Capitalism Reimagined
Features
Economist Milton Friedman on a postage stamp
Capitalism Reimagined | November 27, 2023
Fiduciaries have a duty of care to their investors and to the world
Quoting his own book, economist Milton Friedman wrote in the New York Times Magazine in 1970, “There is one and only one social …
Capitalism Reimagined | October 10, 2023
Seven pathways for transcending ‘wealth supremacy’
Editor’s note: This is the second essay adapted from Marjorie Kelly’s new book, Wealth Supremacy. In her previous essay on ImpactAlpha, adapted from …
Impact Management | May 9, 2023
EverFi, Vital Farms and hundreds of exits provide fresh evidence of ‘impact alpha’
ImpactAlpha, May 9 – When educational services provider EverFi was acquired by Blackbaud last year for $750 million, TPG Rise roughly doubled its …
Capitalism Reimagined | March 30, 2023
Impact investors lay out a theory of change for driving positive outcomes in public equities
ImpactAlpha, Mar. 30 – It’s long been something of a truism among impact investors that it’s not possible to demonstrate true impact with investments …
photo: World Economic Forum
Capitalism Reimagined | January 19, 2023
What if they threw an elite global forum in a Swiss ski resort and no one cared?
ImpactAlpha, Jan. 19 – At least for those of us who aren’t there, it is definitely cooler to skip Davos than to attend …
Source: Amplify ESG
Policy Corner | December 5, 2022
Pro-ESG forces rally to confront backlash against corporate accountability, workers rights and risk management
ImpactAlpha, Dec. 5 – It took a while, but advocates for the integration of environmental, social and governance factors in investment decisions are …
Impact Investing | November 2, 2022
What’s at stake for climate, ESG and impact investors in the U.S. midterm elections
ImpactAlpha, Nov. 2 – The annual global climate summit known as COP27, this year in Egypt, will coincide with next week’s midterm elections …
Impact Investing | October 20, 2022
Development finance institutions face calls for reform in the face of cascading climate and energy crises
ImpactAlpha, Oct. 21 – Embattled World Bank chief David Malpass made an about-face last week, copping to manmade global warming and the need …
Capitalism Reimagined | September 20, 2022
Tanking one holding to boost returns and reduce risks across your portfolio
ImpactAlpha, Sept. 20 – Few big institutional investors would deliberately encourage their portfolio companies to make moves that hit their valuations. The Shareholder Commons, …
Capitalism Reimagined | May 31, 2022
Can investors respond to the systemic risks gun violence poses to the American economy?
ImpactAlpha, May 31 – Investors may not be primarily responsible for finding ways to reduce the risk of mass shootings. That would be our …
Stewardship | May 26, 2022
Engine No. 1 opts for accommodation over confrontation with Big Oil and big banks
ImpactAlpha, May 26 – A year ago, the tiny fund manager Engine No. 1 was The Little Engine That Could. This year, it’s …
Capitalism Reimagined | May 25, 2022
Risk off? Savvy investors go ‘impact on’ to stay on track in a volatile market
ImpactAlpha, May 25 – Markets have gone risk off. Savvy investors who have gone impact on are weathering the economic downturn. Speculators in crypto, …
photo: World Economic Forum
Impact Investing | May 23, 2022
At elite World Economic Forum, Davos Man and Davos Woman will talk sustainability, inclusion and action
ImpactAlpha, May 23 – It’s back. As the world’s corporate and government movers and shakers gather at Davos after a two-year pandemic pause, …
Former vice president Mike Pence | Photo credit: Gino Santa Maria
Capitalism Reimagined | May 12, 2022
ESG opponents get political under the guise of getting politics out of investing
ImpactAlpha, May 12 – The war in Ukraine and high gas prices gave oil and gas interests an opening to push back against efforts …
Photo by Robert Ramirez on Unsplash
Policy Corner | March 30, 2022
On ESG disclosure, companies should listen to the opinion of the American public
The risk that climate change poses to business operations and investment portfolios and companies’ role in contributing to global temperature increases are now …
photo: Third Way Think Tank
Policy Corner | March 22, 2022
SEC disclosure rules signal the arrival of climate accountability
ImpactAlpha, March 22 – Better than expected. That was the consensus among advocates for greater transparency for corporate climate-related risks and impacts after …
Capitalism Reimagined | March 11, 2022
Call No. 39: Moving from ESG talk to action at major corporations (video)
ImpactAlpha, Mar. 11 – It’s one thing for a corporation to set environmental or social goals. It’s another to shift executives, employees and supply …
Impact Management | March 7, 2022
Incentivizing corporate executives and suppliers to move the needle on climate and diversity
ImpactAlpha, Feb. 7 – From tech giants to global retailers, corporations are rewarding executives and suppliers for delivering on environmental, social and governance, or …
Policy Corner | February 25, 2022
Call No. 38: Inside the generational opportunity to reshape rules of corporate disclosure
ImpactAlpha, Feb. 25 – Bottom-up policies for access to capital in divested communities. Top-down strategies to reshape capitalism to work for all stakeholders. “We …
Capitol Building in Washington DC.
