Impact in Changing Times
Members’ Day | London | 15 October 2026

Presented by GAIL UK

Hosted by Travers Smith

Impact in Changing Times brings GAIL members together for a focused one‑day programme on how law can support a just and sustainable economy. As the landscape of social, economic, and environmental change accelerates, legal practitioners are engaging with new ideas and approaches that enable positive outcomes across diverse contexts.

Why Attend

  • Engage with current thinking on how law contributes to a just and sustainable economy
  • Connect with GAIL members committed to impact‑focused practice
  • Explore practical tools, models, and approaches through hands‑on learning
  • Contribute to shared understanding across global jurisdictions

Programme Highlights

Keynotes & Panels
Hear from speakers exploring emerging developments in impact‑aligned legal practice, from sustainable investment structures to accountability‑driven governance models.

Interactive Workshops
Participate in practical sessions designed to support learning, peer exchange, and the application of insights to real‑world legal work.

Spotlight on Africa
Learn from legal developments and practitioner experiences across Africa, offering perspectives that strengthen global dialogue within the impact law community.

Keynote

Fireside chat with Sir Ronald Cohen

We are delighted to announce that Sir Ronald Cohen, widely known as the “godfather of impact investing,” will deliver the keynote conversation at Impact in Changing Times — Members’ Day on 15 October.

A pioneering venture capitalist, philanthropist, and social finance innovator, Sir Ronald has spent the past two decades driving what he calls the Impact Revolution — a movement to reshape capitalism so that financial markets value social and environmental outcomes alongside profit. From co-founding Apax Partners to establishing institutions such as Bridges Fund Management, Big Society Capital and Social Finance, his work has helped build the foundations of the global impact investing ecosystem.
Sir Ronald is also the author of the bestselling book Impact: Reshaping Capitalism to Drive Real Change, named one of the Financial Times’ Best Economics Books of 2020. In it, he presents a compelling vision for a new form of capitalism—one that measures and rewards positive impact for people and the planet.

In this keynote fireside conversation, Sir Ronald will be interviewed by Mark Kenderdine-Davies, Chief Legal Officer at British International Investment. Together they will explore the growing impact imperative, the ideas behind Sir Ronald’s work and latest reflections on Impact, and the crucial role that lawyers and legal frameworks can play in accelerating systemic change.

This keynote will set the stage for the day’s discussions on how legal practice can support a more just, sustainable and accountable economy.

Sessions

Legal Innovations from Around the World

This panel debate will bring together voices from around the world to explore how legal and policy innovation is being used to further impact agendas in different jurisdictions. The session will showcase exciting, recent, location-specific developments and facilitate discussion of how such innovations may be adopted and adapted for use elsewhere.

Whose Impact Is It Anyway? Capital, Conditionality, Africa’s Development Agenda and Evolving Regulatory Frameworks

Africa’s impact investing landscape sits within a fundamental tension: international capital allocators apply ESG criteria shaped by global frameworks, while African recipients face local imperatives (such as poverty, energy insecurity and infrastructure deficits) that those frameworks often overlook. Led by the GAIL Africa board, this panel asks whether the prevailing sustainability architecture genuinely enables African-led development, or conditions access to finance on standards recipients had no role in setting.

Tipping Points Workshop

This interactive workshop explores how lawyers can help unlock “positive tipping points” to accelerate systemic change across climate, social, and economic issues. Through an introductory framing and small-group exercises, participants will identify barriers, legal leverage points, and practical tools to drive transformation, culminating in shared insights and a collaborative map of opportunities for future action within the GAIL community.

Fiduciary Duties in an Impact Economy

This panel will bring together leading voices from across the legal, corporate and investment communities to explore how the law on fiduciary duties in a number of jurisdictions is adapting to meet the demands of an investment landscape increasingly defined by the pursuit of both financial return and measurable positive impact.

Lunch and networking drinks will be hosted by Travers Smith

Save the Date

To save the date for this member-only event, click ‘Add to calendar‘ in the yellow box.

If you are not already a member, join GAIL’s community.

Further details, including how to register, will be updated on this page.

Partnership Opportunities

To find out about partnering with GAIL for this event, request the Partnerships Guide.