Sustainable Snapshot
Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash
- Beats
- The Brief
May 8, 2024
The Brief
Featured: Returns on Inclusion
McKnight Foundation’s Tonya Allen: Philanthropy has the right and responsibility to counter attacks on DEI (Q&A). Tonya Allen won’t take the bait. The president of Minnesota-based McKnight Foundation isn’t retreating in the face of right-wing attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI. Instead, Allen is putting the heft of the $2.6 billion family foundation behind strategies that redress the historic and systematic economic exclusion of people by race. “As a private institution, we have the right to express our mission as long as we are not discriminating against anyone, and we are not,” says Allen, who took McKnight’s helm in 2021. To redress policies that have led to persistent wealth gaps, McKnight has helped mobilize the Groundbreak Coalition and $1 billion in flexible capital for Black homeowners, entrepreneurs and commercial developers.
Dealflow: Sustainable Fuels
TPG Rise Climate acquires renewable fuels storage and delivery company Olympus Terminals. California-based Olympus (formerly Chemoil), transports and stores renewable fuels, such as renewable diesel. The fuel, made from fats and oils, such as soybean or canola oil, is processed to have the same chemical composition as petroleum diesel used by heavy-duty vehicles, but it burns more completely and is therefore cleaner. California, which has passed regulations such as the low-carbon fuel standard, has been the largest consumer of renewable diesel since 2018, averaging 81% of total use in the US. By acquiring the company, TPG hopes to help Olympus play a role in the state’s renewable diesel value chain. “Olympus’ assets and operations are central to the sustainable fuels ecosystem,” said TPG’s Jonathan Garfinkel.
Impact Voices: Deploy!
ESG will be key to supplying ‘green’ metals needed for the energy transition. A single wind turbine requires 4.7 tons of copper, while EV batteries use copious amounts of lithium, nickel and cobalt. Procurement of these critical metals will need to increase seven-fold by 2030, setting off a global scramble to secure supplies. In addition to long development times, high capital intensity and price volatility, the mining industry’s poor track record on safety, human rights and pollution threatens to dampen investment, says Levi Zurbrugg of investment advisor Saturna Capital. “To ensure a future that is both sustainable and equitable, meticulous environmental, social and governance oversight and innovative sourcing are key,” he writes in a guest post on ImpactAlpha.
Agents of Impact: Follow the Talent
Amy Bell, previously with The Cook's Nook and Whole Foods, joins MCE Social Capital as chief financial officer… Alex McCarthy (who will join DBL Partners), Christiana Lee (who will join Spring Lane Capital) and Aakash Kotak (who will join Builders Fund) are among 25 graduate student Mosaic Fellows selected by Impact Capital Managers… In an open letter, George Clooney, Regina King, Ava Duvernay and other actors, filmmakers and activists called on Hollywood studios to produce more stories and projects that prioritize social impact following the closure of Participant (for context, see “Shutdown of Participant challenges other investors to drive impact through film”).
- 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 | May 2, 2024
The state of blended finance, restoring forests and carbon market credibility, and investing endowments for DEI
Host Brian Walsh takes up ImpactAlpha’s top stories with editor David Bank. Up this week: The rebound in blended finance; how Big Tech …
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 …
- Opinion
Impact Voices | May 8, 2024
ESG will be key to supplying ‘green’ metals needed for the energy transition
Achieving net-zero emissions requires transitioning from a fossil-fueled economy to one energized through metals and materials. Nearly $2 trillion in investment in mining …
Catalytic Capital | May 6, 2024
Pension funds help catalyze gender-lens investments in Asia
In the dynamic economic environment of the Asia-Pacific region, a significant investment opportunity is emerging: institutional investors’ capacity to champion gender equality through …
Matt Onek at MIE 2022 National Conference | Photo Credit: Mission Investors ExchangeCatalytic Capital | May 3, 2024
Inspiring impact at Mission Investors Exchange 2024 national conference
This article is part of a partnership between ImpactAlpha and Mission Investors Exchange (MIE) to present new ideas and perspectives in impact investing. …
Photo Copyright 2023 Caroline Yang. Used with permission from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.Inclusive Economy | May 1, 2024
Changing how capital flows through communities to improve health
This series of guest posts is part of a partnership between ImpactAlpha and Mission Investors Exchange to present new ideas and perspectives in …
Yuvo Health team photo | Photo provided by Cal WellnessImpact Voices | May 1, 2024
Investment manager diversity matters when investing for health equity
Editor’s note: This article is part of a partnership between ImpactAlpha and Mission Investors Exchange (MIE) to present new ideas and perspectives in …
Latin America | April 30, 2024
Latin American family offices add investing tools to philanthropic toolkit
Latin America is witnessing a transformative trend in family office philanthropy: the shift towards impact investing. Traditionally, philanthropy in the region has been …
ImpactAlpha Latin America | April 30, 2024
How Fundación Bancolombia invests in Colombia’s small businesses for rural economic development
Rural economic development is a complex issue, including in Colombia. Rural regions are often culturally diverse areas, but have limited access to quality …
Adrienne Bennett, president and CEO of Benkari LLC, Detroit's Entrepreneurs of Color Fund participant. | Photo credit: Kellogg FoundationImpact 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 …
- 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
May 8, 2024
The Brief
Featured: Returns on Inclusion
McKnight Foundation’s Tonya Allen: Philanthropy has the right and responsibility to counter attacks on DEI (Q&A). Tonya Allen won’t take the bait. The president of Minnesota-based McKnight Foundation isn’t retreating in the face of right-wing attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI. Instead, Allen is putting the heft of the $2.6 billion family foundation behind strategies that redress the historic and systematic economic exclusion of people by race. “As a private institution, we have the right to express our mission as long as we are not discriminating against anyone, and we are not,” says Allen, who took McKnight’s helm in 2021. To redress policies that have led to persistent wealth gaps, McKnight has helped mobilize the Groundbreak Coalition and $1 billion in flexible capital for Black homeowners, entrepreneurs and commercial developers.
