Why It’s Important to Build a Practitioner Network Across the Country
SROI training for an international career in impact management
Melek De-Wint is a Quebec-based independent consultant who works with non-profits internationally. She has over 20 years of experience in the youth development sector and has gained extensive experience in impact measurement and management (IMM).
At The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award Foundation, for instance, she built an impact measurement framework to demonstrate the impact of their youth development program worldwide. At Digital Moment, she drove impact initiatives for digital education accessibility in Canada. And she has provided impact measurement coaching via the McConnell Foundation’s Innoweave initiative.
Melek is on several boards, including on the Board of Directors for the Common Approach to Impact Measurement and Turkey’s Etkiyap impact investing platform. She is a trained SROI (Social Return on Investment) Practitioner, and an Oxford Impact Measurement Programme alumna.
What was your motivation for taking SROI training?
I completed my SROI Practitioner Training in 2015 in the UK. At the time I was working for an international youth-serving organization, and we were interested in adopting SROI as the approach to establish and quantify the value of our impact.
How have you integrated social value thinking into your work?
Social value thinking has made me a very stakeholder-focused impact measurement and management (IMM) practitioner. I started asking and prompting people to question ‘impact for whom?’ more and more. Additionality and materiality are other dimensions of impact I have adopted in my own practice and have found the SROI framework very helpful to explain and conceptualize these dimensions.
Could you give some examples of social impact reports you’ve helped produce?
One is Building the future, the social impact report of The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award Foundation for 2020. This was the work I was leading on until March 2022 and it is a good example of using a social value model for an international program and seeing how social value of the same program changes across different national contexts.
Another is the Turkish Grameen Microfinance Program SROI Analysis – 2020, which was assured by Social Value International. I worked closely with Ceyda Ozgun from Etkiyap on this work with the Turkish Grameen Microfinance Program.
What does social value mean to you?
To me, social value is an organization’s understanding and commitment to do right by the individuals, partners, communities, and planet that are affected by their programs, projects, or products. It is to listen actively, understand what changes and what matters, be prepared to change course if necessary, and maximize the value for those whose lives are affected.
What’s an exciting project you’re currently working on?
I’m currently not involved in any active SROI projects. However, my colleagues at Etkiyap in Turkey are always working on very interesting projects. The latest one is the SROI analysis of an athlete development program in women’s football. Here is the link to the report that has recently been assured by Social Value International.
How do you contribute to shaping the social value movement?
I actively promote and employ social value principles in the design of my IMM projects. I stay connected to social value news and events in Canada and beyond through Social Value Canada and Social Value International newsletters.
Why is it important to build a practitioner network across the country?
A practitioner network would allow new and seasoned IMM professionals to gain an understanding of how others are using the SROI framework to understand, measure, value and manage their impact, through open discussions and sharing of case studies. Learning from others would make SROI methodology more accessible and achievable for new and prospective practitioners. Finally, it would create a safe space to learn and practice together, leading to opportunities for collaboration and new partnerships.