Today we’re thrilled to announce the 17 innovators who have won a place on the Lab’s 2016 Fellowship programme. The Fellows, who are all building financial businesses that put people and planet first, will benefit from a six-month programme of business coaching, action learning and leadership development.
The Fellows’ projects include:
- A ‘rhino impact investment’ product to finance the protection of critically endangered species
- An anonymous whistleblowing platform that also supports mental health disclosure
- A project working with local authorities to create fossil-free pension schemes
- A mutual approach to financing and managing affordable rented housing
- An online platform allowing individual social investors to refinance community lending.
See the full list of participants & projects here.
Anna Laycock, Lead Strategist at the Lab, commented:
The 2016 Lab Fellows all have the potential to have a transformative effect on our financial system. They represent the future of finance – a future in which the needs of the real economy, society and our environment come first.
Going against the grain in finance is lonely, complex and incredibly hard. But it’s not impossible, if we do it together. We’re building a community of change-makers who will accelerate the shift to a truly sustainable and socially useful financial system.
Unlike intensive classroom-based incubators, the Fellowship programme is focussed on action learning, community development and collaborative leadership. The programme is supported by the London Sustainable Development Commission, Ecology Building Society, Big Society Capital, London South Bank University and the University of Cumbria.
