Democracy and Power
Human Rights | January 11, 2023
A human rights approach in impact investing
Overcoming today’s global challenges and creating positive change requires collaboration and innovative solutions from every sector and corner of society to enable all …
ESG | November 8, 2022
Anticipating election wins, conservative politicians escalate attacks on ESG ‘collusion.’
ImpactAlpha, Nov. 8 – Republicans are feeling emboldened as Americans head to the polls for today’s midterm elections. Just days ago, a group …
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 …
Photo by MDIF.
Democracy and Peace | September 28, 2022
Nearly a dozen independent news organizations in Nigeria get support from Media Development Investment Fund
ImpactAlpha, September 28 — Last year’s youth-led uprising against police brutality spurred Nigeria’s biggest anti-government protests in a generation. MDIF launched a three-year …
ESG | September 7, 2022
Dow Jones raises stakes in ESG data competition with news-driven ratings
ImpactAlpha, Sept. 7 – The opinion page of The Wall Street Journal has proudly championed the campaign to discredit environmental, social and governance, or …
Photo credit: UNICEF Ukraine
Catalytic Capital | August 4, 2022
How UNICEF’s Bridge Fund is speeding the delivery of aid to Ukraine and other crisis zones
It took Yulia, a mother from Kharkiv, Ukraine, seven days to reach the Polish border with her one-year-old daughter and nine-year-old son. They …
Signals | July 14, 2022
Is a green transition the cause – or the solution – in Sri Lanka’s crisis?
ImpactAlpha, July 14 – It was an irresistible meme: A crash transition to organic farming tanked Sri Lanka’s agricultural sector and sent the country …
Democracy and Power | July 6, 2022
Aristata Capital raises £40 million for impact litigation fund to close the ‘justice gap.’
ImpactAlpha, July 7 – London-based Aristata launched in 2020 to carve out a slice of the booming litigation funding space for cases that deliver …
Ukrainian families flee the war across the Hungarian border. Photo: Janossy Gergely
Catalytic Capital | March 24, 2022
How Open Road helps providers of essential services carry on in conflict zones
ImpactAlpha, March 24 – In Syria, where hundreds of thousands of people have been killed in a decade-long civil war, an advance warning …
Democracy and Peace | March 11, 2022
How Media Development Investment Fund calculates political risk to back press freedom (Q&A)
ImpactAlpha, Mar. 9 – Western investors in Russia are running away from political risk. For more than two decades, Media Development Investment Fund …
Impact Investing | March 1, 2022
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine delivers a dose of green shock therapy
ImpactAlpha, Mar. 1 – The “shock therapy” that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union three decades ago was intended to speed the …
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 …
Democracy and Power | December 15, 2021
Turning pandemic profits into ‘democracy dividends’
Even as the recent discovery of the Omicron variant drags out the Covid pandemic, the richest Americans are still doing incredibly well. The …
Photo credit: European Journalism Observatory.
Dealflow | November 30, 2021
Media Development Investment Fund backs Pluralis to invest in independent media in Europe
ImpactAlpha, November 30 — The decline of independent global news outlets has accelerated with rising news censorship and danger for journalists. MDFI’s Emerging …
Impact Investing | November 23, 2021
A climate investor looks ahead to COP27 in Egypt (podcast)
ImpactAlpha, Nov. 23 – Only two weeks after the COP26 global climate summit, Stephan Nicoleau of climate investment firm Full Cycle is looking …
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 …
Dealflow | October 19, 2021
Sudan’s first foreign venture capital investment in 30 years: $5 million for Alsoug.com
ImpactAlpha, October 19 — Macroeconomic, political and currency risks can make investors wary of infrastructure and private equity in Africa (for context, see …
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 …
News and Information | September 28, 2021
Media boomlet in climate and impact investing follows the money
ImpactAlpha, Sept. 28 – Media outlets cite the flow of capital to ESG and climate funds as evidence of the arrival of impact investing. …
Photo credit: Change.org
Dealflow | September 23, 2021
Big-name investors donate their stakes as Change.org converts to nonprofit ownership
ImpactAlpha, September 23 — With its dot-org website and social-activist mission, Change.org was often mistaken for a nonprofit organization. Now it is owned …
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 …
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 …
The Reconstruction | April 20, 2021
Reviving a Black cultural corridor in West Oakland – as a community-led cooperative
In another era, Esther’s Orbit Room helped make West Oakland the “Harlem of the West,” hosting the likes of B.B. King, James Brown …
Impact Voices | March 29, 2021
Georgia is throttling voters. The South’s financial system is doing the same to its entrepreneurs.