Policy Corner | February 11, 2022
Progress on a dozen policies to mobilize private capital for public good
There is no shortage of challenges facing leaders in Washington. The coming midterm elections will increasingly dominate the headlines. But impact investors must …
Climate Finance | January 27, 2022
Climate is a crypto play as action moves from TradFi to DeFi to ReFi
ImpactAlpha, Jan. 27 – If blockchain was a solution in search of a problem, it may have found it in climate change. The …
Illustration by Shutterstock.
Signals | January 26, 2022
The advanced techniques investors are using to address income inequality
ImpactAlpha, January 26 — Today’s extreme levels of income inequality affect investments across all asset classes and economic and social stability more broadly. …
New York City, New York | Image credit: Steve Sanchez
Capitalism Reimagined | January 20, 2022
‘Deeply scary’: Agents of Impact react to Larry Fink’s letter
ImpactAlpha, Jan. 20 – BlackRock chief Larry Fink’s latest letter to CEOs elicited “a collective yawn,” we wrote earlier this week. “Fink’s annual letters …
BlackRock's Larry Fink | Image: Mike Bloomberg/Flickr
Capitalism Reimagined | January 18, 2022
The arc of Larry Fink’s annual letters trace the mainstreaming of sustainable investing
ImpactAlpha, Jan. 18 – You know impact investing has gone mainstream when Larry Fink’s annual letter to CEOs elicits a collective yawn. “This is …
The Reconstruction | January 8, 2022
On anniversary of Capitol attack, stakeholders hold corporations accountable for democracy
ImpactAlpha, Jan. 6 – Add political stability to the list of systemic risks that keep investors up at night. ‘Political risk’ has historically …
Photo credit: Manop Boonpeng
Capitalism Reimagined | December 23, 2021
Capitalism Reimagined in 2022: Building a multi-movement engine to shift practices, policy and power
ImpactAlpha, Dec. 23 – That our economic system and social contract is due for a reset is by now conventional wisdom. Still left to …
Impact Investing | December 14, 2021
Eight ways investors are going beyond ESG risk-mitigation to drive real-world impact
ImpactAlpha, Dec. 14 – The recent takedown of MSCI by a team of Bloomberg Businessweek reporters was the latest knock on environmental, social …
Impact Investing | December 13, 2021
Impact brain trust delivers proposals for mobilizing capital for a just transition
ImpactAlpha, Dec. 13 – Mandatory impact accounting. Harmonized sustainability standards. And broadened powers for multilateral development banks and development finance institutions to absorb …
Capitalism Reimagined | December 3, 2021
Call No. 35: Building a multi-movement engine to hold corporations accountable and reimagine capitalism (video)
ImpactAlpha, Dec. 3 – The New Capitalism Project has over the past two years dissected the failings of the current system and crafted a …
Capitalism Reimagined | November 29, 2021
Warriors and Lovers: Systemic change requires diversity in strategies, too
When it comes to reimagining capitalism, some leaders and organizations confront power with campaigns, demands, demonstrations and grassroots and community organizing. Others try …
Climate Finance | November 24, 2021
Accelerating net-zero transition pushes incumbents to spin off green ‘ReNewCo’s’
ImpactAlpha, Nov. 24 – They were engines of growth for much of the past century. Now, some of the most iconic names of …
Capitalism Reimagined | November 23, 2021
Capitalism Reimagined: Seven dimensions of a better economic system
ImpactAlpha, Nov. 23 – In the not-too-distant future, a powerful and diverse movement has succeeded in redesigning the rules, practices, narratives and power relationships …
Generate CEO Scott Jacobs
Signals | November 16, 2021
Sustainable infrastructure company Generate Capital becomes a public benefit corporation
ImpactAlpha, Nov. 16 – Generate Capital is embedding its mission to build a more sustainable world into its charter. The San Francisco-based investor, …
Innovative Finance | November 16, 2021
How The People’s Fund is unlocking capital for small businesses from the crowd up
ImpactAlpha, November 16 – South Africa’s Black-owned businesses were systematically shut out of economic opportunities under the country’s racist aparthied regime. Now, even …
Troop cofounders Seb Jarquin, Felix Tabary and Zen Yui in Brooklyn
Stewardship | October 5, 2021
