RSF Named Finalist in Fast Company’s 2020 World Changing Ideas

FAST COMPANY ANNOUNCES WINNERS 
OF 2020 WORLD CHANGING IDEAS AWARDS  
 
RSF Social Finance-Purpose Foundation Selected as Finalist in the Experimental Category

New York, April 28, 2020 — The winners of Fast Company’s 2020 World Changing Ideas Awards were announced today, honoring the businesses, policies, projects, and concepts that are actively engaged and deeply committed to flattening the curve when it comes to the climate crisis, social injustice, or economic inequality.

The RSF Social Finance and Purpose Foundation partnership has been selected as a finalist in the experimental category for its innovative work with alternative business structures. The organizations are incubating more reliable structural solutions that let sustainable businesses scale without ever selling out. The goal is to accelerate a movement toward mission-first models so businesses can protect their social and environmental missions as they grow and change ownership.

Now in its fourth year, the World Changing Ideas Awards showcase 26 winners, more than 200 finalists, and more than 500 honorable mentions—with Health and Wellness, Corporate Social Responsibility, and AI and Data among the most popular categories. A panel of eminent judges selected winners and finalists from a pool of more than 3,000 entries across transportation, education, food, politics, technology, and more. The 2020 awards feature entries from across the globe, from Vancouver to Singapore to Tel Aviv, and illustrate how some of the world’s most inventive entrepreneurs and companies are addressing grave global challenges.

“The climate crisis is here, income inequality is widening, and trust in institutions of all kinds is eroding. Business is one of the causes of these problems, and it must take a major role in solving them,” says Jasper van Brakel, CEO of RSF Social Finance. “We can’t build the future on the scaffolding of the past. We need to redefine the role of money and investing and challenge the primacy of shareholder profits. We need to rethink who controls and benefits from businesses, and create ownership structures that position profit not as an end but as an engine for creating social, cultural, and ecological goods. We are honored to be selected as a World Changing Ideas Awards finalist and committed to continuing this important work.”

“There seems no better time to recognize organizations that are using their ingenuity, resources, and, in some cases, their scale to tackle society’s biggest problems,” says Stephanie Mehta, editor-in-chief of Fast Company. “Our journalists, under the leadership of senior editor Morgan Clendaniel, have uncovered some of the smartest and most inspiring projects of the year.”

About the World Changing Ideas Awards: World Changing Ideas is one of Fast Company’s major annual awards programs and is focused on social good, seeking to elevate finished products and brave concepts that make the world better. A panel of judges from across sectors choose winners, finalists, and honorable mentions based on feasibility and the potential for impact. With a goal of awarding ingenuity and fostering innovation, Fast Company draws attention to ideas with great potential and helps them expand their reach to inspire more people to start working on solving the problems that affect us all.