A Money + Meaning Podcast with Amy Brachio of EY and Imogen Rose-Smith of Confluence Partners
“We’re seeing more and more organizations are really committed to ensuring that they have a positive impact on the communities and the stakeholders with which they interact. … These days, there really is no room for a gap between what an organization says they’re going to do and actually does.” — Amy Brachio
Organizations are expanding their impact mindset to create transparent, holistic approaches that can help shape sustainable supply chains and advance diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. In this Money + Meaning conversation, Amy Brachio, EY Global Deputy Vice Chair for Sustainability, and Imogen Rose-Smith of Confluence Partners discuss how organizations and investors are addressing social and environmental issues to build positive impact on communities.
At EY, Brachio helps clients create business value from their sustainable strategies and advance diversity and inclusion through their policies and practices. Business leaders face new and growing expectations on social and environmental challenges from customers, workers, suppliers, and other stakeholders, she said.
“Many organizations now are purpose-driven, and employees expect that, consumers expect that. Then you’ve got to set the tone at the top with respect to the values of the organization and the actions that are being taken to live those values,” she said. “We’re seeing more and more organizations are really committed to ensuring that they have a positive impact on the communities and the stakeholders with which they interact.”
Making decisions that reinforce consistency and transparency can help organizations encourage and demonstrate the values they need in order to deliver on their social impact goals, Brachio said. “These days, there really is no room for a gap between what an organization says they’re going to do and actually does.”
That also includes exploring how their suppliers are making changes to improve their impact on the planet and people, and how that affects their organization’s own sustainability goals. “It’s important that our industries understand not only their business, but they also understand the sustainability commitments of their vendors and their supply chain,” she said.
A 2022 report from EY examines how organizations are approaching supply chain sustainability and tracking progress. “The vast majority are seeing that they are getting return on their efforts around building a sustainable supply chain, and they expect that return on revenue to continue over at least the next three years,” Brachio said.
The report also found the importance of using technology and data to better understand impact and enhance supply chain transparency. “What we’re seeing is companies are doing a lot more with respect to technology to provide that end-to-end visibility and also allow for more real-time decisions,” she said.
Listen to the Full Conversation on the Value of a Transparent and Holistic Approach to Sustainable Supply Chains and DEI
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Money + Meaning is the official podcast of SOCAP. The series aims to expand the conversation around impact investing and strategies to finance and support social change while stimulating innovative and valuable new partnerships across sectors.
