SOCAP23: October 23 to 25, 2023 in San Francisco!

October 23-25, 2023
8:00 am - 5:00 pm
San Francisco

From October 23 to 25, 2023, thousands of global impact leaders, practitioners, investors, and entrepreneurs gathered in San Francisco at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. With more than 90 sessions and 200+ speakers, thousands of attendees were inspired and challenged to lean into the urgency of the challenges our world faces.

Read SOCAP23 Takeaways, Highlights, and Lessons in Impact: Lasting Ideas and Thoughts Shared From SOCAP23 Stages.

Listen to the Money + Meaning podcast recorded at SOCAP23: Innovations and Collaborations Shaping the Future of Impact.

Check out what others have said about SOCAP23!

For more than 16 years, the SOCAP conference has been the flagship event and leading convener in the impact economy, gathering more than 100,000 people since our first event. SOCAP brings together the whole ecosystem of impact to accelerate progress against the world’s toughest challenges through market-based solutions.

SOCA24 takes place October 28 to 30, 2024 back at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco! Learn more and register here.

3

Days

90

Sessions

350

Speakers

3200

Attendees

SOCAP Partners

Partner with SOCAP for the ideal opportunity to connect with a global audience at the forefront of social and environmental impact. Convening the largest community in impact, SOCAP directly connects global changemakers across multiple networks and sectors to catalyze systemic change and solve the greatest challenges of our time. When you partner with SOCAP, you’ll engage with an ever-growing, dedicated audience who values your commitment and is eager to get involved. View the SOCAP23 partners below. Learn more about partnering with SOCAP to accelerate your impact here!

SOCAP Entrepreneur Program

Through the SOCAP Entrepreneur Program, we’ve created a one-of-a-kind, holistic, hybrid program of support for our cohort of globally-based entrepreneurs, as well as sponsored cohorts. With six months of virtual programming leading up to the event, entrepreneurs attending SOCAP are prepped and ready to have fundraising conversations with potential funders and get the chance to present the impact of their ventures on stage at SOCAP. Learn more about the SOCAP Entrepreneur Program and meet our SOCAP23 Entrepreneur Cohort here!

SOCAP23 Theme Graphic

The Theme for SOCAP23 — Facing Urgency: Impact at the Speed of Trust

We must face the challenges of our time with urgent action and solutions. Trust is essential for catalyzing impactful solutions — when people trust each other, they are more likely to collaborate, share information, and take risks. When you build trust, you create a foundation for collaboration and cooperation. This leads to more innovative and effective solutions. 

At SOCAP, we convene to accelerate the speed of trust. We orchestrate discovery, facilitate serendipity, and offer a platform for cross-learning. The theme for SOCAP23 propels our community to work together, collaborate, and co-create as essential ingredients to rapidly create real impact.

SOCAP23 Tracks

Within our theme, we have identified nine content tracks around which we will organize our sessions:

  • Climate and Capital 
  • Philanthropy as Catalytic Capital
  • Impact Measurement and Management
  • Gender Lens Investing
  • Full Spectrum DEI 
  • Community and Economic Development
  • Well-Being for Impact
  • Value Chain Investment
  • Social Entrepreneurship

Attendees will also be able to follow content based on regional focus tracks: 

  • Latin America
  • Asia
  • Africa

Learn more about the SOCAP23 theme and tracks.

SOCAP23 Content Curation Process

We take the curation process seriously — it goes beyond selecting and organizing quality presenters and topics. We want our attendees to be a part of the session, a part of the takeaways that build a better future and help advance our community’s global mission.

This year, we have evolved our curation process, moving toward a distributed approach to building our conference programming. Along with those selected through SOCAP Open and co-created with our partners, the sessions within each content track for SOCAP23 are curated by our Content Curation Councils, populated by more than 36 experts from around the world working closely with our content and production teams. 

The Councils are tasked with identifying the set of sessions that will guide the conference conversations along each track. Each track and each session is the result of a months-long process, designed to present a SOCAP23 experience that helps our community accelerate relationships, break down silos, and identify gaps — then bridge them.

Learn more about the SOCAP23 Content Curation Councils and process.

SOCAP23 Speakers

Our speakers are renowned and respected leaders from around the globe and across hundreds of industries. To root content in equity and diversity, in 2023, SOCAP evolved the curation process to incorporate a more distributed approach to conference programming. Along with those selected through SOCAP Open, the sessions and speakers within each content track for SOCAP23 were co-created and curated by Content Curation Councils of 39 experts from around the world, working closely with our content and production teams.

