Profit vs Purpose Symposium

​Building Sustainable Businesses Without Losing Your Values

​Founders of colour are often under additional pressure to build businesses that deliver social impact for their communities, while also being financially sustainable. The Profit vs Purpose Symposium creates space to openly explore that tension, without judgement, guilt or simplistic answers.

​This event brings together founders, social investors, researchers and ecosystem partners to unpack what it really means to reconcile purpose with profit. We will look at how founders can create solutions that serve their communities without feeling extractive, burnt out or forced to compromise their values in order to survive.

​The session will begin with a keynote exploring how purpose‑driven founders navigate motivation, ethical responsibility and the emotional toll of building impact‑led ventures. A panel discussion will then cover practical themes including recent developments in impact measurement and ethical conduct, experiences of moral injury and founder burnout, and realistic funding pathways for social causes, from grants and social investment to bootstrapping and earned revenue.

​Participants will then take part in interactive roundtables, providing space for honest discussion, peer learning and problem‑solving around shared challenges. The symposium will conclude with networking, offering opportunities to connect with social investors, social enterprise leaders and researchers working at the intersection of impact and sustainability.

​This event is part of the Race Equity Programme and is designed for founders who want to build meaningful, long‑term impact without sacrificing themselves or their communities in the process.

​This event is open to anyone interested in balancing profit and purpose, and supporting entrepreneurs from the global majority, from the LSE community any beyond.