We are pleased towelcome Enterprise North West to the Social Value UK movement.
Below follows a catch up with Brian O’Neil (Director of Development & Enterprise) and why the Northern Ireland-based social enterprise have decided to join SVUK.
Tell us about your organisation:
Enterprise North West is passionate about encouraging economic resilience in Derry City and beyond. We strive to help our clients achieve this through stimulating enterprise and innovation.
Enterprise North West focus on growing the local economy by providing the information, advice and support that local business owners and social enterprises need.
Enterprise North West are passionate about contributing to the local economy through our range of services for businesses and social enterprises to create community wealth.
Why have you joined SVUK? What do you hope to achieve and what training or tools we offer are you most excited by?
We have decided to join SVUK as they are recognised as the market leaders in terms of social value in the UK. We want to be able to support organisations and social enterprises across the island of Ireland to measure the true impact of the services they provide in their communities.
How deep is your current knowledge of social value practice?
Whilst Enterprise North West have worked in the social enterprise sector for over 25 years we have always focused on business development with financial return as the key focus. Our current knowledge of social value is limited but we are keen to develop this knowledge further.
You have joined a global social value movement, what does this mean to you? How important do you think it is that organisations make decisions informed by their social impacts?
Enterprise North West are fully committed to supporting local organisations measure the full impact of their services to allow them to demonstrate this to their own social stakeholders. This type of reporting is now becoming more important in terms of supporting community wealth building parties in local communities.
We cannot wait to see our new member embark on their social value journey. If you’d like to start yours, become a member today and consider attending our online or in-person SROI training. The Social Return on Investment framework is an internationally-celebrated method for identifying positive and negative outcomes of organisations’ decisions.
We are thrilled to announce Raytheon UK have joined the Social Value UK movement. We caught up Corporate Social Responsibility manager Joseph Drugan to find out more about the company and the reasons behind becoming a member.
Tell us about your organisation…
Raytheon UK is a landed company of US-based Raytheon – an aerospace and defence company -providing advanced systems and services for commercial, military and government customers worldwide. As a prime contractor and major supplier to the UK across Space, Cyber, Maritime, Air and Land, our vision is to create a safer, more connected world through delivering game-changing technologies that secure our futures. At the heart of this vision are our 2,000+ highly skilled employees, who are located across the country at our regional facilities which include Broughton, Glenrothes, Harlow, Livingston, Manchester and Gloucester.
Why have you joined SVUK? What do you hope to achieve and what training or tools we offer are you most excited by?
SVUK is an ideal fit for our company because we are committed to delivering a genuine, positive social impact throughout all our projects and contracts. We do this right from the planning stage (to ensure commercial and environmental decisions are made with social value considerations) through to the delivery of our contracts (ensuring that we deliver on our commitment to unlock real social value for our communities). By joining SVUK, we look forward to furthering our knowledge, and sharing and developing best social value practice. It’s important to us that we play our part in the defence sector’s ability to make a positive impact across our communities in all four nations of the UK.
How deep is your current knowledge of social value practice?
Social Value is integral to our projects and solutions, and is integrated in our design process from initial concept right through to the end-solution or end-product. We see huge potential to drive positive change through the delivery of our contracts and are focused on:
Reducing our environmental impact and contributing to environmental sustainability schemes in the UK
Reducing the UK Skills gap in key sectors such as Cyber Security, providing quality STEM education support across the UK, focusing on equity for pupils of all backgrounds and abilities to access pathways to industry.
Supporting UK Veterans both in career transition and wider holistic support.
Fostering and maintaining a positive working culture for all with a focus on accessibility, diversity and inclusion to ensure that everyone is given full support to deliver their best work.
Developing and diversifying our supply chain and bringing them on our Social Value journey.
Have you produced social value reports before and if so, how do you feel SVUK can advance these?
We are delighted to be currently producing Raytheon UK’s first external Social Value report. Although we have always monitored our social value activity internally, this formal report is a positive step forward to full transparency and accountability. We look forward to SVUK’s support by providing industry specific guidance on our report, and helping with accrediting the report where possible.
You have joined a global social value movement, what does this mean to you? How important do you think it is that organisations make decisions informed by their social impacts?
