A candid dialogue on sustainability: highlights from Acumen’s Corporate Impact Roundtables

In the fast-evolving landscape of corporate responsibility, where companies face pressure to align with societal and regulatory demands for sustainability and inclusivity, the need for genuine and open dialogue has never been greater. This fall Acumen hosted our first series of Corporate Impact Roundtables in New York and London, providing corporate leaders with an intimate, Chatham House Rules setting to discuss their toughest challenges and share areas of growth and progress. In partnership with Reckitt and Anglo American, this dinner series drew leaders from industries such as healthcare, financial services, mining, advisory, and fast moving consumer goods (FMCG). Our shared goal was to create a rare space for vulnerability, reflection, and the candid conversations necessary to drive impact strategy forward in complex and often uncertain times.

Navigating change 

Today’s corporate landscape is marked by shifting political, economic, and environmental currents. Businesses are grappling with evolving regulatory requirements, increasing pressure from stakeholders, and complex market conditions. Now that Trump has won re-election,  many leaders acknowledge that potential policy changes could impact their strategies—especially in sectors directly affected by shifts in government agendas, such as healthcare and energy.

As companies undergo restructuring and strategic shifts to stay resilient, leaders are grappling with the challenge of aligning these transitions with their impact goals. According to the recent Business Fights Poverty report, Building Future-Fit Partnerships for Green and Inclusive Growth, achieving alignment requires innovative partnerships and a shared commitment to sustainable growth — even in times of uncertainty. This was echoed by our roundtable participants, who emphasized the power of bold partnerships and the urgent need for companies to address sustainability in both strategy and action.

Recognizing the stages of corporate impact: learners, doers, and teachers

Each organization is at a different stage on its impact journey, and our roundtable created a space for leaders to be honest about where they are in this journey. Participants were asked to identify as “learners,” “doers,” or “teachers,” each reflecting a different stage of engagement in sustainability and social impact:

• Learners are companies just beginning to explore their roles in social responsibility. They seek knowledge, partnerships, and insights to inform strategies that align with broader societal goals.
• Doers are actively implementing strategies, engaging with social enterprises, and integrating sustainability into their core practices. They face the challenge of scaling these practices, often with a view to measuring their impact meaningfully.
• Teachers represent companies that have developed effective strategies and are now sharing insights, shaping industry standards, seeking partners with which to scale, and acting as advocates for broader change.

Understanding these roles allowed for a richer dialogue, where each organization could contribute and learn based on its experience. However, we also recognized that these stages are not always distinct, and many companies navigate the “gray areas” as they balance learning and leading. 

Acumen is integral in this space

Acumen has engaged with corporate partners at every stage of their journeys with an explicit goal of accelerating progress towards more sustainable and inclusive businesses. We see our role as elevating the catalytic impact that social enterprises can play in supporting corporate social impact, and the roundtables reinforced the growing appetite by corporations in engaging social enterprises. 

Acumen has found ways to link social enterprises addressing sustainability into corporate supply chains and programs in a number of ways, from corporate impact investing to employee engagement to social procurement. 

• Burn Manufacturing, a Kenyan company designing and manufacturing high-efficiency, clean cookstoves, is an example of Acumen’s ability to foster impactful corporate partnerships. Acumen facilitated Burn’s collaboration with a corporate social impact program tied to a major tea producer in Kenya. This initiative was designed to address pressing environmental and social challenges faced by tea farmers, particularly the high costs and environmental degradation associated with traditional cooking fuels. Through this partnership, Burn received funding and distribution support to scale production and deliver its flagship product—the Jikokoa cookstove—to rural tea farming communities. By cutting fuel consumption by 56% and reducing emissions by 65%, these cookstoves significantly improved household health and saved families up to $250 annually in fuel costs. This initiative supported the corporate partner’s commitment to sustainable agricultural supply chains while aligning with Burn’s mission to advance clean energy adoption across Kenya. Employing over 100 Kenyans at its Nairobi facility, Burn demonstrates how corporate partnerships can accelerate the reach and impact of locally rooted clean energy solutions​​.

• Haqdarshak informs low-income Indians about the government welfare benefits available to them: from disability pensions to crop insurance to education subsidies. Haqdarshak has partnered with corporations to link workers in their supply chain to benefits to which they’re entitled, and has scaled to impact 6.5 million beneficiaries, employ 40,000 field agents (who are mostly women) and support the distribution of $2.2 billion. We see many more opportunities to link products and services like energy access, education, workforce development, farmer support, and green jobs into corporate value chains and are excited to see increased interest and readiness from leading corporations.  

