Editors note: This article is part of a partnership between ImpactAlpha and Mission Investors Exchange (MIE) to present new ideas and perspectives in impact investing. The MIE 2026 National Conference takes place April 27-29 in Atlanta. If you are a foundation or other mission-driven asset owner, learn more about MIE and the National Conference here.
W.E.B. Dubois once wrote, “As the South goes, so goes the nation.” This is as true today as it was during the Jim Crow era when he wrote it. In almost every socio-economic indicator of well-being and prosperity, the South lags behind the rest of the country—and the fault line of our national fracturing runs along the Mason Dixon line, as real today as 150 years ago.
This includes my adopted hometown and region, metro Atlanta, a place of contradictions with many strengths and challenges. While a place considered both the Black Mecca and capital of the South, metro Atlanta also ranks last in upward economic mobility of the 50 largest metro areas in the country, per a recent study by Opportunity Insights.
How can we change this? National funders, including the federal government, have made varied, significant philanthropic investments to address the inequities in opportunities and outcomes that stubbornly persist in the South. These initiatives are important, but national funders face the difficult task of ensuring their investment activities align with local priorities and are not too broad, shallow, or fragmented.
The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta, or CFGA, believes the best way to address this challenge is to scale down in focus in order to scale up in impact. Truly transformative impact occurs when it is grounded in a deep, comprehensive understanding of local context and driven by local actors and leaders. This is especially true in impact investing.
Local impact
Over the last eight years, CFGA has built a robust place-based impact investing platform to address the diverse needs of metro Atlanta, most notably in affordable housing. Almost three years ago, we committed $200 million to affordable housing in the region, braiding together $100 million of philanthropic capital with $100 million of impact investing capital.
Since then, we’ve deployed more than $122 million across 55 affordable housing projects through three different funds, primarily as concessionary capital. This has supported more than 5,800 units of affordable housing, from 0% Area Median Income (AMI) for individuals exiting homelessness to 120% AMI for first-time homebuyers. And, notably, we deployed this capital at almost twice the speed we anticipated.
This type of scaled impact has been possible because:
- We have a deep, nuanced understanding of the local context. CFGA is a 75-year-old Atlanta civic institution that serves, in many ways, as our local community’s philanthropic center of gravity. We have supported the affordable housing ecosystem for years and understand metro Atlanta’s core housing stakeholders. And, we are all rooted in Atlanta and care very directly and deeply about OUR home.
- We have strong local credibility and relationships. Programs don’t change people – relationships do. We can act quickly because of our proven track record with both investors and borrowers. Our Investment Committee includes investors who have committed their own capital, collectively have more than 300 years of combined real estate experience, and have developed more than 200,000 residential units. As a long-standing leader in affordable housing, borrowers trust us as a reliable, fair partner for their projects.
- We have an implementation infrastructure for investing in impactful local projects at the necessary pace and scale. We have built out a housing impact investing platform that has invested in 55 projects in three years, and have done so in a thoughtful, coordinated way that moves the metrics beyond the number of units, AMI levels, and length of affordability. We have been able to strategically support our local homelessness initiative Atlanta Rising, affordable housing in economically diverse neighborhoods across the region, and downtown revitalization.
Thanks to the three core competencies above, we have been able to leverage our investments on a 10:1 basis, translating to over $1 billion in leveraged financing. Much of that coming from our biggest funding partner, the City of Atlanta. This success is a living example of our fundamental belief that to have transformational impact, you have to scale down to scale up.
Real community change happens on the ground in neighborhoods, cities, and regions. But local funders like us need the kind of help that national funders can bring: additional resources, access, and expertise. To our national funder colleagues – join us in helping steer the trajectory of the South in a positive direction. Let’s scale up our impact together.
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Frank Fernandez is the president and CEO of the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta.
