Impact Voices
Editorials and guest essays from impact professionals
Impact Voices | March 14, 2024
How loan guarantees and catalytic capital can amplify federal ‘green bank’ funds
Much like the broader financial system, green lending in the US has primarily focused on higher-income, White borrowers with higher credit scores. The …
Impact Voices | March 13, 2024
US Export-Import Bank bucks the green finance agenda – to its own detriment
Should the US government really be allocating public funds to support oil drilling in the Middle East? This question comes sharply into focus …
Impact Management | March 12, 2024
A case study in private equity’s role in realizing impact
Essential insights: The core of the debate Recent discussions have raised critical questions about the role of private equity in fostering resilient, inclusive …
Muni Impact | March 11, 2024
To scale the IRA’s “green bank,” community lenders should engage muni finance markets
When the University of Virginia issued the first Build America Bond ($250 million) in April of 2009, it was just about three months …
Muni Impact | March 11, 2024
Scoring municipal bonds on racial equity and social impact
Municipal (muni) bond financing is as influential for communities as it might be invisible to many. It is the driving source of funding …
Impact Investing | March 8, 2024
Rachel Robasciotti, Adasina Social Capital: Climate justice is social justice
Editor’s Note: On this International Women’s Day, we’re pleased to share important moments in the lives and careers of five women in impact …
Impact Voices | March 8, 2024
Sonya Dreizler, CHOIR: Build a bigger table
Editor’s Note: On this International Women’s Day, we’re pleased to share important moments in the lives and careers of five women in impact …
Impact Voices | March 8, 2024
Lakota Vogel, Four Bands Community Fund: Rewriting the rules
Editor’s Note: On this International Women’s Day, we’re pleased to share important moments in the lives and careers of five women in impact …
exclude from paywall | March 8, 2024
Beth Bafford, Calvert Impact Capital: Everyone deserves a chance to fly
Editor’s Note: On this International Women’s Day, we’re pleased to share important moments in the lives and careers of five women in impact …
Inclusive Economy | March 8, 2024
Tanay Tatum-Edwards, FreeCap Financial: We Can’t Change What We Don’t Measure
Editor’s Note: On this International Women’s Day, we’re pleased to share important moments in the lives and careers of five women in impact …
Impact Tech | March 7, 2024
VilCap and IBM propel new technologies as a catalyst for life-improving services
The explosion of new technology and AI solutions promising improved efficiency, creativity, and sustainability coincides with record inflation, pessimism around economic resilience, and …
Impact Voices | March 5, 2024
Wrestling with the greedy, predatory, wealth-hoarding history of the financial system
The financial history of extraction, enslavement, and predatory greed have been heavy on our minds when designing the new investment strategy for the …
Impact Voices | February 29, 2024
How three investors are measuring their impact on climate resilience
2023 closed with a flurry of new climate finance commitments announced at COP28. These commitments–notably including $30 billion from the UAE and $12.8 …
Impact Investing | February 27, 2024
Impact value-creation playbooks provide X’s and O’s for generating alpha
Limited partners are becoming more adept at asking their impact-oriented managers a key question: Does it matter to financial performance if an impact-aligned …
Impact Voices | February 26, 2024
How Estímulo is blending finance for Brazil’s small businesses
Estímulo’s story stands as a compelling testament to the transformative power of blended finance in addressing some of the most pressing challenges facing …
Impact Voices | February 26, 2024
Designing catalytic loan products for impact companies in Latin America
When we set off to invest our first fund in 2019, we developed an investment strategy which we believed filled a gap in …
Impact Voices | February 26, 2024
Five reasons Latin America and the Caribbean are attracting impact investors
Investing in Latin America and the Caribbean’s impact ecosystem represents an opportunity to generate financial returns and make a meaningful difference by addressing …
Catalytic Capital | February 21, 2024
Multi-donor funds emerge as a creative architecture for collaborative, catalytic capital
A new model is coming into vogue that enables impact investors and philanthropists to collaborate easily in a light, fast and community-oriented manner. Multi-donor funds which …
Impact Voices | February 21, 2024
We invest for the common good. So let’s call it ‘Common Good Investing.’
Any time two people come together, they have two choices. They can give priority to the common good of the two of them, …
Blockchain/AI/IoT | February 20, 2024
Notes on AI and education for impact investors and social entrepreneurs
What is a tsunami? Imagine a cubic meter of seawater. Imagine the weight of it. It weighs more than you probably think it …
Muni Impact | February 15, 2024
How ‘community-benefit bonds’ can help scale mortgage assistance programs
Editor’s Note: Community Finance Brief is a weekly newsletter from Matt Posner of Court Street Group, occasionally syndicated on ImpactAlpha. Democratizing access to …
Sponsored | February 15, 2024
Sophisticated financing and smarter partnerships: How investors are forging new roadmaps for health impact
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 Impact Ventures, ImpactAlpha is exploring the …
Impact Voices | February 14, 2024
A spend-out foundation asks, ‘What is enough?’
