“What does it take to build an inclusive business?”

While capitalism is credited with lifting billions of people out of poverty, our system is no longer sustainable. A new, more inclusive economy that balances profitability with equity is needed, and the transition will be neither easy nor linear.
Acumen and EY have both worked closely with businesses to create profitable models that benefit low-income and marginalized people, and we’ve helped a range of organizations weather the trials and tribulations of transitioning toward inclusivity.
Together we’ve launched The Inclusive Business Playbook, previewed at SOCAP in 2020, to share a framework and case studies that draw on this diverse, global experience — relevant to both early-stage social enterprises and Fortune 500s that are expanding inclusivity. The playbook shares practical guidance and inspiration to advance inclusion of low-income, marginalized groups within businesses, with the larger aim of helping to build a new, more inclusive system of capitalism.
Join us for an interactive workshop as we apply the guidance and lessons shared in the playbook to the realities faced by entrepreneurs, investors, corporations, and other stakeholders working to build more inclusive businesses. We will discuss what it takes to drive inclusion across every aspect of business, from purpose, supply chain, customers, workforce, to governance and ownership. We will explore how risk and reward can be re-distributed, and what role each stakeholder (entrepreneur, investor, gov’t) has to play to go beyond impact to focus on inclusion.