Join the Canadian Social Value Exchange on April 26th

In conversation with Keith Taylor

We are excited to announce our next event: an engaging conversation with Keith Taylor, Executive Director of DUCA Impact Lab and Social Value Canada board member, on his work to help Canadians escape the vicious cycle of debt through an innovative approach that aims to provide fair credit repayments alongside positive wellbeing outcomes.

Access to reasonably priced credit products is a challenge facing an estimated 8.5 million Canadians. Join us on April 26th to learn about how a social value approach can support #betterbankingforall. In this conversation, Keith Taylor will explain DUCA’s vision for its Escalator Loan and the positive health and quality of life outcomes it seeks to enable. Keith will also share findings from an SROI study DUCA engaged to catalogue those outcomes, and how these might be valued by individuals, our communities, and governments.

Join us on April 26th at 12 PM EST.

Register now for this event.

Celebrate Earth Day on April 22!

Earth Day was first celebrated on 22 April 1970, a date that is often considered as the birth of the modern environmental movement. Over the years, Earth Day has become the largest participatory environmental movement on the planet.

Earth Day Canada’s campaign for 2023 is produced by the creative agency Sid Lee. This year’s campaign was inspired by activists who threw soup at paintings in museums in Europe in a bid to galvanise action to curb global carbon emissions. Without condemning or encouraging these actions, Earth Day Canada wants to give people concrete ways to take action for the environment and encourage them to support local and national environmental organizations to restore the beauty of our world together.

🌳 Check out the website to find Earth Day events and to support an organization of your choosing this Earth Day!

🌎 Also, take a look at earthday.org as they provide various education resources and ideas for your Earth Day planning in this year!

💡 You can also visit the Canadian Museum of Nature for free on Earth Day!

Watch a fascinating social value case study about an indigenous community in Australia

Last month, Social Value International presented a case study titled “Think Martu. Think Differently. Act Differently.”

For this session, Social Value International invited Simon Faivel and Alison Kwok from Social Ventures Australia to share learnings from a 10-year evaluation conducted for an indigenous organisation called Kanyirninpa Jukurrpa (KJ).

Kanyirninpa Jukurrpa (KJ) is an organisation founded by the Martu people, who are the traditional custodians of a vast, remote area in the Western Desert of the Pilbara. In 2020, KJ engaged Social Ventures Australia to evaluate their impact on Martu communities between 2010 and 2020. The guiding philosophy underlying this evaluation was that it must be a Martu story by Martu, speaking both to Martu and to the Western world. The process was co-designed with Martu and involved Martu in the co-facilitation of consultation sessions.

Watch the insightful presentation here.

Enhance your skills by taking a social value course or exam!

Our next Level 2 Social Value Training course starts on May 8th. This intermediate course covers the tools, principles and global standards used by professionals to help businesses and other organizations confidently measure, manage and maximize social and environmental impact. It is an invaluable opportunity to gain internationally recognized social value credentials, so if you haven’t taken the course before, be sure to grab a spot! Register Now.

The Level 2 course will also be offered this summer, with a start date on July 10. Register Now. We look forward to seeing you.

Are you ready to take Level 1 Practitioner Exam? Join a growing group of colleagues establishing themselves as a social value ‘go-to’ resource in Canada. More information is here.

Our courses and accreditation are the components of our “Practitioner Pathway”, which is your route to embed social value and impact management thinking into daily work and practice. By becoming a Practitioner, you can join in the critical mission to change the way the world accounts for value in 2023!

For more information about the Practitioner Pathway, click here.

News! News! News!

This month we spotted a number of interesting articles explaining how social value and higher education fit together. Take a look:

• • • Some top US law schools and medical schools have withdrawn from the influential US News and World Report rankings. Among the reasons cited are that the rankings do not have a sufficient focus on matters like the diversity of student bodies, or that they ignore the affordability of their degrees and the societal contributions of their graduates. Business schools face the same issue, as existing business school rankings do not capture the societal value of the education provided. Learn more in this Financial Times article.
    • Higher education institutions need to adapt to meet our social and environmental challenges. One way to do this is by adopting a social value lens when designing new strategies and programs. This article explores how higher education could integrate a social value lens to design new strategies and programs that create a positive impact on society.
    • A partnership between Liverpool Business School, Liverpool John Moores University, and Social Value UKis already examining how to embed social value thinking within wider educational systems – take a look at the report here.

Become a Social Value Canada Affiliate

SVC Affiliates are organizations that share our Canadian and global vision to address inequality and climate change, through decision-making that seeks to enhance wellbeing for all.

There is no cost to affiliation, merely a mutual commitment to cross-post news, knowledge, and information about training and learning opportunities. SVC affiliates can offer their own members discounted access to SVC ‘happenings’.

As an affiliate you will also receive ongoing recognition as part of our national and international movement on the SVC website, in newsletters, and on social media. Contact us for more details.

Explore the SVI Member Portal

As a member of Social Value Canada, you will benefit from access to the Social Value International Members Area. This online platform provides a space for our Canadian and global communities to connect, collaborate and accelerate our movement for change. You will be able to enjoy a dedicated space for Social Value Canada members as well as connect with international peers who are active in the social value movement.

The SVI members area is designed to facilitate peer-to-peer learning and support, provide improved networking opportunities and enhance your ability to engage and communicate with one another at a national and international level.

The members area contains a wide range of useful features, including:

• a live feed
• discussion forums
• an interactive member directory
• resources
• sub-groups.

This pioneering community contains approximately 3,000 members from 50 countries, drawn from a huge range of different sectors and disciplines. It is designed to help all members to connect with fellow practitioners and professionals, exchange and enhance their skills and knowledge, and network to help achieve personal and professional goals and build our movement for change!

There has never been a more important time to join Social Value Canada and the Social Value International global community and help change the way society accounts for value. Become a member now.