The Boston-based nonprofit created the Hawaiʻi Renewable Learning Fund, an outcomes-based program to help qualifying students in the state earn in-demand degrees or professional certificates and land quality jobs with local employers. The University of Hawaiʻi’s college of engineering is the fund’s initial partner for training and education.
If a student is hired by one of the fund’s three partner-employers, makes more than $50,000 annually, and stays with that company for a minimum number of years, the employer will repay their loan in full, said Social Finance spokesperson Abby Silverman. She declined to state the years, but said they differ by employer. The partner companies are Bowers + Kubota, an employee-owned architectural and engineering firm; Hawaiian Dredging Construction Company, the state’s oldest and largest full-service general contractor; and consulting and engineering firm SSFM International.
“This isn’t merely an investment in individual students—it’s a strategic investment in Hawaii’s sustainable future,” said Michael P. Matsumoto, the president and CEO of SSFM.
Graduates who land jobs elsewhere and earn more than $50,000 a year will make fixed monthly repayments to the fund over five years, allowing it to make future loans. If they earn less, they can apply to defer repayment. Social Finance plans to bring more companies on board as loan-repaying partners.
Income share agreements
The fund is an evolution of Social Finance’s pioneering “career impact bonds,” which allow students to pay for college or other educational and vocational training programs with little to no upfront tuition in exchange for a fixed percentage of their future income. The firm’s $50 million UP Fund invests in the student-friendly agreements to help unemployed and underemployed people secure good jobs in the evolving economy. UP’s investors include Blue Meridian Partners, Schmidt Futures (owned by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and his wife, Wendy), family office Blue Haven Initiative, The Shapiro Foundation in Boston, and donor advised funds at Fidelity Charitable and Vanguard Charitable.
(See, “Social Finance raises $49.9 million for workforce-focused UP Fund”)
“Many talented students in Hawaiʻi face barriers to degree completion, including limited affordable student financing options and high costs of living,” said Hydie Kim Hudson, Social Finance’s vice president of impact investments. The Hawai’i fund “aims to address these barriers while also helping local employers hire talent for in-demand roles.” Fund donors include Hawaii’s Harold K.L. Castle Foundation, which makes grants to public education, climate, leadership and community resilience projects.
In May, Social Finance said it would manage Massachusetts’ new $10 million Climate Careers Fund to provide low-cost loans to cover training for electricians, EV mechanics, HVAC technicians and other climate-related jobs in high demand.
(See, “Massachusetts teams up with Social Finance on $10 million climate workforce training fund“)
Last year, Social Finance launched a fee-based investment advisor, SF Advisors LLC, that provides investment management services to four privately offered, in-house funds focused on social or environmental outcomes. It also offers advisory services to institutional investors, family offices, private foundations and donor-advised funds run through Fidelity and Vanguard. As of last Dec. 31, it had nearly $156 million in assets under management.