For an organisation such as ours, we can only truly deliver meaningful social value if all business decisions are made through the lens of social value.
Have you previously taken steps to improve wellbeing in your organisation? Do you feel your SVUK membership can improve this?
We believe that everyone should be supported to deliver their best work at Raytheon and have developed an employee wellbeing programme, which offers industry leading enhanced maternity and paternity packages, and a flexible working scheme to help our employees reach a healthy work/life balance that is desirable for all.
We operate our wellbeing approach under 5 pillars: Social, Mental, Financial, Physical and Professional Wellbeing. We believe wellbeing encompasses all of these areas:
Social
Social wellbeing is built upon the relationships people hold, both in work and out of work. We offer a range of information on how to achieve a sense of belonging through webinars, links to CSR, how to connect to our Employee Resource Groups and make the most of our volunteering opportunities (we offer 5 paid days per year per employee).
Mental
Mental wellbeing is supported by our network of Mental Health Ambassadors, who are located across the organisation at all levels. We have also recently recruited another group to double our number of ambassadors. We signpost employees to external support across the UK, our Employee Assistance Programme platform also links to an external platform which hosts support for employees.
Financial
Financial wellbeing focuses on resources to support employees around money management, where to go for debt management support, links on how to assess what government support they may be entitled to. We recently hosted moneycharity.org.uk who delivered seminars on money management and pension information. Employees also have access to financial resources via their pension.
Physical
Physical wellbeing is supported in the workplace via Environmental Health & Safety practices and in-house occupational health if required. We focus our resources on how to stay active working from home, how to set up workspaces from home, how to be active at your desk, but also offer information on how to eat healthy.
Wellbeing
Professional wellbeing focuses on career management, outlining resources available to employees, this links in to learning and development.
What steps have you taken to drive equality and social mobility? Do you feel your SVUK membership can improve this?
As an organisation, we have been externally assessed as having a fantastic inclusive culture, but we seek to continually access, develop, and improve our culture. Enabling our employees and those joining the company, to be the best version of themselves is our top priority. Therefore, we welcome any opportunities to learn and integrate practices which will improve our employee’s experience and continue to open up pathways into our industry for people from all walks of life.
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We are thrilled to say Raytheon UK have already had a member of staff attend one of our Social Return on Investment training courses.
Members of Social Value UK receive a discounted rate for these globally-recognised courses – held online and in-person. Why not become a member of Social Value UK today?
Janina Neumann Design is a graphic design business that helps organisations to scale social impact through brand identity design, branding, and social value reporting.
Ahead of this announcement, spent some time with Janina to learn more about her experience with the assessment process…
Why did you embark on the SVI Professional Pathway?
I embarked on the SVI Professional Pathway because I wanted to get a better understanding of how to measure change within people’s lives and to support Janina Neumann Design’s mission of “Design for social change”.
What elements of the assessment were particularly useful to your learning?
Identifying stakeholders and outcomes have been one of the most useful elements. I found it very valuable to learn how the Principles of Social Value ensure that more voices are heard in decision-making processes. It was also important for me to find a framework that would highlight all meaningful outcomes, even the unintended negative outcomes of a project.
How do you plan to utilise your newly acquired Level 1 Associate practitioner skills?
With my Level 1 Associate Practitioner skills, I look forward to supporting clients with assessing their social value when making policy, delivery, and investment decisions. The additional skills will also help me bring a different perspective to designing social value reports and pitch decks.
Do you intend to develop your social value practice further?
Having already completed Social Value UK’s ‘Social value and SROI Practitioner training’, I would like to become a Level 2 Accredited Practitioner in the future.
Congratulations on joining our social value practice community. What does it mean to you to be part of a global network? How can you contribute to the social value movement and what issues/areas do you intend to address?
Being a part of a global network is exciting as I am keen to learn about the different environments that social return on investment is applied in. It is great to be able to work with a globally recognised framework that has defined social value and its principles so that it can work across different cultures.
“I’m thrilled to have become a Level 1 Associate Practitioner with Social Value International. This will continue to help me deliver Janina Neumann Design’s mission of design for social change.”
Alessandra is a Consultant in Healthcare Strategy & Planning at Lexica.
