Explore every episode of the podcast Money Meets Mission

Most funders aspire to be good stewards of their resources, but what does it mean to operationalize stewardship in grantmaking? 

In this episode, AVPN Academy’s Siddharth Chatterjee speaks with Amit Antony Alex, Investment Director at Dovetail Impact Foundation—a Christian faith-aligned family foundation supporting healthcare, education, livelihoods, and access to justice across Southeast Asia, South Asia, and Africa. 

Here, we learn about how the phrase “love in action” informs Dovetail’s approach to stewardship and the ways in which the foundation embraces innovation to be a good steward. This brings us to a discussion on unrestricted grantmaking, scalability in impact, and a practice called “re-risking”, through which Dovetail foundation pushes itself to take the uncomfortable risks that most grantmakers might avoid. 

Learn more:

Dovetail Impact Foundation: https://dovetailimpact.org/ 
AVPN's Faith and Giving Initiative: https://avpn.asia/capital-for-impact/faith-and-giving/

Looking beyond the metrics, frameworks, and theories of change, do we truly understand the impact of our actions on our stakeholders? In this episode of Money Meets Mission, AVPN’s Siddharth Chatterjee speaks with Safe Wongsunopparat, founder of the Third Line Social Impact Consultancy and Oceania Director at The Social Investment Consultancy (TSIC), to unpack the fundamental role of listening to stakeholders for impact management. 

Whether you are new to IMM or seeking ways to enhance your existing practice, this episode offers actionable advice and a new perspective, including a live example where Safe advises us on impact management for AVPN Learning Circles. Discover what helps organisations stand out with their impact measurement and management (IMM), how to tackle the most common challenges in IMM and what we can learn from our stakeholders.

A staggering 45% of faith-based organisations do not align their investments with their values. This episode explores the transformative power of faith-based investing, offering valuable lessons for all organisations seeking to make a positive impact with their investments.

AVPN Academy's Siddharth Chatterjee invites Mathew Jensen, CFA, the Director of Faith Consistent Investing Programmes at FaithInvest to share insights on faith-based investing. FaithInvest is a global non-profit empowering faith-based asset owners to invest in line with their beliefs, providing a pragmatic approach to translating faith values into investment decisions that lead to transformative impact. 

Learn how The English Sangha Trust took the journey to seeing their values reflected in their investments, why policy documentation is key to sustainability, and what obstacles you're likely to face when trying to integrate values into your organization's investment approach. 

Key Resources:

1. What FaithInvest does
2. FaithInvest's Faithful Finance Course.
3. FaithInvest's Case Study of the English Sangha Trust.
4. Unpacking the complexities of Faith-aligned Investing in Asia (AVPN article reflecting on our recent learning circle with FaithInvest)

To learn more about faith-based investing and philanthropic giving in Asia, check-out upcoming learning circles and research briefs from AVPN's Faith and Giving Initiative. 

In an era of information abundance, organisations have immense data which could be used to inform or drive various impact initiatives. However, figuring out how to utilise data for impact is challenging. Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools, despite contentions on the role they play, have already allowed the processing of data in impressive speeds that continuously help professionals generate actionable insights.

Impact Intelligence, an organisation that leverages AI to help business achieve ambitious goals, speaks about using data to amplify one's impact and exploring ways in which the technology can be useful. Its Co-founder Niko Moesgaard and Program Manager Guliz Koldas highlight the importance of starting with information you already have and share use cases from their work where they help organisations achieve their impact goals.

Key Moments:

• 5:39 - Various ways in which data can be used for impact
• 8:27 - Case studies
• 12:48 - Taking the first step towards leveraging data for impact
• 15:35 - The AVPN member monitor
• 19:06 - Importance of sharing data and working together
• 20:35 - Humans + AI
• 24:05 - Recommended reading: All-in On AI by Thomas Davenport and Nitin Mittal

Learn more about the work of Impact Intelligence through their website and by going through their case studies.

The Corporate Social Impact Insights series of the Money Meets Mission podcast is part of the AVPN Academy Corporate Social Impact Centre,  which was established in partnership with Johnson & Johnson, Miller Trust and Visa. The center also includes self-paced modules, a library of content, and Learning Circles, which are a monthly series of small group discussions for corporate practitioners. To learn more, visit the AVPN Academy Corporate Social Impact Centre. 

