What is Social Return on Investment (SROI)?

Co-Chair, Global Coalition on Youth, Peace and Security & Director, Children & Youth Programs, Search for Common Ground. Mr. Prelis has over 25 years’ experience working with youth movements and youth focused organizations in conflict and transition environments in over 35 countries throughout the world. In 2010 he co-founded and has been co-chairing the first UN-CSO-Donor working group on Youth and Peacebuilding (Global Coalition on Youth, Peace and Security) that helped successfully advocate for the historic UN Security Council Resolution 2250 (in 2015) on Youth, Peace and Security. As a result of the Working Group’s advocacy, a second Security Council Resolution (Res 2419) was unanimously adopted in June 2018 and a third (Res 2535) in July 2020. Mr. Prelis obtained his Master’s Degree in International Peace & Conflict Resolution with a Concentration in International Law from American University in Washington, DC.

Adrienne Lemon is the Senior Director of Strategy at Search for Common Ground. She leads the development of the Peace Impact Framework, which captures peace dynamics and measures the collective impact of people's efforts to build peace. A sociologist by training, she’s worked with in-country staff to tailor research methods to fit complex contexts while maintaining the rigor necessary for reflective practice. Adrienne’s doctoral research focuses on post-conflict reconstruction and political participation in Burundi. She is skilled in both qualitative and quantitative methods, with experience in conflict assessment, media research, and research on marginalized groups (including children, female heads of households, ex-combatants, and prisoners). Ms. Lemon will provide specialized technical assistance with methodology, indicator shaping as it relates to youth and peacebuilding.

Kenya and Swahili Coast Director, Search for Common Ground. Judy Kimano is a peacebuilding specialist with 16 years of progressive experience with multi sectoral programs with specialization in gender inclusive governance, public policy development, advocacy and youth. She has specialized expertise in the design and quality assurance of conflict prevention and peacebuilding programs; working with communities and States to enhance healthy citizen participation for improved governance and stability. Experience in mainstreaming of crosscutting themes including youth, gender, human rights, and inclusion of marginalized groups. She has led conflict transformation efforts along the Swahili Coast- Kenya, Tanzania and Mozambique working with non-state partners, State partners and development agencies to build societal infrastructure for enabling lasting peace. Judy is with Search for Common Ground based in Kenya. Ms. Kimano will provide country level support including do no harm and peacebuilding expertise and represent Search at all public events inclusive of Theory of Change workshops, validation and final results showcase events in Kenya.

Shuba directs education and operations at the USC Institute on Inequalities in Global Health (IIGH), the Master of Public Health Online Program, and is Associate Professor at the University of Southern California. She is one of the first scholars worldwide to specialize in SROI Analysis, a framework that can be used to measure and improve social impact, and she frequently consults and speaks on this subject. She also designed the first online training on SROI Analysis and is a board member of Social Value United States. Dr. Kumar’s previous experience includes working as a chief operating officer to launch and direct an international humanitarian NGO focused on emergency and humanitarian response and she has also consulted to various domestic and international private and public agencies in the areas of strategic planning, monitoring & evaluation, capacity building & training, and health systems strengthening. Her professional experience and research focus on strategic planning, management, and evaluation. She possesses an educational background in healthcare management and years of practice and innovation in social impact industries, including healthcare, higher education, and international development. Dr. Kumar will lead the SROI evaluations and development of all project outputs

(CEO & Founder SVT Group). The idea that one day it would be possible to assess the social value created or destroyed by any investment was the impetus for Sara Olsen to found SVT Group, the first firm specialized in impact management, in 2001. SVT is a “best for the world” certified B Corporation that designs and implements systems to measure, manage and communicate social and ecological impact, and to use them to identify direct streams of previously hidden value for client organizations. SVT systems have assessed the social and environmental value of over $9.4B across a variety of asset categories for clients including Yo Yo Ma, the Global Fund for Women, and CalPERS’ Environmental Investment Advisor. Ms. Olsen’s career began as a high school teacher and then social entrepreneur in afterschool programs in disinvested, primarily African American communities in the Mississippi Delta and Chicago, where she also obtained a master’s degree in clinical social work with a focus on children. Recognized twice as one of America’s Most Promising Social Entrepreneurs by Bloomberg Businessweek, Sara has directly trained over 7000 individuals in impact management skills; is director and methodology co-chair for Social Value International (SVI), “the professional home for people working to change the way society accounts for value”; and is founding board member of Social Value United States. She has served as SVI’s delegate to the Impact Management Project and as a moderator of the Harvard Business Review’s Idealab on Managing Impact. While obtaining her MBA at UC Berkeley, Sara co-founded the Global Social Venture Competition, which from 1999-2019 helped spark and accelerate thousands of social ventures worldwide. Ms. Olsen will co-lead the SROI evaluations and development of all project outputs.