Essential workers, students, business owners, teachers– no one is immune to the effects of COVID-19 on our lives and society as a whole.
The pandemic has also changed our efforts to help others. In light of the challenges and opportunities that COVID-19 presents, social impact can’t be the same.
Here’s how a global pandemic has shaped social impact.
The changing role of tech
Technology made distance learning, remote work, and a whole range of online activities possible in the era of social distancing. COVID-19 has not only accelerated our shift to a digital society– it’s made technology unavoidable for social impact.
As schools shifted to distance learning in March, access to Wifi and devices to attend school were an immediate concern. Thousands of students were unable to finish the school year– raising not only equity concerns, but also questions of how technology affects access to education. This fall, technology makes distance learning possible for many school districts. However, lack of access to Wifi or the correct devices could leave many children behind.
COVID-19 has also bolstered the digital economy, making digital financial inclusion a larger concern. In efforts to be touchless, many businesses no longer accept cash– and consumers increasingly purchase goods and services online. This threatens the ability of the unbanked to participate in the economy– and reveals the need for social impact to focus on financial inclusion in an increasingly digital and touchless economy.
The technology industry itself has grown immensely since February, with the stock market recovery led by tech giants. Apple’s stock doubled in value between March 23 and mid-August. The company became the first US company to reach $2 trillion in market value– during an economic recession. As tech companies continue to grow in size and influence, they assume a larger role in the world economy, and become more integral to our lives and to social impact.
Social impact must acknowledge and leverage technology to create change.
Whether in education, financial inclusion, or the stock market, technology has continually asserted itself as central to society during the COVID-19 pandemic. Social impact must acknowledge and leverage technology to create change.
For example, blockchain is valuable for innovation and should be embraced by the nonprofit sector and social enterprise alike. The tech for good movement has been growing for years, and tech’s rise in prominence in an increasingly digital COVID-19 reality makes tech even more crucial to social impact.
Greater focus on equity
The economic impact of COVID-19 has been dramatic, with skyrocketing unemployment rates and thousands of small businesses affected. The pandemic has laid bare the existing inequities in our economy and society– from the vulnerability of frontline workers to income inequality.
At the same time, COVID-19 presents an opportunity to recognize these failures– and an opportunity for social impact to recognize inequity and act to change it.
This urgency of equity concerns was further accelerated by the death of George Floyd and protests against police brutality. Topics such as the racial wealth gap, police brutality, and racism in the workplace are front and center– and social impact must address them and act upon them.
COVID-18 shifted expectations for business
The economic impact of COVID-19 has also accelerated the expectation that businesses act responsibly and ethically. While social enterprise and corporate social responsibility have been growing for the past decade, the pandemic has jumpstarted consumer expectations of businesses and the private sector.
This is clearly seen in the private sector’s response to the death of George Floyd. Consumers expect that companies are dedicated to diversity and racial justice. Social enterprises, and social impact more broadly, should lead this movement. If social business is committed to both profits and purpose, they have a responsibility to ensure that this year’s focus on racial justice is a permanent shift in priorities, rather than a fleeting public relations stunt.
Major American companies like Target and PepsiCo pledged money and resources to advancing racial equity in their communities and in their leadership. But social impact goes beyond philanthropy. To achieve real progress, systemic change is necessary, and social impact will be at the forefront.
Environmental protection as an immediate concern for social impact
The dramatic impacts of COVID-19, combined with the world’s general lack of preparation for a pandemic, mirror the effects of climate change. The West Coast wildfires of this August and September reinforce the urgency of climate concerns.
While the public and private sector were unprepared for the COVID-19 pandemic, social impact can and should lead on the climate front. Whether it’s committing to carbon neutrality, like Nisolo, or putting sustainability at the center of purpose, like Ecosia, environmental protection must be part of social impact. We’ve learned from COVID-19 that there’s a price to pay for ignoring global threats.
Access to health care and health disparities
As COVID-19 began to disrupt American society in March, accurate testing was difficult to access. This started conversations about health care access and equity in America, and this subject is even more urgent as a vaccine becomes a not-so-distant reality.
Just as it revealed economic and structural inequities, COVID-19 has highlighted existing health disparities in the United States. In March, there were reports of Black Americans dying at higher rates from COVID-19. Since then, public health officials have described the social and structural factors that make certain segments of the population more susceptible to disease.
When a vaccine becomes available, and even after the pandemic no longer affects our daily lives, health equity and acting to reduce health disparities must remain a primary concern of social impact efforts.
To achieve real progress, systemic change is necessary, and social impact will be at the forefront.
COVID-19 has changed the world as we know it. Although the pandemic isn’t over, individuals, institutions and companies invested in social impact can learn from it. Social impact has been changed and challenged by COVID-19, and ultimately can be more impactful because of it.
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