Retail investors get new tools to flex their collective power as engaged shareholders
ImpactAlpha, Oct. 5 – When online investors drove up the shares of GameStop in January, stock market watchers were captivated by the drama, …
Photo by william william on Unsplash
Capitalism Reimagined | September 17, 2021
Call No. 30: Universal owners aim to turn shareholder power into real-world impact
ImpactAlpha, Sept. 16 – Universal owners are leaning into their power as long-term stewards of capital. Asset owners and managers are deploying a flurry …
Photo by Obi Onyeador on Unsplash
Capitalism Reimagined | September 14, 2021
Disinformation poses systemic risks – so universal owners are pressing media companies to renounce it
ImpactAlpha, Sept. 14 – Talk about negative externalities. False information intended to mislead viewers on climate, COVID-19, racial justice and other issues may drive …
Conservation | September 14, 2021
Move over SPACs. Here come NACs to turn ecosystem services into tradable assets
ImpactAlpha, Sept. 14 – The New York Stock Exchange is seeking approval for a new kind of publicly traded asset based on the …
Stewardship | September 8, 2021
Companies scramble to get on the right side of Engine No. 1 – and of history
ImpactAlpha, Sept. 8 – This year, companies are taking the call when Engine No. 1 reaches out. Chevron Corp., the world’s No. 8 …
Capitalism Reimagined | September 2, 2021
Chasing alpha is fine, but long-term returns for universal owners require beta stewardship
ImpactAlpha, Sept. 2 – We’re all universal owners now. Pension and sovereign wealth funds that “own the market” have long known they can’t diversify …
Capitalism Reimagined | September 1, 2021
RSVP for Call No. 30: Capitalism Reimagined
If you thought this spring’s ExxonMobil proxy fight was dramatic, just wait ’til next year. Join Engine No. 1’s Michael O’Leary, The Shareholder Commons’ Sara Murphy, Illinois …
Inclusive Economy | August 26, 2021
UK’s Nick Hurd on the “window of opportunity” for a green and inclusive transition
ImpactAlpha, Aug. 26 – Nick Hurd, the former MP and government minister, is heading the Impact Taskforce, created under the U.K.’s presidency of the …
Coliba Recycling Ghana
Capitalism Reimagined | July 29, 2021
Social enterprises provide models for stakeholder capitalism in emerging markets
ImpactAlpha, July 29 – Social entrepreneurs in Asia, sub-Saharan African and Latin America have for decades prioritized communities, employees and long-term growth over short-term …
Photo credit: Change Labs
Capitalism Reimagined | July 21, 2021
Native-led organizations join forces to accelerate entrepreneurship in Indian Country
ImpactAlpha, July 21 – U.S. tribal lands are among the hardest places in the world to do business, with entrepreneurs struggling to access …
photo: G20
Catalytic Capital | July 13, 2021
From COVID to climate, G20 countries look to catalyze capital for urgent action
ImpactAlpha, July 13 – The global effort on COVID vaccines does not bode well for the massive mobilization needed to avert climate catastrophe. …
Photo by K. Mitch Hodge on Unsplash
Call Recording | July 9, 2021
Call No. 29: Capitalism reimagined for fair gainsharing and equitable prosperity
ImpactAlpha, July 9 – Elevating the power (and wages) of low-income workers is not typically at the top of investors’ agenda. But a fairer …
Photo credit: PolicyLink
Capitalism Reimagined | June 24, 2021
Turning pledges into policies to invest in Black Americans and multi-racial prosperity
ImpactAlpha, June 24 – Investors and executives can lead in many ways as they seek to fulfill their often heartfelt pledges to do …
Capitalism Reimagined | June 22, 2021
Turning the renewed power of workers into a lasting pillar of stakeholder capitalism
These days, American workers could well be saying, as Richard Fariña wrote and Nancy Sinatra sang, “Been down so long it looks like …
Photo credit: Veeva
Capitalism Reimagined | June 21, 2021
A stock market test for stakeholder capitalism as public benefit corporations go public
ImpactAlpha, June 21 – All of a sudden, there is a public market for public benefit corporations. In the decade or so since the …
Capitalism Reimagined | June 9, 2021
Nine ways investors can confront income inequality
There’s as yet no equivalent to “net zero” for the reduction of income inequality, but the systemic risks posed by the income gap …
Photo credit: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg
