This interactive online written discussion brought people together from around the world to share insights on key trends, challenges and opportunities for the year ahead.
The live segment took place on Wednesday 24 January 10am to 11am EST / 3pm to 4 pm GMT
Background
Together for 2024, was a chance for us to come together as a community to chart the year ahead and discuss shared priorities.
Business Fights Poverty is a community - we believe that sharing insights, co-creating solutions and deepening relationships are central to building a more equitable and resilient future.
We thank the members of our global community for generously sharing their ideas, insights and experiences, so we can learn from one another.
The contributors to this discussion are listed at the end of the Insights Summary. Our hope is that Together for 2024 will help identify important areas for collaborative action in the year ahead.
Moderator: Katie Hyson, Director of Thought Leadership and COO, Business Fights Poverty
Questions
What are the key challenges you are facing for 2024?
What are the top opportunities you are seeing in 2024?
What are some examples and ways for business to scale and deepen impact through partnership?
How to add your comments
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If you are not already a member of the Business Fights Poverty online community, you will need to sign up here. Once you have joined the community, you can return to this discussion page and click āLog Inā at the top right of the page.
We believe that sharing insights, co-creating solutions and deepening relationships are central to building a more equitable and resilient future. Together for 2024, is a chance for us to come together as a community to chart the year ahead, discuss shared priorities and identify areas for collaborative action.
Please do join us and share your thinking whilst also getting the chance to learn from othersā in our global community.
We are really looking forward to the live segment of this discussion. In the meantime, please hit reply and introduce yourself!
My latest involvement towards creating a more just and rewarding work environment was as a contributing author to a new book:
Employee Ownership in the Americas: A Path to Shared Prosperity. It encourages a movement towards an inclusive economy to address wealth inequality & build shared prosperity in the Americas. This path stimulates growth, strengthens businesses, improves wages & savings whilst dignifying workers. New York. NY. January 8, 2024. by Centro de Capital Incluyente.
It is available as a free download from Amazon.com.
Greetings. My name is Derek Cook and I serve as the Director of the Canadian Poverty Institute at Ambrose University in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Iām looking forward to connecting with such a diverse network of people who share our commitment to building a new and better economy. You can learn more about our work at New Economy Roundtable ā Canadian Poverty Institute. If you would like to connect with me please feel free to do so via LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/in/dicook/
Landiwe Mahlangu, Economist and Strategist, and have MSc in Economics and MSc in Cities at University of Bradford and London School of Economics respectively. My interest is on spatial development, Local Governance, Cities and local impact investment. I am Chief Executive Officer on Amazwe Capital Partners and a Director at Joe Slovo Foundation. I previously worked at the Development Bank of Southern Africa and served as a Chair for Municipal Development Board and Chief Economic Advisor of the National African Federated. Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Hi everyone - Iām Yaquta Fatehi (love to connect on LinkedIn!), a program manager at the William Davidson Institute at the U of Michigan. I develop customised impact assessment solutions for private sector partners. Through measurement and research strategies, I identify levers to improve operations, financial benefits and most importantly, social impact on stakeholders in the value chain. Hereās a sampling of my projects and articles Iāve co-written on lean thinking and measuring the ROI of women-inclusive operations in SMEs in East Africa (series).
Looking forward to the conversation tomorrow! So much to discuss and learn from each other about gender, data, impact measurement and partnerships!
Hi - Looking forward to the discussion. Iām Ali Merifield, Director of Communications at Proforest. You can find me on LinkedIn - happy to connect and look forward to hearing from everyone tomorrow.
Hi everyone,
Excited to be in your company ā my name is Irving Chan Gomez and currently lead Strategic Partnerships and Global Expansion at B Lab Global (the organisation behind Certified B Corporations, the Benefit corporation legal form, etc.). In addition, I also host our podcast series āForces for Goodā, exploring how business (not just B Corps) can be a force for good across a wide range of topics.
Feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn and reach out directly if I can be of any support. Looking forward to our discussion !
