Stepping on the Third Rail: Social Capital Markets and Investing in Family Planning
Aspen Global Health and Development took its 7 Billion and Counting roundtable series to the 2012 Social Capital Markets conference, a San Francisco-based event series that connects leading global innovators (investors, foundations, institutions and social entrepreneurs) around the question of how to bring together the impact investing community with investments that generate social good as well as revenue. The conference is attended by 1500-2000 people each year, and investors attend the conference prepared to make deals, design new investments, and rethink their approach to having an impact with their money.
Panel Title: Stepping on the Third Rail: Social Capital Markets and Investing in Family Planning
Panel Description: Two of the world’s most powerful investors – the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation – have joined forces to promote a subject that has become one of the most lightning-rod issues in American politics today: family planning. Leading with the argument that family planning is both a human right and a smart investment, the Gates Foundation’s and DFID’s co-sponsored event, the July 11th Family Planning Summit in London opened the wallets of governments from the richest in the world to the poorest, and from the non-profit and for-profit world alike, to the tune of $4.6 billion dollars.
While some donors have been working in this area for decades – like the U.S. government, which has consistently provided roughly 50 percent of total donor funding in family planning – this event represents the sudden emergence of new, big players in this area, and opens the door for more to follow. How have advocates been able to move this topic from controversy to key intervention, and why is it a smart, cost-effective strategy with a triple bottom line, and impressive return on investment?
Speakers:
Karl Hofmann, the President and CEO of Population Services International (PSI)
Dana Hovig, CEO of Marie Stopes International
Julie Bernstein, Senior Communications Officer in Family Health, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Astrid Zweynert, Deputy Editor of Thomson Reuters Foundation
Peggy Clark, Vice President of Policy Programs and Executive Director of Aspen Global Health and Development at The Aspen Institute (moderator)
Need more evidence? Read Guttmacher’s Fact Sheet and our GLC brief “Family Planning is the Missing Investment.“
Want to know more about the on potential social investment vehicles MSI is considering? Read more here.
Read the media coverage of the event to learn more:
- “The Triple Bottom Line: Investing in Women and Girls,” Suzanne York, Triple Pundit, Oct 11, 2012.
- “A Missing Opportunity for Investment: Bringing the Bedroom to the Boardroom,” by Aspen GHD, Next Billion, Oct 12, 2012.
- “Peering Through a Gender Lens at SOCAP12,” by Logan Yonavjak, Next Billion, Oct 15, 2012.
Follow the Global Leaders Council for Reproductive Health’s reaction on Twitter @GLCRHresolve (http://twitter.com/GLCRHresolve) and share why you think family planning is a good investment, or what role the impact investing community can play.
Aspen Global Health and Development took its 7 Billion and Counting roundtable series to the 2012 Social Capital Markets conference, a San Francisco-based event series that connects leading global innovators around the question of how to bring together the impact investing community with investments that generate social good as well as revenue.