New joint effort will advance both research and practice in impact investing PHILADELPHIA, October 28, 2020 – Chicago Booth’s Rustandy Center for Social Sector Innovation, the Harvard Business School Impact Collaboratory, and the Wharton Social Impact Initiative of the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School announced today the launch of the Impact…Read More
Research
Project Sage 3.0: New Gender Lens Investing Report
What’s the latest in the world of gender lens investing? This month, Wharton Social Impact Initiative and Catalyst at Large published Project Sage 3.0. This new impact investing report tracks venture capital, private equity, and private debt with a gender lens, analyzing data and trends through December 2019. How big…Read More
A Letter From Our New Managing Director
Of all the things we’ve learned since our founding in 2010, here is the most important one: we have learned exactly what our role in the impact ecosystem is. So who are we, this ten-year-old Wharton Social Impact Initiative, and what does this new decade hold for us? Social impact…Read More
Financial Times Highlights Wharton Social Impact Research and Programs in a Special Report
The Financial Times featured Wharton and the Wharton Social Impact Initiative (WSII) in an October 20th article about business schools shaping the future of social impact. The article prominently featured the WISE Fellowship, Wharton Impact Ventures Associates (WIVA), and WSII research on what makes companies good employers for women and…Read More
8 Wharton Faculty & Doctoral Students Awarded Funding for Social Impact Research
Rigorous research provides the foundation for meaningful and sustainable social change. The Wharton Social Impact Initiative Fund for Social Impact Research helps support faculty and doctoral research across many areas and disciplines. We’re pleased to announce the 2019-2020 WSII Fund for Social Impact Research winners: FACULTY Hamsa Bastani, Assistant Professor…Read More
Client Applications Now Open for the Fall 2019 WISE Program
Industry professionals: are you looking for bright talent to help you with a challenging social impact project? Take this opportunity to work with Wharton and Penn students and apply to become a client with the WISE Program. Student fellows in the WISE Program support clients with research, consulting, and strategy…Read More
7 Wharton Faculty & Doctoral Students Awarded Funding for Social Impact Research
Rigorous research provides the foundation for meaningful and sustainable social change. The Wharton Social Impact Initiative Fund for Social Impact Research helps support faculty and doctoral social impact research across many areas and disciplines. Awards typically range from $1,000 – $10,000, allowing recipients to advance their social impact research, develop…Read More
New Research: Tracking Private Equity (Venture) and Debt Funds with a Gender Lens
A preview of Project Sage, a collaborative research project tracking venture/private…Read More
Has Impact Investing Been Seduced? That’s One Hypothesis
Commentary by Wharton Social Impact Initiative’s Nick Ashburn and Katherine Klein In the latest edition of SSIR, we read Mara Bolis and Chris West’s thoughtful critique of the evolution of impact investing with great interest. Bolis and West argue that impact investors have become increasingly “seduced” by the promise of…Read More
Put It In Writing: Contracting Norms In Impact Investments
How do impact investors document their intended impact? How do companies put impact into written contracts? In a collaborative project with Penn Law’s Entrepreneurship Legal Clinic, we set out to build evidence around these questions. Our research team, consisting of Dr. David Musto and Dr. Chris Geczy of Wharton, Dr. Jessica…Read More