Login
Stay Connected with ImpactAlpha

Get ImpactAlpha Open, our free weekly newsletter.

Submit
By signing up you agree to receive marketing emails from ImpactAlpha Inc. and accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
Return on Inclusion | Dennis Price
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 …

Tonya Allen DEI
Climate Finance | Jessica Pothering
UN kicks off $100 million fund to protect displaced communities from climate shocks
refugees in Bangladesh
Catalytic Capital | Lisa Maria Braun
Pension funds help catalyze gender-lens investments in Asia
market in bangkok
Impact Investing | Shaun Paul
How Big Tech can restore forests – and credibility in voluntary carbon markets
Deploy! | Rachel Reilly
10,000 Communities: With partners, Milken Institute is building a market to drive investment in community infrastructure

Dealflow

Latest impact investments across asset classes and geographies

The Brief

Read by thousands of impact pros daily

May 8, 2024 | ImpactAlpha
The Brief: McKnight Foundation’s Tonya Allen on countering the attacks on DEI

Greetings Agents of Impact! In today’s Brief: Featured: Returns on Inclusion McKnight Foundation’s Tonya Allen: Philanthropy has the right and responsibility to counter …

Today’s 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”).

Subscribe to ImpactAlpha

Find the alpha in impact.

  • What comes with a subscription?
    • The Brief: Award-winning daily newsletter
    • Full Access: Unlimited, ad-free articles on ImpactAlpha.com
    • Community: Exclusive Slack channels, calls and events
    • Career Hub: Job board and career-building resources
    • Data and tools: Open funds database, climate deal mapping, and more.
Start Here

Previous Briefs

Must-reads on ImpactAlpha

Catalytic Capital | Dennis Price

McKnight Foundation’s Tonya Allen: Philanthropy has the right and responsibility to counter attacks on DEI (Q&A)
Africa | Lucy Ngige

Kenya’s iProcure, used by a million farmers, is the latest African funding crunch casualty
Clean Energy | Roodgally Senatus

TPG Rise Climate acquires renewable fuels storage and delivery company Olympus Terminals
Climate and Clean Tech | Levi Zurbrugg

ESG will be key to supplying ‘green’ metals needed for the energy transition

Impact Voices

Provocative opinions and insightful analysis from the community

Deploy!

Following the sustainable and renewable energy transition to every community.

Ownership Economy

Strategies for navigating the ownership economy, wealth-creation and shared prosperity.

Career Hub

Build your impact career on ImpactAlpha

Careers | Aunnie Patton Power and Ashley Lewis
10 tips to speed your transition to an impact finance career

There is no denying that impact finance is one of the most sought after spaces in finance right now, but what does it …

Careers | Lauren Cochran
How to get a job in impact investing

NEW Job Board

    • Full Time

    Research Associate – Benefits of Natural and Working Lands

    • Duke University
    • Duke University (Durham, North Carolina)
    • View Role
    • Full Time

    ASSOCIATE, RACIAL JUSTICE

    • Nathan Cummings Foundation
    • United States
    • View Role
    • Full Time

    Associate, Economic Justice

Load more listings
Search the Job Board

More Stories