The Capital Institute is offering a second edition of its online course, “Introduction to Regenerative Economics.” The aim of this course is to provide a living systems approach to redesigning our economy so that long-term prosperity, human dignity, social equity, and planetary wellness can be viably sustained throughout the world. This 8-week course beginning on […]
Local Banking News
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Powering Purposeful Growth: Discover Meaning in Work & Life
Do you ever wonder how you can support the growing consensus that business is a force for good? Inspiring Capital is on a mission to re-inspire the American workforce. Based on 10,000+ hours of experience with 200+ diverse professionals, they’ve created their first eLearning course: Powering Purposeful Growth: Discover Meaning in Work & Life Invest […]
For financial planners – Towards Aware and Values-Centered Investing
A Money Quotient University Course To help financial planners gain an understanding of investment options and tools that are available to help clients truly align their financial and life plans with their values. Instructor Marco Vangelisti is a 100% impact investor with a longstanding commitment to direct local investing. He is a founding member of […]
Why Happiness? Why Invest? – The International Day of Happiness
Should Happiness be part of the investing process? With today being the International Day of Happiness as declared by the United Nations, it is the perfect day to ask big questions and reflect. There is a lot of talk about the Sustainable Development Goals being part of the investing process, the goals seem to focus on […]
Putting banking back in the hands of the people: The role of regional cooperative banks in community wealth building
Community wealth building If you’re in any way a follower of the ‘new economics’ movement you will probably have heard of the ‘community wealth building’ mantra which is gaining ground as common language. So, what exactly is this new approach to growing local economies? The Democracy Collaborative, where I’m a Next System Project Research Fellow, defines community wealth […]
A New Credit Union in Maine Will Fund Sustainable Food and Farms
A new credit union is hoping to fill a funding gap in Maine for small scale, sustainable farming and food production. Called Maine Harvest, the credit union is in a final fundraising push to reach a $2.4 million capitalization, at which point it can apply for a charter. It is expected to open in early 2019. […]
Is it Time to Finally Change Your Bank?
As the stock market reaches giddy new highs, it’s worth noting that it was just 10 years ago that a mortgage bubble and risky behavior fueled by the nation’s largest banks brought the economy to its knees. That experience—along with a backlash against the high, often unscrupulous fees charged by big banks—prompted many people to […]
Aspiration raises $47 million for “conscious banking”
Smarter Money Investors include Allen & Company, Omidyar Network, Capricorn Investments, actor Orlando Bloom, L.A. Clippers coach “Doc” Rivers and former Citigroup COO Deborah Hopkins PC: Aspiration Most banks profit from overdraft, ATM and other fees, or from financial products ill-suited to their customers. Los Angeles-based Aspiration lets customers themselves choose how much to pay in […]
A New Credit Union Will Focus on Clean Energy
Worried about climate change? Want to do more to support the spread of renewable energy? There’s a new credit union designed for people like you. The Clean Energy Credit Union is a new federally chartered credit union with a mission to help speed adoption of renewal energy by making it more broadly affordable. It was founded by […]
Cliff Feigenbaum: GreenMoney Turns 25 – The Evolution of Sustainable Business & Impact Investing
Founder and Managing Editor Cliff Feigenbaum launched The GreenMoney Journal in 1992 and in 2013 was named “One of the Top 100 Thought Leaders in Trustworthy Business” by Trust Across America. In 2015 and again in 2017, Cliff was named one of the “Leaders in CSR & Sustainability” by Corporate Responsibility (CR) magazine. He has […]
GreenMoney’s 25 Year Journey – Influencing Capital and Corporations
The inside story on the award-winning publication from its founder by Cliff Feigenbaum, founder and managing editor, GreenMoney Journal and GreenMoney.com Twenty-five years. Is that possible? Have I been publishing the GreenMoney Journal for 25 years? When I realized that 2017 was upon us, and that 25 years had passed, I knew it was time to take […]
Big Society Capital takes majority stake of Charity Bank
The U.K.-based financial institution invested £2.5 million ($3.2 million) on top of the £12 million it earlier put into Charity Bank, a lender dedicated to charities and social enterprises. That brings Big Society’s ownership share up to 60.5 percent. Charity Bank offers loans of £50,000 to £2.5 million. It has lent £140 million since 2002 and […]
