Greetings, Agents of Impact!
We’re celebrating the Thanksgiving holiday this week in the U.S. At ImpactAlpha, we’re grateful for your attention, your feedback, and your impact, day in and day out.
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In this week’s Open:
- Introducing ‘Macro Impact’
- Building an ownership movement
- Nonprofits + venture capital
- Appetite for climate news
Ok, let’s get to it. – Dennis Price
Must-reads on ImpactAlpha
- Introducing ‘Macro Impact.’ Contributing editor Robert Brown kicked off his Macro Impact column with an explanation of the interest-rate whiplash that is upending impact business strategies. Take a spin.
- Building an ownership movement. In laying out the case for an “ownership movement,” WES’s Smitha Das and Santhosh Ramdoss of Gary Community Ventures make the simple point that “sharing a small part of equity upside with those that are integral to creating value (workers, homeowners, community members) can be good for the investment overall.” Read the full post.
- Nonprofits + venture capital. I reported on veteran impact investor Yigal Kerszenbaum, who has restructured JFF Ventures to align the interests of partners, founders and the nonprofit Jobs for the Future. Go deeper.
- Scaling outcomes-based financing. At Quantified Ventures, Tee Thomas is building on a decade of experience in outcomes-based financing to move from discovery to scale. Hear from Tee.
- Reaping the benefits of retrofitting. Arjun Jairaj and Jess Clemans of the London-based VC firm A/O PropTech lay out five ways to supercharge energy retrofits. Get all five.
- To identify promising opportunities in climate finance… Contributor Shefali Anand reported from the India Green Investment Forum in Delhi, and Oxford’s Abrar Chaudhury, Jamil Wyne and Minahil Amin surveyed more than 140 practitioners from 20 countries.
Agents of Impact
🏃🏾♀️ People on the move
- Nuveen named Nick Moss, ex- of Rabobank and UNEP’s AGRI3, as head of nature-based solutions.
- ArcLight Capital Partners appointed Andrew Ott, former president and CEO of PJM Interconnection, as a senior advisor.
- Michael John, ex- of Bridgespan Group, joined Social Finance as an associate.
Impact Briefing
🎧 On the podcast
Friends of ImpactAlpha Eric Horvath and Lucas Turner-Owens share an excerpt from their new podcast, Impact(ed). They speak with Tara Mei Smith of New York City’s Office of the Comptroller and Marcela Pinilla of Zevin Asset Management about creating change from the inside at pension funds, and their journeys as women of color investment professionals. Host Monique Aiken has the headlines.
- Listen to the latest episode, and follow all of ImpactAlpha’s podcasts on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen.
- Listen to Impact(ed). The new podcast features interviews with diverse practitioners working across the capital spectrum to unlock the power of investing for good. ImpactAlpha is partnering with Impact(ed) to bring the podcast to our audience. Read ImpactAlpha’s introduction – and listen to the first episode.
The Week’s Call
👋 The Call: To be effective, climate solutions add a gender lens
That women are more adversely affected by climate change is well established in impact and development circles. Less known: that climate solutions have a greater chance of success when women are engaged in design, decision-making and adoption.“We have to fully utilize women’s insights and intelligence and experiences,” said Rose Maizner of Heading for Change on last week’s Agents of Impact Call.
- Read the full recap – and watch the replay. Explore our new database of more than three dozen funds investing at the intersection of climate + gender.
Short Signals: What We’re Reading
☀️ Time’s climate 100. The magazine’s list of climate leaders in business includes“catalyts” such as Danielle Fugere of As You Sow and Geeta Aiyer of Boston Common Asset Management. Lucie Pinson of Reclaim Finance is a “leader.” Jigar Shah is a “titan.” Bhavish Aggarwal of Ola is an “innovator.” Among the “defenders”: Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley. (Time)
💼 Corporate impact investing. A collection of case studies from the Global Impact Investing Network highlights the impact investing practices and strategies that PayPal, Schneider Electric, Telus and other companies are using to pursue sustainability objectives. (The GIIN)
🏛️ CalPERS’s climate solutions. CalPERS $100 billion plan for climate action includes $53 billion for climate solutions investments, the addition of 10 to its sustainability staff, and analyses of climate scenarios and options for divestment. (Venture Capital Journal)
🏆 Alternative ownership enterprises. A growing number of firms are shifting economic value and decision-making toward non-investor stakeholders such as workers and consumers. The models include employee ownership, multi-stakeholder ownership, steward ownership models, and other variations and hybrids. (Transform Finance)
🗞️ Appetite for climate news. Nearly two-thirds of survey respondents in Brazil, France, Germany, India, Japan, Pakistan, the UK, and the US believe that news media play a significant role in influencing climate change decisions by large businesses, government policies, and public attitudes. The survey shows a slight increase in climate change news use year-over-year. (Reuters Institute)
🗑️ Reducing food waste, systematically. A new case study charts the journey of ReFED to reduce US food waste and the family of Priceline co-founder Jesse Fink’s establishment of Millstone Farm, initial philanthropic grants, and private investments as they seek to change the food waste landscape in the US food system. (Sloan School of Management)
Get in the Game
💼 Step up
- Norwegian National Advisory Board for Impact Investing is on the hunt for a new CEO.
- The California Endowment is looking for an impact associate for mission-related investments.
- Allianz Global Investors is hiring a sustainability and impact investing intern in Munich.
NEW! Visit ImpactAlpha’s Career Hub for more impact investing jobs. Contact us for job postings.
🤝 Meet up
Don’t miss these upcoming impact investing events:
- Today, Nov. 21: War on Want and the Climate Justice Coalition’s “COP28 and The Fight for Climate Justice” (webinar)
- Nov. 25: Trade Union Caucus of the Climate Justice Coalition’s “We Make Tomorrow” (London)
- Feb. 26-28: Neighborhood Economics Conference (San Antonio)
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