The challenges of integrating sustainability into business strategy

For many companies, integrating sustainability and inclusivity into their business models remains an uphill battle. As discussed at the roundtable, several challenges persist:

• Internal resistance to change: Restructuring business practices around sustainability often requires significant shifts in mindset, operations, and culture. Many leaders expressed the difficulty of bringing entire organizations on board, particularly when faced with short-term pressures and investor expectations.
• Pressure from investors: In some industries, investors’ demands for immediate returns can overshadow longer-term sustainability goals. With CEOs under mounting pressure, corporate leaders spoke about the need for transparent conversations with stakeholders about the inherent long-term value of sustainable practices.
• Supply chain challenges: The integration of social enterprises into supply chains remains difficult, particularly for companies operating in regions with limited infrastructure or major regulatory hurdles. Leaders discussed the importance of involving local communities in these efforts but highlighted the need for innovative solutions to overcome these barriers.

Roundtable participants agreed that in order to make meaningful strides, companies need successful strategies to learn from, as well as tools and insights that address the specific needs of their industries. 

“Creating a sustainable future and long term impact requires more than isolated actions—it demands collaborative, candid conversations where leaders can confront the complex challenges of our industries and align on ambitious impact goals. Events like Acumen’s roundtable are vital for fostering the honest dialogue and partnerships needed to drive real change.”

Maike Von Heymann, Head of Socioeconomic Development, Anglo American

Participants also highlighted that storytelling and field experiences — spending time with and having a locally led and informed approach the communities they aim to impact — help bring the work closer to the core of business strategies. For companies with consumer-facing brands or retail, this often involves linking social impact to their products and marketing strategies, but it can also involve internal storytelling, helping employees and senior leadership connect more directly with the real-world impact that sustainable and inclusive business practices can deliver.

The importance of vulnerable, candid conversations

One key outcome of the roundtable was a collective acknowledgment of the need for spaces that encourage honesty and even a little vulnerability — a break from the polished messaging that often characterizes corporate communications. As the roundtable progressed, participants opened up about failures, challenges, and insights in a way that rarely happens in public forums.

The roundtable served as a “trust circle,” where leaders could discuss the real struggles of working toward sustainability goals amidst restructuring and external pressures. 

“Coming together in a space where we can share both our challenges and progress is invaluable. It enables us to build impactful strategies that are not only sustainable but also scalable, ensuring we make a meaningful difference in the communities we serve.”

Patricia O’Hayer, Global Head of Communications & Government Affairs, Reckitt

Both conversations at the roundtables in New York and London reflected a commitment to transparency and progress. Leaders openly discussed the risks they were taking to integrate impact goals into their businesses, from restructuring supply chains to collaborating with social enterprises through various initiatives, including corporate impact investing, employee engagement, philanthropy, social procurement, and pro bono consulting and capacity building; signaling a collective dedication to the hard work required for meaningful change.

Collaboration as a solution to complex challenges

One recurring theme in the discussion was the role of collaboration in overcoming complex challenges. The need for partnerships, also highlighted in Business Fights Poverty’s report, was resonant, with leaders acknowledging that no single organization has the tools or influence to address these issues alone. By working together, companies can leverage each other’s strengths, share insights, and create joint initiatives that drive greater impact.

Participants expressed eagerness to engage with each other in funder collaborations and partnerships that go beyond financial transactions, to those that involve strategic alignment and shared accountability. These collaborations could potentially pave the way for broader industry standards and solutions that individual companies might struggle to achieve alone.

Acumen’s role: facilitating impact and scaling social innovation

In hosting the Corporate Impact Roundtables, Acumen not only facilitated an essential dialogue but also emphasized its role in supporting corporate partners on their impact journeys. By creating this space for candid discussion, Acumen aims to be more than a convener; we’re building a community where corporate leaders and social entrepreneurs can come together to scale impactful ideas and push the boundaries of what’s possible.

With our extensive network and partnerships with organizations like Impact Europe, the World Economic Forum Alliance for Social Entrepreneurs, and our global network of thousands of social enterprises, Acumen is well-positioned to provide resources and support tailored to the needs of corporate leaders. Whether through insights on impact investing or frameworks for sustainable business practices, our goal is to empower organizations to create long-term, meaningful change.

Moving forward: building a new kind of corporate community

The roundtable underscored a growing consensus: In today’s climate, there is an urgent need for corporate leaders to shift from surface-level commitments to deep-rooted action. As companies evolve in the face of external pressures — from elections to investor expectations — there is a need and opportunity to focus on developing strategies that prioritize both sustainability and resilience. Put another way, corporate leaders understand the need to invest in long term value creation, not only short-term wins. 

As we move forward, Acumen’s commitment to fostering these discussions will only deepen. In an environment where every decision counts and every challenge can be met with an opportunity for inclusive growth, we are committed to building a community that will continue to learn, innovate, and lead the charge toward a more sustainable future. We hope to see more companies embrace this spirit of vulnerability, collaboration, and resilience, allowing us to collectively create a world where business and social impact converge.

Thank you to Reckitt and Anglo American for their participation in our Roundtable.

To learn more, read our report Corporate Ready: How Corporations and Social Enterprises Do Business Together to Drive Impact. To partner with us, reach out to Yasmina Zaidman, Chief Development and Partnerships Officer at yzaidman@acumen.org.