Social Value International are proud to announce a new group of Level One Associate Practitioners!

Level 1 Associate Practitioner status shows that the applicant has demonstrated theoretical competence in social value and impact management in line with the SVI Framework.

Our new Level One Associate Practitioners include:

Mathew Lewis – Mantell Gwynedd

Why have you decided to undertake the Social Value International Practitioner Pathway? What has lead to your application for Level 1 of Practitioner?

Mantell Gwynedd is a county voluntary council, an umbrella organisation overseeing/ supporting the third sector in Gwynedd, North Wales. Social Value in the third sector is of high priority in all parts of the UK and especially with the current climate with COVID, Black Lives Matter and many more issues.

I work at Mantell Gwynedd as part of the Social Value Cymru team, as a Measuring Social Value Officer, under the stewardship of Eleri Lloyd, an advanced practitioner herself. Already having a theoretical understanding of Social Value and SROI during my time at Liverpool John Moores University thanks to Dr Adam Richards of SVUK. I started at Mantell Gwynedd in May 2020, starting the online training with Tim Godspeed straightaway. The passion for Social Value shown by Tim, Catherine, Ben, Adam of SVUK & Bethan Russell Williams (CEO, Mantell Gwynedd) and Eleri Lloyd (Social Value manager, Mantell Gwynedd) is infectious and the work done by all has inspired me to undertake the SVI practitioner pathway.

You have now joined a community of practice around the globe. What does this mean to you and why do you want to participate and contribute to the development of the methodology and overall social value movement?

As your question indicates, there is a great community and a strong network of amazing practitioners all over the globe. The movement to bring Social Value to the ‘mainstream’ is an exciting process and it a joy and a privilege to be involved. Looking closer at home, Wales, we already have strong Social Value development with the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) 2015 act, world-leading legislation in Social Value. I hope as I go through the Pathway to inspire more people to undertake Social Value practices, as I have been inspired by those mentioned in this email.

I am very excited to see what the future will bring.

With regards to links, would be great to have the Mantell Gwynedd website highlighted. Shows the great work undertaken by Mantell and there is a section about Social Value Cymru. We recently finished a 3 year measuring and managing social value, the 5 other County Voluntary councils in North Wales were involved as well as 25 organisations across North Wales.

Find out more on Mantell Gwynedd here.

Find them on social media here:

Twitter – @ValueCymru @MantellGwynedd

Facebook – MantellGwynedd

Ashling McGrory – Humanli

Why have you decided to undertake the Social Value International Practitioner Pathway?

Humanli is one of the very few Social Impact Specialist services in the Republic of Ireland, newly founded in 2020. Our mission is to do as much good as ‘Humanli’ possible, making lasting positive impact on our communities. Our service partners with Corporates to connect them  with Charities and Community groups under the umbrella of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) but specifically in the space of Social Impact.

A gap we have identified in Humanli is the inconsistent communication and feedback between Irish based Corporates, Charities and Community groups with regard to the impact of their joint activities and/or funding. Humanli provides the link between the Corporates and the Charity/Community group, supporting and ensuring a flow of relevant information. 

I joined the Humanli team earlier this year and I was appointed as the dedicated team member researching the Social Return On Investment (SROI) methodology. My goal in this role is to develop and implement Humanli’s approach to measuring and communicating social value and impact using the principles of SROI. 

Undertaking the Social Value International Practitioner Pathway, challenges me in my role and as I learn more I can frame Humanli as a Social Impact Specialist service, to navigate best practice in all aspects of SROI. I can see this working in particular through international networking, continuous learning and by contributing to international frameworks of standardisation. The skills we will adopt through your organisation will put us on the path to accomplish our mission ‘to do as much good as Humanli possible’ and to make a lasting and positive impact on our communities.

What has lead to your application for Level 1 of Practitioner?

My personal interest in social value and impact management has been part of my  vocational activities, informally, over the past five years. This commenced initially as an art student specialising in socially engaged creative practice. Later, during my two year term in Student Politics as a Students’ Union Representative in Limerick, Ireland.

