What does Social Impact really mean? 

I’ve been asked a lot recently about what is and isn’t considered social impact.

My view may be different from how others understand it. 

Generally, when I use the language of “social impact,” I’m referring to nonprofits, corporate social impact, philanthropy, NGOs, and activism…

But wow those are BIG and broad. I don’t consider every nonprofit organization a social impact group and I don’t think all of these categories encompass what social impact means…

Let’s remember that

1. The nonprofit bucket includes religious groups with anti-LGBTQIA+ hate at the core of their messaging and practices.

2. Corporate social impact included questionable greenwashing campaigns to improve the brand association with a company to make consumers buy more stuff 

3. Finance has been finding ways to do a lot of good impact investing (and sketchy ESG funds that don't actually follow the ethical expectations you probably have for them)

4. Philanthropy helps rich people pay less in taxes...

5. And people who work in DEIA have been working incredibly hard within a wide range of organizations only to have budgets slashed, and roles combined with “social impact”

What about educators? Nurses? Librarians? Social workers? Therapists? The people working in factories building green tech? Labor organizers? Do they identify as working in “social impact”?

Let's test if your work counts as "social impact" by my definition. 🤓

First, ask yourself this: 

If you and those you work with are wildly successful, what would be different about your organization, community, or the world as a result?

Now, reflecting on your response, do those outcomes sound impactful? Socially just? 

If so, you are very welcome to claim this field!

The last question is this: do you want to? 

I explored this topic on a Linkedin Live which you can find here. Share your thoughts in the comments of the post - I'd love to know how you define social impact!

High five, friend!

Julia