How do we measure progress and prosperity? Metrics such as Gross Domestic Product (GDP) keep count of an economy’s current market value but fail to take into account factors like the environment, social inclusion and equality, health, and education. Michael Green, economist and CEO of the Social Progress Imperative, worked with legendary strategy expert Michael E. Porter of Harvard Business School to formulate a complementary metric to GDP: the Social Progress Index (SPI), which achieves a more holistic picture of a nation’s economic prosperity and stability and is a powerful tool to track progress towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Author of The Road from Ruin: How to Revive Capitalism and Put America Back on Top and Philanthrocapitalism: How Giving Can Save the World, Green is a leading authority on practicing socially responsible capitalism. An economist by training, he is a former senior official in the UK Government’s Department for International Development, where he managed British aid programs to Russia and Ukraine and headed the communications department. His TED Talks have been viewed more than four million times, and his 2014 Talk was chosen by the TED organization as one of the “most powerful ideas” of 2014 and by The Telegraph as one of the 10 best ever. In 2016, he was named one of The 100 Most Connected Men in Britain by GQ and one of the NonProfit Times’ Power & Influence Top 50.