Overview

Working closely with Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) specialists, ESOs working across Asia, funders, and a strong team of highly experienced ESO founders, specialists, and leaders, we are developing a set of agreed best practice impact measurement principles for ESOs to adopt and funders to align with. Impact Measurement Principles for Entrepreneurship Support (IMPES) is a project kick-started under Frontiers Lab Asia (FLA). FLA brings teams together to collaboratively test and build scalable solutions to challenges facing entrepreneurs. They do this by convening entrepreneur support organisations (ESOs), early-stage investors, foundations, development agencies, and entrepreneurs themselves to identify systemic challenges facing those who are growing impactful businesses in Asia. They then work with them to collaboratively scope, prototype, and scale solutions to these challenges. One of the systemic challenges that has been identified is the misalignment in approaches and best practices towards impact measurement between ESOs and funders. Our team of 14 core ESOs, with the input of 10 funding agencies, identified a need for funders and ESOs to be more aligned in what effective support for entrepreneurs looks like and how this can be measured as well as a need for ESO capacity building in impact measurement. In order to meet that need, IMPES has created a set of Guiding Principles for ESO Impact Measurement.