leap-africa
Africa | February 10, 2017
Double impact for new crop of Nigerian social enterprises
Twenty social entrepreneurs are part of the fourth Social Innovators Program & Awards (SIPA) in Lagos. Backed by LEAP Africa and Union Bank of …
- Beats
- The Brief
April 26, 2024
The Brief
The Week’s Podcasts
🎧 This Week in Impact. Host Brian Walsh takes up ImpactAlpha’s top stories with editor David Bank. Up this week: the opportunities for family offices to invest in the climate transition; three leading foundations' investment in responsible AI; and the debate over the changing approach to carbon credits as a path to net zero. Bonus: Audio highlights from 10 years of ImpactAlpha.
The Week’s Agent of Impact
Trenton Allen, Sustainable Capital Advisors: Bringing green infrastructure to Black and Brown communities. (Q&A). Networks of nonprofit lenders are looking to seed green projects in low- and middle-income communities by leveraging the $27 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund that is part of the US Inflation Reduction Act. For-profit companies are playing a role as well. Washington, DC-based Sustainable Capital Advisors, founded by finance industry veteran Trenton Allen, helped the Justice Climate Fund and other organizations craft their strategies for the federal funds. The firm’s Sustainable Infrastructure Finance Academy aims to give community lenders, local governments and project developers affordable access to the specialized knowledge and skill sets they need for the massive deployment effort. They “already know how to do the hardest part, which is lending and capital deployment and underwriting,” he says. “The green piece is just another type of project or project activity.” To those who doubt whether such lenders are up to the task he says, “Recognize the experience and the depth of financial understanding that exists within these organizations.”
The Week’s Deal Spotlight
Blending finance to bring broadband to remote communities. The lack of high-speed Internet service in rural and mountainous regions of the US exacts a socio-economic toll, limiting access to jobs, education, healthcare and other opportunities and services. The Biden Administration’s $700 million ReConnect initiative, funded through the bipartisan infrastructure law, aims to extend affordable broadband to all Americans by 2030. Public investment is “necessary but insufficient,” said Brian Vo of Connect Humanity, a nonprofit impact investor helping local internet service providers, or ISPs, bridge project financing gaps. The organization is raising a $25 million fund to bring services to remote communities in Appalachia. The fund was seeded with first-loss capital from Microsoft.
The Week’s Talent and Jobs
💼 See and share new impact jobs posted this week on ImpactAlpha’s Career Hub and view hundreds of more jobs in impact investing and sustainable finance. Have a job listing to post? Submit it here.
- The Call
Muni Impact | March 22, 2024
How green banks are blending finance for community infrastructure and greenhouse gas reduction (video)
In New Orleans, the city’s housing finance agency has become a “green bank” to underwrite community solar, water treatment projects, and resilience hubs. …
Impact Investing | March 1, 2024
The Call: Impact value-creation isn’t just for impact investors (but they’re better at it)
Private equity fund managers looking for value-creation opportunities are increasingly finding their way to impact themes like climate-resilient and sustainable agriculture, employee engagement …
Call Recording | January 19, 2024
The Call: Moving from the ‘why’ to the ‘how’ of impact incentives
ImpactAlpha, January 19 – Impact investors have for years debated the need for embedded structures to incentivize impact outcomes for impact fund managers. …
Muni Impact | December 15, 2023
The arbitrage opportunity in high-impact municipal bonds (video)
ImpactAlpha, Dec. 15 – The $4 trillion muni market is so big that small movements in the pricing of bonds can mean shifts of …
Climate and Gender | November 17, 2023
To be effective, climate solutions need a gender lens (video)
ImpactAlpha, November 17 – That women are more adversely affected by climate change is well established (in impact and development circles at any …
Impact Investing | October 13, 2023
State of the Impact Field: Unprecedented opportunity tempered by sober realism (video)
This week’s Agents of Impact Call continued a tradition started nearly a decade ago by Fran Seegull of the US Impact Investing Alliance …
Ownership Economy | September 29, 2023
Labor and capital align in new movement for worker ownership (Video)
ImpactAlpha, Sept. 29 – It’s the age-old struggle: labor vs capital, workers vs. owners. But what happens when employees get a stake in the …
