About Us
As of February 2025, Positive Impact has a community of almost 2,000 global event professionals, over 40 corporate Head of Events, over 40 Corporate Head of Sustainability, over 160 SMEs with a Race to Zero commitment, over 5 memorandums of understanding with United Nations bodies.
For almost 20 years not for profit Positive Impact have been providing engagement, collaboration and education to create a sustainable event industry. You could describe Positive Impact as the ‘critical friend’ of the global event sector.
In 2023 we began to focus on bringing needed innovation to life by supporting two projects:
Technology to make it easier for your event to have a positive Impact
Positive Impact is the only event sector body to be a Race to Zero Accelerator, UN SDG Action mobiliser and to have education certified by the world’s largest and leading CPD accreditation working across all sectors, so our education is accessed by heads of marketing, HR and sustainability.
Our funding comes from everywhere and nowhere, and every penny, cent or yen is used to advance the event sector so every time an event happens the UN Sustainable Development Goals are advanced and events are recognised as ensuring 'participation and inclusion in decision making’ (UN SDG16).
This is a timeline of Positive Impact's journey and the creation of a sustainable event industry. It reflects initiatives from:
The United Nations
Positive Impact
CEO Fiona Pelham
Key developments in the creation of a sustainable event industry.
Exploring how events could enable participation and inclusion in decision making
Positive Impact ran a webinar exploring how SDG 16.7.2 could bring to life a new narrative for the event sector: “We are the sector that makes participation and inclusion in decision making possible.”
Reimagining the future of participation and inclusion at SDG Global Festival of Action
On the 26th March, Positive Impact hosted an interactive session on the power of traits stereotypically assigned as ‘feminine’ such as compassion and inclusivity and how that can help us create a compelling future of participation and inclusion.
Exploring the role of women in achieving carbon targets
Positive Impact and UNFCCC Secretariat celebrated International Women’s Day with a unique exploration into the role of women in achieving carbon targets.
Exploring the power of female leadership and human interaction
Aligned with SDG 5: Gender Equality and the UN Women’s theme for International Women’s Day 2021, a select community of global corporate event planners joined an experiment to explore the power of female leadership and human interaction.
Facilitating a roundtable on how the event sector could #buildbackbetter before COP26
Positive Impact facilitated a #buildbackbetter roundtable with COP26 leaders, UK Government and the UNFCCC on how a climate action framework with quantitative carbon reduction targets and a measurable reduction path could be created before COP26.
Sharing with every MP how the UK event sector can be #builtbackbetter
Fiona Pelham wrote an article in Conference News about the solutions to the economic, environmental, equality and health crises being faced and how the UK event sector could #buildbackbetter. This magazine was delivered to the homes of every UK MP.
Exploring the Future of How Human Interaction Happens
This report explores how human interaction could be a solution to our global crises by asking the question: What is the Future of How Human Interaction Happens?
Growing our ambassador community in 2020
In 2020 our ambassadors grew to 1,162 ambassadors, due to the hugely successful 100,000 campaign! Our ambassadors launched this campaign and we provided them a toolkit to be able to tell their communities that they are leading in empowering 100,000 #eventprofs to be in action building the future of how human connection happens.
Talking about carbon targets with AMI magazine
Positive Impact Events CEO Fiona Pelham was a guest on the AMI magazine podcast. She talks about the changes she has seen over that time, how Covid-19 has shifted the narrative on sustainability, why event professionals need to show leadership, and why carbon targets for the meetings and events sector are needed to focus minds.
Exploring what COP26 could mean for the event sector with UNFCCC
Positive Impact joined UNFCCC for a session at IBTM Virtual exploring how the event sector could utilise the COP26 opportunity to #buildbackbetter. This session was shared widely for maximum impact including with the Japanese event sector.
Demonstrating leadership with 100,000 #EventProfs in Action
This report summarises the Positive Impact campaign to empower 100,000 #eventprofs to be in action building the future of how human connection happens.
Exploring the Future of How Human Connection Happens
This white paper explores how human connection could be a solution to our global crises by asking the question: What is the Future of How Human Connection Happens?
Exploring the Future of How Human Connection Happens
Positive Impact Events invited 40 senior global corporate event planners to be part of an experiment to explore the future of how human connection happens. Following this event a white paper was produced.
Supporting innovation and leadership with Messukeskus
Finland’s largest convention centre wins a European event award for their sustainability strategy created with leadership and materials from Positive Impact Events.
Updating the #shareapositiveimpact toolkit
After Covid-19 significantly impacted the event industry, we updated our free Share a Positive Impact toolkit to include virtual events and emphasise the power of human connection.
Communicating how #eventprofs are in action to #TurnItAround during SDG Action Week
Laura Miller, Manager of Events & Customer Experience at Interface shared with the UN during SDG Action Week on how event professionals are in action to #TurnItAround and progress the SDGs through facilitating participation and inclusion (SDG 16.7.2) through events.
Enabling Inclusion and Participation in Decision Making with Acceleration Action 2020
This Acceleration Action demonstrates the role of the event industry in accelerating progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals. It is a commitment to action for 2020 and a report on actions taken in 2019.
Accelerating participation and inclusion (SDG 16.7.2) by using events
Positive Impact submitted an update to our Acceleration Action to ensure inclusion and participation in decision making is enabled and human connection is accelerating progress towards the UN SDGs.
Event industry urged to accelerate its response to climate change
Miguel Naranjo, programme officer at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) secretariat, warned that there “would be no events industry” if society fails in facing this challenge.
Promoting the use of business events as a means of addressing the UN SDGs
Fiona Pelham, CEO of Positive Impact Events, talks to The Iceberg about the opportunities available from taking action around sustainability to thrive in the aftermath of COVID-19.
