Partners

Business Fights Poverty

Business Fights Poverty is a vibrant community of individuals from business, the international donor community, non-government organisations and academia – all of whom share a passion for fighting poverty through business. Business Fights Poverty provides its members with targeted peer-to-peer engagement and hot-off-the-press, mission-critical knowledge.

Social Enterprise Mark

The Social Enterprise Mark is the only international certification for social enterprises. To get the Mark, social enterprises have to prove they are genuine against a set of qualification criteria, which is overseen by an independent Certification Panel to ensure fairness and consistency. The Social Enterprise Mark reinforces their brand values, positioning and credibility. It provides differentiation and proves when a business is ‘trading for people and planet’.  Be part of a growing movement set to revolutionalise our society by helping people to choose to buy from social enterprises. Join the network of innovative, certified social enterprises, aspiring to affect a ‘Fairtrade’ style change in buying behaviour.

Environmental Finance

Even after nearly 13 years, Environmental Finance is still the only independent global magazine offering comprehensive coverage of the financial impact of environmental issues on the business community. Each month leading industry specialists and an award-winning team of journalists explain and analyse the most pressing environmental issues and how they are affecting industry’s dealings with banks, insurers and investors. Environmental Finance is available in a monthly magazine as well as online through our website. 20% discount from the usual subscription rate available for ClearlySo members – to claim please quote ref EF/CLS/20.

EVPA

EVPA is a membership association made up of organisations interested in or practicing venture philanthropy and social investment across Europe. Established in 2004, the association is a unique network of venture philanthropy organisations and others committed to promoting high-engagement grant making and social investment.
EVPA’s diverse membership includes venture philanthropy funds, grant-making foundations, private equity firms and professional service firms, philanthropy advisors and business schools. Currently the association has 145+ members from 20 countries.

Social Firms UK

Social Firms UK is a national support organisation for the development of work integration social enterprises (WISE) and Social Firms in the UK; carrying out lobbying, awareness-raising activities, research and practical initiatives. Member benefits include business development initiatives, brokering corporate social innovation opportunities, opening up supply chain contracts and promoting inter-trading for sustainability.

The Guardian

Guardian Media Group is one of the UK’s leading media organisations. Their core business is Guardian News & Media, publisher of the Guardian and Observer. They have a diverse portfolio of professional networks among those a dedicated one to Social Enterprise.

The Hub

The HUB is where social entrepreneurs come to innovate, co-work and connect, for a radically better world. We believe there is no shortage of good ideas to solve the issues of our time. But there is an acute lack of collaboration and support structures to help make them happen. The Hub was founded to address this need.
This Hub is now a global movement with over 30 co-working spaces and 4,000 members across five continents.
HUB Islington is where it all began followed by Hub King’s Cross in 2008.

Ethical Performance

Ethical Performance is the monthly business newsletter on corporate social responsibility and socially responsible investment. Founded in 1999 and originally established in the UK, it provides information on CSR and SRI for companies, investors, consultancies and institutions worldwide. The EP newsletter is read by more than 3,330 CSR and SRI personnel in large companies and investing institutions globally.

The company’s other publications include the annual CSR Professional Services Directory, featuring more than 530 service providers worldwide. Best Practice is an annual publication featuring CSR case studies from leading international companies including BT, Coca Cola, GlaxoSmithKline, Nestle, L’Oreal and Shell.

Social Innovation Europe

The Social Innovation Europe initiative (SIE) represents a major effort to build and streamline the social innovation field in Europe. The project is run by a consortium of partners including Euclid Network and the Danish Technological Institute and led by the Social Innovation Exchange (SIX). Funded by the European Commission’s DG Enterprise, the SIE initiative will work to connect policy makers, entrepreneurs, academics and third sector workers with other innovators from across Europe. It is our goal to become a hub—a meeting place in the network of European networks—where innovative thinkers from all 27 member states can come together to create a streamlined, vigorous social innovation field in Europe, to raise a shared voice.

NESsT

NESsT is a catalyst for social enterprises in emerging markets and worldwide.
They provide financial capital, training and mentoring, and access to markets for a high-impact portfolio of social enterprises in emerging markets.
They combine the tools and strategies of business leadership, entrepreneurship and investment with the mission and values of the social sector to enable our portfolio to: better plan, improve management capacity, grow, and increase their social impact.

Social Enterprise World Forum

The Social Enterprise World Forum (SEWF) – Fórum Mundial de Negócios Sociais 2012 is the premiere global event focused on supporting the development of social enterprises — businesses applying market approaches to solve critical social and environmental problems.
The overall theme of SEWF2012 is the growing asset class of “impact investing,” and will focus on attracting new investment capital for social enterprise.

Numi Organic Tea

It’s in the bag!

Numi Organic Teas are produced with premium quality organic and fair trade teas and herbs, blended with only real fruits, flowers and spices. Organic tea cultivation protects the health of farmers, the planet and the consumer. Fair Trade guarantees workers a fair wage and empowers farming communities to improve their lives. Numi Organic Tea will also continue to innovate its packaging. NUMI’s packaging use natural, biodegradable filter-paper tea bags and recyclable boxes, which are made of 85 % post-consumer waste and printed with soy-based inks.

The Chocolution

It’s in the bag!

Chocolution wants to reconnect people with healthy chocolate and the world around them in order to change the chocolate industry for the better. Abolish the slavery and unsustainable production habits. Involve everyone from the farmer to the consumer, making a transparent and fair process.
All of their chocolate products are made using National Arriba de Fina Cacao.

Their raw chocolate making kits are designed to help people, from school kids to foodies, learn about the ingredients that go into chocolate, give them the opportunity to make their own healthy chocolate.

2 Pueblo

It’s in the bag!

2 Pueblo seeks to promote social entrepreneurship amongst youth in rural spaces, by empowering them to become the future marketers and traders of their local products in markets abroad. The project launched with youth from a village in the Don Quixote region of Spain, Fuente-Alamo, where the founder of 2 Pueblo is originally from. From delicious fine wine sourced from a co-operative to organic cheeses from a family-run business, it is all about sustainable products too. Through socially-minded food events held in London, 2 Pueblo has helped raise the profile of the products of the town abroad whilst raising entrepreneurial capacities and is now testing different routes to market.

TechHub

TechHub is the physical hub for the technology start-up community. London is the first space, but will be swiftly followed by others in the TechHub network around the world, so wherever you are, you can connect @TechHub.

While it is a place for tech entrepreneurs to touch down, work, plug their laptops in and use the fast wifi, what really differentiates it is the mostly product-oriented tech community. We’re focused predominantly on product-oriented tech companies as there are other spaces already catering for agencies, consultants and media companies.

ekologi

ekologi is a community noticeboard that helps people find the resources they need to achieve a social impact. Like Gumtree® but for social change, people advertise events, services, goods, funding and other resources they need or have to offer. Advertise for free with a socially committed community, including Social Enterprise UK, Business in the Community, UnLtd, ACEVO, and ClearlySo. Register at www.ecologi.coop

The Social Investment Business

It’s in the bag!

The Social Investment Business Group is made up of the charity, Adventure Capital Fund, and its social enterprise, The Social Investment Business. We are one of the UK’s largest social investors and have made over 1300 investments in civil society organisations ranging from under £5,000 to almost £7 million. We invest in viable, non-bankable projects. We manage large fund contracts ranging from under £10m to over £200m. Our portfolio of funds is aimed at social ventures at different stages of the investment journey. Throughout the year we could have funds open that provide start-up grants to social entrepreneurs or loan investment for existing enterprises looking to expand. As an engaged investor, we provide all of our investees with both the money and the support to make their investment a success.