Invest with Values

The Investor's Gateway to Positive Change

The Investor's Gateway to Positive Change

Impact Investing News

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Three ways collaboration could potentially advance place-based impact investing

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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 […]

What Will You Do to Shift Capital?

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I’ve had a busy month spread over Detroit, Jersey City, Chicago, and New York connecting with BALLE Network Leaders. Through our discussions, several themes have emerged, but one area of inquiry has stood out to me personally: How can BALLE catalyze a greater shift in capital to address the most urgent needs in our communities? […]

Building the Foundations of Economies That Work For All

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The first immersion of the 2018 BALLE Local Economy Fellows took place April 22-26 at Evan’s Mill, a nature-and-retreat center in Smithville, Tennessee, a small town that is about an hour east of Nashville.  For BALLE, this marks its fifth class of Fellows, meaning that a sizeable Fellowship “alumni” network now exists. It also means that […]

Place-based impact, talking system-change at MIE, Rise Fund’s first Africa investment, Michigan fund-of-funds

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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 […]

RSF Collaboratives: Filling a Funding Gap

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Before joining RSF Social Finance’s leadership team two years ago, I spent fifteen years leading Social Venture Network, a community of mission-driven entrepreneurs and impact investors. During that time, I got to know hundreds of social entrepreneurs who had launched companies and nonprofits that were tackling some of our most pressing social and environmental challenges. […]

Weekly Impact Investment Market Update

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Impact Investing & ESG How Socially Responsible Investing Can Help You Avoid Catastrophic Drops within Your Portfolio Martin Kremenstein, head of retirement and ETF solutions at Nuveen, explains how ESG metrics serve as an indicator of quality and can be used as a risk management tool. ESG Reins in Volatility after Rough Start Critics of […]

7 Questions for Suzette Hibble, SHE Photography

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There’s no doubt about it – Suzette Hibble is an amazing photographer who is elevating female entrepreneurs with her photography business, SHE Photography, A Suzette Hibble Experience. Suzette creates images that tell a story about each entrepreneur – who they are, what they do, and what unique talents they bring to their clients. Such skillfully […]

A #MeToo moment for impact investing, unlocking refugee talent, a fund for black women founders

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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, […]

Charles Eisenstein: Awakened By A New and Ancient Story That We’ve Known All Along

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Charles Eisenstein is a teacher, speaker, human being, voracious reader, and writer focusing on themes of civilization, consciousness, money, and human cultural evolution. His books (see Resources section below) as well as his other essays and blog posts, and other media have generated a vast online following.  He speaks frequently at conferences and other events, […]

Making Local Wealth Stick

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Across the United States, LOCUS estimates that $9 trillion will transfer from one generation to the next by 2029. When you dig into the numbers, it’s clear that communities – rural and urban, wealthy and poor – have assets. The challenge for community philanthropy is how to turn that wealth into what a community really […]

TBLI Conference Nordic-November 8-9, Nasdaq, Stockholm Sweden

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TBLI CONFERENCE is the longest running (nearly 20 years) and largest annual global networking and learning event on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) and Impact Investment.  What to expect? TBLi is the worlds leading authority on ESG and Impact Investing and has been curating content for TBLi Conference, for over 20 years.With a track record […]

Pacific Community Ventures Receives $3.2M from the Quality Jobs Fund

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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 […]

RSF Prime Rate Change

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On April 1, 2018, RSF Social Finance increased its RSF Prime base interest rate for borrowers by 0.25% to 5.25%. The other participants in the Social Investment Fund (SIF) are affected as follows: the investor rate is now 1.00%, up from 0.75%, and the RSF revenue share remains at 4.25%. RSF Prime is reset each […]

Pacific Community Ventures Receives $500,000 from Citi Foundation’s Community Progress Makers Fund

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This $500,000 investment in core operating support will enable Pacific Community Ventures to strengthen communities by investing in more small businesses and create good jobs for more working people. The Citi Foundation announced that Pacific Community Ventures was selected as the recipient of a $500,000 grant as part of the 2018 Community Progress Makers Fund. The Fund […]

Investment Decisions That Impact Your Career

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by Bonnie Foley-Wong, Founder, Pique Ventures and Pique Fund There are many paths to a career in impact investing. Some impact fund managers began their careers in traditional venture capital, whilst other investors have found success previously as entrepreneurs. I am an impact investor and I’m an entrepreneur in the impact investing industry. I found my […]

How blended finance aims to catalyze private capital for the U.N. Global Goals

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ImpactAlpha, April 26 – Not all investors are hip to impact as an investment thesis. They need a nudge to make the leap. Blended finance practitioners structure investments that use philanthropic and development funding to reduce risks and boost returns for private investors. With a bit of financial engineering, blended finance proponents hope to mobilize […]

Weekly Impact Investment Market Update

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Impact Investing & ESG The Finance Performance of Impact Investing Through Private Debt The Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN) and Symbiotics present the first comprehensive analysis of the financial performance of private debt impact investment funds. ESG Ratings Can Help Investors Pick Winning Emerging Markets Reports from Morningstar and GMO explain why investors and advisors […]

