This week it was announced that Prince Harry had taken a job with Silicon Valley startup, BetterUp as ‘Chief Impact Officer’. BetterUp provides professional coaching, mental health advice and ‘immersive learning’ according to its website.
Immediately, everyone sought to know more. With Silicon Valley synonymous with tech entrepreneurs, the world wanted to know: had Harry become a tech bro? His first formal job since stepping down as a working royal, everyone was Googling 'Prince Harry silicon valley', 'Prince Harry new job' and 'BetterUp'.
The confusion seemed to begin and end with his job title. ‘What is a chief impact officer?’ became a breakout term on Google Trends – meaning everyone was Googling what the hell his new job would involve.
Well, since there appear to be relatively few chief impact officers around, we decided to hunt one down for you and figure out exactly what Harry’s new job is all about. According to Carmen Romero, Chief Impact Officer at Planet Smart City – a London based firm that designs and builds smart affordable housing – the Duke of Sussex will be pretty good at it.
Here, she answers all your questions about Harry's new role...
What does being a Chief Impact Officer involve?
‘In short, a Chief Impact Officer implements, measures and communicates the positive or negative impact of the actions of any organisation on the people, environment and the business itself. As a CIO you must also support the business truly embrace the values and ethics it champions, and help align its model and strategy with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), UN Global Compact and UN PRI. Within my current role, it also means integrating an environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) framework which contributes towards transforming the lives of our residents, but also in engaging with our stakeholders at all levels to make progress towards our sustainability goals. In the long-term, this helps create lasting positive change, a constructive future and financial rewards for our investors.’
How did you get to become a chief impact officer?
‘I have always worked within the financial industry, but have always had a “pet” project on the side, whether it was related to social entrepreneurship, philanthropy or impact investing. One of my most successful social projects was in Brazil where I worked with young people from favelas and supported them with apprenticeships and subsequently work contracts with national and international companies. This allowed me to see first-hand the impact that you can make on people’s lives by offering them opportunities and inspired my passion for transforming people’s lives and measuring impact. Now that I work at Planet Smart City, it is the first time in my career that I have both feet in the same place to focus on both profit and positive impact which is really exciting.’
What qualifications and experience is required to become a chief impact officer?
You should have experience working towards ESG, UN SDG, impact metrics and impact indexes, as well as a really comprehensive understanding of these frameworks and how to implement targets and strategies that make a real difference. A CIO should also have excellent leadership and communication skills.
So, do you think Prince Harry would make a good chief impact officer?
I think he will! He has experience in both non-profit and for profit, he communicates well and he knows how to make a positive impact: raising people’s curiosity around what a Chief Impact Officer does and what impact is per example. I wish him the very best.
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