What is enough? This is a radical question to ask within modern day philanthropy. The dominant thinking could make one believe that philanthropy …
Ownership Economy | February 13, 2024
This sustainable investment firm is now governed by a perpetual purpose trust
As one of the earliest registered investment advisors exclusively dedicated to socially responsible, sustainable and impact investments since 1985, our financial advisor-owners of …
Return on Inclusion | February 11, 2024
How Kataly Foundation is divesting from Wall Street to reinvest in communities
Is it possible to fully divest from Wall Street and invest in community with hundreds of millions of dollars? When I started my …
Climate + Gender | February 7, 2024
In the Asia-Pacific region, girls just want to have funds!
In the bustling financial hub of Singapore, Rhea See, an early-stage fund manager at She Loves Tech Asia Emerging Outliers Fund, leads an …
Inclusive Economy | February 1, 2024
Preparing Africa’s workforce for a green future
Africa is poised to play a pivotal role in the global fight against climate change. Its untapped renewable energy potential, abundant land, natural …
Community Finance | January 31, 2024
How US community lenders are tapping impact capital to leverage federal investments
Over 95 million Americans live in low-to-moderate income communities across the US. These disadvantaged and financially underserved communities often suffer the most during …
Impact Investing | January 31, 2024
Investing at the intersection of affordable housing and climate resilience
The cost of addressing the challenges facing humanity today dwarfs the amount of money the world is putting into them. Climate change, accelerating …
Climate + Gender | January 30, 2024
Six questions to level up your climate + gender strategies
A growing number of climate investors are recognizing that applying a gender lens can deepen their climate impact – and accelerate a just …
Impact Voices | January 25, 2024
Five #WEF24 nuggets plucked from the snows of Davos
“Everyone at a Davos session is either someone important…” quipped an on-stage journalist to an influential but unassuming CEO, “…or they think they …
Impact Management | January 16, 2024
Innovating to future-proof private equity for impact
When starting in impact investing or private equity, did you ever wonder where commonly accepted fund terms come from? Why are almost all …
Impact Management | January 11, 2024
Navigating the metrics and management of impact incentives
This is the second article for ImpactAlpha about the Impact Linked Compensation Project, a research initiative exploring impact-linked compensation mechanisms, metrics and governance. …
Impact Management | January 11, 2024
Setting the right governance approach to impact incentives
This is the first article for ImpactAlpha about the Impact Linked Compensation Project, a research initiative exploring impact-linked compensation mechanisms, metrics and governance. …
Impact Investing | January 8, 2024
‘Green bank’ partnerships center affordable housing in climate action
What could we achieve if the affordable housing sector was at the forefront of climate solutions in the United States? While “green housing” …
Impact Management | January 4, 2024
More impact fund managers tie their compensation to impact along with financial performance
This is the first article for ImpactAlpha about the Impact Linked Compensation Project, a research initiative exploring impact-linked compensation mechanisms, yardsticks and governance. …
Macro Impact | January 4, 2024
Key to the surprising health of the US economy: Small but steady gains for workers
(Editor’s note: This months’ examination of growth expectations and fiscal issues is the second in ImpactAlpha’s four-part series on the US economy. In …
Impact Voices | December 19, 2023
Unleashing the full spectrum of sustainable bonds to bridge the SDG funding gap
We have put many of the serious health threats of Covid behind us, but the financial implications still linger. The funding gap to …
Impact Investing | December 18, 2023
Embrace the rainbow: The investment case for LGBT fund managers and startups
Adaptability and innovation are a recipe for success in the dynamic world of entrepreneurship. For LGBT folks, these two words are deeply ingrained …
Impact Voices | December 14, 2023
Seven ways to maximize the potential of health investments through better impact measurement
Investors bring diverse approaches towards defining, measuring and managing the impact of their investments in health. But how can that be done in …
Impact Voices | December 14, 2023
Why this Latin American venture fund is listening to customers to drive impact and returns
How common is deep impact measurement for an impact investing fund? In practice, most funds focus primarily on measuring outputs, such as the …
Impact Voices | December 14, 2023
How investors are moving from “alignment” to “contribution” to the UN Global Goals
From the time that the UN Sustainable Development Goals were adopted in 2015, private finance was seen as a key component of financing …
Sponsored | December 12, 2023
Coordinating health impact investment in developing economies
Editor’s note: This article is sponsored by Johnson & Johnson Impact Ventures, which supports ImpactAlpha’s Investing in Health coverage. In partnership with J&J Impact Ventures, ImpactAlpha is exploring the …
ESG | December 6, 2023
ESG and FTX: How VCs can invest more responsibility into crypto this time around
This crypto rally can be different. Crypto’s rise, then fall, then recent rise again, presents an opportunity for venture capitalists to invest more …
Muni Impact | December 6, 2023
Lessons learned from Milwaukee’s flirtation with bankruptcy
Editor’s Note: Community Finance Brief is a weekly newsletter from Matt Posner of Court Street Group, now syndicated on ImpactAlpha. When a town, …