Key Terms and Entities

B Corp

B Corporation is private certification conferred by B Lab, a global nonprofit organization, to for-profit companies.  Certified B Corporations are businesses that meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose. The B Corp community works toward reduced inequality, lower levels of poverty, a healthier environment, stronger communities, and the creation of more high quality jobs with dignity and purpose. By harnessing the power of business, B Corps use profits and growth as a means to a greater end: positive impact for their employees, communities, and the environment. The values and aspirations of the B Corp community are embedded in the B Corp Declaration of Interdependence. There are over 3,500 certified B Corporations in 70 countries. 

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a type of international private business self-regulation that aims to contribute to societal goals of a philanthropic, activist, or charitable nature by engaging in or supporting volunteering or ethically-oriented practices. At the organisational level, CSR is generally understood as a strategic initiative that contributes to a brand's reputation..CSR can contribute to firm profits, particularly if brands voluntarily self-report both the positive and negative outcomes of their endeavors. CSR strategies encourage the company to make a positive impact on the environment and stakeholders including consumers, employees, investors, communities, and others. From an ethical perspective, some businesses will adopt CSR policies and practices because of the ethical beliefs of senior management. 

Council for Inclusive Capitalism

Started by Lynn Forester De Rothschild, and with participation of Pope Francis, the Council for Inclusive Capitalism is a group of global leaders who seek to harness the private sector to create a more inclusive, sustainable, and trusted economic system. 

DEI

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) refers to the ways in which an organization addresses its hiring policies and manages its workforce to include typically underrepresented populations, make all members feel included and treat everyone fairly and ethically.  

Double Bottom Line (DBL or 2BL)

Double bottom line seeks to extend the conventional bottom line, which measures fiscal performance—financial profit or loss—by adding a second bottom line to measure a for-profit business's performance in terms of positive social impact. There is controversy about how to measure the double bottom line, especially since the use of the term "bottom line" implies some form of quantification. 

ESG

While all companies are evaluated on financial metrics, Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG) data refers to metrics related to intangible assets within the enterprise. While there are many ways to think of intangible asset metrics, these three central factors together, ESG, comprise a label that has been adopted throughout the United States financial industry. They are used for a myriad of specific purposes with the ultimate objective of measuring elements related to sustainability and societal impact of a company or business.

GIIN

The Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN) is the global champion of impact investing, dedicated to increasing its scale and effectiveness around the world. By convening impact investors to facilitate knowledge exchange, highlighting innovative investment approaches, building the evidence base for the industry, and producing valuable tools and resources, the GIIN seeks to accelerate the industry's development through focused leadership and collective action.

GITA

The Global Impact Tech Alliance (GITA) is a global network of impact-tech practitioners, from investors to organizations around the world, all working in various ways to address the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through tech innovation.

Impact Investing

Impact investing traditionally refers to investments made into companies, organizations, and funds with the intention to generate a measurable, beneficial social or environmental impact alongside a financial return. Recently the term has also been applied to investments intended to deliver social or environmental impact without the necessity of a positive financial return. Impact investments provide capital to address social and/or environmental issues and occurs across asset classes; for example, private equity/venture capital, debt, and fixed income. 

Impact Management Project

The Impact Management Project (IMP) provides a forum for building global consensus on measuring, assessing and reporting impacts on people and the natural environment. It is relevant for enterprises and investors who want to manage environmental, social and governance (ESG) risks, as well as those who also want to contribute positively to global goals. The IMP is a time-bound global public interest project, funded by a diverse group of donors from Europe, the US and Asia. 

Impact Washing (or Green Washing)

The practice of overstating or falsely claiming environmental, sustainability or social benefits of a product/service to sell more of it.

Inclusive Capitalism

Inclusive capitalism is a theoretical concept and policy movement that seeks to address the growing income and wealth inequality within Western capitalism following the financial crisis of 2007–2008 to improve business and society. Essentially, inclusive capitalism is a term that refers to attempts to enable capitalist systems to benefit more participants. 

PBC - Public Benefits Corporation
In the United States, a benefit corporation (or in several jurisdictions including Delaware, a public-benefit corporation or PBC) is a type of for-profit corporate entity, authorized by 35 U.S. states and the District of Columbia that includes positive impact on society, workers, the community and the environment in addition to profit as its legally defined goals, in that the definition of "best interest of the corporation" is specified to include those impacts. Traditional C corporation law does not specify the definition of "best interest of the corporation" which has led to profit motivations being used as the main driver for best interests. A C corporation may change to a B corporation merely by stating in its approved corporate bylaws that it is a benefit corporation; however in certain jurisdictions (especially Delaware), the terms "public benefit corporation" or "PBC" are also required to be in the legal name of B corporations. Some countries other than the United States maintain their own definition of a local Public Benefits Corporation. 

