Our Tent Just Got Bigger
SOCAP, at its core, is a convener. We create a platform to host the boldest and brightest ideas for how capital can be put to work to solve our world’s toughest challenges. And, we make the platform accessible to leaders in every seat. We pitch a big tent because the types of urgent and just solutions we all need will not come out of a silo — we need to cross-pollinate and accelerate what our community brings to the table. We need to hold ourselves accountable for the goals we set.
The global pandemic took a massive toll on all of us, and SOCAP is no exception. To breathe new life into SOCAP and accommodate the size and scope of our community’s vision and ambition we needed a strong foundation. We needed to lean into our value of radical collaboration in a time of urgent global need.
We are excited to share that we are leaning in with our longtime friends at the Sorenson Impact Center, one of the most accomplished and respected organizations in global impact. Our big tent is getting an upgrade.
We needed a strong partner, aligned with our vision, to ensure SOCAP, a cornerstone of global impact, can not only survive but thrive. The Center is stepping up and has assumed the day-to-day management and leadership of SOCAP. In the press release from Sorenson Impact Center, Jim Sorenson, chairman of the Sorenson Impact Foundation and mainstay in our SOCAP community, shared:
“We have made this commitment to SOCAP because we believe in its uniquely influential role in the field of impact on the importance of the institution and know that it, in partnership with the Sorenson Impact Center, has huge potential to help shape the conversation for the next era of impact as the sector scales and attracts new adherents and drive the future of impact going forward. SOCAP has done so much good work to advance impact investing. I know that working as one we can achieve much more than the sum of our parts. The future is bright for impact investing and we’re going to build it together.”
— Jim Sorenson
Like SOCAP, the Sorenson Impact Center works across the verticals of impact to help others achieve their impact vision. With some of the leading experts in impact investing, strategy, finance, and storytelling, the Center has helped its partners realize positive outcomes on a global scale. In short, Sorenson will make SOCAP and our community more accountable, transparent, and, ultimately, better.
Robert Munson, who is a managing director at the Center, has taken on the leadership role here at SOCAP. Answering the question as to why he and the Center wanted to join forces, he says: “The world needs SOCAP.” We agree.
As Sorenson put it, we are aligning to become even more than the sum of our parts. Putting our organizations together offers clear, notable benefits for our world.
SOCAP and Sorenson Impact Center FAQs
We know there are likely a lot of questions you want to ask. We tried to answer several questions below:
What does this mean for our community and for the annual SOCAP event?
SOCAP will remain the visionary space and culture we have all known. Together with our community and event attendees, we will continue to drive the conversation for impact and capital forward.
SOCAP22 will be held Oct. 17-20 at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, a new-to-SOCAP location in downtown San Francisco. The Center and SOCAP are partnering with Make Justice Normal to oversee content strategy for the SOCAP22 event.
We are working with the SOCAP community to develop engaging and impactful content this year. Since we last gathered in person in 2019, so much has changed — the way we approach our work, the urgency of the challenges we are working to solve, and how we hold ourselves accountable for making it happen. As a community, we must respond, accelerate, and lead.
You can get a look at what we are planning by reviewing this year’s themes. Our approach is to move us more urgently toward radical collaboration, recognizing that we need each other to resist and repair global injustices, address the climate crisis, and build better systems for all. We’re organizing around seven cross-cutting SOCAP22 themes including accountability, justice, and equity.
How did we get here? And why now?
After years of revenue and audience growth, SOCAP experienced significant financial stress as a result of the pandemic. In 2020, SOCAP ceased all physical convenings. In order to support and grow the organization to pre-pandemic levels and beyond, the SOCAP Board of Advisors sought a partnership with the Sorenson Impact Center, a non-profit, university-based impact center at the University of Utah.
There was a very real possibility that SOCAP would cease to exist without a strong partnership in the field like the Sorenson Impact Center.
What’s to come?
First and foremost, we are focused on stabilizing SOCAP and positioning the organization for growth. We are renewing partnerships for the 2022 and 2023 SOCAP flagship events. To rebuild and grow, we are currently raising funds from qualified investors. We are working hard to plan SOCAP22 and reconvene the SOCAP community in person safely.
We are looking forward to co-designing a strong and aspirational vision for the future of SOCAP.
You can help shape this community and all of our futures — your ideas are what make this convening what it is. We are the makers of the space and you are the bold leaders guiding the journey.
We want to hear from you! Share your creative and interactive session ideas by submitting them to SOCAP Open. Here’s how to get involved now:
Shape the content at SOCAP22: The content is still being developed. We encourage you to submit ideas to speak at SOCAP Open and vote for the content you’d like to engage with.
Join us at the SOCAP22 conference: Be there in person to reconnect, recharge, and be inspired! We look forward to seeing you there.