The surge in the popularity and utility of artificial intelligence (AI) presents several opportunities for the philanthropic sector - both in leveraging the technology to improve ways of working, as well as playing a key role in supporting the safe development of AI.

Chris Malone, Partner at Dalberg, speaks about how philanthropy can use AI by sharing eight areas where philanthropists might use AI to transform their work, and conversely, how AI can use philanthropy by encouraging funding to go into AI research.

Key Moments:

• 2:00 - Setting the bookends: risks and opportunities in AI
• 12:30 - 8 Areas where philanthropy might engage with AI
• 20:00 - Working with grantee organizations - how could grantee organizations benefit from AI?
• 24:40 - Philanthropies as centers of excellence
• 26:50 - How AI could use philanthropy
• 34:40 - Existential risk in AI and why we need all kinds of philanthropists funding research into all kinds of risks and possibilities in AI
• 39:10 - How corporates could think about corporate social impact as a sandbox for innovation, such as in AI. 
• 43:45 - Recommended reading from Chris: AI 2041 by Kai-Fu Lee an Chen Qiufan

The Corporate Social Impact Insights series of the Money Meets Mission podcast is part of the AVPN Academy Corporate Social Impact Centre,  which was established in partnership with Johnson & Johnson, Miller Trust and Visa. The center also includes self-paced modules, a library of content, and Learning Circles, which are a monthly series of small group discussions for corporate practitioners. To learn more, visit the AVPN Academy Corporate Social Impact Centre. 

While corporate organisations recognize the importance of sustainability, the risks of innovation slow down the pace at which businesses make their sustainability transition. How can we de-risk innovation so that corporate organizations are empowered to take the lead in sustainability?

Joyce Wong, Grant Manager at Porticus, shares key levers that can drive corporate innovation for sustainability and gaps that hinder innovation. 

Key Moments:

• 2:33 - Introduction to Joyce and Porticus
• 4:14 - Holding businesses accountable through the Purposeful Business programme
• 8:50 - Working towards the programme goals through better policy and regulation, data and resources, and multi-stakeholder engagement
• 9:24 - Localising a global programme
• 12:26 - Identifying opportunities and challenges in sustainability

The Corporate Social Impact Insights series of the Money Meets Mission podcast is part of the AVPN Academy Corporate Social Impact Centre,  which was established in partnership with Johnson & Johnson, Miller Trust and Visa. The center also includes self-paced modules, a library of content, and Learning Circles, which are a monthly series of small group discussions for corporate practitioners. To learn more, visit the AVPN Academy Corporate Social Impact Centre. 

Corporate Social Impact (CSI) is often seen as a cost centre in a business. In this episode, learn why a perspective shift is needed to consider it more as a strategy and innovation partner.

Dr. CJ Meadows, of the SP Jain Global School of Management and The Tiger Center, share four key approaches that can be used to improve a business, develop new initiatives, and create impactful and innovative solutions.

Key Moments:

• 2:03 - Introduction to Dr. CJ Meadows and her work
• 3:09 - Unpacking the bold claim that Corporate Social Impact is more than a cost centre
• 5:01 - Understanding disruption
• 10:30 - Applying design thinking approaches in development work
• 18:42 - How greening can lead to financial savings (Related reading: How to Cool Down a City)
• 23:30 - The Golden Triangle and its origin
• 29:58 - Bringing it all together

Keep in touch and learn more about Dr. CJ Meadows' work through her
LinkedIn,  website, The Innovation & Entrepreneurship Centre, and the Tiger Center.

The Corporate Social Impact Insights series of the Money Meets Mission podcast is part of the AVPN Academy Corporate Social Impact Centre,  which was established in partnership with Johnson & Johnson, Miller Trust and Visa. The center also includes self-paced modules, a library of content, and Learning Circles, which are a monthly series of small group discussions for corporate practitioners. To learn more, visit the AVPN Academy Corporate Social Impact Centre. 

Recognising that the youth play a key role in society as present and future leaders, decision-makers and contributors, corporate organisations are presented with a unique opportunity to engage with them and harness their potential to create impact.