Community Finance | June 3, 2021
Corporates emerge as new source of capital for community investment
ImpactAlpha, June 3 – With the closing of its $250 million Black Economic Development Fund, LISC showed off the opportunity to tap corporations as …
The Reconstruction | May 25, 2021
Seven ways finance has changed in the year since George Floyd’s murder
ImpactAlpha, May 25 – The raw injustice and the social protests that followed the murder of George Floyd pushed investors, corporate executives and policymakers …
Ford Foundation's Darren Walker and the GIIN's Amit Bouri | Photo credit: The GIIN / Twitter
Inclusive Economy | April 20, 2021
Inclusion is driving growth in the ‘Next Normal Now’
ImpactAlpha, Apr. 20 – The old normal: exclusion, externalities and growth at all costs. The next normal: inclusivity, responsibility and shared prosperity. “Inclusion grows …
U.S. President Joe Biden | Photo: Nuno21
Policy Corner | April 8, 2021
Stakeholder-economy coalition presses White House for ‘new rules’ for American capitalism
ImpactAlpha, Apr. 8 – More than 50 business leaders and investor groups are calling on the Biden-Harris administration to implement new rules and incentives …
Oakland, Calif. | Photo: trekandshoot
Policy Corner | March 25, 2021
Spurred by stimulus checks, guaranteed income gains steam as an anti-poverty policy
ImpactAlpha, Mar. 25 – Dozens of mayors across the U.S. have committed to piloting guaranteed income programs that put regular, no-strings-attached cash payments into …
Inclusive Economy | March 15, 2021
New crowdfunding rules set to boost investment in diverse startups and founders
ImpactAlpha, March 15 – The SPAC craze is one reaction to the costly and fraught process of taking a company public. A less …
Inclusive Economy | March 12, 2021
American Rescue Plan brings policy support – and $1.9 trillion – to the bottom-up reconstruction
ImpactAlpha, Mar. 11 – The American Rescue Plan’s narrative of bottom-up prosperity for the post-Covid recovery resonates with a core thesis of impact finance: …
Catalytic Capital | February 11, 2021
A little incentive goes a long way to change lending for small farmers in Latin America
ImpactAlpha, Feb. 11 – Change the incentives, change the results. Those results are dramatic for the $11.5 million in loans that agricultural lender Root …
Photo credit: Workforce Connect Manufacturing Sector Partnership
Policy Corner | January 28, 2021
Opportunity Zone deals flow as investors eye new rules
ImpactAlpha, Jan. 28 – The Trump administration touted Opportunity Zones among its policy achievements. President Biden is proposing changes to make them work …
Room full of flying books
Corporate Impact | January 19, 2021
New books on the new rules for a new era of business
ImpactAlpha, Jan. 19 – From the COVID pandemic and climate change to the racial justice uprising and assaults on democracy, the tumultuous events …
Policy Corner | January 11, 2021
Biden’s nominee for secretary of labor is a champion of ESG investing in Boston
ImpactAlpha, January 11 – The Department of Labor in the Trump administration has issued a series of rules hostile to consideration of environmental, social …
Policy Corner | December 15, 2020
Impact investors are wonking out on policy
ImpactAlpha, Dec. 15 – The spate of recommendations greeting the incoming Biden administration is the fruit of years of work in the fields …
2030 Finance | November 30, 2020
Updating investment ‘exclusion lists’ for deeper social and environmental impact
ImpactAlpha, Nov. 30 – Cluster bombs and hazardous chemicals. Tobacco and firearms. Child labor and corruption. “Exclusion” lists have for decades helped investors keep …
Features | October 14, 2020
Asset managers compete on impact as investors move beyond ESG
ImpactAlpha, Oct. 14 – As passive ESG funds emerge as the hottest trend in financial services, active asset managers are touting their ‘impact …
Features | October 1, 2020
Call No. 23 recap: Changing investment algorithms to advance racial justice
ImpactAlpha, Oct. 1 – What got us here won’t get us where we need to go. Guidelines that govern global finance need to …
Features | September 24, 2020
Pro-business has a new meaning now
ImpactAlpha, Sept. 24 – Please don’t call it pro-business. The operating environment created by the Trump administration is at odds with the growing …
Policy Corner | September 9, 2020