Lexica is a multi-disciplinary specialist consultancy. They help public sector organisations deliver better outcomes through the unparalleled capability, commitment, and collaboration of their team.
As a social enterprise, wholly owned by an NHS Trust, they are unique in terms of our business ethics, their insights into the working of a major public sector providers and their access to visionary expertise. With over 100 specialists, Lexica includes world-renowned experts who laid the foundations in the subject areas in which they operate. Their reputation for continuous improvement is reflected in their ability to attract, develop and retain the brightest entrants to the market and in the remarkable stability and resilience of their team. This ensures that their clients receive the benefits, not only of experienced practitioners, but also the creativity and innovative thinking of the generation which will shape the future.
Ahead of this announcement, we spoke to Alessandra about her experience with the assessment process…
Why have you decided to undertake the Social Value International Professional Pathway?
Working with clients in the NHS and wider Health sector, social impact is central to every project I work on. I hope that improving my understanding of impact management through the Social Value International Practitioner Pathway will allow me to better support clients in identifying, appraising and ultimately delivering value to their communities.
What did you learn and find useful from this assessment process?
Learning about SVI’s Principles has been incredibly helpful in framing the way I approach projects. The assessment process has given me a solid understanding of the theory that underpins impact management, which I hope to draw from and build upon as I continue my social value journey.
Now that you are a Level 1 Social Value Associate what do you plan to do next to develop your practice? How do you plan to use your practitioner skills?
I continue to look for opportunities to embed social value principles in my work. I am excited to connect and share ideas with other SVI practitioners. Lexica is currently reviewing its own approach to social value. I hope to use the knowledge I have gained through the assessment process to support the development and implementation of Lexica’s Social Value strategy.
Are there any other specific projects you are doing at the moment that are related to SROI and social value?
I am currently refining our methodology for identifying and appraising the social benefits associated with health infrastructure investments, with a view to achieving SVI report assurance. A recent project I worked on using this methodology to demonstrate the SROI of a new hospital has been developed into a workshop case study by SVI.
You have now joined a community of practice around the globe. What does this mean to you and why do you want to participate and contribute to the development of the methodology and overall social value movement?
This is an incredibly exciting time for social value and I look forward to learning from the knowledge and experience of the international practitioner community. I am interested to hear about the work that other practitioners are involved in and explore opportunities to work together in the interest of furthering the social value movement.
In particular, I am keen to engage in the conversation about social value within consultancy and how, as consultants, we can maximise the benefit we provide, both directly to our clients, and indirectly to the communities they serve.
“I am thrilled to have gained Level 1 Social Value Associate status with Social Value International. I look forward to contributing to the growing practitioner community and using my knowledge of impact management to support the social value goals of Lexica’s clients.” – Alessandra Leach
Tom is a Manager at the Hong Kong Council of Social Services.
The HKCSS is a statutory body established in 1947. Together with their Agency Members, they uphold social justice and equality in their mission to advance the well-being of the Hong Kong community. The HKCSS is committed to building an impact-oriented, collaborative and innovative social service sector, and co-creating a better society with stakeholders across different sectors. The HKCSS has over 510 Agency Members, with service units throughout Hong Kong, providing high-quality social services to those in need.
Ahead of this announcement, we spoke to Tom about his experience with the assessment process…
Why have you decided to undertake the Social Value International Professional Pathway?
Through the SVI practitioner pathway, I can stay tuned for the global trend and new development in the profession of impact measurement and management. SVI also envisions a community for exchanging and discussing professional practices of impact measurement.
What did you learn and find useful from this assessment process?
The assessment process was like a peer review. The assessor made good observations on the report and gave me valuable advice. It’s an enjoyment to discuss the technical details of the report with an experienced practitioner who has solid field experience.
Now that you are a Level 3 Advanced Practitioner what do you plan to do next to develop your practice? How do you plan to use your practitioner skills?
There are lots of conferences, workshops, activities and webinars, as well as publications organised and published by SVI and its affiliated networks, such as the Hong Kong Institute of Social Impact Analysts (HKI-SIA). All in all, I will share my experience in Hong Kong and the larger community and encourage more people to undertake the SVI practitioner pathway.
You have now joined a community of practice around the globe. What does this mean to you and why do you want to participate and contribute to the development of the methodology and overall social value movement?