Call Recording | August 25, 2023
Mobilizing capital in Indian Country (video)
ImpactAlpha, August 25 – A growing ecosystem of Native-led entrepreneurs, lenders, financial intermediaries and nonprofits are driving Indian Country’s emerging economy. “It’s kind …
Participants in ImpactAlpha's call on HBCUsReturn on Inclusion | July 28, 2023
Impact at HBCUs: Hubs of talent, innovation and Black excellence (video)
ImpactAlpha, July 28 – Most historically Black colleges and universities were formed during the Reconstruction era. In the more than a century since, Spelman, …
Muni Impact | June 22, 2023
Connecting supply and demand for racial equity strategies in muni markets (video)
ImpactAlpha, Jun. 22 – Even as some politicians ramp up anti-ESG rhetoric, asset owners and allocators are signaling an appetite for investment strategies …
Call Recording | March 31, 2023
Metrics Madness: Wealth, ownership and ‘quality adjusted life years’ (video)
ImpactAlpha, Mar. 31 – The search for a universal metric to guide investments in racial justice and equitable wealth-building was…aspirational. “We are still a …
Policy Corner | February 24, 2023
Policymaking for workers and communities in the Year of the ‘S’ (video)
ImpactAlpha. Feb. 24 – “A labor market where workers have more opportunities and have more power and have more leverage is a good …
- Podcasts
Podcasts | April 24, 2024
Franchising indoor farms to build a billion dollars in Black wealth (podcast)
When one door closes, another one opens. For Zarû Systems’ Loren Taylor, that second door may open onto a self-contained modular vertical farm …
Podcasts | April 12, 2024
Reconnecting communities, impact investing in Puerto Rico, and how business owners are exiting to employees
🎧 This Week in Impact. Host Brian Walsh takes up ImpactAlpha’s top stories with editor David Bank. Up this week: federal funds to …
Photo credit: Bess Adler (used with permission)Corporate Impact | April 10, 2024
Alison Taylor: The broken chain from transparency to accountability to corporate action (podcast)
The era of cake-ism (as in having it and eating it, too) has come to an inglorious end. “I think we’re in an …
Podcasts | March 29, 2024
This week in impact: green bank who’s who, emerging market catalytic climate capital, brazilian impact.
Host Brian Walsh dives into ImpactAlpha’s top stories, with commentary from editor David Bank. Up this week: Tracking the players building the US’s …
Podcasts | March 26, 2024
Building an inclusive economy with Lenore Champagne Beirne
ImpactAlpha podcasts are back! We’re pleased to share our revamped interview show, Agents of Impact, hosted by David Bank and Sherrell Dorsey, founder …
Podcasts | March 26, 2024
Impact(ed): An introduction to CDFIs and equitable community lending
Impact(ed) is part of the ImpactAlpha Podcast Network, a set of shows hosted and produced by leading voices in impact and sustainable investing, …
Podcasts | March 21, 2024
How Texas’s anti ESG campaign is costing it money, cookstoves and carbon markets, and Vanguard gets punked
On This Week in Impact, Brian Walsh dives into some of ImpactAlpha’s top stories, with commentary from editor David Bank. This week: the …
Podcasts | January 11, 2024
Impact(ed): Harnessing the potential of VC for good (podcast)
Venture capital invested nearly $500 billion in 2022. By investing into startups seeking transformational scale, successful venture-backed companies have the potential to change …
Looking Ahead to 2024 | December 29, 2023
Holiday List No. 3: Eight ImpactAlpha podcasts to ring in 2024
ImpactAlpha, Dec. 29 – “Net zero is not going to get us anywhere,” Ariane Mahler of Veridien Global Investors told David Bank of ImpactAlpha …
Lenore Champagne Beirne and Sherrell DorseyPlugged In | December 22, 2023
Plugged In: Capitalizing and coaching the innovators building an inclusive economy (video)
ImpactAlpha, Dec. 22 – Diverse innovators building for all customers in large industries like digital health, fintech and the future of work have been …
Podcasts | December 8, 2023
A tale of two COP28s with Marilyn Waite and Dawn Lippert
The numbers tell the story: overall attendance at COP28 is up threefold from last year – and the number of fossil fuel lobbyists …
Impact Investing | December 6, 2023
Impact(ed): Driving foundation endowments toward social justice (podcast)
Private foundations collectively control more than a trillion dollars of capital invested across a variety of traditional asset classes. A small portion of …
- Opinion
Adrienne Bennett, president and CEO of Benkari LLC, Detroit's Entrepreneurs of Color Fund participant. | Photo credit: Kellogg Foundation
Impact Voices | April 25, 2024
Lessons from the Kellogg Foundation’s $310 million in mission-driven investments
