“Be Bold.”
For the last decade, our Social Value Aotearoa network has been lucky enough to engage in deep and nourishing dialogue with some of the leading minds of impact measurement in the world. Our director, Jo Nicholson, sits on the board of Social Value International, and as part of our ongoing effort to share learnings and insights through global connections, we have built some enduring relationships across the ditch in Aussie, including with Kevin Robbie, Managing Director at Think Impact in Melbourne.
The breadth of his experience and knowledge in impact measurement globally, combined with his warmth and great sense of humour, has made him an easy fit for us to follow and learn from as an emerging voice in this space. Kevin has more than 25 years’ experience in impact measurement, social valuation, social innovation and collaborative leadership across the social enterprise, for-purpose, government and philanthropy sectors. He was the Executive Director working with our mates at Social Ventures Australia for seven years, where he led their work on social innovation. Before this, Kevin was CEO of Forth Sector, one of Scotland’s leading social innovation organisations, and he also worked across Europe on multinational projects tackling social exclusion. He served on the Board of the Scottish Social Enterprise Coalition.
He joined us in Aotearoa for our Investing in Impact conference, where he shared his incredible journey, his passion for community development and tackling homelessness, and what social impact investing looks like from an international perspective — how social procurement, impact investing, and impact measurement can pave the way for stronger economies and communities.
While working in Scotland at the turn of the millennium, he was at the leading edge of embedding a social enterprise strategy — establishing a network for peer support and a collective voice for social enterprises, laying the foundation for the comprehensive strategy that would follow. These strategies aimed to establish social enterprise as a central part of Scotland’s economy and public service infrastructure.
Kevin spoke to us about the role of impact investing in driving outcomes for social enterprises, bringing a particularly international flavour to impact investing — yet his message rang true to our local approach here in Aotearoa, with the return to whakapapa-led systems and management design, and decision-making based on the intergenerational impacts of what you are doing. Because for healthy future economies, as he said, it’s not just about accumulating wealth for the sake of it, but about redistributing that wealth to have a positive impact on whānau lives.
Kevin also talked about how public and private investment are undergoing a transformation — one where capital is increasingly expected to deliver social outcomes, not just financial returns, in the evolving impact investment landscape across Aotearoa and internationally. We explored how smarter investment strategies can unlock better outcomes, with Kevin also chairing our session about driving better outcomes through investment strategy.
The panel included Materoa Mar from Te Tihi, Larah Van Der Meer from Autism NZ, Gemma Bateman from Emerge Aotearoa, and Joe Fowler from the Social Investment Agency. Kevin navigated this session by focusing on the importance of investing in what works — to maximise social value and give confidence that what you are doing is growing impact.
Kevin has a deep understanding and real-world experience of how social sector organisations, funders, and evaluators all share frustrations with the current reporting and evaluation system: “It is burdensome, retrospective, and often unhelpful for decision-making.” In Aotearoa, the Social Investment Fund, led by the Social Investment Agency, is introducing an alternative approach — one that embeds learning into the way services are commissioned and delivered.
To this, Kevin posed a question to the panel: “What’s the key thing to get right?”
Materoa Mar shared that in her experience, “Language is the key, and it’s the nuance of the language we use as well. When we’re at that table, we also have a responsibility to assert our opportunities within that relationship, and we are not dependent on someone else making it obvious to us.”
“We are the public who pay taxes, and public services work for us. It’s how we see that position and believe in it. You have control over your position at the table — how you behave, respond, and stand in your mana. Make that your starting position. Don’t be reliant on someone else to hand it to you.”
Larah Van Der Meer from Autism NZ also agreed that “language is key.”
The panel found a collective conclusion in keeping “the community that we are here for” at the forefront. Kevin urged those working on the ground with communities here to be bold.
“We can’t keep doing what we’ve always been doing.”
Kevin spread his passion at our conference like wildfire — for the potential of impact-led design to transform the way organisations do business and enable us all to manage for better impact. He is one to follow if you’re just starting out in this space or want to learn more about impact investment.