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The world of impact is growing and changing faster than ever before. So buckle up — here are the top stories from the week, along with insights that matter to your work.

4 ideas in Future of Good we especially liked

1. Arctic innovation.

From life jackets to kayaks, Inuit ideas and ingenuity continue to shape Canada and the world.

However, Arctic ingenuity in social impact is rarely recognized or included in southern communities of practice, networks, conferences, and consultations. There is a lot for southerners to learn.

One unique aspect that seems to drive ideas and innovation lately is the type of relationship forged between funders and grantees. You can call it a trust-based relationship in which funding arrangements have no strings attached. Sound crazy? The Arctic Inspiration Prize embodies this well and this model is getting real results, writes Jacky Habib.

2. Blue Box disruption.

Recycling has rarely been so prominent in the news. Signs of trouble first started brewing six years ago, when some 70 Canadian shipping containers sent to the Philippines full of recyclable material turned out to be contaminated with non-recyclables. I’m sure you heard that story?

For years, recycling has been seen as the perfect solution to our wasteful woes. And as that idea shifts, we wanted to take a look back at the history of Canadian household recycling, why it was such a revolutionary idea at the time, and where things may not have worked out.

As Bill Bean writes, almost 40 years after the ubiquitous blue box first disrupted the way that recycling was collected — an innovation story that starts in Kitchener, Waterloo — that familiar plastic container is on the verge of disruption itself.

3. Unlearning gender stereotypes.

When it comes to building a gender equitable future, the burden of progress cannot be on women alone. 

What might this look like at work? The key to bringing men and boys into this is unlearning gender stereotypes, and men can practice that in several ways: by making sure women get the time and space to speak up and contribute in meetings; by checking assumptions about who may or may not want to take on certain roles or challenges; and by mentoring or sponsoring a woman at work.

We like to believe that the world of impact is especially inclusive, but there’s a ton of work to do when it comes to gender equality. Organizations like Next Gen Men are leading the way and have daily unlearning practices to get you started, writes Alison Sinkewicz.

4. Don’t burn out creating social change.

As we bid farewell to generous hours of daylight and welcome a season of fresh starts and transitions, it’s helpful to consider how we might proactively carve out the space and time to protect and recover our energy.

In the social impact sector, we tend to embrace unbridled productivity rather than a more measured pace — leading many in the impact field to suffer from burnout.

Instead of putting our foot on the accelerator and hoping that we have enough fuel to make it to our destination without breaking down, Leah Bae and Zoya Jiwa write, what if we plan pit stops on our journey to ensure that we’re thoroughly enjoying the ride, relishing the view with our people, and thriving instead of just barely getting by?

4 stories that matter from the world of impact

1. B Corps are holding steady in Canada. And that’s not a good thing.
Every year, B Lab recognizes the top-performing B Corps creating the greatest impact through their businesses. Honourees are recognized for having the highest community, customer, worker, environmental, and overall impact by earning a score in the top 10 percent on the B Impact Assessment.

While the number of B Corps in Canada have been growing year over year, we are holding steady when it comes to making it into the global Best For The World list. There are 24 Canadian B Corps in the list this year and there were 24 last year. What’s happening?

Businesses on this top-performing B Corps list are proving that competing not only to be best in the world but best for the world is a winning strategy, and they can lead the way as mainstream businesses join the movement — but Canada needs to step up its global game.

2. Global standards for children and AI — led by Canada.

Artificial intelligence (AI) carries with it the promise of enhancing human potential and improving upon social outcomes where existing systems have fallen short. As digital natives, perhaps no group will be more affected by AI than children. AI thus warrants special care to ensure that it is built to uphold children’s rights and maximize their developmental growth.

The World Economic Forum Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, along with its partners UNICEF and the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR), recently explored public policy guidelines that direct countries on creating new laws focused on children, and a corporate governance charter that guides companies leveraging AI to design their products and services with children in mind.

As Eddan Katz and Aaina Agarwal write, in the current market system, it is unclear how to meaningfully introduce products for children that are optimized for responsibility over revenue. Is it possible to work through markets and policy to transcend the dominance of big tech in this area?

3. Purpose-washing?

In a move that’s been both widely hailed and derided, the Business Roundtable — America’s most influential lobby group of corporate leaders — recently denounced its long-standing position that corporations exist principally to serve their shareholders.

A lot has been written and shared about how nearly 200 CEOs, including those from notable companies like Apple, Ford, and Pepsi, issued what seemed like a surprising and optimistic statement on the purpose of corporations.

As Toby Heaps and Adria Vasil write in Corporate Knights, words alone are not enough. For those who believe in business as a force for good, you may cherish this moment as a potential marker for change. But will a strong statement of purpose that includes corporate commitments follow?

4. Powering local regeneration through crowdfunding investment

From skate parks to arts spaces, community-led projects have the power to transform local areas socially, economically, and environmentally.

Nesta’s Rosalyn Old and Jonathan Bone write that while crowdfunding tools have the power to enable projects that wouldn’t otherwise be funded, as well as provide longer-term financial sustainability and increase volunteering, the stories of community empowerment, self-determination, and resilience are what really set crowdfunding apart.

Despite the clear benefits of using these fundraising models for community projects, awareness of these funding models and the types of projects they can be used for is relatively low, and there’s a lack of case studies out there to inspire and teach other organizations how to leverage them.

3 facts that may surprise you

1. Facebook is for older people. British pensioners now outnumber teens on Facebook by 1.5 million.
2. OK is the most spoken word on Earth. It’s only been used for about 180 years, but its linguistic history still retains some mysteries.
3. Inventors applying for patents used to have to justify why their inventions would not lead to reduced employment. Not anymore.

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