By having consensus on the principles and systemic framework for impact measurement and management, more talents could join this sector and the cost for accounting social value will be lower, thus building up a world that is more sensitive to social value.
“It is a testament to one’s dedication to advancing the field of impact measurement and to driving a more equitable and sustainable world.” – Tom Chan
We are looking for an experienced Social Value Practitioner who can lead on sector work. This is an exciting opportunity for a dynamic individual who can help us achieve our strategic goal of working with organisations to develop better impact measurement and management.
The role involves leading on sector-specific activities and supporting multi-stakeholder projects embedding the principles of social value in the public and civil society sector. We are looking for someone who is highly organised, motivated, and can be part of an exciting team as we look to scale our activities.
Patricia is and SROI Consultant and Co-funder of The Social Consulting Agency.
The Social Consulting Agency is an impact managing and measurement agency that generates impact. The agency employees women with disabilities and young women from social economic vulnerable environment to support the reduction of unemployment in Spain and generate well-being.
Ahead of this announcement, we spoke to Patricia about her experience with the assessment process…
Why have you decided to undertake the Social Value International Professional Pathway?
I want to make sure that the Spanish-speaking part of the world is not left out of the benefits of having access to stakeholder-informed date through and accredited process such as the one Social Value International offers through the SROI Methodology. Right now in Spain we are less than 8 persons accredited level 1 and I’m the second level 3 advanced practitioner. Thus, my plan is to continue our path with training as it cannot be accessed if you don’t speak English. I aim to be able to deliver training in Spanish to Spanish-speaking impact managers, and by doing so, expanding the community.
What did you learn and find useful from this assessment process?
I believe any assessment is an opportunity to learn. Being assessed is just another way of getting access to experts in the subject that feedbacks in a constructive way on the work you have accomplished, so that it can be improved. It’s a journey towards excellence and better practice.
Now that you are a Level 3 Advanced Practitioner what do you plan to do next to develop your practice? How do you plan to use your practitioner skills?
I am currently taking the course to become a trainer and I am already involved in several SROI projects in Spain on Government level in order to “show by example” the value of working with stakeholder informed methodology and social value.
Are there any other specific projects you are doing at the moment that are related to SROI and social value?
I am currently developing an SROI report for a state-funded project driven by an NGO but financed by the Ministry of Social Welfare in Spain. The program is running intervention on 560 children all over Spain that are in risk of being institutionalized, something Spanish Government wants to avoid. I will provide stakeholder-informed data during the two years the program lasts and develop a report to be used in policy making strategic decisions in 2025. In parallel, I am also developing two SROI reports for Red Cross with the same purpose and financed by the same ministry, but this time related to avoiding institutionalisation of the elderly.
You have now joined a community of practice around the globe. What does this mean to you and why do you want to participate and contribute to the development of the methodology and overall social value movement?
It means: Best practice, Knowledge sharing, Friends, Support
Contribute: experience, errors, mistakes, friendship, report sharing, training
The Social Value UK are currently looking to recruit an Event Organiser to assist in the planning and running of our annual Members Exchange conference.
MemEx is a place for our members to come together, learn, network and discuss best practice.
It is open to all from professionals interested in social value from large private sector businesses to small civil society organisations and independent consultants.
Jesusa is the Senior Manager for Program Governance at the Ayala Foundation
As the social development arm of the Ayala group of companies, Ayala Foundation envisions communities where people are creative, productive, self-reliant, and proud to be Filipino. Ayala Foundation is committed to community development, working closely with communities in identifying compelling developmental needs and providing suitable solutions with measurable outcomes. It implements programs under the following themes: Education, Sustainable Livelihood, and Love of Country. Ayala Foundation welcomes partnerships to help improve lives of people in communities.
Why have you decided to undertake the Social Value International Professional Pathway?
Different organisations and businesses in the Philippines, particularly Ayala Foundation and the rest of the Ayala group of companies, are doing so much to improve the lives of people they serve. While most organizations do very well in monitoring the progress of projects and businesses, sometimes the challenge is in measuring how much they have contributed to the changes in the lives of people.
