In the previous issue of this newsletter series, we talked about the first Brace for Impact Webinar session that we held, as a critical response to the British Council’s report on The State of Social Enterprise in Hong Kong.
Prior to the webinar, we distributed a survey and collected 29 responses on the diversity, inclusivity, and representation situations in the Hong Kong social impact space. Here are the major findings:
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Inclusivity, diversity, and representation are important for a healthy social impact ecosystem, but the HK social impact space is not sufficiently inclusive, diverse, or representative.
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Funders should have diverse groups of decision-makers.
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Social impact organizations should have diverse leadership teams.
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Beneficiaries should be represented in the leadership of social impact organizations.
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There is a range of opinions about board diversity requirements.
Trained as a lawyer, and currently teaching business ethics at The University of Hong Kong, David Bishop said that he is not in favor of laws as a tool to create desirable behavior. “Sometimes a systemic solution, instead of legislation, is required to solve systemic problems. While there may not be a unanimity in the social impact space to achieve diversity and inclusivity, there certainly is a consensus. The Hong Kong government is quite reactive, so if experts and leaders in the community speak in one unified voice, the government might be willing to move forward.”
Sanjukta Mukherjee, on the other hand, thinks that the government and regulators need to adopt a tougher approach through legislative response. “For example, governments could require companies to meet diversity and inclusion targets or full disclosure requirements, in order to be given the licence to operate. And funding support from the government must also be tied to reporting and accountability and meeting of targets.”
Additionally, donors, philanthropists, private foundations and investors must take the leadership role to direct funding to organizations and companies that meet board representation and D&I requirements. Just as important, senior leadership and management should institute measures such as linking bonus and compensation to the meeting of diversity or equality targets.
Drawing upon her expertise as an economist, Sanjukta stressed the importance of using data-driven initiatives, such as indices, which provide the accountability that is key for progress. “The social impact space can consider collecting and standardizing disclosure of diversity/representation-related data through surveys and questionnaires, and focus group discussions. This would allow social impact organizations to attract capital and talent, empower funders/investors to make funding/investment decisions through a social lens, and enable employees and communities to hold the organizations accountable to progress.”
Is your organization implementing systems-changing solutions to increase diversity, inclusion, and representation? At Foundation for Shared Impact (FSI), we look to conduct more research on these issues. Get in touch with us if you have case studies to share. In the meantime, see the findings from our survey here.
