PURPOSE AND IMPACT-DRIVEN BUSINESS
Sustainability alone is not enough.
It is no longer acceptable to simply reduce the harm we do. It is time to actively do good.
The businesses at the forefront of the Zebra Project are putting purpose firmly at the heart of their organisation to add to society, create positive impact and measurable progress – reimagining solutions through innovation and creating new, positive behaviours.
We believe there is huge value in identifying the purpose and culture of an organisation as well as rewiring the fundamental ways we govern, manage, structure and lead organisations to bring authenticity and drive employee engagement – creating businesses that will attract, engage and retain the best talent and engage with wider communities through a shared sense of possibility to make great things happen.
The private sector must become a greater force for good. By shifting expectations and measures for growth and success, we can mobilise the power of business to achieve positive change, at scale – benefitting all stakeholders and moving beyond the shackles of a purely profit-driven business model.
The Zebra Project seeks to explore this shift and work with the curious and courageous to debate and encourage, and discuss the response required from business to achieve the necessary step-change for good.
Within our focus on purpose and impact-driven business we explore discussion topics including sustainability and restoration, environmental responsibility, impact investing and societal change plus many more. If you have a topic you would like to see covered, get in touch and we will explore it further.
BE PART OF THE PROJECT
ZEBRA TALK
In conversation with Liz Ngonzi, an international speaker on digital innovation, philanthropy and leadership, talking about the future relationship between businesses, Government and non-profits, what the world can learn from people it traditionally labels as disadvantaged and how corporations are responding to the social justice movement in relation to African Americans.
In conversation with Lizzie Penny and Alex Hirst, Co-Founders and joint CEOs of Hoxby talking about how they built a business of over 1000 people, across 30 countries and multiple service lines, without any physical office space. We also talk about how their workstyle concept addresses workforce inequality and the emergence post-Covid being an opportunity for positive contagion in challenging the traditional orthodoxy of work.
In conversation with Mark Preston, Team Principal of Formula E team DS Techeetah, talking about approaches to innovation, persevering in the face of scepticism and DS Techeetah as a good business. Mark also talks about his career journey from starting in Australian motorsport, setting up a Formula One team to being a founding father of Formula E.
In conversation with Lindsay Hooper, Executive Director at the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership talking about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sustainability as a priority, what good leadership looks like in a time of extreme scrutiny for leaders and what Boards can be doing to support better outcomes for sustainability.
In conversation with Rupa Ganguli, talking about her career journey from International Trade at the United Nations through to developing her own e-commerce platform that links artisans and small businesses around the world with a global customer base, her passion about the role of consumers in driving impact and change with industry, lifestyle choices, what it is like to talk at Davos and the importance of telling the artisan’s stories.
In conversation with Pete Statham, Head of Sustainability at Carlsberg talking about the Carlsberg Towards Zero program, how important it is to have people with passion within the business, and the experience of Carlsberg putting science and research at the centre of its sustainability agenda.
Past discussions
Related reading
Interesting articles from around the web
For the past five years, Microsoft has been on a profound culture journey. The company of know-it-alls has been transforming itself into an organization of learn-it-alls. The change in core beliefs at the center of this shift has taken Microsoft from seeking perfection to cultivating a growth mindset—a genuine openness to trying, failing, learning and embracing the endless possibilities of growth. The “power of yet”—the potential that gets unlocked when we focus on what we can master rather than on what we already know—has infused Microsoft’s own journey with a unique resilience.