This article is part of a partnership between ImpactAlpha and Mission Investors Exchange (MIE) to present new ideas and perspectives in impact investing. …
Inclusive Economy | April 25, 2024
Addressing the broken child care system with impact investments
This article is part of a partnership between ImpactAlpha and Mission Investors Exchange (MIE) to present new ideas and perspectives in impact investing. …
Builders Vision's Lukas Walton, Joanna Cohen and Miranda Lindl O’Connell | Photo credit: Builders VisionClimate Finance | April 24, 2024
The climate transition and investment opportunities for family offices
This article is part of a partnership between ImpactAlpha and Mission Investors Exchange (MIE) to present new ideas and perspectives in impact investing. …
Blockchain/AI/IoT | April 23, 2024
How impact investments in Anthropic can strengthen responsible innovation in tech
In the realm of AI discourse, much attention is directed towards fostering responsible development of the technology itself (e.g. Is it free from …
Impact Voices | April 21, 2024
Unpacking the experiments, barriers, and pivots: exploring community banking with Kataly Foundation
Developing an investment strategy that meets our fiduciary requirements as resource stewards, embodies our racial justice values, and prioritizes the communities we serve …
Macro Impact | April 17, 2024
Good economy actually is good news as impact investors adjust to new realities
(Editor’s note: In this conclusion to ImpactAlpha’s four-part Macro Impact series, contributing editor Rob Brown parses the economic signals for public and private …
Photo credit: reach52Sponsored | April 17, 2024
Innovative startups are changing the landscape of health impact everywhere. Are investors aware?
Editor’s note: This guest post is sponsored by Impact Ventures by J&J Foundation, which supports ImpactAlpha’s Investing in Health coverage. In partnership with …
Students at Delaware State University: Photo credit: Delaware State UniversityReturn on Inclusion | April 16, 2024
The brilliant case for impact investing in America’s HBCUs
Editor’s Note: This article is part of a partnership between ImpactAlpha and Mission Investors Exchange (MIE) to present new ideas and perspectives in …
Impact Voices | April 16, 2024
How innovative financing structures can help close California’s housing gap
The way housing is financed and constructed in the United States has experienced little change in decades, leading to skyrocketing costs, barriers to …
Impact Voices | April 15, 2024
Elevating impact reporting to raise the performance of impact fund managers
“One million lives touched.” “800 jobs created.” “50,000 acres of land restored.” Capital allocators often see these types of punchy headlines in the …
AceliAfrica's impact performance report explores ties between impact performance and financial risk and returnImpact Management | April 15, 2024
Six impact performance reports that go beyond the basics to give investors needed insights
Impact Frontier’s Impact Reporting Norms target a leverage point in the impact investing system: impact reporting. They promise to provide greater clarity and …
Credit: Mati CarbonImpact Voices | April 15, 2024
How Mati Carbon is using the carbon markets to address farmers’ adaptation finance gap and boost their incomes
Ashish Kumar is a long-time climate investor and a market / ecosystem builder. He is a strategic advisor to Mati Carbon. This month, …
- Agents of Impact
Trenton Allen (photo: Sustainable Capital Advisors)
Agents of Impact | April 26, 2024
Trenton Allen, Sustainable Capital Advisors: Bringing green infrastructure to Black and Brown communities (Q&A)
The Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund is seeding green projects in primarily low-income communities by sending $27 billion through a network of nonprofit lenders. …
Photo by Wharton ESG Initiative.Agents of Impact | April 12, 2024
Impact MBAs: Raising up the next impact leaders (video)
The winner of a contest to sharpen the impact lens of students through deal sourcing and diligence was a team from London Business …
Agents of Impact | January 26, 2024
Ines Schiller, Vyld: Reengineering the tampon – and the ethos of biotech
ImpactAlpha, January 26 – Ines Schiller got the idea for seaweed tampons while training in South Africa to be a marine environment guide. …
Looking Ahead to 2024 | December 25, 2023
Holiday List No. 1: A dozen Agents of Impact to watch in 2024
ImpactAlpha, Dec. 23 – Bold leaders. Taking action. Driving impact. That’s the tagline we’ve used for the dozens of Agents of Impact we profiled …
Photo: Kris KrugAgents of Impact | December 8, 2023
Tzeporah Berman, Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty: Winding down production to fulfill the Paris Agreement