Get to know our incredible speakers below!


Agenda

The schedule below is interactive.  Click on the arrows at the top right to change the day.  Click on any session to see the description.You can see a larger version of the schedule by clicking at the bottom right of the frame.  If you lost your way and do not know how to go back to the main view, just refresh the page.

 

Find a Google Sheet version of the agenda here

 

How to Make Connections to Advance Your Mission at SOCAP23

SOCAP23 convenes thousands of members of the impact community not only for sessions and learnings but also for connections and opportunities to advance attendees’ individual impact goals. To help attendees make the most of their three days, the event will feature intentional space and time for networking, many that are brand new to this year’s conference. Here’s an overview of some opportunities to greet, meet, and connect with other impact leaders at SOCAP23!

Learn About Exciting New Additions to the SOCAP Framework

At SOCAP Global, we are constantly evolving to address the needs of our community and the pressing, ever-changing challenges our world faces. This year, these updates include a new full three-day schedule, expansion into additional spaces around YBCA’s campus, direct facilitation of connections between funders and founders, and more. Learn more about these additions and updates for SOCAP23!

SOCAP Open

Each year, SOCAP Open helps us identify the most innovative new ideas from the SOCAP Global community and beyond. Anyone interested in participating is encouraged to upload proposals. We then invite our community to vote on their favorite submissions. This year, session ideas were co-reviewed by our content team and our inaugural Content Curation Councils. More than 30 SOCAP23 sessions were selected from our community-driven SOCAP Open process — learn more and get ready to see them on stage!

Partners

Meet our partners

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Hotels

We’re happy to share an opportunity for SOCAP attendees to both save money on hotels and reduce our collective carbon footprint. We’ve partnered again with travel company TripZero (a Certified B Corp) to offset the carbon footprint created by travel to our event.

With the help of our partner hotels, we’ve secured significantly discounted room rates exclusively for attendees. By booking these hotel rooms, we collectively enable TripZero to offset the carbon footprint created by our travel–at no cost to you.

Through the purchase of certified carbon offsets, TripZero funds reforestation and renewable energy projects that remove pollution from the atmosphere. As these projects offset the impact of our travel, they also create lots of benefits for local communities. Interested? Take a moment to watch this project video.

If you’d like to take advantage of our discounted hotel rates, don’t delay. Our cheapest hotel, the BEI, is 5 minutes away by car from the venue. We have a very limited number of rooms and expect them to sell out by September 15.

Check Out Our Hotel Deals

Travel Tips for Getting to SOCAP23

The value of in-person convening is central to our mission at SOCAP. The tangible relationships, conversations, and learnings coupled with the intangible benefits provided when we gather together are our reasons for being. We also recognize that traveling to be together comes with a tangible price tag. We know travel is expensive, so we have compiled some ways we’ve worked to lower the monetary barriers to attendance and other tips we have from years of traveling and hosting events in San Francisco.

Stay in the Know

Join our mailing list to stay up-to-date on all things related to SOCAP23!

What people have to say

Take a look below at some of the feedback we’ve received from SOCAP22:

“SOCAP continues to evolve and expand ways to engage around the ideas of social capital and the impact economy. Attending this conference reminds me that there are so many aspects of work to be done that there is room for all in the tent, and that we must keep working to make the tent even bigger.”
Lisa Hanson Co-Founder, Global Urban Village
“Reflecting back on SOCAP22, the theme that stands out the most for me is innovation. This may just sound like another buzzword, but I see it as the driving force behind the sustainability movement. Everyone I spoke to at SOCAP Global had identified a problem and was working on a solution.”
Dmitriy Ioselevich CEO & Founder, 17 Communications
“For years I’ve heard about SOCAP, the must-attend conference on impact investing, a place for founders, investors, asset managers, and creators to get together and envision a better future for people and the planet. This year I had the chance to represent Proof at the conference — I’m still buzzing with inspiration from the panelists and conference attendees.”
Clara Cecil Head of Customer Success, Proof 

Register

No tickets available.

Code of Conduct

Our top priority at SOCAP Global is to create a safe, collaborative environment for participants to connect, learn, and grow together. We understand some of the topics we will discuss have a high level of sensitivity and/or contrasting viewpoints. Participants are free to examine and discuss all questions of interest to them and to express opinions publicly and privately, as long as it is done in a respectful way that encourages collaborative discussion. 

