SOLD: Beautiful Happyzine

Alex henderson Photography

My name is Clare and I run a Social Enterprise called Accountability Now in Auckland.

Accountability Now’s mission is to help businesses to become accountable for their inevitable impacts on our world through supporting partnerships with nonprofit organisations and through this process have exponentially better success.

Social enterprise, for me, is about doing well by doing good.   I support businesses to find the best area of focus for their social responsibility activities to enhance performance, ensure success in the long-term and create shared value.

The concept of Accountability Now was born following a trip to Brazil in 2010 where my eyes were opened to the power of conscience and personal responsibility in relation to sustainable development and businesses working to a triple bottom line – considering social, environmental and economic needs.

On my return, I was compelled to investigate a way I could have a greater positive impact on our world and inspire others to do the same. I specifically wanted to change others’ perceptions of how we are connected to our environments and societies; replicate the life-changing experience time spent in Brazil gave me, but through a business service.

I didn’t just want a conventional business though, where economic development was my number one priority. In New Zealand and other parts of the world, economic growth has gone past a sustainable level. There is no relationship between the average level of material standards and life expectancy, wellbeing, happiness and experience. The question can be posed as to whether it is ethical that this is still the primary focus of businesses and governments. However, I also didn’t want to set up a nonprofit, nongovernmental or community service because this would rely on outside funding to transform people’s lives, support the sustainable development of our environment and support alleviating poverty.

The last official count of organisations like this already operating in New Zealand was 97,000 in 2005. This represents a $1.6 billion industry and a necessary industry, with the demand for community-based services growing. However, it is also becoming a super-saturated market and causing increasing funding challenges. The needs of these organisations are also changing in today’s rapidly changing environment. Effective management of financial data and governance is paramount to winning the competition for funding, but is a struggle for small organizations heavily reliant on volunteer labour.

My vision through Accountability Now is that businesses offer support that is targeted to increasing and strengthening capacity in this sector by utilizing their assets, capabilities and resources. I believe that collaboration in this way will experience new types of achievement – putting stakeholders at the heart of actionable business decisions and having a greater social impact.

As this relies heavily on human buy-in to change, this is where Accountability Now puts its focus ~ on people, on supporting a shift in consciousness.

I am developing a network of nonprofit organisations to support this and all gains achieved by business clients and nonprofit partners will be measured for reporting purposes.

By working with Accountability Now, businesses can feel really confident that they are supporting a plethora of organisations integral to the improved wellbeing of our society.

If you are a business or a nonprofit organization interested in being part of this journey, please get in touch with me on the contact details below.

Clare Emily Williamson

Corporate Responsibility Strategist & Partnership Facilitator
Accountability Now
Auckland ~ Ph: 022 1084 165

CONNECT WITH ME ON LINKEDIN: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/clare-raybould/9/912/b0

LET’S TWEET: @AccountabilityN

OR FOLLOW ME ON FACEBOOK: http://www.facebook.com/Accountability.Now

Tags: Business, not for profit