At the Engine Shed on Tuesday 15th October, Quartet Community Foundation together with Tech4Good South West hosted a panel discussion on “How can businesses and founders drive social change?”. We wanted to open up the conversations that we’ve had informally in networking events to a wider audience with the hope of inspiring people to get started on their journey.
Our expert panel featured those with experience of being involved with impact-driven business and investing in impact-driven businesses:
- Chris May, founding director of Mayden.
- Jaya Chakrabarti MBE, digital activist using open data and technology for good.
- Chris Blues, Director of Social Tech Trust, board member of Bristol and Bath Regional Capital and consultant at The Impact Collective.
- Krissie Barrick, Head of Business Influencing at Scope.
- John Stienlet, Pro bono Manager – ProHelp West of England.
We were joined by a mix of businesses, consultants, founders and Bristol and Bath ecosystem representatives.
The discussion was rich and varied touching on a range of issues such as profit vs. impact, charity vs. business, transparency of business practices, recruitment of talent from marginalised communities and collaborating with others to multiply the change that we want to see.
Chris Blues of Social Tech Trust talked about “listening to the frustrations of founders who can find it difficult to align capital for impact.” Krissie Barrick of Scope talked about “changing the fabric of society so that barriers for disabled people no longer exist”. For Chris May of Mayden, “cliched as it sounds, it was always about giving back by channelling a percentage of profits to charity the moment that we had a healthy profit and loss account”. He also talked about the changing nature of their giving over the years, with a more local focus recently. When reflecting on this question of where and how to start, Jaya Chakrabarti’s experience of doing “a whole lot of connected things” resonated with the panel, and with the audience too.
We ended on some calls to action from the panel members which included:
- Designing impact into your strategy and products – otherwise impact comes at a cost.
- Influencing organisations to be transparent.
- Finding the courage to tell different stories.
- Employing disabled talent and those from marginalised communities.
- Get involved and do something – get involved with each other, connect to your local community.
It was amazing to bring the diverse perspectives of our panellists together with those who joined us for the discussion who said: “It was great to hear a variety of perspectives” and from “people who are passionate about the impact of their work.” Some were inspired to connect to their local communities and the theme of collaboration was highlighted as a key takeaway from the event. We know that this is just the start of a conversation that we will continue to engage with deeply in our work at Quartet and Tech4Good South West.
If you’re interested in this conversation, please get in touch with Sabita at Quartet or Annie at Tech4Good South West.