To ensure a productive experience for all, we expect participants to follow our Code of Conduct:

  • Be considerate, respectful, and collaborative when exchanging ideas, listening, and talking to other participants. Focus on constructive learning, rather than shaming. 
  • Refrain from demeaning, discriminatory or harassing behavior and speech (both verbally and in the chat). Trolling, harassing, or any other forms of intimidation or disruption of discussions will not be tolerated.
  • Exchange ideas by orderly means that do not disrupt plenaries, sessions, or break-outs. If you feel a conversation needs to be continued, please table it until a more appropriate time for more in-depth conversations, such as a networking break. 
  • Follow directions and requests from SOCAP Global staff. You are expected to comply with requests and directions from SOCAP staff members immediately. 
  • Alert SOCAP staff if you have experienced or witnessed any code of conduct violations. Direct message any identifiable SOCAP staff member. 

The full Code of Conduct is available in the SOCAP23 event app and on SOCAP’s website.

About our location

SOCAP23 will take place downtown San Francisco, at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 701 Mission Street.

Registration will open at 8 a.m. on Monday, October 23, with the first sessions starting at 9 a.m.  Content will take place from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.  Breakfast and lunch are provided every day.

 

 

We’re happy to share an opportunity for SOCAP attendees to both save money on hotels and reduce our collective carbon footprint. We’ve partnered again with travel company TripZero (a Certified B Corp) to offset the carbon footprint created by travel to our event.

With the help of our partner hotels, we’ve secured significantly discounted room rates exclusively for attendees. By booking these hotel rooms, we collectively enable TripZero to offset the carbon footprint created by our travel–at no cost to you.

Through the purchase of certified carbon offsets, TripZero funds reforestation and renewable energy projects that remove pollution from the atmosphere. As these projects offset the impact of our travel, they also create lots of benefits for local communities. Interested? Take a moment to watch this project video.

If you’d like to take advantage of our discounted hotel rates, don’t delay. We have a very limited number of rooms and expect them to sell-out soon.  Our cheapest hotel, the BEI is 5 minutes away by car.  The discounted rate of $199 is guaranteed until September 15.

Check Out Our Hotel Deals

Yes!!!!

The Yerba Buena Center for the Arts is walking distance from the Powell BART/Muni station, meaning that you can commute from Oakland and the East Bay, or arrive directly from SFO or Oakland airport using public transportation.

Learn about public transit options in San Francisco, including shared bicycles.

If you are coming from the East Bay, from San Francisco Airport or South San Francisco, take BART.

If you are coming from the South Bay, take Caltrain.  The Caltrain station is a 15-20 minute walk from YBCA or you can take the brand new MUNI subway.

To park your bicycle, check the parking garage answer below.

If you have to drive, there are several garages around Yerba Buena.  We do not validate parking.

5th & Mission Garage – $5 per hour – $38 for 12 hours.  Has bicycle lockers, EV chargers & carpool rates.

SFMTA – Moscone Center Garage – 255 3rd Street  $3 to $4 an hour, $18 early bird if entering between 6 & 9 a.m.  – Has bicycle lockers & EV chargers.

Hearst Parking Center – 45 3rd Street  $24 if you stay between 2.5 & 12 hours

Other garages

(Rates quoted valid as of July 2023)

Please note that San Francisco’s crime rate is driven mostly by car burglaries – when you take that out, the crime rate goes down considerably and the city is actually pretty safe for a city that size – unfortunately, tourists are most often the victims of those car break-ins.  To avoid being part of the statistics, use common sense and basic precautions:

  • Do not leave anything visible in your car, especially if it is a rental or has an out-of-state license plate.
  • If you have to leave anything in the car, place the items in your trunk before you arrive at the parking place.
  • If you leave electronics in your car, even if they are hidden, make sure to turn them off completely.  Thieves are known to go around parking lots with blue-tooth detectors to help them figure out where there might be hidden electronics.
  • Finally, after you close your car, double-check manually to make sure that it is really locked (making sure no one around is using a key jammer.)

We kindly request that you leave your luggage at your hotel.  There will be NO place to store bags at the event.

As usual, there is no dress code for SOCAP23.  It’s the West Coast, so comfy business casual is the accepted norm, but wear what is comfortable to you.

Yerba Buena has a warm microclimate, but that doesn’t mean that Karl the fog won’t invite itself toward the end of the day.  It can be quite windy too, so plan to layer.

You will need to walk across campus and we again have activated the garden that separates our venues.  You might need to walk on grass – heels are not recommended unless you are a total heel-pro.

