By Marc J. Lane
Sir Keir Starmer has now become the UK’s prime minister, having led the Labour Party to a landslide win after 14 years out of power. At his victory rally, Sir Keir promised, “We can look forward again, walk into the morning . . . the sunlight of hope—pale at first, but getting stronger through the day—shining once again on a country with the opportunity…to get its future back.”
Labour has grand ambitions to re-industrialize Britain, buoyed by private investment; to rebuild the dilapidated National Health Service using new technology and preventative treatment; and to salvage a criminal-justice system beset by court backlogs and bursting prisons.
But Sir Keir’s “democratic reckoning” is also likely to include a strategic partnership with the “impact economy,” bolstered by an Office for the Impact Economy recently proposed by Stephen Timms, a senior party official and a former secretary to the Treasury. Timms sees the impact economy as including philanthropists, social and impact investors, and businesses.
His thesis is that more philanthropic funding could be unlocked to tackle the country’s most pressing challenges by blending public and private capital. Moreover, were leaders in diverse economic sectors encouraged to join forces for the common good, the societal benefits would likely soar. To the surprise of none of us deeply immersed in the evolving U. S. social- impact ecosystem, Demos, Britain’s leading cross-party think tank. suggested a potential £149 billion boost to the UK’s annual GDP if businesses operated in a manner that purposely benefited society.
The same logic would clearly apply here. The time has come for the launch of a U.S. Office for the Impact Economy which would pull talent and resources from the Departments of the Treasury and Commerce, but would also rely on the increasingly aligned interests and commitments of the private-sector and nonprofit communities throughout the nation.
We already have strong local examples in Cook County, the state of Illinois and elsewhere to prove that government can effectively catalyze the collaboration of the business community, philanthropists, traditional and impact investors, nonprofits and social enterprises as they seek to drive positive social change.
Consider the Cook County Commission on Social Innovation, which I have served as Vice Chair since its enabling legislation was unanimously approved by the County Board seven years ago at the behest of then-Commissioner and now-U.S. Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia. The multi-sectoral Commission, chaired today by Cook County Commissioner Alma Anaya, has been responsible for a widely acclaimed procurement preference for social enterprises seeking to sell goods or services to the second largest county in the country, a unique Good Food Purchasing Policy that includes targeted social-justice criteria, and other ground-breaking policy innovations that have attracted national attention.
Or take Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn’s Task Force on Social Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Enterprise. The Task Force, which I was privileged to lead, incubated actionable social policy recommendations for the Governor along with the state’s agencies and departments and the General Assembly. Among other good works, it spearheaded the state’s first Pay For Success program, a “futures contract on social impact.” Years later, the initiative is still improving the lives of troubled children involved in both the criminal justice and juvenile welfare systems. Other Pay for Success programs abound throughout the nation.
Thanks to legislation Gov. Quinn’s signed, Illinois now boasts 177 Low-profit Limited Liability Companies (l3Cs) whose business form facilitates the attraction of private foundations’ “program-related investments” and 53 Benefit Corporations whose charters obligate them to make a positive impact on society. As the lines are blurring between for-profit and non-profit organizations here, I’ve dubbed Illinois the Delaware of Social Enterprise, high praise in my view.
There’s no reason the nation as a whole shouldn’t systematically pursue the same multi-sectoral impact agenda. Let’s urge our U.S. Senators and Representatives to embrace Steven Timms’ unassailable logic and follow the lead of a growing number of state and local governments by establishing a national Office for the Impact Economy.
If you’re interested in exploring how your commitment to positive social change can be amplified by collaborating with like-minded individuals, organizations and institutions, please reach out to Marc Lane in confidence at mlane@marcjlane.com or 312/800-372-1040.