
Changing systems, changing Social Finance

When I joined Social Finance in 2014, we were a 40-person band of social impact warriors operating from a decaying building with a barely functioning loo. Eight years later, we’re a 130 strong outfit with capabilities that span financial modelling, partnership building, data analytics, product development, co-production, learning partnerships and commissioning. Only the slightly dodgy loos are the same.
Social Finance’s transition to being about much more than social finance was delivered under the leadership of my predecessor, David Hutchison. He oversaw our shift from one-trick social impact bond pony to multi-disciplined engine for social change.
We have gone from piloting innovative projects in specific areas to achieving impact at scale in some of the most complex and important social issues of our time – from challenging perpetrators of domestic abuse to supporting thousands of people with severe mental illness to find and sustain paid employment. At the same time, our team has grown in breadth and depth – their talent and passion remains our number one strength.
So what’s next for us? As we go into a strategic review, we’re asking ourselves the hard questions. Questions like what will it take to change systems to get better outcomes for those at the sharp edge of social injustice? And how can we realise our vision of a fairer world where together we unleash the potential of communities? Despite all that we and our friends and partners from across the social sector have done, social challenges loom larger than ever. We’re fired up and ready to drive toward better outcomes for a better world.