Locavesting
Eric Glass
Muni Impact | January 24, 2023
‘You can’t do impact on a passive basis’: Q&A with activist muni-investor Eric Glass
ImpactAlpha, Jan. 24 – After 15 years as an analyst, trader, and portfolio manager at AllianceBernstein, Eric Glass was asked in 2015 to develop …
Muni Impact | January 24, 2023
Market hypocrisy, political opportunism, and the common good
The attorney general of Texas earlier this month accused Citigroup of running afoul of a state law that “bars most government contracts with …
John Podesta, Senior Advisor to the President for Clean Energy (photo: ImpactAlpha)
Muni Impact | January 17, 2023
Overheard at the Public Finance Conference: Investment opportunities in Emerging Market America
ImpactAlpha, Jan. 17 – A computer glitch that snarled air traffic last week presented a fitting backdrop as government and finance leaders gathered …
Muni Impact | January 12, 2023
The billion-dollar cost to the ESG culture wars
ImpactAlpha, Jan. 12 – Banks that use environmental, social, or governance, or ESG frameworks in their investing practice are being targeted by state legislators …
Climate-proofing infrastructure in West Virginia | Credit: Popular Science
Climate Finance | January 10, 2023
Matching local projects with climate capital to deploy community infrastructure
ImpactAlpha, Jan. 10 – The Great Deployment is on. The capital is teed up. The technology is ready. The Inflation Reduction Act and …
Photo by Roodgally Senatus, ImpactAlpha.
Climate and Clean Tech | January 5, 2023
Electrifying ‘dollar vans’ to boost livelihoods and cut carbon in New York’s transit deserts
ImpactAlpha, January 5 — Along Flatbush Ave. in Brooklyn, several informal “dollar vans” pass by for every city bus. The rides are more …
Looking Ahead to 2023 | December 21, 2022
Abundance, ownership and inclusion hold keys to shared prosperity in 2023
ImpactAlpha, Dec. 21 – Real solutions. Real revenues. Real places. While other investors chased crypto and other tech fads, inclusive investors were finding …
Community Finance | December 20, 2022
Treasury investments in CDFIs pave the way for strong impact and financial returns
Almost two years ago, we mourned what appeared to be a lost opportunity for community lenders and impact investors. We were wrong! ECIP …
Napoleon Wallace, Southern Reconstruction Fund
Agents of Impact | December 16, 2022
Napoleon Wallace, Southern Reconstruction Fund: Restorative capital for Black wealth
ImpactAlpha, Dec. 16 – Napoleon Wallace’s presence was all over the recent Mission Investors Exchange conference in Baltimore. …As the co-founder of Activest, which …
Sponsored | December 15, 2022
How impact investments are helping build healthy communities
Our zip codes play a big part in how long and well we live. It’s easier to lead a healthy life when you …
Memphis, TN | Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on Unsplash
Muni Impact | December 12, 2022
What Adasina learned about advancing ‘fiscal justice’ by investing $60 million in muni bonds
ImpactAlpha, Dec. 12 – San Francisco-based Adasina Social Capital calls itself a “bridge between financial markets and social justice.” But even an organization accustomed …
Muni Impact | December 12, 2022
Cities embrace ESG in muni bonds even as overall market dips
ImpactAlpha, Dec. 12 – Municipal bond issues are down 17% this year compared to 2021 as interest rates have spiked, according to SIFMA. But …
Muni Impact | December 8, 2022
S&P Global acquires Shades of Green’s climate-risk assessments for bonds
ImpactAlpha, Dec. 8 – Issuers of social, green and other sustainability bonds seek “second-party opinions,” or SPOs, from ratings agencies like S&P Global to …
Community Finance | December 8, 2022
Ford Foundation invests $10 million in Appalachian Community Capital to boost rural business lending
ImpactAlpha, Dec. 8 – Ford Foundation has invested $10 million in Appalachian Community Capital to expand business lending in the region. The infusion of …
Photo by Taco Block.
Place-Based Investing | December 7, 2022
LISC teams with Colorado Health Foundation to back diverse-owned businesses
ImpactAlpha, December 7 — The Local Initiatives Support Corp. has launched the Colorado BIPOC Micro Equity Fund. The $2 million pilot fund provides …
Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.