A Child’s Right to Savings
By Sunny Lewis MUMBAI, India, April 14, 2017 (Maximpact.com News) – Gone are the days when the only financial education a child would receive was a piggy bank with a coin or two tucked through the slot and parental instructions to save his or her loose change. Now young people, even street kids, can have […]
Banking on the Community: Why Barclays is Giving Space to Credit Unions
It may seem counter intuitive for a bank to give free office space, training and support to another finance provider. But that’s exactly what Barclays branches in Essex are doing – in a pioneering partnership with a not-for-profit credit union. Under the scheme, high street branches across the county now host a weekly volunteer […]
Eastern Bank Joins Influential Sustainability Group To Help Advance Clean Energy Economy
The nonprofit sustainability organization Ceres announced today that Eastern Bank has joined the Ceres Company Network. The Ceres board of directors approved the mutual bank’s membership in February 2017. In joining the Ceres Company Network, Eastern Bank affirms its commitment to maintaining a sustainable business across Massachusetts, southern and coastal New Hampshire and Rhode Island. Ceres membership […]
Hey New Yorkers – Move Your Money and Invest Locally
Your money and investments can make the world a better place. A special workshop offers an evening of inspiring & interactive discussion, meet new friends, hear about local investments and leave with actionable ideas for making your money matter. There are numerous ways you can be an impact investor and invest locally in your community. You […]
Your Money and Investments Matter – Workshop
Workshop March 28th NYC All Investors Have the Power – now more than ever Climate change. Inequality. Global finance. Politics. It’s enough to make anyone feel pessimistic. But as investors, we have the power to direct our money towards businesses and initiatives that are doing good in our communities and the world. Aligning Your Investments With […]
5 Ways to Be a Clean Money Revolutionary in 2017
A SOCAP Guest Post by Joel Solomon My first book, The Clean Money Revolution, is coming out in May. So, you may be asking, what is clean money? Clean Money is money aligned with purpose: money that is about more than self-interest; money that prioritizes the commons; money that makes the world better. Clean money […]
University of California breaks with Wells Fargo over values
The University of California is the latest to tell Wells Fargo it is taking its banking business elsewhere. UC canceled $475 million in business with the bank, including a $300 million line of credit. The university was under pressure from the Afrikan Black Coalition over Wells Fargo’s investments in private prisons, but a university spokesman […]
Japan will use dormant bank accounts for social impact investments
Japan will use dormant bank accounts for social impact investments. The new fund, to be launched in 2019, will be modeled on the UK’s Big Society Capital, which uses unclaimed bank accounts to finance charities and social enterprises. Portugal and Israel have also moved to create such capital pools. An estimated 100 billion yen ($886.5 […]
Harvesting Capital for Maine’s Food Economy
By John Meyers With eight thousand plus farms in Maine, New England’s northernmost state is also its most agricultural. Since 2007, agricultural sales in the Pine Tree State have grown an astonishing 24 percent. But before you celebrate, consider this: financing small farms and food businesses in Maine remains restrictive. Commercial financial institutions continue to […]
After the Women’s March: Make the Most of Where You Shop, Save and Invest
We marched. We came together in cities across the globe to protest the inauguration of a president who does not embody the values we espouse. So many of us marched, it was the largest recorded protest in U.S. history. There were so many thoughtful messages and humorous signs, and many different issues to embrace and hold […]
Cooperative Banking in Croatia
The Democracy Collaborative’s Adam Simpson and Sarah McKinley sat down with Goran Jeras, one of the lead developers of ebanka, an ethical bank project launching in Croatia, for a conversation about building the institutions of an ethical and sustainable financial system. Adam Simpson: Goran, thank you for joining us today. You are the cooperative manager […]
Top Resources to help you – a new article series
New Article Series “Top Resources” by Invest With Values Invest With Values is launching a new article series Top Resources. The series shares lists of leading resources based on public input. Each list focuses on a specific category (media, organizations, events) across the topics of Local Banking, Community Investing, Sustainable & Responsible Investing, and Impact Investing. What […]
