We definitely have a growing Impact Sourcing industry, but where are the leaders? Do they exist yet? Do we need them to bring credibility to the industry?
Maybe it’s too soon.
According to Sateen Sheth of the William Davidson Institute, there are “currently no bodies who determine or certify whether an organization is an ISSP.” He told us that” the space is still in its nascent stages of development.” Interestingly, “if you think about it, social entrepreneurship has been around for longer and only now with B-corps and other definitional pieces are organizations starting to define social enterprise.” So how does the Impact Sourcing space distinguish between an ISSP and traditional BPO? Sateen tells us “People mainly use the common definition and see whether that applies to a relevant BPO organization.” Some people refer to this definition:
An organization focused on employing people from poor and vulnerable communities (i.e. base of the pyramid (BoP) workers, youth workers, disabled workers) as principle employees in BPO centers to provide high-quality, information-based services and other microwork to domestic and international clients.
Without a governing body, who could be considered a leader today? Many have told us it’s the Rockefeller Foundation. At the time of this writing, they are exploring Poverty Reduction through Information and Digital Employment (PRIDE). All their impact sourcing information is within the “Work in Exploration” section. We suspect, however, it’ll soon be listed under their current work. Rockefeller is making a long term commitment to the industry.