EBD Group, the leading partnering firm for the life science industry, and SocialFinance.ca have joined together on behalf of Partnering for Global Impact^® 2012 to deliver a live webinar on impact investing on March 26 at 12:00 pm EDT. The webinar will be moderated by Audrey Selian of the Artha Initiative and features experts in the field including Cornelius Pietzner of Alterra Impact Finance; Betsy Martin of Jackson/Martin; and Kelly Clark of Marmanie. The focus of the webinar is to address challenges in the international social investment field, especially surrounding the lack of recurring and high quality deal flow, and difficulty in defining metrics and measurements for success. Webinar registration can be found online at http://partneringforglobalimpact.eventbrite.com/.

"The webinar will encourage discussion on how impact investing can positively affect lives on the ground," said Pietzner, who has 25 years of experience in the social finance, financial management and philanthropy sectors. "We need to explore recurring issues concerning the depth of deal flow, and from some points of view, the lack of good deal flow, and the ongoing discussion of metrics and measurement in a way that leaves enough latitude for the individual groups to structure their measurement and be consistent. We do not want to be comparing apples to oranges."

"Impact investing leverages personal wealth as the means for delivery of financial, environmental and sustainable return in today's emerging social impact markets. Clearer definitions of what it means to invest socially are crucial for creating new global partnerships," said Audrey Selian, Director of the Artha Initiative, an India focused program associated with a single family office.

Social impact investing is a relatively new idea that is rapidly transforming traditional models of engagement in this space. A number of challenges must be overcome for the idea to reach its full potential. Innovative financial tools need to be developed to allow a wider range of investors to participate. These include blended finance and hybrid models that enable different financial expectations to be met and that allow charities and social investors to sit at the same deal table as traditional investors. Social Impact Bonds and social stock exchanges provide other mechanisms for mainstream investors and individuals to participate. A community of stakeholders is working on improvements to develop common metrics that assess the outcome and impact of investments.

"The mission of SocialFinance.ca is to bring together the voices of social finance practitioners and thought leaders across Canada and internationally," said Nabeel Shakeel Ahmed, Managing Editor of SocialFinance.ca, a media sponsor of Partnering for Global Impact. "We are thrilled to work with EBD Group to arrange this webinar. I think it will be an thought-provoking conversation, and leads in quite nicely to the upcoming Partnering for Global Impact conference in July."

Partnering for Global Impact will be held from July 9–10, 2012 at the Lugano Convention Centre in Lugano, Switzerland. This will be the first dedicated partnering event in the social impact industry and will focus on facilitating one-to-one meetings and showcasing partnering opportunities for social impact organizations and social investors. Partnering for Global Impact provides an innovative forum to partner, identify and generate investment and funding opportunities and provide an effective platform for collaboration between "impact" investors, entrepreneurs and projects that are driven to deliver positive change in developing communities around the world.

"The conference will be an important catalyst for the burgeoning impact investing industry," said Carola Schropp, President, EBD Group. "It is dedicated to raising the profile of social impact organizations through partnering, and ultimately improving the quality of life for disadvantaged communities. By matching social entrepreneurs with the right organizations, we can help them to scale up their activities and achieve more systemic change around the world."

Powered by partneringONE^®, EBD Group's sophisticated, web-based partnering system, the event enables delegates to efficiently identify, meet and get partnerships started with companies across the global social impact space, from large social impact organizations and community projects to financiers and social finance investors.

This year the event will focus on the five sectors of education, healthcare, housing, financial services, and water. Job creation and employment will be the cross-cutting theme for discussions. Leading panel speakers will provide an overview of key issues in each sector and the current models for engagement. Partnering for Global Impact will also feature a number of attractive funding opportunities from leading social entrepreneurs and organizations from around the globe. The application deadline for social impact organizations to present at Partnering for Global Impact is April 27, 2012. Details on the application process can be found online at http://www.ebdgroup.com/pgi/presenters/index.php.