This article originally appeared on Inside Climate News, a nonprofit, independent news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. It is republished …
© Margo Moritz. Used by permission.Agents of Impact | November 3, 2023
Andrea Armeni, NYU: On a quest to transform finance
Sustainable development? “More of the same.” Forest carbon credits? “Outside-imposed extraction.” Impact investing? “Are we really going far enough? Or are we just …
Christopher Bentley | Photo by The De-Carceration Fund.Agents of Impact | September 8, 2023
Christopher Bentley, The De-Carceration Fund: Lifting ‘justice tech’ entrepreneurs
ImpactAlpha, September 8 — In 15 years in impact investing, Christopher Bentley noticed “a lot of for-profit companies focused on the criminal justice …
Agents of Impact | August 18, 2023
Monica Brand Engel, Quona Capital: Taking on the messy work of financial inclusion
ImpactAlpha, August 18 – Monica Brand Engel’s advice to impact investors is this: Imperfect execution is ok. “Authentic impact is about accepting imperfection …
Samuel Yeboah of Mirepa Investment AdvisorsAgents of Impact | August 11, 2023
Samuel Yeboah, Mirepa Investment Advisors: Helping Africans invest in Africa
ImpactAlpha, Aug. 11 – Samuel Yeboah isn’t discouraged by the economic storm battering his home country of Ghana and many other emerging economies. “As …
Impact Investing | July 14, 2023
Amy Duffuor, Azolla Ventures: Bridging climate gaps with catalytic capital
Many investors look at promising new climate solutions and say, ‘Great, come back to me when you have traction.’ Azolla Ventures is more …
Katherine Stodulka (foreground) with Mark Swilling of the University of Stellenbosch, Colombian Minister of the Environment Maria Susana Muhamad, and climate justice researcher Nina CallaghanAgents of Impact | June 30, 2023
Katherine Stodulka, Systemiq: Making introductions to bridge gaps in sustainable finance
ImpactAlpha, June 30 – The first thing that Katherine Stodulka does when you meet her is suggest you meet someone else. Then she’ll …
Agents of Impact | May 26, 2023
Jessica Espinoza, 2X Global: Proving gender as a value-driver
ImpactAlpha, May 26 – A decade ago, investors pushed back against the loan products Jessica Espinoza was designing for female business owners as …
- More
April 26, 2024
The Brief
The Week’s Podcasts
🎧 This Week in Impact. Host Brian Walsh takes up ImpactAlpha’s top stories with editor David Bank. Up this week: the opportunities for family offices to invest in the climate transition; three leading foundations' investment in responsible AI; and the debate over the changing approach to carbon credits as a path to net zero. Bonus: Audio highlights from 10 years of ImpactAlpha.
The Week’s Agent of Impact
Trenton Allen, Sustainable Capital Advisors: Bringing green infrastructure to Black and Brown communities. (Q&A). Networks of nonprofit lenders are looking to seed green projects in low- and middle-income communities by leveraging the $27 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund that is part of the US Inflation Reduction Act. For-profit companies are playing a role as well. Washington, DC-based Sustainable Capital Advisors, founded by finance industry veteran Trenton Allen, helped the Justice Climate Fund and other organizations craft their strategies for the federal funds. The firm’s Sustainable Infrastructure Finance Academy aims to give community lenders, local governments and project developers affordable access to the specialized knowledge and skill sets they need for the massive deployment effort. They “already know how to do the hardest part, which is lending and capital deployment and underwriting,” he says. “The green piece is just another type of project or project activity.” To those who doubt whether such lenders are up to the task he says, “Recognize the experience and the depth of financial understanding that exists within these organizations.”
The Week’s Deal Spotlight
Blending finance to bring broadband to remote communities. The lack of high-speed Internet service in rural and mountainous regions of the US exacts a socio-economic toll, limiting access to jobs, education, healthcare and other opportunities and services. The Biden Administration’s $700 million ReConnect initiative, funded through the bipartisan infrastructure law, aims to extend affordable broadband to all Americans by 2030. Public investment is “necessary but insufficient,” said Brian Vo of Connect Humanity, a nonprofit impact investor helping local internet service providers, or ISPs, bridge project financing gaps. The organization is raising a $25 million fund to bring services to remote communities in Appalachia. The fund was seeded with first-loss capital from Microsoft.