In 2021, AVPN established the Asian Youth for Impact (ayPact), a platform focused on equipping the next generation of Asian youth with the capital and resources they need to drive impactful change. Debrah Jiang (Senior Manager) and Amanda Kee (Grant and Programme Manager) from our Capital Mobilisation team lead our work on youth engagement, and share how corporates can take on a more meaningful role in empowering the young people of today.

Key Moments:

• 1:51 - Introduction to Amanda, Debrah, and their work at AVPN's Capital Mobilisation
• 3:04 - How ayPact harnesses youth potential
• 4:20 - Examples of corporate youth engagement programmes
• 6:24 - Dimensions of youth engagement (depth, duration, amount of knowledge transfer)
• 8:29 - Pathways corporates can embark on
• 16:28 - Success metrics
• 18:30 - Beginning your youth engagement journey

The Corporate Social Impact Insights series of the Money Meets Mission podcast is part of the AVPN Academy Corporate Social Impact Centre,  which was established in partnership with Johnson & Johnson, Miller Trust and Visa. The center also includes self-paced modules, a library of content, and Learning Circles, which are a monthly series of small group discussions for corporate practitioners. To learn more, visit the AVPN Academy Corporate Social Impact Centre.

Much of the success of Corporate Social Impact (CSI) initiatives is founded on a deep level of trust between and among diverse stakeholders. Establishing a genuine connection with the people one works with not only allows for a more harmonious professional relationship, but also paves the way for amplified and more meaningful impact.

Roberta Feliciano, Managing Director of ABS-CBN Foundation, talks about how they prioritise being purposeful in developing relationships with their funders, employees, partners, and corporate business, how she recognises that there is no shortcut to the process, and their empowering philosophy of change with the communities they work with. 

Key Moments:

• 2:23 - Introduction to Roberta and her work at ABS-CBN Foundation
• 3:47 - The uniqueness of ABS-CBN Foundation
• 5:17 - Alignment between ABS-CBN Foundation and ABS-CBN Corporation
• 6:51 - The role of trust in their relationships with various stakeholders
• 12:02 - Approach to building trust

The Corporate Social Impact Insights series of the Money Meets Mission podcast is part of the AVPN Academy Corporate Social Impact Centre,  which was established in partnership with Johnson & Johnson, Miller Trust and Visa. The center also includes self-paced modules, a library of content, and Learning Circles, which are a monthly series of small group discussions for corporate practitioners. To learn more, visit https://academy.avpn.asia/module-centre/corporate-social-impact-centre/

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) reporting has often been seen as a compliance burden for business. Yet, it is now becoming increasingly important as a way in which businesses are evaluated by investors, employees and customers. What are the current ESG trends and what do they mean for businesses? And how can Corporate Social Impact (CSI) practitioners amplify their contribution in their organizations by proactively responding to ESG requirements?

Komal Sahu, Chief of Sustainable Finance at AVPN, breaks down the deeper implication of ESG trends for corporate organizations and their social impact arms, highlights the opportunity for CSI practitioners to scale their impact within and outside their business, and shares why companies cannot afford to ignore ESG as impact becomes crucial to how businesses are perceived. 

Key Moments:

• 2:19 - Introduction to Komal's work
• 3:35 - How ESG trends are impacting businesses
• 5:30 - Breaking down the E, S, and G
• 9:16 - The risks of not being proactive in responding to ESG trends
• 11:53 - The Anti-ESG wave and what it means for businesses
• 15:05 - The business case for ESG
• 16:25 - The role of CSI and CSI practitioners

The Corporate Social Impact Insights series of the Money Meets Mission podcast is part of the AVPN Academy Corporate Social Impact Centre,  which was established in partnership with Johnson & Johnson, Miller Trust and Visa. The center also includes self-paced modules, a library of content, and Learning Circles, which are a monthly series of small group discussions for corporate practitioners. To learn more, visit https://academy.avpn.asia/module-centre/corporate-social-impact-centre/

There is often a disconnect between the corporate and social sectors because the two have different ways of defining success, setting timelines, and measuring ROI. How can these tensions be addressed and be converted into opportunities to create more meaningful results?

Rama Iyer, Director General of the WPP India Foundation, speaks about how the corporate and social sectors are interoperable, and how scaling CSI internally can be made possible by harnessing the power of the organization.