Dealflow: Sustainable Fuels
TPG Rise Climate acquires renewable fuels storage and delivery company Olympus Terminals. California-based Olympus (formerly Chemoil), transports and stores renewable fuels, such as renewable diesel. The fuel, made from fats and oils, such as soybean or canola oil, is processed to have the same chemical composition as petroleum diesel used by heavy-duty vehicles, but it burns more completely and is therefore cleaner. California, which has passed regulations such as the low-carbon fuel standard, has been the largest consumer of renewable diesel since 2018, averaging 81% of total use in the US. By acquiring the company, TPG hopes to help Olympus play a role in the state’s renewable diesel value chain. “Olympus’ assets and operations are central to the sustainable fuels ecosystem,” said TPG’s Jonathan Garfinkel.
Impact Voices: Deploy!
ESG will be key to supplying ‘green’ metals needed for the energy transition. A single wind turbine requires 4.7 tons of copper, while EV batteries use copious amounts of lithium, nickel and cobalt. Procurement of these critical metals will need to increase seven-fold by 2030, setting off a global scramble to secure supplies. In addition to long development times, high capital intensity and price volatility, the mining industry’s poor track record on safety, human rights and pollution threatens to dampen investment, says Levi Zurbrugg of investment advisor Saturna Capital. “To ensure a future that is both sustainable and equitable, meticulous environmental, social and governance oversight and innovative sourcing are key,” he writes in a guest post on ImpactAlpha.
Agents of Impact: Follow the Talent
Amy Bell, previously with The Cook's Nook and Whole Foods, joins MCE Social Capital as chief financial officer… Alex McCarthy (who will join DBL Partners), Christiana Lee (who will join Spring Lane Capital) and Aakash Kotak (who will join Builders Fund) are among 25 graduate student Mosaic Fellows selected by Impact Capital Managers… In an open letter, George Clooney, Regina King, Ava Duvernay and other actors, filmmakers and activists called on Hollywood studios to produce more stories and projects that prioritize social impact following the closure of Participant (for context, see “Shutdown of Participant challenges other investors to drive impact through film”).
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 | May 2, 2024
The state of blended finance, restoring forests and carbon market credibility, and investing endowments for DEI
Host Brian Walsh takes up ImpactAlpha’s top stories with editor David Bank. Up this week: The rebound in blended finance; how Big Tech …
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 …
Impact Voices | May 8, 2024
ESG will be key to supplying ‘green’ metals needed for the energy transition
Achieving net-zero emissions requires transitioning from a fossil-fueled economy to one energized through metals and materials. Nearly $2 trillion in investment in mining …
Catalytic Capital | May 6, 2024
Pension funds help catalyze gender-lens investments in Asia
In the dynamic economic environment of the Asia-Pacific region, a significant investment opportunity is emerging: institutional investors’ capacity to champion gender equality through …
Matt Onek at MIE 2022 National Conference | Photo Credit: Mission Investors Exchange
Catalytic Capital | May 3, 2024
Inspiring impact at Mission Investors Exchange 2024 national conference
This article is part of a partnership between ImpactAlpha and Mission Investors Exchange (MIE) to present new ideas and perspectives in impact investing. …
Photo Copyright 2023 Caroline Yang. Used with permission from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Inclusive Economy | May 1, 2024
Changing how capital flows through communities to improve health
This series of guest posts is part of a partnership between ImpactAlpha and Mission Investors Exchange to present new ideas and perspectives in …
Yuvo Health team photo | Photo provided by Cal Wellness
Impact Voices | May 1, 2024
Investment manager diversity matters when investing for health equity
Editor’s note: This article is part of a partnership between ImpactAlpha and Mission Investors Exchange (MIE) to present new ideas and perspectives in …
Latin America | April 30, 2024
Latin American family offices add investing tools to philanthropic toolkit
Latin America is witnessing a transformative trend in family office philanthropy: the shift towards impact investing. Traditionally, philanthropy in the region has been …
ImpactAlpha Latin America | April 30, 2024
How Fundación Bancolombia invests in Colombia’s small businesses for rural economic development
Rural economic development is a complex issue, including in Colombia. Rural regions are often culturally diverse areas, but have limited access to quality …
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 …
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 …