The Week’s Talent and Jobs
💼 See and share new impact jobs posted this week on ImpactAlpha’s Career Hub and view hundreds of more jobs in impact investing and sustainable finance. Have a job listing to post? Submit it here.
Muni Impact | March 22, 2024
How green banks are blending finance for community infrastructure and greenhouse gas reduction (video)
In New Orleans, the city’s housing finance agency has become a “green bank” to underwrite community solar, water treatment projects, and resilience hubs. …
Impact Investing | March 1, 2024
The Call: Impact value-creation isn’t just for impact investors (but they’re better at it)
Private equity fund managers looking for value-creation opportunities are increasingly finding their way to impact themes like climate-resilient and sustainable agriculture, employee engagement …
Call Recording | January 19, 2024
The Call: Moving from the ‘why’ to the ‘how’ of impact incentives
ImpactAlpha, January 19 – Impact investors have for years debated the need for embedded structures to incentivize impact outcomes for impact fund managers. …
Muni Impact | December 15, 2023
The arbitrage opportunity in high-impact municipal bonds (video)
ImpactAlpha, Dec. 15 – The $4 trillion muni market is so big that small movements in the pricing of bonds can mean shifts of …
Climate and Gender | November 17, 2023
To be effective, climate solutions need a gender lens (video)
ImpactAlpha, November 17 – That women are more adversely affected by climate change is well established (in impact and development circles at any …
Impact Investing | October 13, 2023
State of the Impact Field: Unprecedented opportunity tempered by sober realism (video)
This week’s Agents of Impact Call continued a tradition started nearly a decade ago by Fran Seegull of the US Impact Investing Alliance …
Ownership Economy | September 29, 2023
Labor and capital align in new movement for worker ownership (Video)
ImpactAlpha, Sept. 29 – It’s the age-old struggle: labor vs capital, workers vs. owners. But what happens when employees get a stake in the …
Call Recording | August 25, 2023
Mobilizing capital in Indian Country (video)
ImpactAlpha, August 25 – A growing ecosystem of Native-led entrepreneurs, lenders, financial intermediaries and nonprofits are driving Indian Country’s emerging economy. “It’s kind …
Participants in ImpactAlpha's call on HBCUs
Return on Inclusion | July 28, 2023
Impact at HBCUs: Hubs of talent, innovation and Black excellence (video)
ImpactAlpha, July 28 – Most historically Black colleges and universities were formed during the Reconstruction era. In the more than a century since, Spelman, …
Muni Impact | June 22, 2023
Connecting supply and demand for racial equity strategies in muni markets (video)
ImpactAlpha, Jun. 22 – Even as some politicians ramp up anti-ESG rhetoric, asset owners and allocators are signaling an appetite for investment strategies …
Call Recording | March 31, 2023
Metrics Madness: Wealth, ownership and ‘quality adjusted life years’ (video)
ImpactAlpha, Mar. 31 – The search for a universal metric to guide investments in racial justice and equitable wealth-building was…aspirational. “We are still a …
Policy Corner | February 24, 2023
Policymaking for workers and communities in the Year of the ‘S’ (video)
ImpactAlpha. Feb. 24 – “A labor market where workers have more opportunities and have more power and have more leverage is a good …
Podcasts | April 24, 2024
Franchising indoor farms to build a billion dollars in Black wealth (podcast)
When one door closes, another one opens. For Zarû Systems’ Loren Taylor, that second door may open onto a self-contained modular vertical farm …
Podcasts | April 12, 2024
Reconnecting communities, impact investing in Puerto Rico, and how business owners are exiting to employees
🎧 This Week in Impact. Host Brian Walsh takes up ImpactAlpha’s top stories with editor David Bank. Up this week: federal funds to …
Photo credit: Bess Adler (used with permission)
Corporate Impact | April 10, 2024
Alison Taylor: The broken chain from transparency to accountability to corporate action (podcast)
The era of cake-ism (as in having it and eating it, too) has come to an inglorious end. “I think we’re in an …
Podcasts | March 29, 2024
This week in impact: green bank who’s who, emerging market catalytic climate capital, brazilian impact.