To have an idea of the range of outfits, check this Impact Alpha 2018 article.

We launched our networking app on September 18. You can connect with other attendees through the app, and you will also find a downloadable list of attendees there.

If you are an investor, check our Entrepreneurs’ Lookbook

The invitation to join the app comes from Brella.  It was sent on September 18 to anyone who registered before that date, and if you register after that date, you will receive it within 15 to 30 minutes. It contains a personal link to join.  If you have not receive the email, first look in your inbox and spam folder for an email from no-reply@brella.io.  If you still cannot find it, please contact hello@socapglobal.com

To learn more about the app and to troubleshoot any issue you might have, check our Brella Guide. 

You will be able to review your information on the check-in kiosk before we print your badge.  You can also edit your information in the app before you arrive.

You can check-in starting at 8:00 a.m. on Monday, October 23, in the YBCA lobby, 701 Mission Street.

To check-in, use the QR code in your app.  If you registered after September 18, the QR code is also found at the bottom of your Brella invitation email. Failing that, you can check-in with your name, email you used at registration and a photo ID.

No.  Sessions and networking areas are for registered guests only.  We will enforce this policy strictly.  The gallery in YBCA will stay open for the public and might be available for casual conversation.  There are plenty of cafes, restaurants, and museums in the area that will welcome your patronage.

No.  Our pitch sessions are reserved for the participants in our Entrepreneur Program.  If you are interested in participating in the program next year, check our newsletter regularly to make sure you do not miss the application period.  We expect we will accept applications in January 2024, with the program beginning in March (but this is subject to change).

Cancellation policy and other requirements

Tickets are non-refundable, even if we were to require proof of vaccination to allow entry in buildings.  Note that we have activated a large area in the Yerba Buena Gardens, and networking will take place outdoors.

Tickets can be transferred by filling out this form

Accessibility and Health Concerns

We recommend that you contact us with any specific requests before buying a ticket to make sure we can accommodate your needs properly.

We offer vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free options.  Unfortunately, our gluten-free dishes are prepared in areas where gluten might be present and may not be appropriate for celiac disease sufferers.

All inside venues are ADA-accessible, with reserved seating areas.  We have activated a grassy area in the Yerba Buena Gardens.  You may need to wheel yourself or walk on grass to reach the picnic tables where networking will take place.

If you have hearing issues, contact us to learn which hearing assistance technology the YBCA theaters offers.  Note that smaller rooms or rooms in our other venue are not equipped similarly, but we are working on solutions to make sessions available.

We will have a dedicated nursing parent room at YBCA.

SCAM ALERT!

This is a scam, do not buy it! We never sell SOCAP conference registrants information.  SOCAP23 attendees will be able to access a full list of attendees in our networking app, Brella. We do not share email addresses with sponsors or other attendees, nor do we share mailing addresses or phone numbers if we have them.

I am registered, but I am not receiving emails

If you didn’t get a confirmation email right after registering, please check with us to make sure there is not a typo in your email address.  The emails come from registration@socapglobal.com.  Please accept-list that email address to make sure you receive our communications.

If you used to receive our emails in the past, but you don’t anymore, there might be several possible reasons : maybe you used a different email address than you remember, or you may have used an email address that is now obsolete and you need to update it.  Finally, if you have opted out of our marketing emails, you will not receive updates about SOCAP23.  Please contact hello@socapglobal.com so that we can help you figure out what’s going on.

If you know that you opted out of our marketing emails, contact us so that we can add you again to the attendees’ mailing list.

Registration updates

Use unique email addresses to register multiple attendees, even if you use the same first name and last name.  It will ensure that we have easy access to the records for all your tickets.

If you do not know who will be attending, please contact us at hello@socialglobal.com to get an invoice.  Upon payment, you will be given a code to register your attendees later.

We understand that you may not be able to attend all days in person.  At this point, we cannot split tickets into day passes.  If you want different people to attend on different days, you will have to hand out the physical badge to your colleague in order to share a ticket.  You can register your ticket in the name of the company as first name, and “.” for all other mandatory fields.  Use the email of the person most likely to use the networking app.

We are not planning on selling day passes.  If this changes, we would advertise them in our newsletter.

Once we launch our app, you will be able to update your name, company and job title directly in the app.  If you didn’t update the information, we will use the information you used at registration to print your badge.  New at SOCAP this year, we are not pre-printing the badges, and you will have the opportunity to review the information on your badge before printing it.

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