With the guidance of Ayala Foundation, I pursued the Social Value International Practitioner Pathway to help organisations measure the social value that they create. This will help them make better management decisions, with particular focus on producing higher outcomes for our partners.
What did you learn and find useful from this assessment process?
This assessment process has helped sharpen my practice on SROI measurement. The assurance process has made Social Value Principles and measurement methods clearer, its nuances more well delineated, making it easier to apply to an SROI analysis. I now appreciate sensitivity analysis better, especially in applying it several ways in a particular assessment.
My assessor was very helpful in reviewing the best practices that were applied in SROI measurement, and in pointing out the areas where I needed to articulate more findings that were not included in an earlier draft of the report.
Now that you are a Level 3 Advanced Practitioner what do you plan to do next to develop your practice? How do you plan to use your practitioner skills?
The Ayala Foundation team handling SROI would like to continue trailblazing in the field, both inside and outside the organization. This means conducting more SROI measurements for our programs, and more actively pursuing partnerships with the Ayala group and other non-profit organizations on accounting for the social values that they create with their stakeholders.
Together with the rest of Ayala Foundation, we will work towards organizing a social value associate network in the Philippines to spearhead changing the way organizations account for value in our part of the globe.
Are there any other specific projects you are doing at the moment that are related to SROI and social value?
I am currently measuring the SROI of two Ayala Foundation programs—the CENTEX Training Institute and the ornamental plants and vegetable farming project under our sustainable livelihood programs in Calauan, Laguna.
CENTEX Training Institute is a program that specifically targets primary school teachers from the public school system, providing training, books, gadgets, internet assistance, and parent-engagement support. Meanwhile, ornamental and vegetable farming project works with a group of farmers based in the municipality of Calauan, Laguna (about two hours away from Metro Manila), providing technology and management support, as well as market connection, including to the Ayala value chain.
You have now joined a community of practice around the globe. What does this mean to you and why do you want to participate and contribute to the development of the methodology and overall social value movement?
This is a great opportunity for me to share my knowledge and skills on social value measurement and management for individuals and organizations around the globe. Despite the enormous work being done by different organisations to improve the global situation, gaps remain huge. While there are many factors that contribute to global poverty and environmental issues, one way to maximize the impact of current initiatives is to account for social values created, so we can manage them better and make an even greater impact in the lives of people.
The current global standards are big on measuring output and short-term outcomes of businesses and organisations. Many focus on measuring the value of output—there remains that challenge of measuring outcomes, looking deeper at the impact and changes created in people’s lives. SROI and the social value movement can fill this gap in the current global practices by developing impact level metrics and measures. Together with Ayala Foundation, I am hoping to work with the global social value movement on this.
“I am proud to be a Level 3 Advanced Practitioner with Social Value International. It’s a great leap from being Level 1 Practitioner last year. It means that Ayala Foundation is aligned with the international standard on social value measurement. The Level 3 Advanced Practitioner status will help me and the foundation trailblaze social value measurement in the Philippines.”
Jesusa I. Rebete, DPA – Senior Manager for Program Governance at The Ayala Foundation
Social Value UK are proud to announce Adam Knight-Markiegi, Research Directorat M·E·L Research, has achieved Level Three Advanced Practitioner status.
M·E·L Research is one of the UK’s leading social research and behavioural insights consultancies. Our vision is to make a positive difference to organisations, employees, customers and wider society. Our mission is to empower our people to make a positive difference, using their passion and skills in listening to and understanding people, to provide actionable insight, that helps our customers deliver better public services.
Ahead of this announcement, we had a discussion about our Practitioner Pathway and Adam’s experience with the Level Three assessment process:
Why have you decided to undertake the Social Value International Practitioner Pathway?
I started my SROI training back in 2018 with the two-day practitioner course. I’ve also liked how SROI is a great bridge between qualitative and quantitative approaches to understanding what changes for stakeholders. It’s rewarding to work with organisations to capture their wider social impact and help improve their social value.
The SVI Practitioner Pathway, especially the Level 3 Advanced status, is a public show of a deep understanding of social value measurement and proof – and commitment – of demonstrating this to high standards.
What did you learn and find useful from this assessment process? How did you find working with your assessor?
