Happy Birthday infrastructure!

A friend of mine once went to a very unusual birthday party at work. The celebration wasn’t for a colleague but for a piece of infrastructure that helped everybody else do their job. It was a 40 year old mainframe computer in Newcastle that had quietly and efficiently been keeping a government department working for four decades.

We’re big fans of good infrastructure organisations that exist to promote and support tech for good, impact investing and purposeful business. We recently got the chance to talk to CEO of the Impact Investing Institute, Sarah Gordon, on the occasion of their first birthday. In the video below Melanie and Sarah chat about the growth of impact investing and how tech for good has become an important part of the impact investing approach.

Even though it’s only a year old, the Institute is already playing an important role creating connections between different stakeholders from Government to regulators and financial institutions. It’s no easy task. When you’re trying to work with everyone from small startups to giant banks you need a multi-skilled team and you need to communicate in a way that everyone understands.

Another infrastructure organisation that we’re big fans (and founding members) of is B Lab UK, and by coincidence it’s their birthday this week too! They play a vital role in maintaining standards of conduct and operations in mission led businesses.

If impact investing is to move to the mainstream effectively then you need people and organisations who are willing and able to connect the dots and keep up the momentum.

So Happy Birthday Impact Investing Institute and Happy Birthday B Lab UK! Long may both organisations continue because we need their help to keep building better businesses.

This piece was first published in the December issue of our monthly investor newsletter – ‘The Practical Optimist.’ Sign-up here to receive the latest thinking on tech for good and curated resources from the world of impact straight to your inbox.