Social Impact Investment Taskforce
The Social Impact Investment Taskforce was announced by Prime Minister David Cameron at the G8 Social Impact Investment Forum in June 2013. It aimed to catalyse the development of the social impact investment market.
The Taskforce was superseded by the Global Social Impact Investment Steering Group (GSG) in August 2015. The GSG will continue the work of the Taskforce with a wider membership, comprising 13 countries plus the EU, and active observers from government and from leading network organisations supportive of impact investment.
Led by Sir Ronald Cohen, the taskforce brought together government officials and senior figures from the worlds of finance, business and philanthropy from across the G8 countries.
The taskforce published its report, alongside subject papers from its working groups, on 15 September 2014.
Read the:
Taskforce meetings
The first taskforce meeting was held at the White House in Washington, DC on 30 September to 1 October 2013. Read the agenda:
The second meeting was held in London on 4 to 5 December 2013. Read the agenda:
The third meeting was held in Berlin on 18 to 19 February 2014. Read the agenda:
The fourth meeting was held in Paris on 7 to 8 April 2014. Read the agenda:
The fifth meeting was held in London on 19 to 20 June 2014. Read the agenda:
A meeting post-publication of the taskforce report was held in Rome on 28 to 29 October 2014. Read the agenda:
The last taskforce meeting was held in Toronto on 8 to 9 June 2015. Read the agenda:
Members of the taskforce
The members of the taskforce who served during its first year of operation were:
- UK: Sir Ronald Cohen (Big Society Capital and The Portland Trust) and Kieron Boyle (Cabinet Office)
- Canada: Tim Jackson (MaRS Centre for Impact Investing) and Siobhan Harty (Employment and Social Development Canada)
- European Union: Peter Blom (Triodos Bank) and Ulf Linder (European Commission)
- France: Hugues Sibille (Crédit Coopératif) and Nadia Voisin (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) / Claude Leroy-Themeze (Treasury, Ministry of Economy and Finance)
- Germany: Brigitte Mohn (Bertelsmann Foundation) and Susanne Dorasil (Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development)
- Italy: Giovanna Melandri (Uman Foundation) and Mario Calderini (Polytechnic University of Milan) / Mario La Torre (La Sapienza University Rome)
- Japan: Shuichi Ono (Nippon Foundation) and Seiichiro Takahashi (Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
- USA: Matt Bannick (Omidyar Network) and Don Graves (Office of the Vice-President, the White House)
- Australia (observer): Rosemary Addis (Impact Investing Australia, Impact Strategist, Senior Fellow IIPC (initiative director Global Learning Exchange))
- Development Finance Institutions (observer): Elizabeth Littlefield (OPIC)
- Official Report: Matthew Bishop (The Economist)
The Cabinet Office acted as the secretariat of the taskforce until July 2015.
Working groups
The taskforce established a number of working groups to support its activities. These brought together leading experts with the aim of:
- agreeing key principles and approaches
- providing relevant examples
- drafting papers to inform the work of the taskforce
Working groups were set up in the following areas:
Impact measurement
This group sought to develop a set of general guidelines for impact measurement practice for use by social impact investors globally to ensure that impact measurement is widely recognised and employed as a fundamental part of the practice of social impact investing.
The group was chaired by Luther Ragin Jr from the Global Impact Investing Network and Tris Lumley from New Philanthropy Capital.
Asset allocation
This working group focused on how capital can be attracted to social impact investment from specific investor communities such as foundations, endowments, pension funds, commercial banking institutions, investment banks and individuals.
The group was chaired by Harvey McGrath from Big Society Capital.
International development and impact investing
This group explored the role of impact investment in international development.
This was chaired by Sonal Shah from the Case Foundation.
Mission alignment
This group examined issues such as corporate forms, governance and legal protection as they relate to social ventures and mission-driven businesses.
The group was chaired by Cliff Prior from UnLtd.
OECD Report
In addition to the working groups, the taskforce oversaw the preparation of a report on the global social investment market by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The process was led by Karen Wilson within the Directorate for Science, Technology and Industry within the OECD.
The OECD published its report Social Impact Investment: Building the Evidence Base in February 2015. Read more about the OECD’s social impact investment work.
National advisory boards
The sector representatives of the taskforce led national advisory boards to examine ways of accelerating the growth of impact investment in the market.
These boards brought together leaders of organisations active in social impact investment, philanthropic foundations, social enterprises and investment organisations. The national advisory boards were chaired by the sector representatives for each taskforce member.
Read the full reports of all the national advisory boards.. The boards continued meeting and working to grow their domestic social investment markets after the publication of these reports in September 2014.