Knowledge for Good

One conversation can spark
a world of progress.

Knowledge for Good is AlphaSights' social impact business unit. We partner with innovative organizations that are tackling some of the most difficult challenges the world faces today, providing our service at the same quality and efficiency that we offer to all our clients, but at no or low cost.

Our partners reach out to AlphaSights with mission-critical questions. We rapidly search the globe and connect them to experts who have the precise knowledge they need to improve decision-making, sharpen thinking, and scale their impact.

How Together, we're accelerating human progress.

We helped a partner tackle

212

Projects

Countries

531

Conversations

“

The ability for AlphaSights to ask good questions and dig into our requests is tremendously helpful to our diligence process. We consistently end up with a strong set of advisors, attributable to the thoroughness and thoughtfulness of the AlphaSights team.

”

- Stella Tran, Acumen America

Due Diligence

Breaking down barriers to healthcare access for Spanish speakers in the U.S.

How do we help Spanish speakers in the U.S. overcome language and cultural barriers to access critical healthcare services? Are customers like employers, providers, and health plans ready and willing to pay for a health plan navigation and engagement solution to better support their Hispanic population?

Stella Tran had these questions as she considered whether Acumen America should invest in ConsejoSano, a mobile health platform that connects people via SMS and voice to Spanish-speaking advisors, giving users unlimited, 24/7 access to information on general, emotional, and nutritional health. Tran is an Associate at Acumen America, which invests in entrepreneurial ventures that serve low-income Americans.

Expert

AlphaSights connected Tran with the former Senior Manager of a firm with a large Spanish-speaking workforce in the US. The expert had been responsible for designing the company's health benefits.

Impact

Through her conversation with the expert, Tran learned that Hispanics tend to have the lowest engagement with their employee benefits. In the expert's view, a Hispanic-specific telehealth service would add significant value to employers' benefits offering because it would increase engagement and therefore reduce turnover. This insight resolved many questions the due diligence team had about the adoption of the service, and Acumen America has since invested in ConsejoSano.

Tran said, “It was interesting to hear a customer’s perspective on what they believed their Hispanic employees needed. These advisors have direct experience on the ground, seeing issues day to day, and it was powerful to have them validate how ConsejoSano could positively impact their employees.“

+ Read More

- Stella Tran, Acumen America

“

It was incredible to be able to directly ask leaders of relevant organizations if my ideas and strategy were feasible.

”

- Michael Sani

Hypothesis Testing

Leveraging data to build a voter-empowerment platform

How can we use the data we generate from our voter-empowerment game to transform our nonprofit into a sustainable enterprise and lead change in the outdated polling market? And how can we do this with integrity to protect our relationships with young voters?

Michael Sani posed those questions when working with AlphaSights as part of a 12-week scaling program for social entrepreneurs. Sani is CEO of Bite the Ballot, a party-neutral charity whose game-based app empowers young people to register and vote in the UK and “play and share” the issues they care about.

Expert

AlphaSights connected Sani with the former Head of Local and Regional Government at a large public sector marketing company that focuses on database marketing in the UK.

Impact

The expert validated Sani’s hypothesis that the demographic data collected from Bite the Ballot’s app were sellable, emphasizing that the ability to cross reference age, gender, and location from a millennial audience with the issues they care about is particularly valuable to marketers. This insight informed Sani’s decisions on next steps.

“I took the risk to raise the funds to build a new tool to collect data. I’m delighted to say the commercial side is looking exciting. In 12-18 months, the charity will be self-sustaining from the back-end of our commercial activity. I take a lot of pride in this.“ - Sani

+ Read More

It was incredible to be able to directly ask leaders of relevant organizations if my ideas and strategy were feasible.

- Michael Sani

“

Guayusa was initially only used for self-consumption until Runa's team identified the natural benefits of this plant and created an energy drink and tea brand that it commercializes across the US. Runa has created a market for the Guayusa and now thousands of small holder farmers in the Amazon have a new source of income.

”

- Santiago Melo, Acumen

Due Diligence

Preserving sustainable production practices post M&A

How can a small beverage company that sustainably sources its key ingredient attract a large company for purchase? And would an acquiring company preserve its practices that drive social impact?

Santiago Melo was exploring these questions as he considered whether Acumen Latin America should invest in Runa, a Brooklyn-based beverage company that uses sustainable practices to source Guayusa, its key ingredient, from more than 3,000 indigenous households in the Ecuadorian and Peruvian Amazon.

Expert

AlphaSights connected Melo with experts at two of the largest multinational food, snack, and beverage companies; one expert was a marketing and M&A consultant of almost 20 years, and the other was a former VP of new business development who was directly involved in several beverage acquisitions and integrations.

Impact

Speaking to the experts, Melo learned that big companies are trying to catch up with consumers' increasing demand for natural products that make a positive impact. The experts shared with Melo that big companies would see value in Runa's healthy value proposition and sustainable approaches and it was very likely they would preserve them post-acquisition.

After a thorough due diligence, Acumen invested in Runa in May, 2017. Melo said, "At Acumen, we look for highly specific knowledge that is not widely available. Talking to relevant experts is a crucial part of our due diligence process and AlphaSights has been an excellent resource to find those key experts in our niche sectors."

+ Read More

- Santiago Melo, Acumen

“

I thought to myself, how can giving AlphaSights a 200 word brief possibly generate the quality of information I need? But I was absolutely amazed with the caliber information I was able to access from the experts they gave me.

”

- James Baderman, Fight for Peace

Expansion Strategy

Creating a franchise approach for a proven youth violence reduction program.

Can our nonprofit use a social franchise model to expand our impact to new countries? If so, how do we enable local adaptation while maintaining quality? And how quickly can we bring franchisees on board?

James Baderman was wrestling with these questions as he considered international expansion options for Fight for Peace, a nonprofit organization that uses combat sports combined with education and personal development to help young people in communities affected by crime and violence.

Expert

AlphaSights connected Baderman with four experts; a former senior leader at McDonald's USA; a former SVP of Apple Retail in the UK; a former CEO of the UK's most successful group of franchises, including Foodbank, which had worked in the charity sector, and; a consultant with a long career running franchises like Premier Inn and Costa Coffee.

Impact

Baderman learned lessons from the successes and failures the experts shared throughout their long careers. Each call contributed to developing a clear picture of what's involved in franchising, helping him articulate his needs and create a franchise strategy that can be passed on to consultants. Baderman said, "It was amazing because the first two experts referenced the McDonald's model. Then I actually got to talk to a former senior leader at McDonald's who played a direct role in its formation. I wouldn't have had that kind of access without AlphaSights."

+ Read More

- James Baderman, Fight for Peace

We partner with organizations that are taking innovative approaches to improving the quality of life, environmental conditions, and opportunity for people around the world. By providing our knowledge search services, we're helping our partners expand their capacity to make meaningful and lasting impact.

Partner With Us

Are you a forward-thinking social impact organization looking to tap into the world’s knowledge to expand your impact?

Connect

Knowledge for Good

One conversation can spark
a world of progress.

How Together, we're accelerating human progress.

Our Work

We helped a partner tackle

Our Impact

Expert

Impact

Expert

Impact

Expert

Impact

Expert

Impact

Our Partners

Partner With Us

Knowledge for Good

One conversation can spark a world of progress.

How Together, we're accelerating human progress.

Our Work

We helped a partner tackle

Our Impact

Expert

Impact

Expert

Impact

Expert

Impact

Expert

Impact

Our Partners

Partner With Us

One conversation can spark
a world of progress.