Socially responsible investing, corporate social responsibility and the various permutations of “doing well by doing good” are relatively recent arrivals to the modern business milieu. As such, early iterations of this ideology were often an afterthought, with investors putting just a little money into social impact funds. Companies did add social responsibilities to their practice, but kept oversight of such initiatives in divisions with limited power or stature.

That’s changing. As the idea takes hold, there also arose a recognition that executing these initiatives well is neither easy nor straightforward. To educate new do-gooders, veteran impact investor Julia Balandina Jaquier has written the book, Catalyzing Wealth for Change: Guide to Impact Investing, to offer perspectives on how to tackle social responsibility endeavors. She recently spoke with Sherryl Kuhlman, managing director of the Wharton Social Impact Initiative, about her recommendations.

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