Capital Institute, Think Tank Behind “Regenerative Capitalism,” Releases First Documentary
December 6, 2016 /3BL Media/ – Capital Institute, a think tank founded by former Wall Street banker John Fullerton, dedicated to supporting the necessary transition to a more just, regenerative economic and financial system, today released a short documentary, “A Year in the Life of First Green Bank.” The film debuted November 10, at an […]
RSF Prime: Creating Community Through Setting Interest Rates
Does your bank invite you to discuss and provide feedback on interest rates? Learn why RSF does so with its community every quarter. In 2009, RSF began hosting community pricing gatherings for representatives of the RSF Social Investment Fund – investors, borrowers, and RSF staff. We’ve now hosted nearly 30 gatherings and have made many discoveries along […]
Letter from Matt Patsky on Second Vatican Conference on Impact Investing
“Impact investing is not philanthropy, it is about creating opportunities for self-sufficiency.” – Matt Patsky, CEO, Remarks at the Second Vatican Conference on Impact Investing On Monday, June 26, I arrived in Rome for the Second Vatican Conference on Impact Investing. The Vatican Conference on Impact Investing builds on the call made in the May […]
Free-Range Money: Bitcoin, Blockchains, and the End of Banks
By Tim Parsa, Managing Director, Uphold Mexico and Head of Global Strategy & Markets Cattle ought to be raised grazing in pasture, not confined to dirty feedlots and gorged on government-subsidized corn. That’s not a controversial statement for anyone familiar with the health, ecological, or taste benefits of grass-fed beef. Here’s an even less controversial […]
You’re an Investor in Food, Whether You Know it or Not
“Everyone is an investor in food.” by Brian Kaminer “Everyone is an investor in food.” That’s the motto of Slow Money NYC, and it has rung true for me from the first time I heard it. As I started learning how interconnected everything is in life, the principles of Slow Money (a national organization that has inspired […]
The Community Bank Story
Minnesota Vikings Cornerback Captain Munnerlyn banks with a locally owned and operated financial institution. So does NFL Hall of Famer and former Washington Redskins player Darrell Green, who sits on the board for MainStreet Bank in Fairfax, Va. These cornerback brethren share more than a love for America’s most watched sport. They’ve also found a […]
The Surprising Reason Why Savings Boosts Income: New Research Reveals an Unexpected Benefit of Financial Inclusion
Make it easier to save, and people will save more. This seems straightforward and holds true when offering savings accounts to customers in rich and poor countries alike. Make it easier to save, and people will save more and earn more. This sounds a little more surprising, especially if you posit that this increase in […]
Life in a Banking Desert
MetLife Foundation funds research that takes a deep dive into how low-income communities are becoming “banking deserts.” The project, known as “Mapping Financial Opportunity,” will provide a tool that policy makers at all levels, regulators, consumer advocates, families and others can use to search by zip code and learn more about the financial opportunity within their […]
Regenerative Business Mentors Visit First Green Bank
In late January, as “The Year in the Life” project moved into its final months, we once again paid a visit to First Green Bank. This time we invited along two mentors who are leading thinkers and doers in the Regenerative Economy space—author, business advisor, and educator Carol Sanford; and Vincent Stanley, author, poet, […]
Millennials: Forward-Looking Lessons
Noah Wilcox, a fourth generation community banker from Minnesota, shares his take on the newest, largest customer base: the Millennial generation. Wilcox is the president and CEO at Grand Rapids State Bank and CEO at Minnesota Lakes Bank. You can reach him on Twitter at @NWWilcox. — Forget to pay the cable bill? TV’s overrated. […]
Global Alliance for Banking on Values Advisor David Korslund and First Green Bank CEO Ken LaRoe Talk About Money & Spirit
The GABV Scorecard as a Strategic Tool for Values-Based Banking a conversation with David Korslund David Korslund began his banking career at the storied ShoreBank of Chicago, the nation’s first community development finance bank. He went on to work at a succession of mainstream banking institutions, finally at ABN AMRO, where he had responsibility […]
A New Kind of Resolution: Financial Fitness & Banking with Values
Impact investor Kristin Hull writes, “when setting goals for the new year, whatever they may be, let’s not forget about financial fitness.” Read more for tips on how and why to move your money so you’re banking in line with your values.
