Social Enterprise and Impact Measurement

About this course

GPS 405: Social Enterprise and Impact Measurement How mission-driven models create measurable social value alongside commercial returns. You will design impact theories, hybrid capital stacks, and learning systems for Solara Foods' farmer programs, nutrition access, and inclusive distribution networks.

This is global business and policy for practitioners, not theory for its own sake. You will move from frameworks to evidence tables, stakeholder maps, and executive memos that survive finance, operations, and public affairs scrutiny.

Anchor company: Solara Foods, a multinational packaged foods company selling dairy alternatives, protein snacks, beverage concentrates, and cooking staples across retail, food service, and e-commerce. Revenue $3.1B, 42 markets, leadership including Amara Osei (Chief Sustainability Officer) and Omar Haddad (Global Policy VP).

Prerequisites: GPS 404: Sustainable Business and Climate Strategy. Length: 6 weeks. Assessment: 40% applied project, 35% knowledge checks, 25% reflections.

What you will be able to do

By the end of GPS 405, you should be able to:

• Frame social problems with systems thinking and theory of change logic
• Design mission-driven business models with explicit revenue and impact links
• Build impact theories and stakeholder governance that resist mission drift
• Structure funding and hybrid capital for blended value creation
• Measure impact with credible counterfactuals and learning loops
• Scale social programs with governance and accountability safeguards

How the course is organized

Six units, 24 lessons (four per unit). Work in order; each lesson includes Solara worked examples, practice problems with solutions, and managerial reads.

Unit	Topic	Lessons	You will
1	Social Problems, Systems Thinking, And Root Causes	4	Apply systems mapping to Solara decisions
2	Mission-driven Business Models And Blended Value	4	Apply mission lock mechanisms to Solara decisions
3	Impact Theories, Stakeholder Design, And Governance	4	Apply stakeholder salience to Solara decisions
4	Funding, Hybrid Capital, And Revenue Models For Impact	4	Apply capital stack to Solara decisions
5	Impact Measurement, Counterfactuals, And Learning	4	Apply results chain to Solara decisions
6	Scaling Impact Programs With Governance And Accountability	4	Apply scaling pathways to Solara decisions

How to study

1. Read lessons sequentially. Early units supply vocabulary and frames; later units stress-test the same choices under uncertainty and scale.
2. Do practice problems without peeking. Policy and sustainability decisions need numeric reconciliation and explicit kill criteria.
3. Carry one decision through the course. Use Narrow program scope to address distribution and behavior, not only product as a thread for your applied project.
4. Complete unit assessments after all four lessons in that unit. Knowledge checks test application, not definition recall.

Applied work

Across GPS 405 you will build portfolio pieces that compound:

• Theory of change for a Solara smallholder cocoa program
• Mission-driven business model canvas with unit economics
• Impact measurement plan with indicators and data sources
• Scaling governance charter with board accountability metrics

What comes next

GPS 404: Sustainable Business and Climate Strategy supplies strategic context; GPS 406: Emerging Markets and Inclusive Growth continues the Global Business/Policy/Sustainability pathway. CAP 600: Program Capstone Studio integrates global policy evidence into your final recommendation.