world’s most pressing issues. We bring together funders and founders, plus people from philanthropy, government, education, media, finance, science, faith-based organizations, NGOs, creatives, nonprofits, community leaders, and others. We convene a global audience, with representation from 57 countries at SOCAP23.
We’ve covered SOCAP extensively over the years. Read some of our past coverage here.
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