Catalyst News Social Business News
28 March 2008: Catalyst has just launched www.socialinvestments.com. This site is an information portal which enables the public to learn about and potentially invest in leading UK social businesses and enterprises.
The portal aims to de-mystify social investing. It currently contains information on nearly 100 UK social businesses and enterprises, classified into five different categories. Over 150 industry terms are explained, news stories are summarised, a selection of third-party reports are highlighted and many key links are provided.
17 March 2008: Melanie Howard joins Catalyst as a Senior Adviser and Innovation Champion Prior to joining Catalyst Melanie was Co-founder of the Future Foundation, a well-regarded consumer think tank and strategic futures consultancy focused on helping clients understand what is going on in the minds of consumers worldwide, both now and in the future .She has many years experience of researching the growth of ethical consumption and exploring what values consumers expect brands and organisations to manifest. Having sold the business, Melanie is now focusing on bringing this insight and her skills as an innovator to the social business sector. At Catalyst, Melanie will advise on the strategic direction of the group, as well as assisting in the execution of several key initiatives.
27 February 2008: The social stock exchange (SSE) is debated at the annual conference of the Social Enterprise Coalition in Liverpool. This massive conference, with over 1000 attendees, turned out to be a highly innovative and futuristic event in Liverpool's new conference centre. Rodney Schwartz argued alongside Caroline Mason of Investing for Good, that the SSE was a well-intentioned idea that faced too many practical problems to be a success. Jamie Hartzell of the Ethical Property Company, and Mark Campanale of London Bridge Capital, argued in favor of the SSE.
17 January 2008: Catalyst announces launch of £25m fund and key cornerstone investor. Please see press release. Information also available in this article in The Independent.
16 January 2008: Rodney Schwartz launches discussion on Social Edge Forum '2008: The arrival of social business?'
8 January 2008: Jessica Shortall and Rodney Schwartz participate in a panel discussion at the world entrepreneurship summit held in London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall. Leading advocates debated and prospects for social entrepreneurship. Among the issues raised, social entrepreneurs were challenged to "learn the language of capital" if they were to succeed.
04 December 2007: Rodney Schwartz addresses Canada's first Social Entrepreneurship Summit inToronto. For more information see this article.
15 November 2007: Rodney Schwartz addresses a group of investors and practitioners at a "Corporate Opportunities" mini-conference in London
14 November 2007: As part of Enterprise Week, Jessica Shortall speaks at Striding Out's "Inspiring Women in Business" dinner at social enterprise restaurant Hoxton Apprentice
8 November 2007: Catalyst hosts its second annual Conference for Social Business CEOs, with 50 social business execs and investors in attendance.
16 October 2007: Catalyst hosts dinner on social business in the Balkans as part of Rod Schwartz's trip to the region to learn about social business.
25 September 2007: The Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) hosts a provocative discussion featuring Rod Schwartz on ‘Social Business in the Balkans’.
25 September 2007: Jessica Shortall joins a panel of VCs in a friendly Dragon's Den event hosted by Striding Out, a social enterprise that supports young entrepreneurs.
20 July 2007: Jessica Shortall speaks to 100 young social innovation fellows at the Starting Bloc Global Institute for Social Innovation at the London Business School
4 July 2007: Catalyst hosts dinner on social innovation in Thailand, as a follow-up to Jessica Shortall's Catalyst In... trip to learn about social business in the region.
18 April 2007: Catalyst runs a corporate social innovation workshop at Forum for the Future, focused on how businesses can explore profitable and strategic applications of social innovation.
28 March 2007: Catalyst and ?What If! co-facilitate a session on Corporate Social Innovation at the Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship in Oxford.
9 March 2007: Rod Schwartz judges the Global Social Venture Competition at London Business School.
9 March 2007: Jessica Shortall gives the keynote at the annual Student Volunteering England conference in Liverpool. Jessica shares her experiences in co-founding The Campus Kitchens Project (a student-focused anti-hunger organisation in the US) and discussing opportunities for young people to use their careers to create social value.
1 January 2007: Catalyst launches its consultancy offering, providing management consulting, business planning, corporate strategy, advisory services, and corporate finance to social businesses.
6 November 2006: Catalyst hosts its first annual "Social Business CEOs" conference at Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium in North London. This event brings together 40 CEOs and investors from the Social Business sector for a working day focused on "the business of social business".
For Social Business News see socialinvestments.com, a site developed by Catalyst to kickstart investment in the social business sector.
Catalyst on TV
Rod was interviewed by iball, part of Interactive Investor, in April 2008. Click the 'play' button to start the video or click here to see a larger version.
Catalyst in print
April 2008: Investor Q & A: Rod Schwartz, CEO of Catalyst, Social Enterprise Magazine
5 March 2008: A social City?, The Guardian
March 2008: Lunch with... Jamie Hartzell, Social Enterprise Magazine
17 January 2008 : Barclays puts up £5m to back ethical investment fund, The Independent