Another rule from the Department of Labor, another attack on ESG investing
ImpactAlpha, Sept. 8 – The U.S. Department of Labor is seeking to sharply curtail the ability of private sector retirement funds to engage …
Features | September 8, 2020
Smart subsidies for Africa’s high risk, low return smallholder finance market
ImpactAlpha, Sept. 8 – In well-functioning capital markets, expected returns on investment match the risk. In the fragmented agricultural markets of sub-Saharan Africa, risk …
Features | August 27, 2020
Call No. 22: Rooting out racism as a systemic risk
ImpactAlpha, Aug. 27 – Investors have been talking about systemic risks at least since the Great Financial Crisis of 2008. More recently, climate …
Features | August 11, 2020
Call No. 21: Impact investors confront the impact of the November election
It’s long past time to get political. Impact investing, with appeal on both the left and the right, has generally steered clear of …
Beats | July 22, 2020
Book review: Nick O’Donohoe on Sir Ronald Cohen’s Impact
ImpactAlpha, July 22 – There is nothing surprising about the fact that Sir Ronald Cohen has written a book on impact. What is …
Policy Corner | July 8, 2020
Preparing an impact investing policy agenda for the next administration
ImpactAlpha, July 8 – Eight small grants from the $14 million Tipping Point Fund on Impact Investing suggest the outlines of a 2021 …
Features | July 1, 2020
Moving towards systems change: The ‘Why’ of Impact Investing
Given the monumental challenges of systemic racism, climate change, and other pressing issues, tinkering around the edges is no longer enough.
Features | June 4, 2020
Investing in racial justice by shifting narratives, power and capital
ImpactAlpha, June 4 – Social justice protests in the streets are exposing misperceptions of risk and opportunity in financial markets. Systemic racial bias …
Features | May 19, 2020
Stakeholders stake new claims on corporate cash to finance an inclusive recovery
ImpactAlpha, May, 19 – Buy back this. That’s the increasingly loud message from employees, suppliers, communities and customers – all essential stakeholders in …
Features | May 19, 2020
Beyond Buybacks: 10 ways to put corporate cash to work
ImpactAlpha, May 19 – Even in the new stakeholder economy, suppliers, communities, customers and employees largely still lack the clout to steer the …
Features | January 15, 2020
With indexes and stewardship, BlackRock pledges to retool passive investing for climate action
ImpactAlpha, Jan. 14 – Sustainability, and in particular climate risk, is disrupting asset management. “In the near future, and sooner than most anticipate, …
Features | January 13, 2020
Three ways asset owners can shift mindsets, incentives and portfolio theory
ImpactAlpha’s What’s Next series, produced in partnership with the Global Impact Investing Network, provides a platform for practitioners and experts to reflect on the future …
Features | December 17, 2019
Institutional Shift: Universal owners push asset managers to push corporations toward sustainability in 2020
ImpactAlpha, Dec. 17 – The axis of global finance shifted this year. In small increments and dramatic lurches, markets glimpsed the coming reckoning, most …
Features | November 25, 2019
Japanese pension fund pushes asset managers to get tougher on sustainability
Impactalpha, Nov. 25 – A shift of up to $50 billion by the world’s largest pension fund has sent a message to the world’s …
Features | October 1, 2019
Index Impact: Passive investors are actively tilting stock indexes toward sustainability
ImpactAlpha, Oct. 1 – Most investments in public equities are held in “passive” accounts that keep fees low by tracking standardized indexes such as …
Policy Corner | August 26, 2019
Nine policy wonks on how to catalyze private capital for public good
ImpactAlpha’s What’s Next series, produced in partnership with the Global Impact Investing Network, provides a platform for practitioners and experts to reflect on the …
Features | August 20, 2019
Setting the Table: How government policy can help mobilize private capital for public good
ImpactAlpha’s What’s Next series, produced in partnership with the Global Impact Investing Network, provides a platform for practitioners and experts to reflect on …
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA - December 23, 2016: Winter traffic in the streets of North Philadelphia - colourful shopping street at Germantown Avenue.