Host Brian Walsh dives into ImpactAlpha’s top stories, with commentary from editor David Bank. Up this week: Tracking the players building the US’s …
Podcasts | March 26, 2024
Building an inclusive economy with Lenore Champagne Beirne
ImpactAlpha podcasts are back! We’re pleased to share our revamped interview show, Agents of Impact, hosted by David Bank and Sherrell Dorsey, founder …
Podcasts | March 26, 2024
Impact(ed): An introduction to CDFIs and equitable community lending
Impact(ed) is part of the ImpactAlpha Podcast Network, a set of shows hosted and produced by leading voices in impact and sustainable investing, …
Podcasts | March 21, 2024
How Texas’s anti ESG campaign is costing it money, cookstoves and carbon markets, and Vanguard gets punked
On This Week in Impact, Brian Walsh dives into some of ImpactAlpha’s top stories, with commentary from editor David Bank. This week: the …
Podcasts | January 11, 2024
Impact(ed): Harnessing the potential of VC for good (podcast)
Venture capital invested nearly $500 billion in 2022. By investing into startups seeking transformational scale, successful venture-backed companies have the potential to change …
Looking Ahead to 2024 | December 29, 2023
Holiday List No. 3: Eight ImpactAlpha podcasts to ring in 2024
ImpactAlpha, Dec. 29 – “Net zero is not going to get us anywhere,” Ariane Mahler of Veridien Global Investors told David Bank of ImpactAlpha …
Lenore Champagne Beirne and Sherrell Dorsey
Plugged In | December 22, 2023
Plugged In: Capitalizing and coaching the innovators building an inclusive economy (video)
ImpactAlpha, Dec. 22 – Diverse innovators building for all customers in large industries like digital health, fintech and the future of work have been …
Podcasts | December 8, 2023
A tale of two COP28s with Marilyn Waite and Dawn Lippert
The numbers tell the story: overall attendance at COP28 is up threefold from last year – and the number of fossil fuel lobbyists …
Impact Investing | December 6, 2023
Impact(ed): Driving foundation endowments toward social justice (podcast)
Private foundations collectively control more than a trillion dollars of capital invested across a variety of traditional asset classes. A small portion of …
Adrienne Bennett, president and CEO of Benkari LLC, Detroit's Entrepreneurs of Color Fund participant. | Photo credit: Kellogg Foundation
Impact Voices | April 25, 2024
Lessons from the Kellogg Foundation’s $310 million in mission-driven investments
This article is part of a partnership between ImpactAlpha and Mission Investors Exchange (MIE) to present new ideas and perspectives in impact investing. …
Inclusive Economy | April 25, 2024
Addressing the broken child care system with impact investments
This article is part of a partnership between ImpactAlpha and Mission Investors Exchange (MIE) to present new ideas and perspectives in impact investing. …
Builders Vision's Lukas Walton, Joanna Cohen and Miranda Lindl O’Connell | Photo credit: Builders Vision
Climate Finance | April 24, 2024
The climate transition and investment opportunities for family offices
This article is part of a partnership between ImpactAlpha and Mission Investors Exchange (MIE) to present new ideas and perspectives in impact investing. …
Blockchain/AI/IoT | April 23, 2024
How impact investments in Anthropic can strengthen responsible innovation in tech
In the realm of AI discourse, much attention is directed towards fostering responsible development of the technology itself (e.g. Is it free from …
Impact Voices | April 21, 2024
Unpacking the experiments, barriers, and pivots: exploring community banking with Kataly Foundation
Developing an investment strategy that meets our fiduciary requirements as resource stewards, embodies our racial justice values, and prioritizes the communities we serve …
Macro Impact | April 17, 2024
Good economy actually is good news as impact investors adjust to new realities
(Editor’s note: In this conclusion to ImpactAlpha’s four-part Macro Impact series, contributing editor Rob Brown parses the economic signals for public and private …
Photo credit: reach52
Sponsored | April 17, 2024
Innovative startups are changing the landscape of health impact everywhere. Are investors aware?