Financial Activism and RSF’s Integrated Capital Institute

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Enrique: What is the Integrated Capital Institute, and who is it for? Akaya: It’s for financial activists who want to leverage capital as a tool for positive social and ecological change. Over the nine-month program, the fellows learn alongside a group of experts in the field who are leveraging different kinds of capital through an […]

Gender Equality: With or Without the Federal Government

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by Julie Gorte, SVP, Impax Asset Mgmt/Pax World Funds “The reputation of a thousand years may be determined by the conduct of one hour.” – Japanese Proverb There was a time in human history when size and strength were defining characteristics of a person’s value and of the jobs on which the clan’s survival depended. […]

The Brief’s Big 9: Philadelphia-bound, the impact delta, follow the talent, private-debt benchmarks

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Happy Friday, ImpactAlpha readers! There’s a reason ImpactAlpha has been publishing so many stories on Philadelphia, even beyond the fact that our own Dennis Price and his family moved back last year.  We’ve been tracking locally-driven economic revivalacross the U.S.; Philly is testing approaches also taking hold elsewhere. Can local institutions and impact investors effectively direct capital to entrepreneurs and other […]

Women in Finance: Plant Your Garden and Tend It

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How finance could and should be a tool for good   Though it seems incredible, we’ve learned that there are some among us who have managed to skate by, oblivious to the numerous and systemic obstacles women face in their professional lives. This year is shaping up to be a reckoning. But broad discussions of […]

A Hawaiian B Corp. Expands With the Help of Small Investors

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It was concern for Hawaii’s environment, economy and farming system that inspired Brett Jacobson to launch Hawaiian Ola, a maker of healthy beverages, in 2012. Jacobson, a farmer who previously ran a biofuel company, wanted to start a business that could help Hawaii’s struggling farmers—the average farmer in makes about $15,000 a year, according to the […]

Putting Our Feminism Into Our Finances

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by Kristin Hull, Founder and CEO, Nia Impact Capital  While many of us have been at this for a while now, 2018 is the year we stand to make significant progress in our efforts to bring more women into the financial fold. The #MeToo movement has brought attention to women’s equality everywhere from the red […]

Mispriced risk, world’s largest B Corp, community impact investing, TED’s Audacious winners

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  Featured: The Impact Alpha The impact opportunity in the mispriced risk of lending to the underserved. Techies are used to making the impossible possible. Bankers, not so much. But I’ve been struck by a common theme in many of the deals ImpactAlpha has rounded up in our Dealflow column, and in conversations with financiers. Things that were […]

Bold Investments Changing the Future of Social Good

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Whether addressing income inequality or access to vital resources such as water, food, or healthcare, lasting change only starts with a committed investment or partnership. Reaching a meaningful end goal requires a sustained effort — dependent on an approach that is strategic, evidence-based, partner-centric and sustainable. If this sounds familiar, it’s because it is: The success of […]

Meet Our Latest Borrower: As Kneaded Bakery

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As Kneaded Bakery is a Community Supported Bakery, founded and operated by Iliana Imberman Berkowitz. Inspired by the sourdough bread culture of California and the rich tradition of breads of her Jewish heritage, As Kneaded serves loaves that blend cultures and fill bellies. Iliana focuses her bakery on baguettes, challah, and a variety of sourdough […]

Countdown to REGEN18! [May 1-4]

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Long Story Short: Where: Impact Hub SF When: May 1-4, 2018 We’re excited to support the #regenerative conference. Use Code R30_LiftEconomy to save 30% off already discounted tickets when you buy yours for #ReGen18. Early bird discounts expire 4/20/2018. Move beyond sustainability to regenerative solutions for people and planet. Join us! >> regenecon.net. Short Story […]

The Brief’s Big Ten: High impact, high return, impact bonds, smarter subsidies, the impact investing beat

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Greetings, ImpactAlpha readers!  The theme of the week, not surprisingly, was “impact alpha.” A new network of impact fund managers staked out high-impact, high-returns investing. There’s an “institutional shift” toward impact, driven by risk reduction, big pension funds and others, as we explored in our Returns on Investment podcast. How much is impact alpha worth? […]

Align Your Investments with Your Values – Webinar Series

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Empower Yourself Global finance is an opaque landscape for individual investors. All too often, our investments can end up tied to socially and environmentally harmful industries, without our knowledge. How can we empower ourselves to act in this sphere, and direct our money toward profitable, progressive businesses? Learn how to Align Your Investments with Your […]

A Place-Based Impact Fund Debuts in Ontario

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Impact investors are increasingly gravitating to place-based investing. The latest example: a new impact investing fund in Canada that will focus on loans to social and environmental enterprises in Southwestern Ontario. The VERGE Breakthrough Fund, as it is called, also underscores the willingness of impact investors to experiment with new approaches. The fund was created by VERGE […]

Be Bold, Be Strong, Be Big and Be Known

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By Travis Green Solutions Consultant, LOCUS Impact Investing The staff of the Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation(AAACF) has taken to calling their foundation “a community impact engine” where the whole staff – finance, administration, development, program – works in service of impact. “It’s a virtuous cycle… create impact, build endowment, create more impact, build more […]

The Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN) Presents: #GIINRoadmap

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The Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN) released its Roadmap for the Future of Impact Investing: Reshaping Financial Markets. Commenced at the ten-year anniversary of the coining of the term impact investing, the Roadmap assesses industry progress to date, presents a vision for the financial markets, and outlines 18 specific actions needed to exponentially enhance the […]

Crowdfunding, Guerrilla-Style. Lessons From Jolene’s First Cousin.

