toniic
Beats | March 24, 2017
More tools for ‘SDG investing’
The Netherlands is becoming a leader in the movement toward investing around the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (see “European Pension Funds Tilt Capital …
- Beats
- The Brief
April 17, 2024
The Brief
Featured: Macro Impact
Good economy actually is good news as impact investors adjust to new realities. The US economy may have gone from a soft landing to no landing. Goldman Sachs this week raised its estimate of first-quarter US GDP growth to 3.1% from 2.5%, after the fourth quarter’s 3.4% and the scorching 4.9% in last year’s third quarter. Interest rate expectations have normalized, lending markets are thawing, and investor sentiment is back to positive. “This feels like a Goldilocks moment, and impact investors are sitting in Baby Bear’s chair,” ImpactAlpha contributing editor Robert Brown writes in the final article of his four-part Macro Impact series. As broad markets rally, he says, impact investors that have been bruised and frustrated should take note. “Despite the drumbeat of negative election-year rhetoric emanating from the DC echo chamber, objectively, for most investors, things look rosy.”
Sponsored by Impact Ventures by J&J Foundation
Innovative startups are changing the landscape of health impact everywhere. Are investors aware? While impact investment funding levels in health are low, “the need and opportunity for investment in health only grows,” write Carl Nicholas Ng and Miguel Legarda of Verge HealthTech Fund, a venture fund backed by Impact Ventures by J&J Foundation. Reach52’s digital platform, for example, connects community health workers and small pharmacies in rural areas to collect data, deliver targeted health campaigns, and make affordable health products available. More than three-quarters of unvaccinated households engaged by Reach52 received their essential childhood vaccines for Hepatitis B, polio and other diseases within a month.
Dealflow: Energy Transition
Quilt raises $33 million to launch its sleek heat pump. Heat pump sales in the US are expected to ramp up, as states implement generous financial incentives in the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. Even with financial support, systems can be complicated and costly to install, requiring new ducts or room-by-room “mini-split” units. California-based Quilt is launching small ductless heat pumps that can be controlled with smart thermostats. Energy Impact Partners and Galvanize Climate Solutions led Quilt’s Series A round. Other investors include Lowercarbon Capital and MCJ Collective, as well as Drew Scott, host of HGTV show Property Brothers. “As someone who has spent years transforming homes and understanding homeowners' needs, I've been eagerly waiting for a breakthrough like this,” Scott said.
Overheard: Employee Ownership Ideas Forum
Colorado is demonstrating how states can accelerate conversions to employee ownership (video). Colorado Gov. Jared Polis in 2019 created an employee ownership office to incentivize and provide support for retiring owners to exit to employees. Polis also introduced tax credits for employee ownership structures and a cash collateral program to finance conversions and provide liquidity to selling business owners. “Colorado is the first state in the country to codify the substantive characteristics of employee ownership in a way that is form-agnostic,” said Jason Wiener of the Colorado Employee Ownership Commission at the Employee Ownership Ideas Forum in Washington, DC, last week. The three-day gathering by the Aspen Institute and Rutgers showcased how federal and state policymakers can work with private investors to build an equitable and inclusive ownership economy. Employee ownership is “a big deal” and “a little bit revolutionary,” Senator Bernie Sanders told forum participants during a visit to Capitol Hill. “It suggests that people don’t have to just work for other people. They can actually own the places that they work in and be part of the decision making process.”
Agents of Impact: Follow the Talent
Appalachian Funders Network appoints Ryan Eller, previously president of Beloved Community Foundation, to executive director… Elaine Di Monaco, formerly with the Center for Public Integrity, joins The Pivot Fund as associate director of philanthropy… The Rockefeller Foundation is recruiting a foundation services office manager in Washington, DC… The Reinvestment Fund is hiring a clean energy and sustainable finance lending director… Macquarie Group Foundation’s social impact investment team is looking for an investment manager in New York.
- 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 + 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 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 …
Podcasts | December 1, 2023
All eyes on Dubai as COP 28 begins with Stephan Nicoleau
ImpactAlpha’s Amy Cortese speaks with Full Cycle’s Stephan Nicoleau at the start of COP 28 to hear what he’s expecting – and hoping …
- Opinion
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, …
San Juan, Puerto RicoCatalytic Capital | April 9, 2024
The impact investing opportunity in Puerto Rico’s economic comeback
In one of Puerto Rico’s poorest neighborhoods, you can find what economists might call a “green shoot.” The plan for Oasis, a six-acre, …
Frontier and Growth Markets | April 9, 2024
How and why British International Investments directs capital to small businesses
Development finance institutions like to style themselves as the original impact investors. It was Lord Reith, the first chairman of the UK’s development …
Muni Impact | April 5, 2024
Billions to trillions: How municipal bonds can multiply the reach of the US ‘green bank’
To achieve stated climate goals, the U.S. government is embarking on what should be the largest coordination of private and public capital aimed …
SDGs | April 3, 2024
Blending Billions: Lessons from more than three dozen big blended finance transactions
In a world in which the UN SDG financing gap continues to grow, we face a double hurdle: blended finance is still struggling …
Sponsored | April 3, 2024
Seven red flags institutional investors should avoid when evaluating impact fund managers
As more investment firms launch impact funds, it has become increasingly difficult for institutional allocators to identify the most qualified fund managers to …
- Agents of Impact
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 …
Agents of Impact | May 12, 2023
Aina Abiodun, VertueLab: Centering community in climate tech in the Pacific Northwest
ImpactAlpha, May 12 – Nigeria-born climate entrepreneur and “professional nomad” Aina Abiodun is bullish on place-based climate innovation. “There is nothing more urgent than …
- More
April 17, 2024
The Brief
Featured: Macro Impact
Good economy actually is good news as impact investors adjust to new realities. The US economy may have gone from a soft landing to no landing. Goldman Sachs this week raised its estimate of first-quarter US GDP growth to 3.1% from 2.5%, after the fourth quarter’s 3.4% and the scorching 4.9% in last year’s third quarter. Interest rate expectations have normalized, lending markets are thawing, and investor sentiment is back to positive. “This feels like a Goldilocks moment, and impact investors are sitting in Baby Bear’s chair,” ImpactAlpha contributing editor Robert Brown writes in the final article of his four-part Macro Impact series. As broad markets rally, he says, impact investors that have been bruised and frustrated should take note. “Despite the drumbeat of negative election-year rhetoric emanating from the DC echo chamber, objectively, for most investors, things look rosy.”
