Business Call to Action Annual Event, New York
The Business Call to Action will be hosting a half day event on September 19, 2013 in New York City to celebrate the achievements of its members. The event will offer an opportunity for analysis and peer to peer learning on the field of inclusive business, with engaging debates about the role of partnerships in scaling up inclusive initiatives, the importance of impact investing in stimulating more inclusive markets, and innovations in inclusive agricultural supply chains. The event will also be an opportunity to recognize new company commitments to the BCtA.
BCtA's Annual Event will coincide with the Global Compact Leaders Summit in advance of the UN General Assembly. Attendees are invited to stay for the remainder of the day to attend the GC Leaders Summit (attendance to the BCtA event is free with an invitation; all BCtA members are welcome to attend the GC Leaders Summit at the price of a ticket your company does not need to be a member to attend).
Expected Audience: 150-200 high-level representatives from Business Call to Action member companies, other leading international businesses attending the UN Global Compact Leaders Summit, development organizations, impact investors, and high-level representatives of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), UK Department for International Development (DFID), US Agency for International Development (USAID).
Key themes and focus
Moving beyond discussions to focus on outcomes
Addressing the "Missing Middle" in Impact Finance and Innovative Funding
Connecting decision makers and leaders in the field
Encouraging broader participation in inclusive business
Background
The Business Call to Action (BCtA) is a global corporate leadership platform, with over 70 member companies that are incorporating inclusive business approaches in their operations to help advance the MDGs. As innovators in this space, BCtA member companies are advancing the inclusive business agenda by creating novel business models, sharing lessons learned, and forging partnerships to improve scale and increase development impact.
BCtA's company membership consists of a diverse group of multinational corporations, medium-sized companies from emerging markets and social enterprises. As such, members offer unique and valuable perspectives on their contribution to development through market based approaches.
An important offering of the BCtA is the opportunity for member companies and development partners to share knowledge and best practice tools. The private sector has made substantial contributions to the MDG framework, yet many questions remain about how inclusive business can continue generating commercial growth while increasing tangible and long-term development outcomes. The BCtA's Annual Event offers the opportunity to convene members and development partners to reflect on these important questions and to connect with peers.