Dr Jess Daggers
Birkbeck College, University of London
Jess’ work focuses on impact measurement—the attempts by practitioner organisations to define and measure the change they create in the world—and its role in generating optimism about the reform of capitalism, particularly in relation to impact investing. Her academic work examines the growth of impact measurement in both the private and social sectors. This project grows out of her PhD thesis, which examined impact measurement in the context of the UK market for social investment. She co-authored an early contribution to the study of social impact investing, mapping academic engagement with the topic, and continues to write articles critiquing the direction being taken as impact measurement hits the mainstream. Jess is an Associate Research Fellow at Birkbeck College.
Jess also works as a consultant, providing impact measurement support and advice to organisations across topics including public interest journalism, affordable credit and entrepreneurship education. She is a member of Flip Finance, a collective of researchers and consultants, and in February 2020 she was asked to be a Commissioner on the Adebowale Commission on Social Investment, which is examining the potential for reform of the social investment market.
Work w/ CUSP
Jess is working with Fergus Lyon, Deputy Director of CUSP, on a review of the literature on access to finance for social enterprises. After two decades of policy initiatives building the social investment market in the UK, it might be thought that social enterprises would have a vastly improved range of options for financing growth, and that research would help to deepen our understanding of what is needed to help social enterprises thrive. The review explores available research, and highlights the continuing gaps in our understanding.