The synchronisation of asset portfolios and donations within a joint mission is the way forward if philanthropic foundations and funds are to maximise their impact and value. That’s the view of impact-investment organisation GIIN. But what is needed to achieve this brave new world? When foundations develop new strategies, they are often designed with sharp […]

Despite having no game, Jay Coen Gilbert co-founded and sold AND 1, a $250M basketball footwear and apparel company based outside Philadelphia. He led AND 1’s product and marketing for 13 years and was AND 1’s Chief Executive Officer during its period of most rapid growth. He is also cofounder of B Lab, a nonprofit […]

Is it actually possible to create investments that offer impact while at the same time returning market-rate financial returns? We interviewed Gloria Nelund of TriLinc Global, an investment sponsor with the mission of doing exactly that. Vanderbilt: What do you see as the #1 reason you’ve been able to perform as well as you’ve been able to, creating […]

In this program, Hazel Henderson and NASA Chief Scientist Dennis Bushnell continue their exploration of the massive global potential in shifting over-investments in food and agriculture dependent on the planet’s 3% of freshwater to the other halt of the plant kingdom: the 10,000 salt-loving (halophyte) plants that can fill human food and fuel needs for […]

Too many people struggle to make ends meet because they’re denied opportunities to prosper. Over our 20-year history, Pacific Community Ventures has given people a fair shake and access to the things that make communities strong, like good jobs, affordable housing, and healthy food. Our unique combination of fair lending, free mentorship, skilled volunteerism, and […]

I attended my first Mission Investors Exchange (MIE) conference in Chicago (May 14-16), along with several other members of the LOCUS team. I challenged myself and my colleagues to listen and learn, with our place-focused foundation partners in mind. What reflections or insights could we bring back and share that might be helpful to a […]

ImpactAlpha, May 31 – The Global Impact Investing Network’s Amit Bouri dropped the figure in an interview with Business Insider ahead of the release of GIIN’s annual investor survey next week. The new figure, which tallies actual responses to the survey, represents the new “floor” for the industry and a year-over-year doubling of impact assets under […]

Impact Investing & ESG Give the People What They Want: Socially Responsible Investments in 401(k)s If you spend much time reading the financial press nowadays, it’s likely that you’ve come across more than a few articles discussing the growing popularity of investing according to various social and environmental mandates. Ahead of the Curve: Valuable Tools […]

Investors Accelerate Toward 100% Impact New report from Toniic provides evidence that investors are going farther, faster and deeper into impact, while meeting their targeted financial and impact returns SAN FRANCISCO/NEW YORK, May 24, 2018—100% impact portfolios are getting easier to build, the pioneers behind them are accelerating their shift to deeper impact, and investors […]

Entrepreneurs are often lauded as “disruptors” in their fields. But what about funders? Early stage venture capital firm Obvious Ventures is betting on a way of investing that disrupts the process at its core. The Silicon Valley-based firm makes investments in what it calls “world positive” companies, or “startups that create new solutions to big world problems in […]

Pushing impact investing beyond neoliberalism. Just what is impact investing’s “theory of change”? “If you think the market economy needs to be changed, and I do, this is not the way to do that,” the Hewlett Foundation’s Larry Kramer told other foundation leaders last week. In this week’s column, ImpactAlpha’s David Bank writes, “I’m no […]

Place-based impact investing is gaining momentum in philanthropy, helping communities grow small businesses, create high-wage jobs, and increase the supply of affordable housing. Rather than going at this practice alone, many foundations, especially small and midsize foundations, are designing innovative ways to work with each other and leverage their own investment capital and the capital of others to make […]

Impact investors rediscover the power of ‘place.’ Invest in where you know. From downtown Detroit and Chicago to communities across Central Appalachia and the Navajo Nation, “place-based investing” is taking off. Private investors are tapping civic leaders, community foundations and local nonprofits to find opportunities to finance small businesses, schools, health clinics and urban infrastructure. A […]

Opportunity Collaboration reckons with a #MeToo moment in impact investing. Powerbrokers have become pariahs in Hollywood, Silicon Valley, Washington, Wall Street and beyond. Claims of sexual harassment have roiled the social-impact world as well, leading to resignations at the nonprofit Defy Ventures and the Silicon Valley Community Foundation. At this week’s Opportunity Collaboration gathering in Florida, […]

We’re excited to announce that we’ve been awarded a $3.2M impact investment from The Quality Jobs Funds. The Fund, seeded with a charitable donation of $100M, has made the investment with Pacific Community Ventures, a nationally-recognized CDFI, to support Bay Area small businesses. Pacific Community Ventures (PCV) will leverage this investment to deploy more than $5 million in loans […]