Giving Compass' Take:

· Amanda Kee, CEO at AVPN, offers three different opportunities for private social investors to engage in meaningful conversation with policymakers. 

· Why is it important to support public-private collaborations? How do these collaborations impact civil society?

· Read about innovative insights policymakers should know. 

Asia-Pacific will likely miss achieving all of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 if we continue in our present deteriorating trajectory. To solve critical development issues in the region, therefore, we urgently need to effective public-private collaborations to unlock new and bigger pipelines of capital and scale solutions.

When I stepped into the shoes of CEO at AVPN in 2013, I quickly realised that policy engagement was an integral missing piece in Asia’s social investment ecosystem. Governments need to be seen as more than just legislators; they are collaborators who can connect state and national policy priorities with the private sector agenda.

6 years down the road, we have adopted diverse innovative pathways that bring the multi-sector ecosystem together to take action on local, national, and regional priorities. Not all of them were effective, however, as complex problems require the right platforms for solutions to ripen. Challenges including finding the right philanthropic or investment partner to collaborate with policymakers, and both parties may not have the right expertise and know-how to engage in partnership discourses.

In partnering with policymakers, therefore, we have to unpack a few core questions: How can we translate legislation into action and be partners in the implementation process? How can we bridge the capacity-building gap for policymakers and investors to work in partnership? How can we encourage policy leadership that champions cross-sector collaboration?

Read the full article about collaboration with policymakers by Amanda Kee at Asian Venture Philanthropy Network.