Editor’s note: This guest post is sponsored by Impact Ventures by J&J Foundation, which supports ImpactAlpha’s Investing in Health coverage. In partnership with …
Students at Delaware State University: Photo credit: Delaware State University
Return on Inclusion | April 16, 2024
The brilliant case for impact investing in America’s HBCUs
Editor’s Note: This article is part of a partnership between ImpactAlpha and Mission Investors Exchange (MIE) to present new ideas and perspectives in …
Impact Voices | April 16, 2024
How innovative financing structures can help close California’s housing gap
The way housing is financed and constructed in the United States has experienced little change in decades, leading to skyrocketing costs, barriers to …
Impact Voices | April 15, 2024
Elevating impact reporting to raise the performance of impact fund managers
“One million lives touched.” “800 jobs created.” “50,000 acres of land restored.” Capital allocators often see these types of punchy headlines in the …
AceliAfrica's impact performance report explores ties between impact performance and financial risk and return
Impact Management | April 15, 2024
Six impact performance reports that go beyond the basics to give investors needed insights
Impact Frontier’s Impact Reporting Norms target a leverage point in the impact investing system: impact reporting. They promise to provide greater clarity and …
Credit: Mati Carbon
Impact Voices | April 15, 2024
How Mati Carbon is using the carbon markets to address farmers’ adaptation finance gap and boost their incomes
Ashish Kumar is a long-time climate investor and a market / ecosystem builder. He is a strategic advisor to Mati Carbon. This month, …
Trenton Allen (photo: Sustainable Capital Advisors)
Agents of Impact | April 26, 2024
Trenton Allen, Sustainable Capital Advisors: Bringing green infrastructure to Black and Brown communities (Q&A)
The Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund is seeding green projects in primarily low-income communities by sending $27 billion through a network of nonprofit lenders. …
Photo by Wharton ESG Initiative.
Agents of Impact | April 12, 2024
Impact MBAs: Raising up the next impact leaders (video)
The winner of a contest to sharpen the impact lens of students through deal sourcing and diligence was a team from London Business …
Agents of Impact | January 26, 2024
Ines Schiller, Vyld: Reengineering the tampon – and the ethos of biotech
ImpactAlpha, January 26 – Ines Schiller got the idea for seaweed tampons while training in South Africa to be a marine environment guide. …
Looking Ahead to 2024 | December 25, 2023
Holiday List No. 1: A dozen Agents of Impact to watch in 2024
ImpactAlpha, Dec. 23 – Bold leaders. Taking action. Driving impact. That’s the tagline we’ve used for the dozens of Agents of Impact we profiled …
Photo: Kris Krug
Agents of Impact | December 8, 2023
Tzeporah Berman, Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty: Winding down production to fulfill the Paris Agreement
This article originally appeared on Inside Climate News, a nonprofit, independent news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. It is republished …
© Margo Moritz. Used by permission.
Agents of Impact | November 3, 2023
Andrea Armeni, NYU: On a quest to transform finance
Sustainable development? “More of the same.” Forest carbon credits? “Outside-imposed extraction.” Impact investing? “Are we really going far enough? Or are we just …
Christopher Bentley | Photo by The De-Carceration Fund.
Agents of Impact | September 8, 2023
Christopher Bentley, The De-Carceration Fund: Lifting ‘justice tech’ entrepreneurs
ImpactAlpha, September 8 — In 15 years in impact investing, Christopher Bentley noticed “a lot of for-profit companies focused on the criminal justice …
Agents of Impact | August 18, 2023
Monica Brand Engel, Quona Capital: Taking on the messy work of financial inclusion
ImpactAlpha, August 18 – Monica Brand Engel’s advice to impact investors is this: Imperfect execution is ok. “Authentic impact is about accepting imperfection …
Samuel Yeboah of Mirepa Investment Advisors
Agents of Impact | August 11, 2023
Samuel Yeboah, Mirepa Investment Advisors: Helping Africans invest in Africa
ImpactAlpha, Aug. 11 – Samuel Yeboah isn’t discouraged by the economic storm battering his home country of Ghana and many other emerging economies. “As …
Impact Investing | July 14, 2023
Amy Duffuor, Azolla Ventures: Bridging climate gaps with catalytic capital
Many investors look at promising new climate solutions and say, ‘Great, come back to me when you have traction.’ Azolla Ventures is more …
Katherine Stodulka (foreground) with Mark Swilling of the University of Stellenbosch, Colombian Minister of the Environment Maria Susana Muhamad, and climate justice researcher Nina Callaghan
Agents of Impact | June 30, 2023
Katherine Stodulka, Systemiq: Making introductions to bridge gaps in sustainable finance
ImpactAlpha, June 30 – The first thing that Katherine Stodulka does when you meet her is suggest you meet someone else. Then she’ll …
Agents of Impact | May 26, 2023
Jessica Espinoza, 2X Global: Proving gender as a value-driver
ImpactAlpha, May 26 – A decade ago, investors pushed back against the loan products Jessica Espinoza was designing for female business owners as …