Good Jobs
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 …
Dealflow | September 8, 2021
Employee Ownership Catalyst Fund raises nearly $5 million to back worker-ownership conversions
ImpactAlpha, September 8 — The open-ended fund, co-managed by Mission Driven Finance and Project Equity, received commitments from Living Cities and other impact …
Dealflow | September 7, 2021
Microverse secures investment to expand income share agreements for global talent
ImpactAlpha, September 7 — The Latin-led edtech, which is looking to connect at least one million young software developers from emerging markets to …
Dealflow | September 2, 2021
Achieve Partners acquires Metmox to create apprenticeships for cybersecurity
ImpactAlpha, September 2 – There will be an estimated 1.8 million unfulfilled cybersecurity jobs in the U.S. next year. That makes the industry …
Innovative Finance | August 19, 2021
Social Finance raises $49.9 million for workforce-focused UP Fund
ImpactAlpha, August 19 – The W.K. Kellogg, Inherent and Phillips foundations are among the latest backers of Social Finance’s UP Fund, which deploys …
Dealflow | July 22, 2021
Achieve Partners acquires Optimum Healthcare IT to fill healthcare labor gaps
ImpactAlpha, July 22 – Florida-based Optimum Healthcare IT provides staffing and consulting services to 150 hospital systems in the U.S. Achieve Partners acquired …
Photo credit: Getting Smart.
Good Jobs | June 29, 2021
Achieve Partners raises $180 million to boost apprenticeships and job placements
ImpactAlpha, June 29 — The fund will acquire businesses that provide apprenticeships in health care, information technology and other industries facing skills shortages, …
Photo credit: Getty Images.
Dealflow | June 28, 2021
Employee ownership to get a boost from Apis & Heritage’s buyout fund
ImpactAlpha, June 28 — Bethesda, Md.-based Apis & Heritage Capital Partners helps small and mid-sized businesses with large workforces of color transition to …
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 …
Flat Vector Illustration.
Dealflow | June 14, 2021
KKR’s Burning Glass merges with Emsi to form labor market data platform
ImpactAlpha, June 14 — KKR in 2019 acquired a majority stake in Burning Glass, a software company that sells intelligence on labor market …
Photo credit: Urban Company.
Dealflow | June 7, 2021
Urban Company secures $255 million for gig marketplace in India
ImpactAlpha, June 7 — Urban Company has hired and trained approximately 35,000 gig service providers since 2014 for beauty treatments, haircuts, carpentry, appliance …
Photo credit: Charter Next Generation.
Good Jobs | May 13, 2021
KKR investment in Charter Next Generation makes all 1,700 employees owners
ImpactAlpha, May 13 — Private-equity giant KKR has backed Lexington, Ohio-based Charter Next Generation, one of the largest U.S. producers of specialty films …
Impact Voices | May 5, 2021
Three ways to invest in the upskilling of workers for the post-COVID economy
The booming stock market has masked the wide gaps in the U.S. economy and labor markets that are increasingly a threat to a …
Dealflow | May 3, 2021
Two Sigma Impact and Avance acquire Wholesale Supplies to supply artisans with quality products
ImpactAlpha, May 3 — Hedge fund Two Sigma in January launched Two Sigma Impact, a nine-figure impact investing business from its own balance …
Clean Energy | April 27, 2021
Shared solar generates savings and jobs for New York City Housing Authority residents
ImpactAlpha, April 27 — Sunwealth Power, a Cambridge, Mass.-based impact investor that finances small-scale solar projects, is helping develop a 1.8-megawatt solar array …
PC: Transport Topics.
Catalytic Capital | April 12, 2021
Social Finance raises $36 million for ‘career impact bonds’ and backs American Diesel Training
ImpactAlpha, April 12 — Career impact bonds are bringing income-share agreements, which dozens of universities are using to provide help to low-income students …
PC: HBR.