Return on Inclusion | December 5, 2022
Investors must make noise so BIPOC entrepreneurs don’t have to make do
This post is part of a partnership between ImpactAlpha and Mission Investors Exchange to present new ideas and perspectives in impact investing. Join …
Photo credit: Baltimore Public Markets Corp.
Place-Based Investing | December 1, 2022
Real estate developers in Baltimore test strategies for inclusive growth and community wealth
ImpactAlpha, December 1 – On the west side of downtown Baltimore, a $45 million rehabilitation of Lexington Market is turning the once-languishing food …
Place-Based Investing | December 1, 2022
M&G Catalyst backs Lafayette Square’s direct lending business with $200 million
ImpactAlpha, Dec. 1 – M&G’s Catalyst has committed $200 million to Lafayette Square’s direct lending business. The capital is a boost for the …
Muni Impact | November 28, 2022
Investor demand for Atlanta’s $369 million ‘social bond’ cuts city’s interest payments
ImpactAlpha, Nov. 28 – Under the banner of “Moving Atlanta Forward,” the city raised $410 million in general obligation bonds this month, including …
Source: Shutterstock
Place-Based Investing | November 28, 2022
Schroders launches U.K. real estate impact fund with £10 million
ImpactAlpha, November 28 – U.K.-based asset manager Schroders Capital launched a new fund focused on investments in some of Britain’s most depressed regions …
Impact Voices | November 21, 2022
How housing investments can create wealth for investors – and tenants
“E,” for environmental, gets most of the love in ESG investing. Investments in the “S” and “G,” for social and governance, particularly in …
Photo credit: The California Endowment; painting by Baadal Nanjundaswamy
Sponsored | November 21, 2022
How The California Endowment is investing for health and racial equity (Q&A)
President and chief executive officer for The California Endowment Robert Ross is a leader in leveraging impact investing to advance the foundation’s mission …
Photo by Tamarcus Brown on Unsplash
Muni Impact | November 18, 2022
Mispriced risks, investor demand and community power center racial equity in municipal bonds (video)
ImpactAlpha, Nov. 18 – Cities around the U.S. are raising low-cost capital in the municipal bond markets by highlighting intentional efforts to address long-standing …
Climate Finance | November 18, 2022
Deal spotlight: Empowering – and paying – communities to protect nature
ImpactAlpha, November 18 – The issue of loss and damages was a sticking point as negotiators hammered out a final agreement at the COP27 …
New York City housing
Muni Impact | November 14, 2022
Managing social risks and addressing racial inequities in the muni bond market
ImpactAlpha, Nov. 14 – “Elevate and Rise” bonds in Denver. ESG-labeled bonds in Chicago. Social bonds in New York. Cities that issue hundreds of …
Muni Impact | November 9, 2022
The ‘Black Tax’ plagues small municipalities. Can bond banks help?
ImpactAlpha, Nov. 9 – An old idea is finding new life in the municipal bond market, where a stubborn complacency with conventional ways of …
Image by diana.grytsku on Freepik
Impact Management | November 1, 2022
Orchard Street’s Social and Environmental Impact Partnership fund secures £90 million
ImpactAlpha, November 2 — U.K.-based commercial real estate investor Orchard Street Investment Management has raised $103.3 million in a first close from investors …
Muni Impact | October 31, 2022
Optimizing the municipal bond market for health equity and racial justice (podcast)
ImpactAlpha, Oct. 31 – The municipal bond market has been called the original impact investment asset class, a source of capital for water, housing, …
Jeff Cherry of Conscious Venture Partners
Return on Inclusion | October 31, 2022
Baltimore’s Conscious Venture Partners raises $17 million to back purpose-driven startups
ImpactAlpha, Oct. 31 – Conscious Venture Partners has raised $17 million to back purpose-driven startups. The Baltimore-based fund manager is expanding across the U.S., …
Source: The Ford Foundation
Catalytic Capital | October 18, 2022
Foundations leverage their balance sheets to expand the impact investing toolkit
ImpactAlpha, Oct. 18 – Faced with 2020’s cascade of crises, a group of foundations mobilized $3 billion from capital markets for community relief and …
A view of Maverick Square in East Boston shows the divide between old and new. / Photo by Bob O’Connor.