The ban on offering snacks and water to people waiting in line to vote that was just passed into law in Georgia really …
NovotMoto raised $418,000 on Wefunder to bring affordable solar power to the Congo.
Impact Voices | March 15, 2021
Rule changes could spur $1 billion in crowdfunded investment
Regulation Crowdfunding allows startup founders to raise capital from unaccredited investors as well as accredited investors, and publicly promote their offerings. Part of the …
Photo by engin akyurt on Unsplash
News and Information | March 10, 2021
Reliable digital media is fertile ground for Media Development Investment Fund
ImpactAlpha, Mar. 10 – The push: Government-backed media outlets and oligarch-vested interests are pushing down trust in journalism around the world. The pull: The …
Photo credit: Chan Zuckerberg Initiative
Dealflow | February 1, 2021
Chan Zuckerberg Initiative spins off criminal justice reform activities
ImpactAlpha, February 1 – Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, the mission-focused company launched by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan, is allocating $350 …
Scenes from the Party to the Polls in Brunswick, GA | Michael Scott Milner
Return on Inclusion | January 5, 2021
How Georgia’s civic mobilization is rallying local efforts to close the racial wealth gap
ImpactAlpha, Jan. 5 – The impact of the massive voter education effort in Georgia may last well beyond today’s runoff election for two seats …
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 …
Civic Tech | November 25, 2020
Why impact investors should double down on democracy funding
The post-mortem on this election is far from over, but as the news of the past few weeks has unfolded, we are seeing …
Democracy and Power | November 25, 2020
How to stop ‘astroturf’ campaigns and the spread of misinformation
That the network of trade associations and advocacy groups blocking meaningful action on climate change was bankrolled by fossil fuel interests comes not …
Photo credit: Good Work Network
Democracy and Power | November 23, 2020
Grassroots groups are mobilizing communities to take racial justice from protest to progress
With $30 million in grants to 60 local and national racial justice organizations, Kresge Foundation is seeking to harness the power of this …
Dealflow | September 29, 2020
Insurer QBE backs Save the Children’s impact fund
ImpactAlpha, September 29 – Save the Children, best known for its humanitarian aid work, has reached a $6 million first close for an …
Dealflow | September 24, 2020
MacArthur Foundation commits $25 million to COVID recovery and election integrity
ImpactAlpha, September 24 – MacArthur Foundation has made grants totaling $10 million to organizations supporting Black, Native and other under-represented groups disproportionately affected …
Dealflow | September 14, 2020
Southern Black Girls and Women’s Consortium secures $10 million
ImpactAlpha, September 14 – The Southern Black Girls and Women’s Consortium is tackling a glaring lack of investor and philanthropic attention. The Appalachian …
Billionaires | September 2, 2020
Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg commit $300 million to safe, fair elections
ImpactAlpha, September 2 – Two impact investors sounded off in ImpactAlpha this week about the importance of securing the fairness of the November …
Democracy and Peace | September 1, 2020
Impact investors have a role to play in preventing worst-case election scenarios
ImpactAlpha, Sept. 1 – November is coming and hopefully the beginning of the end of the authoritarianism, oligarchy, and violence that have become …
Democracy and Peace | September 1, 2020
How impact investors can help ensure racial justice includes electoral justice
ImpactAlpha, Sept. 1 – With voter registration deadlines rapidly approaching, our firm is seeing a desire amongst impact investors to elevate voting rights …
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Creative Economy | July 16, 2020
Investing in news and media by and for people of color
ImpactAlpha, July 16 – Blavity’s $1.5 million raise from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation (and another $9.5 million from earlier investors) helped demonstrate the …
Call Recording | July 1, 2020
Call No. 20: Investors share experiences in getting their assets off the sidelines
“It’s a great time for new entrants, but for those of us who’ve been doing this for a while it is equally urgent to raise our game right and to not get complacent,” said Margot Brandenburg of the Ford Foundation.
Democracy and Power | June 30, 2020
Putting people at the center of financial structures
As we design for impact, it’s important to put people at the center of financial structures. In 10 ways to redesign venture finance …
Clean Energy | June 29, 2020
How 10x tech can drive 10x impact in 10 years
ImpactAlpha, June 29 – The start of a global recession in the middle of a pandemic that has laid bare structural inequality and …
Human Rights | June 23, 2020
Investors push stakeholder protections with shareholder resolutions
ImpactAlpha, June 23 – This season, shareholder resolutions involving human rights and worker rights made up the largest category for the first time, …