Key Moments:

• 2:25 - An Introduction to WPP Foundation
• 4:02 - Defining success metrics 
• 9:57 - Integrating the social sector perspective in the core business
• 14:15 - Scaling internally and creating interest
•  19:36 - Having social conversations at the top level
• 22:00 - Talking about the work you do and celebrating wins
• 25:27 - Intervening where you can have maximum impact
• 27:49 - Understanding the experiments and failures budget
• 31:00 - Learning from the experiences of Rama and WPP India Foundation

The Corporate Social Impact Insights series of the Money Meets Mission podcast is part of the AVPN Academy Corporate Social Impact Centre,  which was established in partnership with Johnson & Johnson, Miller Trust and Visa. The center also includes self-paced modules, a library of content, and Learning Circles, which are a monthly series of small group discussions for corporate practitioners. To learn more, visit https://academy.avpn.asia/module-centre/corporate-social-impact-centre/

To ensure the sustainability and effectiveness of corporate social impact (CSI), it is important to align impact initiatives with the business objectives of the organisation. Alignment between the two shows the clear value of CSI for the core business, and allows impact initiatives to be supported by the organisation in times of abundance and scarcity.

Gillian Pearl, Chief Executive Officer of Pearl Consulting, shares about the benefits of alignment between impact and business results, the importance of taking a pause and seeking expert help, and how CSI practitioners can make the most of the corporate's existing resources.

Key Moments:

• 02:15 - An introduction to Pearl Consulting
• 03:30 - Importance of alignment 
• 05:19 - How to know if your social impact and business objectives are aligned
• 10:35 - How clarity contributes to easier conversations and stronger relationships with internal and external partners
• 13:46 - Embedding ESG targets into KPIs and job descriptions
• 16:37 - Understanding ESG risks and opportunities
• 19:35 - Taking a moment to pause
• 23:01 - Seeking help and support
• 27:28 - Gillian's advice to corporate practitioners about collaboration

The Corporate Social Impact Insights series of the Money Meets Mission podcast is part of the AVPN Academy Corporate Social Impact Centre,  which was established in partnership with Johnson & Johnson, Miller Trust and Visa. The center also includes self-paced modules, a library of content, and Learning Circles, which are a monthly series of small group discussions for corporate practitioners. To learn more, visit https://academy.avpn.asia/module-centre/corporate-social-impact-centre/

With the many considerations and challenges in grants management, it’s easy for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) practices to take the backseat, and for structural biases to go unnoticed. Corporate Social Impact (CSI) professionals are often tasked with the responsibility of putting equity at the center of grant-making, either in formulating a grant-making approach that directly tackles systemic imbalances, or in embedding EDI principles into existing grant-making practices.

In this episode, we talk to Meenu Bhambhani, Vice President, Head of Corporate Citizenship and Inclusion and Diversity, APAC, at State Street about how practitioners can do this in a cultural landscape as complex and diverse as Asia’s.

Key Moments:

• 01:45 - An Introduction to State Street and Meenu’s role at State Street Foundation
• 02:54 - State Street’s Grant-making, from Massachusetts to Asia Pacific
• 10:54 - How to get started in equity in grant-making without complete knowledge
• 14:02 - The two levels of equity in grant-making
• 15:50 - Meenu’s advice for corporate practitioners looking to get started with equity in grant-making

The Corporate Social Impact Insights series of the Money Meets Mission podcast is part of the AVPN Academy Corporate Social Impact Centre,  which was established in partnership with Johnson & Johnson, Miller Trust and Visa. The center also includes self-paced modules, a library of content, and Learning Circles, which are a monthly series of small group discussions for corporate practitioners. To learn more, visit https://academy.avpn.asia/module-centre/corporate-social-impact-centre/

Welcome to the Corporate Social Impact Insights Podcast, where we speak with experts and leaders in the social impact space to understand their experiences and gain from their insights on how to do Corporate Social Impact effectively.

