Scalable, replicable market-based solutions are surely the holy grail for those seeking to solve the world’s most pressing social problems – and this is the focus of Monitor Inclusive Markets’ new report Beyond the Pioneer: Getting inclusive industries to scale. The June special feature is partly a response to this report. Guest editors are Audrey Selian and Ken Hynes of Artha Platform and Artha Networks Inc.
Beyond the Pioneer outlines opportunities for intervening to address industry-level barriers to scaling, and we asked foundations, venture philanthropists, impact investors and social entrepreneurs how they view these. Most examples in the report are drawn from Asia and Africa, so we asked Alvaro Rodriguez of Ignia in Mexico and Guillaume Taylor of Quadia in Switzerland to consider how the report resonates in Latin America and in a more developed European economy.
The special feature also raises issues the report doesn’t address. Martin Brookes asks if there are some things that should never be for sale, while Suzanne Biegel looks at the value of a gender lens on investing.
The June issue of Alliance also features an interview with Ford Foundation president Darren Walker, looking at his priorities for Ford, especially in areas such as philanthropy, infrastructure and institution building. It includes an opinion piece asking ‘Should consultants be thought leaders?’ and articles on an overcrowded crowdfunding market, impact angels in Asia, India’s new CSR law, the implications for foundations of the new FATF international standards on money laundering and terrorism, and opportunities for philanthropy in Myanmar and Liberia.