Features | April 19, 2019
New Opportunity Zone rules and tools open the door for investments in local businesses
ImpactAlpha, April 19 – The U.S. Department of the Treasury on Wednesday released a second set of proposed Opportunity Zone regulations. The 169-page Treasury document of …
Features | January 16, 2019
Impact-linked financial rewards help high-impact companies attract growth capital
ImpactAlpha, January 16 – Companies that hit impact milestones can reap a range of rewards aimed at making them more investable. For example, …
Features | May 24, 2018
The Impact Alpha: Pushing impact investing ‘beyond neoliberalism’
ImpactAlpha, May 24 – Several years ago, when I was just starting ImpactAlpha, I was summoned to a meeting with the éminence grise of …
Features | April 24, 2018
Early data signals success of Social Impact Incentives
ImpactAlpha, April 23 – Clínicas del Azúcar, a string of low-cost diabetes clinics in Mexico, increased the penetration of its services to low-income …
Features | April 18, 2018
Three signs that new ‘rules of the game’ are making global finance more sustainable
ImpactAlpha, April 18 – A steady stream of policies, regulations and commitments pushing global markets to align with sustainable development goals is starting …
Features | April 18, 2018
Welcome the suits to the impact party, new rules of sustainable finance, Virginia seed fund, financing fish
Greetings ImpactAlpha Readers! Featured: Returns on Investment (podcast) Should impact entrepreneurs beware the strategic corporate investor?Corporate venture capital is a thing. And that …
Impact Voices
Ownership Economy | September 6, 2023
Challenging wealth supremacy to realize the dream of systemic change
This essay is adapted from Marjorie Kelly’s forthcoming book, “Wealth Supremacy: How the Extractive Economy and the Biased Rules of Capitalism Drive Today’s …
Return on Inclusion | March 6, 2023
Want to wring impact from ESG? Look to governance
If ESG is a foot in the door to an economy built around sustainability, inclusion and equity, then governance is the power that’s …
Pulled from "Scaling Impact" cover
Impact Voices | February 16, 2023
Six financial paradigm shifts needed to scale impact
Over my 20-plus years as a professional working on economic development, development finance, and impact investing, as both an investor and an advisor, …
(left to right) Eugene Cornelius (Milken Institute), Kweilin Ellingrud (McKinsey) and Kimberley Reid (Future Fund Management Agency) at Milken Global Conference 2022 | Photo credit: Milken Institute
Capitalism Reimagined | May 5, 2022
Overheard at the Milken Global Conference: Mission and margins
How to understand and harness the recent influx of capital into ESG products was the conversation at the center of this week’s 25th …
Impact Voices | May 5, 2022
Reports of the death of responsible investment are greatly exaggerated
Face it: responsible investment is about political choices. Short of this reckoning, the fate of ESG might be the least of our concerns. …
An open-pit mine in Para, Brazil | Photo credit: T photography
Impact Voices | April 21, 2022
Where we are and where we’re going in the transition to system-level investing
When we started The Investment Integration Project (TIIP) back in 2015 we did so with a relatively straightforward idea: we wanted to show …
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
Capitalism Reimagined | March 22, 2022
How the SEC’s rules will – and won’t – solve climate change
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has proposed landmark climate-related disclosure requirements for public companies to inform investors about the risks a changing …
Capitalism Reimagined | December 6, 2021
Three ways climate-committed shareholders can flex their power in 2022
While too many global investment firms filled the halls of Glasgow with more hot air, leading early-movers in shareholder action were finding new …
Paskho Community- MadeTM pod, New York City (Photo: Paskho)
Impact Voices | November 2, 2021
Reimagining fashion production for a regenerative economy
After 25 years using my creativity to solve problems in the fashion industry, I had developed a reputation for turnarounds – in the …
Photo by Guilherme Cunha on Unsplash
Capitalism Reimagined | October 26, 2021
Expanding employee ownership to empower workers and strengthen small businesses
The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has made the already unpredictable futures of working and middle class Americans even more fragile. Impact investors are turning …
Photo credit: Getty
Climate Finance | September 9, 2021
Letter from New Orleans: Climate risk is business risk, and opportunity