I am Wifag Adnan and I am an Economics Professor at New York University in Abu Dhabi. My research aims to improve our understanding of the causes and consequences of wage inequality. I also study the role of violence and conflict on labor market outcomes.You can learn more about my work on my website. Looking forward to our discussion tomorrow.
Hi Everyone, Delilah Rothenberg here with the Predistribution Initiative (PDI). Weāre a non-profit that works with investors and their stakeholders on improved investment governance practices and investment structures that share more wealth and influence with workers and communities. We believe this is the strongest path to addressing system-level risks like inequality, climate change, and biodiversity loss. You can read more about us here: https://www.predistributioninitiative.org/
Weāre also thrilled to be part of the Interim Working Group launching the Taskforce on Inequality and Social-related Financial Disclosures (TISFD) and look forward to discussing this tomorrow. You can learn more about the initiative here: Sign Up | LinkedIn
Hello all, I am Emma Edwards, Business Development Manager at Digital Opportunity Trust (DOT). Digital Opportunity Trust (DOT), is an NGO headquartered in Ottawa, Canada with 6 locally staffed and managed offices in Africa and MENA; Tanzania, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Kenya, and Lebanon and Jordan. DOT equips young women and men with the skills and networks to leverage technology and innovation to drive micro (community) and macro (policy) level change with a focus on digital inclusion. I execute our business development strategies in pursuit of connecting with amazing organizations who share our passion for youth-led community transformation and action on the SDGs.
Looking forward to the discussions tomorrow, sharing learnings and building relationships kicking off 2024 with energy and collaboration at the front of mind!
Hi all! I am Keeva Duffey, the Senior Advisor on Climate Action at ChildFund. ChildFund is a new BFP impact INGO partner that focuses on protecting children. We are a partner of choice for companies around the world that share our values and are committed to safeguarding children and their families through their sourcing, operations, marketing, and distribution. Currently, we work through more than 150 local partners in 23 countries to make a difference for 21 million people globally.
At ChildFund, I advise our child-focused programs to address climate change adaptation and mitigation efforts. I am leading the organizationsā newly developed Climate Action strategy and assisting ChildFund Country Offices (COs) in Asia, Africa, and the Americas to develop and implement their country-level child-focused climate action plans. I am a firm advocate that collective action and efforts from private and non-profit organizations must center children and youth in intergenerational equity decisions that affect both the future of humans and the future of our earth. I am happy to be here with you all today.
Good morning from Washington, DC - Norine Kennedy, Senior Vice President, Policy and Global Strategy at the United States Council for International Business. (USCIB). Our HQ is in NYC and we are the only U.S. business group with NGO consultative standing at UN ECOSOC - I co-chair the Business and Industry Major Group at the UN in NYC with my IOE colleague, Shea Gopaul. USCIB is fully engaged in the preparations for the 2024 Summit of the Future and are seeing opportunities to enlist and empower business to deliver on SDG action, resource mobilization and partnership, and to strengthen the UN along the way - practical inclusive multilateralism is our focus. I look forward to the written discussion and appreciate the invitation from BFP.
My name is GƶkƧe Nil Akar, and I work at Habitat Associationās Entrepreneurship Programme as a Project Manager.
Habitat Association is a non-governmental organization established in Turkey in 1997. Habitat operates under three main programs: inclusivity and sustainable development, entrepreneurship, and digital transformation through collaboration with governments, local administrations, the private sector, and international organizations. Habitatās main objective is to develop social capacity-building and impact-oriented projects based on solid partnerships compatible with the digitalizing world and aimed at sustainable development. Habitat seeks to support sustainable development goals by providing disadvantaged groups with the digital skills they need to succeed in todayās world, ensuring they have access to opportunities, supporting their participation in decision-making processes, and increasing their awareness of social and environmental issues.
Hello everyone. Iām Jane Pillinger and I work as an expert on gender-based violence and harassment in the world of work and have been involved in quite a few initiatives, webinars and podcasts with Business Fights Poverty. My research has spanned many countries across the world and Iāve been involved in policy developments with the ILO, UN Women, companies, trade unions and governments. I am passionate about finding ways to prevent gender-based violence and ensure that workplaces are safe and inclusive for everyone! Iām looking forward to our discussions today!