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When Guerrilla Development opened up crowdfunding for its latest project, a two-building mixed-use development called Jolene’s First Cousin, the team figured there would be strong demand. An earlier project, the Fair-Haired Dumbbell (they have a penchant for quirky names to go along with their iconoclastic buildings), raised $1.5 million from 121 investors in eight months, using Regulation A. […]

Summer as an Intern with RSF Social Finance

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As I entered the Presidio in breathtaking San Francisco, I was excited to start my MBA summer internship at RSF Social Finance. Having worked in finance and consulting before Wharton, I was attracted to this role by the opportunity it presented to apply my learnings to support social entrepreneurs and challenge my thinking around traditional […]

As shareholders get active on climate, the SEC lets companies duck votes

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EOG Resources rejection of resolution from Trillium suggests limits of shareholder engagement Many impact investors posit that holding positions in public companies leads to positive impact because of the ability to pressure management through shareholder proposals. Champions of this approach point to recent examples like the ExxonMobil shareholder proposal that shareholders approved last May requesting […]

Morgan Simon: Transformative Principles & Practices Yielding REAL IMPACT Returns

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Building bridges between finance and social justice, Morgan Simon is a widely-recognized leader in impact investment, influencing over $150 billion in investment capital over the past seventeen years.  Morgan co-leads Candide Group, which supports two clients, including members of the Pritzker family on behalf of the Libra Foundation. She is also co-founder and chair of […]

MDIF closes $6 million media impact fund

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Media Development Investment Fund (MDIF), the New York-based non-profit which supports independent media in countries where it is under threat, has announced the final close of its MDIF Media Finance I (MMF I), a $6 million impact investment fund which will support news media in emerging and frontier markets. Likely investees, says a press release […]

What constitutes a good deal anyway?

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At the 10th anniversary of the Good Deals conference (combined with the 1st anniversary of Beyond Good Business), nestled within London’s Royal Institute of British Architects, hundreds of social entrepreneurs, social investors, intermediaries and sector experts came together to ‘explore how to do good business better’. Social enterprise makes more than £55 billion for the […]

The Brief’s Big 10: Impact roadmaps, B Corp benefits, Opportunity Zone challenges, sustainable…

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The Brief The Brief’s Big 10: Impact roadmaps, B Corp benefits, Opportunity Zone challenges, sustainable seafood, decarceration startups, green bonds March 23, 2018 Greetings, ImpactAlpha readers! We hope your impact investments provided a non-correlated refuge from the volatility of the stock markets this week. The Brief is taking a spring break next week. We hope you’ll miss […]

Triskeles Foundation Launches First Ever “Philanthro-raffle

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WantToBeAPhilanthropist.org creates new opportunity for those interested in making a positive impact EXTON, Pa. (March 20, 2018) – No matter where investors are in their charitable giving journey, there’s a new opportunity for those interested in making a positive impact. Triskeles Foundation, a national provider of donor advised and nonprofit funds focused on values-aligned impact […]

ImpactAssets Drops Investment Minimums and Fees on Private Debt and Equity Impact Investment Options, Adds New Funds

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Industry’s lowest investment minimums open “deep” impact investing to a new tier of donors who are using philanthropic dollars to generate social, environmental and financial returns. BETHESDA, Md., Mar. 15 /CSRwire/ – ImpactAssets today slashed investment minimums on its private debt and equity investment options to $10,000 and flattened administrative fees to 0.40%. Effective March […]

The Brief’s Big Ten: Perils and promise of impact investing

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The Brief March 16, 2018 Greetings, ImpactAlpha readers! #Featured: The Brief’s Big Ten 1. The continuing fallout from the dispute over the Abraaj Group’s finances. It started with questions from investors, including the Gates Foundation, about accounting in the Dubai-based firm’s $1 billion Growth Markets Health Fund. Now, the controversy has engulfed the $13 billion firm and […]

Slow Money NYC Case Study: Blue Marble Ice Cream

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How an artisanal ice cream maker grew their business year over year with funding from Slow Money investors. by Christine Rico In 2007, Blue Marble Ice Cream set a new standard in the ice cream industry. Jennie Dundas and her partner noticed a trend (first set by chefs, then adopted by the coffee industry) of […]

Deval Patrick: Shifting GIIRS with Bain Capital’s Double Impact

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Politician, civil rights lawyer, author and businessman, Deval Patrick joined Bain Capital in 2015 and is a managing director of the Double Impact business.  He is the only African American to have served as governor of Massachusetts, served from 2007 to 2015 and was re-elected in 2010. A member of the Democratic Party, Patrick served […]