For some time, FSG (the progenitor of shared value thinking) has been planning development of a well defined community of practice. That planning has sought input from a range of contributors globally and comes to fruition in May this year with the establishment of the Shared Value Initiative (SVI).

SVI is a multi-stakeholder effort with two goals: advance the knowledge and practice of shared value creation; and increase the support and adoption of shared value strategies by organizations around the world. It comprises:

• A (yet to be launched) web portal for the sharing of knowledge and case studies – sharedvalue.org
• Professional services standards
• Toolkits for diagnostics, measurement and standards
• Shared value executive education curriculum

Members of the Shared Value Project, Helen Steel and Rhod Ellis-Jones, have been invited to collaborate on an Affiliated Professional Services network pilot. Approximately 38 individuals from 21 firms representing 15 countries will be participating in the initial pilot phase. Participants will attend a 3.5-day program to be held in Boston from May 20-23, 2013 that includes two days of training, a half-day of exchange on APS Network functionality, and participation in the Shared Value Summit.

SVI is an important, proactive move to ensure shared value practice has rigour from its earliest stages and is well defined for businesses, NGOs and governments looking for better models to apply in creating social impact.

The Shared Value Project will hold workshops in June/July to share the knowledge gained in Boston.