PRI - Principles for Responsible Investment

Principles for Responsible Investment (UNPRI or PRI) is a United Nations-supported international network of investors working together to implement its six aspirational principles, often referenced as "the Principles". Its goal is to understand the implications of sustainability for investors and support signatories to facilitate incorporating these issues into their investment decision-making and ownership practices. In implementing these principles, signatories contribute to the development of a more sustainable global financial system.

The Principles offer a menu of possible actions for incorporating environmental, social and corporate governance issues into investment practices across asset classes. The Principles are designed to be compatible with the investment styles of large, diversified, institutional investors that operate within a traditional fiduciary framework. As of August 2017, more than 1,750 signatories from over 50 countries representing approximately US$70 trillion have signed up to the Principles.

SASB

Just as the Financial Accounting Standards Board establishes Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) within the United States,  the Sustainable Accounting Standards Board, or SASB, connects business and investors on the financial impacts of sustainability. SASB Standards guide the disclosure of financially material sustainability information by companies to their investors. Available for 77 industries, the Standards identify the subset of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues most relevant to financial performance in each industry.

SASB Standards are maintained under the auspices of the Value Reporting Foundation, a global nonprofit organization that offers a comprehensive suite of resources designed to help businesses and investors develop a shared understanding of enterprise value—how it is created, preserved, or eroded. The Value Reporting Foundation Board of Directors oversees the strategy, finances, and operations of the entire organization, and appoints the members of the SASB Standards Board.

SDGs (or UNSDGs)

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015, provides a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future. At its heart are the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are an urgent call for action by all countries - developed and developing - in a global partnership. They recognize that ending poverty and other deprivations must go hand-in-hand with strategies that improve health and education, reduce inequality, and spur economic growth – all while tackling climate change and working to preserve our oceans and forests. SDGs provide a standardized framework toward which ESG-conscious entities can map their sustainability goals. Each of the 17 SDGs is further broken down into specific targets, totalling 169 targets across the 17 SDGs. 

Sustainalytics

Sustainalytics, a Morningstar Company, provides analytical environmental, social and governance (ESG) research, ratings and data to institutional investors and companies. For more than 25 years, the firm has focused on delivering innovative solutions that have enabled the world’s leading institutional investors to identify, understand, and manage ESG-driven risks and opportunities. It should be noted that the JLens Network has placed Sustainanalytics on a “do not invest” list due to claimed Sustainalytics support for the anti-Israel BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanction) movement. 

The Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment (USSIF)

US SIF: The Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment works to advance sustainable investing across all asset classes. Its mission is to rapidly shift investment practices toward sustainability, focusing on long-term investment and the generation of positive social and environmental impacts. Their members, representing $5 trillion in assets under management or advisement, include investment management and advisory firms, mutual fund companies, research firms, financial planners and advisors, broker-dealers, banks, credit unions, community development organizations, non-profit associations, and asset owners. US SIF is supported in its work by the US SIF Foundation, a 501(C)(3) organization that undertakes educational, research and programmatic activities to advance the mission of US SIF.

The Global Impact Tech Alliance (GITA)

GITA is a global network of impact-tech practitioners, from investors to organizations around the world, all working in various ways to address the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through tech innovation.

TONIIC

TONIIC is a membership organization whose global community of asset owners seek deeper positive net impact across the spectrum of capital. Their members consist of around 500 high net worth individuals, family office, and foundation asset owners who are deepening their impact across the spectrum of capital and personal resources in more than 25 countries around the world.

Triple Bottom Line (TBL or 3BL)

The triple bottom line, a phrase coined by business writer John Elkington in 1994, is an accounting framework with three parts: social, environmental and financial. Some organizations have adopted the TBL framework to evaluate their performance in a broader perspective to create greater business value. Triple bottom line accounting expands the traditional reporting framework to take into account social and environmental performance in addition to financial performance.

Venture Philanthropy

Venture philanthropy is a type of impact investment that takes concepts and techniques from venture capital finance and business management and applies them to achieving philanthropic goals. Oftentimes, this includes extensive due diligence in order to quantify expected outcomes and inclusion on the recipient entity’s board.