Impact Tech | April 12, 2021
Village Capital backs tech startups in Jordan and Chile
ImpactAlpha, April 12 — Washington, D.C.-based Village Capital has made its first pair of investments through the early-stage Financial Innovation Fund it manages …
Dealflow | March 22, 2021
CIM backs Salary Finance to provide affordable loans for underserved workers
ImpactAlpha, March 22 — Community Investment Management is providing Salary Finance with $150 million in debt financing over the next three years to …
United States | March 18, 2021
A grand challenge surfaces solutions to upskill Americans for the future of work
ImpactAlpha, March 18 – Technology is replacing people. Gig jobs are replacing full-time work. Unions are organizing (see, “Why pension funds and other Amazon …
Dealflow | March 11, 2021
Souls Grown Deep Foundation backs Paskho to create quality jobs for Gee’s Bend quilters in Alabama
ImpactAlpha, March 11 — The Souls Grown Deep Foundation is providing a $600,000 convertible note to Paskho, a Black-owned eco-friendly apparel company. Souls …
Dealflow | February 8, 2021
Online grocer Good Eggs raises $100 million to deliver fresh food and good jobs
ImpactAlpha, February 8 – San Francisco-based grocery delivery company Good Eggs says it’s committed both to local growers and to good jobs that …
Photo credit: Shoegaro
Frontier and Growth Markets | January 27, 2021
Upaya Social Ventures supports ‘good jobs’ in India with four investments
ImpactAlpha, January 27 – Seattle-based Upaya Social Ventures invests in small and growing businesses creating dignified jobs for underserved Indians. It closed four convertible …
Dealflow | January 21, 2021
Two Sigma Impact and BayPine invest in workforce educator Penn Foster
ImpactAlpha, January 21 – Hedge fund Two Sigma launched its nine-figure impact investing initiative from its own balance sheet to prove the correlation between …
Taylor Guitars employees, now owners, at the El Cajon, CA factory prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dealflow | January 14, 2021
Canadian pension fund backs Taylor Guitars’ conversion to employee ownership
ImpactAlpha, January 14 — Cajon, Calif.-based guitar manufacturer Taylor Guitars is now 100% owned by its more than 1,200 employees through an Employee …
Dealflow | January 13, 2021
Morgan Stanley invests $100 million in Lafayette Square to support housing, jobs, and financial inclusion
ImpactAlpha, January 13 — Black-run investment firm Lafayette Square invests in “communities that have been traditionally neglected by fiscal and monetary policy, not …
Dealflow | January 7, 2021
Morgan Stanley backs fund to acquire affordable housing in Atlanta
ImpactAlpha, January 7 — A quarter of American renters spend more than half of their income on housing. Morgan Stanley is investing $100 …
Dealflow | December 21, 2020
Living Cities backs Black-led investment firm Jacmel Growth Partners
ImpactAlpha, December 21 – Brooklyn-based Jacmel Growth Partners was founded by Haitian-American Nick Jean-Baptiste, a former Wall Street banker, to support mid-size, family …
Dealflow | November 25, 2020
Factory_OS secures $55 million for better affordable housing design
ImpactAlpha, November 25 — Vallejo, Calif.-based Factory_OS is addressing the affordable housing crisis in the San Francisco Bay Area using digital technology to …
Entrepreneurship | November 2, 2020
How creative financing structures can help companies preserve jobs and weather the pandemic
Flexible investment structures that prioritize employees and customers alongside entrepreneurs and investors are proving useful in helping companies preserve good jobs through the …
Climate Finance | October 7, 2020
Helping companies make good on their commitments to stakeholders
ImpactAlpha, Oct. 7 – When 181 members of the Business Roundtable signed on to a new statement of corporate purpose a year ago, …
Dealflow | September 30, 2020
Greenhouse venture AppHarvest will reach the Nasdaq before its tomatoes reach consumers
ImpactAlpha, September 30 – High-tech greenhouse grower AppHarvest, which will go public via an acquisition by Novus Capital Corp., ticks the boxes for …
Dealflow | September 28, 2020
Blue Meridian, Schmidt Futures back ‘career impact bonds’ via Social Finance’s UP Fund
ImpactAlpha, September 28 – Career impact bonds finance vocational training with the kind of income-share agreements offered by an increasing number of universities …
Dealflow | September 22, 2020
Co-op Cincy and Seed Commons launch $3 million worker ownership fund
ImpactAlpha, Sept. 22 – Even before the COVID pandemic, more than 5,500 businesses in the region were at risk of closing due to …
Features | August 26, 2020
Turning the small business crisis into an opportunity for equitable employee ownership
Small business owners are facing catastrophically bad choices these days, with half predicting they will be forced to close as a result of …
Catalytic Capital | August 25, 2020
How investors can blend finance for CDFIs to advance economic and racial justice
Community development finance institutions have long been “first responders” to small businesses in historically underinvested communities. The COVID-19 pandemic has in stark terms …
Dealflow | August 10, 2020
AppHarvest closes $28 million for its high-tech rural farms
ImpactAlpha, August 28 – Indoor farming venture AppHarvest is building a 2.8 million-square-foot greenhouse in Morehead, Ky. to bring technology to sustainable agricultural …
Dealflow | June 22, 2020
New York City restaurant fund ties COVID relief to wage increases
ImpactAlpha, June 23 – New York City’s $3 million Restaurant Revitalization Program is offering grants to 100 family-run restaurants as restaurants get back …
Dealflow | June 18, 2020
Gig-worker platform Steady secures $15 million to expand pandemic support
ImpactAlpha, June 29 – Atlanta-based Steady set out to be a one-stop shop to improve the financial health of U.S. gig workers, by …
Dealflow | June 15, 2020
Worker-owned Obran Cooperative acquires Appalachian Field Services
ImpactAlpha, June 15 – Obran is a holding company owned by the workers of two Baltimore-based staffing agencies: CORE Staffing, a temporary job-placement …
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 | May 14, 2020
Climate makes a comeback in coronavirus recovery plans (just don’t call it climate action)
ImpactAlpha, May 14 – The science was undermined. The economics were ignored. But the case for jobs and livelihoods in the wake of …
Entrepreneurship | April 9, 2020
How community banks and local lenders are bridging racial gaps in COVID recovery
ImpactAlpha, April 9 – When President Trump gathered bankers for a video conference about financial relief for small businesses, CEOs of Goldman Sachs, …
Entrepreneurship | March 19, 2020
Helping Main Street businesses weather the coronavirus superstorm
ImpactAlpha, March 19 – The coronavirus is cratering industries from airlines to hotels. The most vulnerable may be local restaurants and retailers that …
Africa | February 3, 2020
Secha Capital makes sixth investment in Rush Nutrition
ImpactAlpha, February 3 – Secha Capital gravitates to what others do not: “boring” business sectors. The South African “micro-private equity” firm launched with …