Sponsored by Impact Ventures by J&J Foundation
Innovative startups are changing the landscape of health impact everywhere. Are investors aware? While impact investment funding levels in health are low, “the need and opportunity for investment in health only grows,” write Carl Nicholas Ng and Miguel Legarda of Verge HealthTech Fund, a venture fund backed by Impact Ventures by J&J Foundation. Reach52’s digital platform, for example, connects community health workers and small pharmacies in rural areas to collect data, deliver targeted health campaigns, and make affordable health products available. More than three-quarters of unvaccinated households engaged by Reach52 received their essential childhood vaccines for Hepatitis B, polio and other diseases within a month.
Dealflow: Energy Transition
Quilt raises $33 million to launch its sleek heat pump. Heat pump sales in the US are expected to ramp up, as states implement generous financial incentives in the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. Even with financial support, systems can be complicated and costly to install, requiring new ducts or room-by-room “mini-split” units. California-based Quilt is launching small ductless heat pumps that can be controlled with smart thermostats. Energy Impact Partners and Galvanize Climate Solutions led Quilt’s Series A round. Other investors include Lowercarbon Capital and MCJ Collective, as well as Drew Scott, host of HGTV show Property Brothers. “As someone who has spent years transforming homes and understanding homeowners' needs, I've been eagerly waiting for a breakthrough like this,” Scott said.
Overheard: Employee Ownership Ideas Forum
Colorado is demonstrating how states can accelerate conversions to employee ownership (video). Colorado Gov. Jared Polis in 2019 created an employee ownership office to incentivize and provide support for retiring owners to exit to employees. Polis also introduced tax credits for employee ownership structures and a cash collateral program to finance conversions and provide liquidity to selling business owners. “Colorado is the first state in the country to codify the substantive characteristics of employee ownership in a way that is form-agnostic,” said Jason Wiener of the Colorado Employee Ownership Commission at the Employee Ownership Ideas Forum in Washington, DC, last week. The three-day gathering by the Aspen Institute and Rutgers showcased how federal and state policymakers can work with private investors to build an equitable and inclusive ownership economy. Employee ownership is “a big deal” and “a little bit revolutionary,” Senator Bernie Sanders told forum participants during a visit to Capitol Hill. “It suggests that people don’t have to just work for other people. They can actually own the places that they work in and be part of the decision making process.”
Agents of Impact: Follow the Talent
Appalachian Funders Network appoints Ryan Eller, previously president of Beloved Community Foundation, to executive director… Elaine Di Monaco, formerly with the Center for Public Integrity, joins The Pivot Fund as associate director of philanthropy… The Rockefeller Foundation is recruiting a foundation services office manager in Washington, DC… The Reinvestment Fund is hiring a clean energy and sustainable finance lending director… Macquarie Group Foundation’s social impact investment team is looking for an investment manager in New York.
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 + 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 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 …
Podcasts | December 1, 2023
All eyes on Dubai as COP 28 begins with Stephan Nicoleau
ImpactAlpha’s Amy Cortese speaks with Full Cycle’s Stephan Nicoleau at the start of COP 28 to hear what he’s expecting – and hoping …
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, …
San Juan, Puerto Rico
Catalytic Capital | April 9, 2024
The impact investing opportunity in Puerto Rico’s economic comeback
In one of Puerto Rico’s poorest neighborhoods, you can find what economists might call a “green shoot.” The plan for Oasis, a six-acre, …
Frontier and Growth Markets | April 9, 2024
How and why British International Investments directs capital to small businesses
Development finance institutions like to style themselves as the original impact investors. It was Lord Reith, the first chairman of the UK’s development …
Muni Impact | April 5, 2024
Billions to trillions: How municipal bonds can multiply the reach of the US ‘green bank’
To achieve stated climate goals, the U.S. government is embarking on what should be the largest coordination of private and public capital aimed …
SDGs | April 3, 2024
Blending Billions: Lessons from more than three dozen big blended finance transactions
In a world in which the UN SDG financing gap continues to grow, we face a double hurdle: blended finance is still struggling …
Sponsored | April 3, 2024
Seven red flags institutional investors should avoid when evaluating impact fund managers
As more investment firms launch impact funds, it has become increasingly difficult for institutional allocators to identify the most qualified fund managers to …
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 …
Agents of Impact | May 12, 2023
Aina Abiodun, VertueLab: Centering community in climate tech in the Pacific Northwest
ImpactAlpha, May 12 – Nigeria-born climate entrepreneur and “professional nomad” Aina Abiodun is bullish on place-based climate innovation. “There is nothing more urgent than …