60 DecibelsESG & Sustainability Jobs

Impact measurement firm that surveys end users to generate standardized social performance data for investors, funders, and social enterprises

60 Decibels is an impact measurement company that collects direct feedback from the people a program or product is meant to serve - farmers, microfinance borrowers, off-grid energy customers, and others. Using standardized 15-minute phone surveys, the firm produces comparable data that corporations, impact investors, development finance institutions, and NGOs can use to assess and improve their social performance.

Why it matters

Most impact claims in sustainable finance rely on estimates or self-reported outputs rather than evidence from beneficiaries. 60 Decibels addresses this gap by building a global benchmarking database from primary interviews - covering sectors like off-grid energy, financial inclusion, agriculture, and gender - so that capital can be directed toward interventions that demonstrably improve lives. Their Signal platform lets investors vet deals using verified customer data rather than proxy metrics.

The firm has conducted over 600 impact studies and built what it describes as the world's largest dataset for social impact measurement, including a microfinance index drawn from interviews with more than 24,000 clients across 39 countries.