Overcoming the 3 myths of social impact measurement
Day 1 : 10:15 – 11:30
Myth 1: Impact is hard to see and hard to measure
Truth: Measurement should capture what change is visible tomorrow, for who, and why it matters.
Myth 2: Companies who prioritize impact aren’t profitable
Truth: Designing for social impact outcomes unlock shared stakeholder value
Myth 3: Impact reports provide a well-documented and comprehensive account of a company’s impact
Learnings
1. Why social impact measurement is hard to measure – no universal set of metrics or indicators that can adequately capture the diverse range of social impacts across different sectors and domains.
– Introduce key frameworks for developing appropriate, context-specific metrics depending on the intended outcome.
2. Social impact should no longer be viewed as a discretionary “nice-to-have” or solely the domain of corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts. Rather, it needs to be central to an organization’s core strategy and operations.
– Provide evidence based research and case studies that demonstrate how social impact can increase business valuation and attract more interest from investors to drive business success.
– How to leverage the possibilities at the intersection of organizational goals and positive impact. This approach could even surface new areas for intentional growth, collaboration, and scale. Examples of best practices of working with NGOs/social enterprises will be shared and discussed.
3. Impact reports often only highlight their most successful initiatives while downplaying or not disclosing less favorable outcomes.
– How acknowledging a company’s ESG challenges or limitations can actually be better for business as transparency and accountability as consumers become much more environmentally AND socially conscious in the goods and services they buy.
Post-Event Actions
Delegates will be encouraged to try out different impact measurement frameworks, including the B Impact Assessment for their whole business, and OECD DAC criteria as part of their social impact strategy.
Post event the delegates will be provided with the 5 Guiding Principles for collaboration between businesses and charities for greater impact and encouraged to share the “Bake A Difference” video with their team.
Speakers
Pia Wong
Founder and Chief Impact Officer
Purpose Impact Action Ltd.
Pia Wong
Purpose Impact Action Ltd.
Founder and Chief Impact Officer
Pia Wong, a social impact leader with 25+ years of experience, specializes in stakeholder engagement and measuring, improving, and communicating organizational impact. Pia’s passion in impact measurement stems from her 12-year tenure as Executive Director at Bring Me A Book Hong Kong, and her corporate communications experience at Weber Shandwick and Synovate.
As the Founder of Purpose Impact Action Ltd., Pia helps businesses, NGOs and social enterprises evaluate the effectiveness of their work, strengthen governance and operations, using globally recognized impact standards. Pia also advises on social impact strategies, and helps companies mitigate greenwashing through improvement tools such as the B Impact Assessment.
To address systemic challenges in the NGO sector in HK during the height of the pandemic, Pia co-founded Voice for Social Good, ensuring partnerships between nonprofits and funders are based on trust and deliver on impact.
In 2020, as part of her work for Voice for Social Good, Pia was recognized as 2020 AmCham Women of Influence nominee for “Global Issues, Local Heroes, Women Taking the Lead.”
More recently, Voice for Social Good was a 2024 finalist for the Shared Value Initiative Award for Bravery.
Pia has a BA (Hons) from University College London and received a scholarship to attend Harvard Business School (HBS) Executive Education program on Strategic Perspectives in Nonprofit Management. Pia has also successfully obtained the Cambridge Institute of Sustainability Leadership’s (CISL)’s Business Sustainability Management Certificate and Impact Measurement and Management for the SDGs certificate from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme SDG Impact.
My Sustainability Goals for 2024:
I hope to see more businesses in Hong Kong partner with NGOs strategically to address many of the social issues in Hong Kong.
NGOs, with the support and guidance from their board members, invest more time and resources into impact measurement for better due diligence. I truly believe this will elevate trust between funders and NGOs, which in turn will increase operational funding (eg. staff salaries, capacity building) for the NGO’s long-term sustainability and impact.