Consider these statements: “Climate Risk Is Investment Risk.” “The climate crisis poses enormous financial risk to investment managers, asset owners, and businesses. These …
Impact Voices | August 18, 2021
How CDFIs are rethinking lending risks to build BIPOC-led businesses and wealth
The portrayal of Black, Brown, Indigenous, and low-income populations as “too risky” for business investments is rooted in racism used to justify underinvestment …
Impact Voices | July 26, 2021
The case for a ‘Volcker Shock’ for climate
Contemporary efforts to grapple with the climate crisis almost all come with mid-twentieth century branding: a ‘Green New Deal,’ a ‘climate moonshot,’ a …
Place-Based Investing | July 14, 2021
There’s no building back better without investing in underserved communities
Between record levels of government stimulus, an unprecedented vaccination campaign and a buzzing economy, it’s easy to see reasons for optimism as America …
Photo by Sajad Nori on Unsplash
Impact Voices | June 17, 2021
To help address systemic racism impact investing needs to get systemic
Even before our society shut down for 13+ months, before a summer of uprisings against racial injustice, and before a historic election season that …
Impact Voices | May 16, 2021
Pricing in externalities to illuminate the true cost of investing in unsustainable companies and sectors
ImpactAlpha, May 16 – Every time a new, sustainable infrastructure innovation has come to market – solar energy, electric cars, plant-based proteins, for example …
Checkered sphere, chess board with chess pieces. 3D rendering
Impact Voices | April 13, 2021
21st Century Investing: Moving from tic-tac-toe to the 3D chess of systems-level change
In what feels like a lifetime ago, way back in 2015, I was working as a consultant to investors interested in sustainability and …
Image by Claudio Schwarz / Pulled from Community Credit Lab website
Impact Voices | April 1, 2021
Sacrificing returns? These community investors ask if they’re sacrificing impact.
The time is now for the impact investing sector to reflect on how it does business, how it frames success, and begin to …
Annie Donovan, Local Initiatives Support Corp.
Policy Corner | February 18, 2021
How impact investors can challenge three fallacies of legacy finance
In The Price of Inequality, the Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz notes the moments in history when people rise up to say something …
Impact Voices | February 3, 2021
Redefining materiality (again) to transform the role of business in society
“Materiality is being redefined – through pressure on business from wider civil society, and through precedents established by company practice and, increasingly, regulation …
Jamaica's Usain Bolt during the Olympic Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro | Photo credit: Shahjehan
Impact Management | December 8, 2020
The (impact) performance mindset
What on earth could connect 100 meter sprinting and impact measurement, two activities that, on the face of it, seem a world apart? …
Features | October 5, 2020
With policy prompts, private equity fund managers can drive social benefits, too
Against the backdrop of a global pandemic, an economy officially in recession, and a stock market that seems increasingly divergent from the experience …
Features | September 23, 2020
Corporate deposits in CDFIs are good. Equity investments would be even better.
Community development financial institutions are having a moment – finally being recognized for their critical role in supporting low-wealth communities. CDFIs are on …
Features | September 10, 2020
Impact On: Impact investing’s confident and compelling new narrative
ImpactAlpha, Sept. 10 – Every day, with their commitment and their capital, impact investors and other Agents of Impact are writing a new …
Features | July 7, 2020
Incentives for driving impact in deal and fund structures
If you want a different outcome, change the rules of the game.
Features | June 18, 2020
Pricing for impact: How Agents of Impact can move from bluster to bold action
Can impact investing chip away at systemic dysfunction? Can deploying financial capital to achieve positive social, environmental and economic outcomes make a dent …
Dealflow
Inclusive Economy | January 27, 2023
ImpactAlpha Deal Spotlight: Black-worker ownership
ImpactAlpha, January 27 — With more than half of business owners in the U.S. over 55 years old, there’s a “silver tsunami” of …
photo: SOCAP
Impact Investing | June 21, 2022
Sorenson takes over SOCAP to restructure its finances and produce its flagship event
ImpactAlpha, June 21 – SOCAP, one of the earliest and biggest impact investing events, is under new management. A cash crunch caused by …
Photo credit: Workable's Resources.