Go Local for the Holidays
It’s that time of year again where jingle bells are ringing, holiday decorations are lining the streets and children are making their lists and checking them twice. That’s right – it’s time to Go Local for the Holidays! ICBA is encouraging consumers to Go Local for the Holidays this year by shopping, dining and banking […]
Reflections from a Waypoint in First Green Bank’s Regenerative Journey
Over the course of the first six months of Capital Institute‘s Year in the Life of a Regenerative Bank project, we have talked to the stakeholders of First Green Bank about the critical challenges they face as the bank works to embed its regenerative-values-based mission into its day-to-day operations and to balance the profit motive against […]
Community Bank Spotlight: Farmers & Merchants Bank
During the 2014-2015 school year, Farmers & Merchants Bank (F&M Bank) has provided nearly 1,000 area high school students with critical money management skills via its My Money, My Future financial literacy program. Funded by the bank at no cost to local schools or taxpayers, My Money, My Future is an interactive web-based financial management […]
Forums: Join the Conversation Now
Join the conversation The Invest With Values discussion forums will connect you to investors with similar interests and values. Four public discussion forums currently include: General Money and Values Local & Community Investing Private Funds and Impact Investing Publicly Traded and Socially Responsible Investing These online forums are devoted to the possibilities of aligning money and values. Registered […]
Retail Co-op: Maine Islanders Band Together to Preserve a Way of Life
Summer 2015 Retail Co-op: Maine Islanders Band Together to Preserve a Way of Life by Gloria J. LaBrecque Cooperative Fund of New England As owners of a valued island business began to think about retiring, the idea of helping their loyal workers form a co-op had real appeal. On the website of the Deer Isle […]
InvestWithValues.com Launches News Center
InvestWithValues.com is the leading gateway for the sustainable, responsible and impact investing community with its free educational resource and just launched news center. May 27, 2015 10:30 AM ET Tweet This: News Center offers curated articles by leading providers on #impinv #SRI #socfin #communityinvesting http://bit.ly/1IYClZf @InvestValues Press Release ARMONK, N.Y., May 27, 2015 /3BL Media/ […]
Culture vs. the Ethical Bank
By Vince Siciliano UBS. JPMorgan Chase. Wells Fargo. Barclays. And now, HSBC. Since the U.S. mortgage meltdown, “big banks,” titans of global business, have continually been caught in ethical failings. Tax avoidance, interest rate manipulation, commodity and currency speculation, and money laundering, among other charges, have all surfaced — calling into question banks’ ability to […]
Where Does Your Money Spend the Night? Rethinking Capitalism
The global nonprofit sector has played a crucial role in identifying solutions for the needs of the world’s most marginalized populations. As the severity and scale of the problems escalate, however, it has become clear that the 20th century paradigm of maximizing profits in the capitalist realm of the economy then donating a percentage of […]
American consumers mostly bank on profits, not the ethics of saving
But growing values-based sector hopes to woo customers with environmentally and socially sound business practices June 27, 2014 5:00AM ET by Natasja Sheriff Vince Siciliano, head of California-based New Resource Bank, has what he thinks is an abrupt question for people asking about his business and where they might put their hard-earned savings. “Do you know where […]
New Resource Bank: Do you know where your money spends the night?
The chief executive of the New Resource Bank explains why values-led banking can lead to growth, profitability and social good Vince Siciliano, chief executive at the New Resource Bank, says personal and business banking is all about “joining up the dots”. “Do you know where your money spends the night?” It’s not a typical question […]