Place-Based Investing | October 18, 2022
East Boston Community Development establishes a neighborhood trust to preserve affordable housing
ImpactAlpha, October 18 — In cities like Atlanta, Los Angeles, Portland and Tulsa, local organizations are working with the nonprofit Trust Neighborhoods to …
Photo by Evisort.
Dealflow | October 14, 2022
ImpactAlpha Deal Spotlight: Impact M&A
ImpactAlpha, October 14 — The year has seen an uptick in impact mergers and acquisitions, including Mirova’s purchase of SunFunder to expand clean …
Photo by New Mexico Nomad.
Place-Based Investing | October 12, 2022
New Mexico taps fixed-income strategy for small business lending
ImpactAlpha, October 12 — A fixed-income strategy that has helped hundreds of low-income, women-led and Native families in New Mexico access housing and …
Photo by Peopleimages.
Policy Corner | October 3, 2022
U.S. Treasury channels $8 billion to help CDFIs and MDIs boost small-business lending
ImpactAlpha, October 3 — Community development financial institutions, or CDFIs, and minority depository institutions, or MDIs, played a vital role getting aid to …
Photo by Skoll Foundation.
Inclusive Economy | September 21, 2022
Common Future acquires Community Credit Lab for combined community wealth-building
ImpactAlpha, September 21 — Oakland-based Common Future earlier this year merged with nonprofit impact accelerator Uncharted. Now, the organization led by Rodney Foxworth …
Image credit: Westend61 / Getty Images
Impact Investing | September 20, 2022
Will a new EPA fund serve low- and moderate-income people? Five principles to promote success
On August 16, President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act, federal legislation that invests nearly $400 billion over 10 years in renewable energy …
CNote co-founder and CEO Cat Berman | Photo by CNote.
Corporate Impact | September 20, 2022
CNote raises nearly $7.3 million to tap corporate cash for community development
ImpactAlpha, September 20 — CNote has raised $7.3 million to expand its network of more than 2,000 CDFIs, low-income designated credit unions and …
Muni Impact | September 14, 2022
To manage climate risk, municipal bond insurer taps data on community vulnerability
ImpactAlpha, Sept. 14 – Public finance investors buy hundreds of billions of dollars in municipal bond issuances each year, providing much needed capital for …
Impact Investing | September 13, 2022
Bringing the energy transition to every building and neighborhood, with public and private capital
ImpactAlpha, Sept. 13 – Green jobs in South Los Angeles. Low-carbon retrofits and cost savings in New York public housing. Electric vehicle and battery …
Pearl River flood water rising in neighborhoods in Jackson, MS.
Impact Voices | September 7, 2022
Three shifts needed to build resilient water systems in Jackson, Miss. and other U.S. cities
The (shocking but unsurprising) sad news is that 173,000 residents of Jackson, Miss. will be out of water indefinitely. This water issue is …
Photo by the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools.
Dealflow | September 6, 2022
Equitable Facilities Fund closes $230 million in social bonds for underserved charter schools
ImpactAlpha, September 6 — The New York-based nonprofit social impact fund aims to lower funding costs for high-performing and impact public charter schools …
The Inner Loop East being filled in. | Photo source: Stantec
Muni Impact | August 31, 2022
Tear down this road: Cities start to remove highways that divide and disadvantage communities
ImpactAlpha, Aug. 31 – Tearing down part of a freeway was such a boon that Rochester, New York, is planning for removal of more …
Community Finance | August 18, 2022
Community lenders look to carve out a role for themselves in new green bank fund
ImpactAlpha, Aug. 18 – The Inflation Reduction Act, sprung from the seeming dead just three weeks ago, sprinted into law almost as fast …
Impact Voices | August 18, 2022
How community investors are creating equitable approaches to climate finance
When it comes to climate change the stakes for all of us are high. But the evidence is clear that lower-income and communities …
Photo by Ting Internet.
Muni Impact | August 11, 2022
Ting Internet secures $200 million from Generate for communication infrastructure in communities
ImpactAlpha, August 11 — Cable internet versus fiber optic, you ask? A lower-waste footprint and lower-energy consumption makes fiber technology the more eco-friendly …