Letter from the Editor

From the recent statement by top CEOs expanding the purpose of the corporation beyond shareholder primacy, to Larry Fink’s now infamous letters, we’re approaching a watershed moment for corporations and investors. In short: social impact is no longer solely the responsibility of the public sector.

Society is demanding more from companies and chief executives than ever before. The new standard for success goes beyond financial performance; businesses must have a positive impact on the world.

The choice of theme for this inaugural Special Report was an easy one for our team at The Catalyst. What companies, governments, investors, and civil society area really talking about is inclusive growth – growth that benefits all stakeholders.

Back in 2017, Palladium’s thought leaders laid out a set of principles for success in the seminal Harvard Business Review article "Inclusive Growth: Profitable Strategies for Tackling Poverty and Inequality". What they found is that implementing these strategies at scale is exactly as challenging as it sounds. It’s no simple task to integrate a company’s core business with social outcomes or to engage with key stakeholders in local communities (both of which are absolutely necessary).

But beyond even those practical challenges, many companies suffer from a lack of ambition. They’re simply not thinking big enough.

The articles in this report have been curated from those published by our thought leaders over the past year. Each approaches this topic from a different perspective, be it a particular industry, stakeholder, case study, or point of view.

I hope you’ll find something in these pages that resonates with you, and if so, I welcome you to get in touch.

All the best,

Elizabeth Godo
Director of Communications
Palladium

Click here to download The Catalyst Special Report: Inclusive Growth

Contact: info@thepalladiumgroup.com