The Social Impact Analysts Association (SIAA) launches today with a sold-out ‘unconference’ in central London. The launch will bring together over 100 attendees from non-profits, funding and grant-making organisations, governmental bodies, academia and the media, among others.

If you aren’t joining us today, you can follow events as they unfold via live coverage on our blog and on twitter. Videos, photos and other content will be available to download from our website after the event.

The morning of the launch will focus on the current state of play for social impact analysis, with speakers including Sir Stuart Etherington, Chief Executive of NCVO, Michael Green, co-author of Philanthrocapitalism, Caroline Hartnell, editor of Alliance Magazine, Darin McKeever, Deputy Director, Charitable Sector at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Rob Owen, Chief Executive of St. Giles Trust. The afternoon will look at what specific challenges practitioners of impact analysis face, and what SIAA’s role will be in developing these debates. The day will conclude with the opportunity to sign up to some discrete tasks with which we can move forward, and some well-deserved drinks.

The aim is both to engage with broader questions about what we mean by social impact, who is involved and why, and also to pin down tangible and practical next steps to help advance the practice of social impact analysis. Our full programme is available here.

SIAA’s launch is part of an ongoing conversation with social impact analysts about how we can best help them. Between September and the end of November 2011, SIAA has recruited overfrom more than 10 different countries, with whom we have consulted extensively. SIAA’s launch, with participants coming from 12 different countries, will bring even more people into this conversation. We hope you are as excited as we are to be a part of it.