Recently, in joining the Humanli team, my explicit interest and involvement in social value and impact management has grown and has become more overtly integrated into my love of life. My role in Humanli directly engages me in measuring and engaging with social value and impact. Though my understanding of social value and impact were minimal until becoming part of Humanli, I have come to realise that it continues and has always been a fundamental aspect of my professional satisfaction. Becoming part of Humanli, has been an excellent opportunity to illuminate this passion. The level 1 Practitioner application enabled me to set action to this passion. I understood it to be an opportune time for Humanli to progress towards our mission and to actively join the SVI community of practice.

You have now joined a community of practice around the globe. What does this mean to you and why do you want to participate and contribute to the development of the methodology and overall social value movement?

As part of the Humanli Team I have been proudly made the primary contact between Humanli and the Social Value International Community of Practice. This was decided because of the research and development nature of my role in Humanli, but also because of my experience in research and advocacy. Alongside my role in Humanli, I am a postgraduate researcher. I am investigating fine art, student and graduate experiences of transitioning from higher education to self-managing their own practices. This research uses a grounded theory methodology and therefore the iterative nature of SROI is a complementary link. The link between Humanli and this research offers many integrated, indirect opportunities. Both roles enable me to participate in the development of the methodology and overall social value movement from two significant perspectives with a sensibility to the dialogue and philosophical underpinning of the SROI methodology. This has so far been a very exciting link with my research work which I hope will continue as my understandings and learnings blossom.

Find out more about Humanli here.

Dr. Jesusa I. Rebete – Ayala Foundation (AFI)

Why have you decided to undertake the Social Value International Practitioner Pathway? What has lead to your application for Level 1 of Practitioner?

In my long years of working with different communities and basic sectors both in a context of a non-profit and public sector, I realized that the magnitude of need for inclusion of communities and marginalized sectors are huge and requires collaboration of all possible stakeholders to make a dent in improving circumstances of people. It also needs science in focusing strategies on initiatives with highest impact and highest values creating the widest possible benefits for communities. This is the reason why I pursued the SVI Practitioner Pathway to enhance my capacity in measuring social value and Social Return of Investment of programs to support organizational decisions for maximum impact for the community with same level of investment.

You have now joined a community of practice around the globe. What does this mean to you and why do you want to participate and contribute to the development of the methodology and overall social value movement?

I work at Ayala Foundation (AFI), where I lead the team that measures impact of programs and projects. Results of impact assessment are used in management decisions and gating of projects, in deciding which projects are to be approved, stop, continue, upscale, and mainstream to partners. AFI use Social Return of Investment or SROI as a framework for measuring impact and follow its seven principles to ensure that its programs and projects are impactful and contributing to sustainability agenda and SDG targets of the foundation.

For wider impact, AFI also envisions to trailblaze SROI and its principles within the Ayala group of company and to other non-profit organizations in the Philippines. Development of methodology and strengthening the overall social value movement in the Philippines will enhance collective identification of solutions to community problems and make it more focused, participatory, and achieving the most benefits for the program stakeholders.

Find out more about the Ayala Foundation here.

Adam Knight-Markiegi – MEL Research

I’m passionate about turning data into insight and insight into action. Having worked in policy, research and consultancy for some 20 years, I enjoy bridging the quantitative and qualitative worlds. Social value and SROI ties these together well.

Starting the SVI Practitioner Pathway is boosting my skills – and my credentials – in social value, SROI and impact evaluation. Level 1 is the perfect stepping stone, building on the training I’ve already been on through Social Value UK and my successful delivery of an SROI evaluation of a project in Walsall, West Midlands.

I’m already taking this further and have started a unique SROI. This time of the Birmingham School of Bell Ringing, a volunteer-run school where I’ve learnt to ring church bells and now volunteer at, helping others to learn. This SROI will offer the School insight into how different stakeholders value its work, whether that’s the camaraderie of students, new teaching tips for tutors or having enough local bellringers to ring at weddings or other services. Watch this space for the results.

Find out more about MEL Research here.