Hosted by Siddharth Chatterjee of the AVPN Academy, this monthly podcast is part of the Corporate Social Impact Centre which was established in partnership with Johnson & Johnson, Miller Trust, and Visa. The center also includes self-paced modules, a library of content, and Learning Circles, which are a monthly series of small group discussions for corporate practitioners. To learn more, visit https://academy.avpn.asia/module-centre/corporate-social-impact-centre/

In the third episode of our podcast series Money Meets Mission, we discuss the topic of Impact Investing - a term that is becoming extremely familiar on th Asian finance & Sustainability landscapes as more private money is being diverted towards projects that contain within them some degree of Impact. Join our guests Mari Kogiso and Wonyoung Kim as they discuss with interviewer Teymoor Nabili - What does Impact Investing mean?What does it involve?What are its aims? and how can we tell whether it’s working?

In the second episode of our podcast series Money Meets Mission, we discuss the topic of Youth Unemployment and the challenges of creating sustainable livelihood pathways for young people across Asia’s developing countries. Join our guests  Abha Thorat Shah and Veronica Colondam as they discuss with our host Teymoor Nabili - Why are existing solutions not translating into employability? In the face of critical unemployment during the pandemic, how can we create sustainable livelihood pathways for youth communities?

In the first episode of the new and improved Money Meets Mission, we discuss the topic of Climate Finance and listen to Industry experts - Mr. Alan Hsu, Managing Director and Global Industry Analyst, Wellington Management and Dr. Philip B. Duffy, President, Executive Director at the Woodwell Climate Research Centre. As they discuss along with our Podcast moderator Teymoor Nabili, Founder and CEO at techforimpact.asia the current climate threats in Asia, decisions being taken and their effectiveness.

In recent years, Asia has seen one of the highest growth rates of high-net worth individuals in the world, with its billionaire population expected to make up one-third of the world’s total by 2023. The region is also seeing second-generation wealth-holders starting to take over fast. This shift in wealth has, in turn, led to a growth and formalisation of philanthropy and family offices in Asia-Pacific. How can this emerging generation of the world’s richest pivot to maximise social impact and move the needle for humanity? How can they translate passion and values into action by integrating impact into their legacy? In the next hour, hear from Tony Yeung and Hui Hsing Ma on how families from Hong Kong-based Peterson Holdings Company Limited and Singapore-based Blue7 reviewed their investment approaches, and how you can also embark on a worthwhile impact investing journey.

The climate crisis is no longer a matter of ‘if’, but ‘when’. Yet, so little has been done to tackle this. One of the biggest barriers for the private sector to undertake climate action is the vast opaqueness of the landscape. There is a lack of conversation, exploration, and understanding of how to support, fund and scale high-impact climate solutions. Moderated by Yossef Zahar, Climate Finance Advisor at the Stockholm Environment Institute, today’s discussion will unpack how climate financing can be a catalyst to turn a weakening economy around and what it takes for investors and businesses to commit to climate action. Leading practitioners, including Pushkala Lakshmi Ratan, the Asia Climate Finance Lead at the International Finance Corporation, Peiyuan Guo, Chairman of Syntao Green Finance, and Maud Savary Mornet, former Asia-Pacific Director at ResponsAbility, will bring in their perspectives from various sectors.

NGOs, social enterprises, philanthropists, and businesses are fast realising that socio-environmental problems need to be tackled at their root, and not just at the symptomatic level. Yet, how do we ensure what we are doing is right? How much of what we do brings about enduring transformation or a systems change? Some of the most successful changemakers are here today to share their lessons and advice on how to be a catalyst for systemic change. Moderated by Tim Hanstad, CEO of Chandler Foundation, this episode will hear from Iqbal Dhaliwal, Global Executive Director of J-Pal, Neera Nundy, Partner and Co-Founder of Dasra, James Chen, Chairman of The Chen Yet-Sen Family Foundation, and Rukmini Banerji, CEO of Pratham Education Foundation.

We often hear about the importance of collaboration. We know what it means and how to do it. But, collaboration doesn’t come easily to us. In fact, it has taken a global pandemic to jolt us out of our individualistic bubble, and pivot the world towards a new paradigm and way of thinking. In this episode, Matthew Bishop, author of the best selling book, Philanthrocapitalism, will be speaking with key practitioners who have been leveraging powerful partnerships to create systems change. Tim Hanstad, CEO of Chandler Foundation, Vishnu Swaminathan, Vice President of Ashoka, Debbie Aung Din, Co-Founder of Proximity Designs, and Neelam Chhiber, Co-Founder of Industree Crafts Foundation are an inspiring group of leaders building a more sustainable tomorrow for this region we call home.