Having my single-handed SROI report externally assessed was really useful. Because of the demands of the Practitioner application, you can’t get lots of input into the SROI evaluation from colleagues or others. Every decision really does come back to you – with stakeholder involvement, of course. This means an external pair of eyes assessing your work becomes really valuable, helping to emphasise the good parts but also pick up areas to improve.
Now that you are a Level 3 Advanced Practitioner what do you plan to do next to develop your practice? How do you plan to use your practitioner skills?
We carry out lots of evaluations at M·E·L Research, though not so many SROI ones so far. I will grow this here. Part of this has been encouraging a colleague to go on the SROI Practitioner Training. Now as an Advanced Practitioner myself, I want to nurture these skills in colleagues and help to apply the SROI principles in other, non-social value project
Are there any other specific projects you are doing at the moment that are related to SROI/social value?
A live SROI evaluation is of Steps to Work’s BRIDGES project, aiming to tackle poverty and social inclusion in the Black Country. As well as assessing the project’s aims against programme objectives, we’re also unearthing other changes for participants, partners (like colleges and employers) and other stakeholders. The findings will address funder requirements but also give Steps to Work useful insight into how such projects work and who benefits most from them, therefore feeding into their future projects.
You have now joined a community of practice around the globe. What does this mean to you and why do you want to participate and contribute to the development of the methodology and overall social value movement?
For me, it comes back to SROI principles and applying these. This even includes the new Principle 8 of being responsive. My externally assessed report was an SROI evaluation of the Birmingham School of Bell Ringing, an entirely volunteer-run organisation helping people learn to ring church bells. I learnt to ring there and have returned as a volunteer helper, then analyst and now evaluator. As an ‘insider’, I know how the report findings are already making a change to how the School operates. The School has been responsive and I’ve taken up another voluntary role, as Pastoral Manager, so am also being responsive.
“I’m delighted to have been recognised as a Level 3 Advanced Practitioner. Going back to the start of the SROI evaluation I’ve used for the assessment, this is the end point in a year-long journey. Great to be recognised for the hard work and commitment to social value and social impact measurement.”
Adam Knight-Markiegi, Research Directorat M·E·L Research
Social Value UK are proud to announce Natalie Wilson, Research Associate at Ohio University Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Service, has achieved Level One Associate Practitioner status.
Ohio University’s Social Enterprise Ecosystem has a dual mission: bringing venture development services to regional social enterprises, which combine a market-based approach with a mission for social good, and capacity-building for philanthropic funders interested in impact investment.
Ahead of this announcement, we had a discussion about our Practitioner Pathway and Natalie’s experience with the assessment process:
Why have you decided to undertake the Social Value International Practitioner Pathway? What has led to your application for Level 1 of Practitioner?
I work in the field of Program Evaluation in the United States, where SROI is less prevalent than in other areas of the world. I wanted to pursue this training to prepare myself in furthering the practice of SROI in this country. I feel measuring social impacts is crucial and needs to be a clear and consistent focus in the US and beyond.
What did you learn and find useful from this assessment process?
There was so much that I learned from the training and assessment. The cultural difference in SROI in the UK and SROI in the US was especially eye-opening.
Now that you are a Level 1 Associate Practitioner what do you plan to do next to develop your practice? How do you plan to use your practitioner skills?
I want to incorporate SROI into more of my evaluation projects so that clients will be able to use it as part of their story to advocate for funding and show the true value of their services.
Are there any other specific projects you are doing at the moment that are related to SROI/social value?
My small SROI team and I are working to set up systematic SROI research studies that can be updated yearly for all grantees funded through one foundation so they will be able to measure their collective social, environmental, and economic impact. We hope this will be a benefit to the foundation, but also to each individual grantee.
You have now joined a community of practice around the globe. What does this mean to you and why do you want to participate and contribute to the development of the methodology and overall social value movement?
I specialise in working in and for Appalachia, a small and unique population within the mountainous eastern US. Joining a global community is an excellent way to ensure my perspective remains broad and well-rounded.
“I’m happy to call myself a Level 1 Associate Practitioner with Social Value International. I hope to further the movement towards accounting for and measuring social value here in the United States as comprehensively as we see the practice in other regions in the world.”
Natalie Wilson – Research Associate at Ohio University Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Service