Capitalism Reimagined | October 12, 2021
Omidyar Network commits $10 million in grants for reimagining capitalism
ImpactAlpha, October 12 — Markets can be, and are being, reshaped by movements, policies and investments. Omidyar Network, which has spun off a …
Catalytic Capital | July 20, 2021
Community Equity Fund readies small checks for Black and Brown proprietors in North Carolina
ImpactAlpha, July 20 – More than 90% of Black-owned businesses in the U.S. are sole proprietorships that lack access to “friends and family” …
Photo credit: Getty Images.
Dealflow | June 28, 2021
Employee ownership to get a boost from Apis & Heritage’s buyout fund
ImpactAlpha, June 28 — Washington, D.C.-based Apis & Heritage Capital Partners helps small and mid-sized businesses with large workforces of color transition to …
Podcasts
Podcasts | June 25, 2021
Impact Briefing: Week of June 25
ImpactAlpha, June 25 – On this week’s podcast, ImpactAlpha’s David Bank joins host Brian Walsh to reimagine capitalism. We also hear from Rev. Dr. …
Podcasts | June 11, 2021
Impact Briefing: Week of June 11
Roundtable regulars Imogen Rose-Smith and David Bank are back on this week’s podcast with host Brian Walsh to reimagine capitalism, detail the pension …
Capitalism Reimagined | June 8, 2021
Omidyar Network’s Chris Jurgens on mobilizing policies and power for an economy that works for all
ImpactAlpha, June 8 – Entrepreneurship is up, stakeholders are in and the President of the United States is vowing to “change the paradigm.” The …
Podcasts | April 9, 2021
Impact Briefing: Week of April 9th
Host Monique Aiken speaks with B Lab’s Andrew Kassoy about why impact-driven businesses and investors are stepping up their policy advocacy.
Calls
Capitalism Reimagined | March 11, 2022
Call No. 39: Moving from ESG talk to action at major corporations (video)
ImpactAlpha, Mar. 11 – It’s one thing for a corporation to set environmental or social goals. It’s another to shift executives, employees and supply …
Policy Corner | February 25, 2022
Call No. 38: Inside the generational opportunity to reshape rules of corporate disclosure
ImpactAlpha, Feb. 25 – Bottom-up policies for access to capital in divested communities. Top-down strategies to reshape capitalism to work for all stakeholders. “We …
Capitalism Reimagined | December 3, 2021
Call No. 35: Building a multi-movement engine to hold corporations accountable and reimagine capitalism (video)
ImpactAlpha, Dec. 3 – The New Capitalism Project has over the past two years dissected the failings of the current system and crafted a …
Photo by william william on Unsplash
Capitalism Reimagined | September 17, 2021
Call No. 30: Universal owners aim to turn shareholder power into real-world impact
ImpactAlpha, Sept. 16 – Universal owners are leaning into their power as long-term stewards of capital. Asset owners and managers are deploying a flurry …
Capitalism Reimagined | September 1, 2021
RSVP for Call No. 30: Capitalism Reimagined
If you thought this spring’s ExxonMobil proxy fight was dramatic, just wait ’til next year. Join Engine No. 1’s Michael O’Leary, The Shareholder Commons’ Sara Murphy, Illinois …
Photo by K. Mitch Hodge on Unsplash
Call Recording | July 9, 2021
Call No. 29: Capitalism reimagined for fair gainsharing and equitable prosperity
ImpactAlpha, July 9 – Elevating the power (and wages) of low-income workers is not typically at the top of investors’ agenda. But a fairer …
Features | October 1, 2020
Call No. 23 recap: Changing investment algorithms to advance racial justice
ImpactAlpha, Oct. 1 – What got us here won’t get us where we need to go. Guidelines that govern global finance need to …
Features | August 27, 2020
Call No. 22: Rooting out racism as a systemic risk
ImpactAlpha, Aug. 27 – Investors have been talking about systemic risks at least since the Great Financial Crisis of 2008. More recently, climate …
Features | August 11, 2020
Call No. 21: Impact investors confront the impact of the November election
It’s long past time to get political. Impact investing, with appeal on both the left and the right, has generally steered clear of …
Agents of Impact
Bold leaders. Taking action. Driving impact.