The investment miscalculation that caused the Flint water crisis
Cost savings were the stated driver of the 2014 decision by Flint, Mich. officials to switch water systems — to one tainted with lead and …
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Impact Capitalism Summit to Take Stock of the ‘Trump Effect’ on Impact Investing
The conventional wisdom among impact investors and observers is that the election of President Trump has sparked a wave of investor activism, as …
Risk-Adjusted: Finding value in reduced risks for companies and communities
https://medium.com/media/3354560be39150c6602b9d61e7096312/href Risk is getting an impact makeover. Systemic risk reduction is emerging as a powerful investment argument for enterprises that can mitigate risks …
Sustainable Investing Challenge Winner: Flexible Finance for Low-Income Schools
A team of MBA students from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management that proposed a low-interest loan fund for India’s 400,000 low-fee private …
International Development Meets Impact Investing at Armenia Summit
Global development practitioners are gathering at the Impact Investment for Development Summit in Yerevan, Armenia to explore opportunities and mechanisms to promote impact …
Notes from Underground: Boosting livelihoods in the informal economy
Johannesburg — The vast underground economy around the world is characterized by below-the-radar flows of money, tax evasion, and poor labor conditions. Less obvious are …
Network Effects: Impact Seed Funds in Africa and Latin America Share Secrets and Struggles
Early-stage investing in emerging markets is hard. A commitment to serve low-income customers makes it even more challenging. Scaling that up around the …
New Products Attract Investors to the Conservation Finance Marketplace
Climate Finance https://medium.com/media/d220e332a6a971fb81a90d8d6c00c739/href “Our clients are looking for these opportunities, and we are learning from and are encouraged by the innovation and measurable …
Sage of Omaha Extols America’s ‘Tide of Immigrants’
Human ingenuity. Market system. Rule of law. To the list of drivers of America’s economic dynamism, Warren Buffett added a fourth in his …
The Brief Quiz (№3): How High is Your Impact IQ?
It was a short editorial week because of President’s Day here in America. But short week shouldn’t equate with short memory: there’s no …
Seeing and Raising Mark Zuckerberg’s Big Bet on ‘Global Community’
Let’s give him the benefit of the doubt and acknowledge that Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg took a big swing with last week’s 5,700-word …
Year of the Oceans: No Time Like the Present to Reverse the Degradation of the Seas
Suddenly, oceans are everywhere. The run-up to the big United Nations Ocean Conference in June began with last week’s preparatory conference and the …
Why is Cleantech Still a Dirty Word for Investors?
Climate Finance https://medium.com/media/ecd55fa1f9cd2c83d228972a14902dad/href Now the 2016 numbers are in, thanks to Bloomberg New Energy Finance. And the worldwide totals are (drumroll) a drop …
Dina Powell: Impact investing’s woman in the White House
Whither social-impact investment in the Trump administration may depend on Dina Powell, the former Goldman Sachs executive who was named, with Ivanka Trump’s …
Immigrants and the American Economy: A Love Story
There’s an upside to the Trump administration’s efforts to crack down on immigration: mobilized constituencies expressing renewed appreciation for immigrants’ positive impact on …
Growing Republican support for a carbon tax
Climate Finance Former Secretary of State James A. Baker III and party elders are pushing a “conservative climate solution.” In return for a …
Dispatch from the NewCo Shift Forum: Purpose is the new profit in tech startup pitches
How are entrepreneurs plotting to disrupt business as usual? By empowering their employees, reflecting their customers’ best selves and engaging the current political …
Laureate Education raises $490 million in first IPO for a public benefit corp
Laureate Education has grown to become the world’s largest for-profit college by targeting middle class students in emerging markets, particularly in Latin America. Its …
CEOs feel the heat from consumers and employees on ties to Trump
CEOs are feeling the heat from consumers and employees on their ties to Trump. That didn’t take long. First Uber CEO Travis Kalanick quit …
Young, Local and Social: A Latin American Formula for Inclusive Growth
An entrepreneurial culture, a youthful population and, paradoxically, still-high social inequality, are driving business opportunities throughout Latin America. Such local businesses may make …
Disrupt Carbon: Shift to Electric Vehicles and Solar Power Speeds the End of the Oil Era
Climate Finance Students of disruptive innovation over the last several decades will recognize the pattern. Solar panels and electric cars, once derided as …
Women’s Health is Human Health
That giant sucking sound you hear is hundreds of millions of dollars rushing out of clinics and health services around the world. The loss …
Q&A with Derek Handley: From B Team to Aera VC
Derek Handley has a ticket to go to space with Virgin Galactic. But first the veteran of Richard Branson’s B Team has big …
Put Americans to work. Get them to work: Transit infrastructure’s double dividend
Not all infrastructure is created equal. The Trump administration is floating ambitious plans for bridges, roads, airports, to be financed through tax credits …
Why Small Businesses, Not Big Companies, May Be the Future of Employment
President-elect Trump has claimed some high-profile job wins with big companies. But the future of employment is in small businesses. Carrier, Fiat, Ford …
Everyday Africa: Finding the Human Story
Bill Gates published his first blog of the new year yesterday: Five Reasons I’m Hopeful about Africa. Much of it was typical Gates. …
Could Trump be getting ready to pull a Nixon-to-China on carbon?
Climate Finance His big projects in Russia and close relationship with Vladimir Putin have dominated most of the coverage of Rex Tillerson’s selection …
Clean cookstoves on the hot seat: Lessons from social impact hits and misses
“Clean cookstoves fail to save African kids,” read last week’s headline in The Hindu, one of India’s leading newspapers. A few days later, …
Impact Investing Deals Start to Flow in Central America and the Caribbean
Antigua, Guatemala was the place last month to take stock of the impact investing ecosystem in Central America and the Caribbean. More than …
#Dealflow 11.17.16: Community Capital Management Backs Green Bonds, Accion Venture Lab Scores Exit, India Lowers Renewables Risk, and Pennsylvania Invests in Impact
Impact can be added to mainstream financial products, as well as the other way around. This week’s #Dealflow includes asset-backed securities and other …
#Shifts October/November: New Theses, Markets and Signals Guiding Impact Investors
In this edition of #Shifts, ImpactAlpha’s monthly roundup of ideas and trends driving impact investing: investors look to restore degraded land and back …
Road to Marrakech: Finance Trends Point to a Tipping Point in the Low-Carbon Transition
Climate Finance Here’s a quick lesson in the climate jargon you’re going to be hearing for the next two weeks. “Marrakech,” as in …
#Dealflow 11.1.16: Green Climate Fund Backs Althelia, IFC is a Startup Catalyst and a Reach Fund for Social Enterprises
The wheels are starting to crank and the capital is starting to flow through the new impact investing mechanisms created by often-stodgy institutions …
Impact Investing in Central America: New Funds, More Support, High Expectations
Promising impact ventures, new impact funds and growing interest from banks, NGOs and high net worth families — impact investing in Central America may finally …
#Dealflow 10.20.16: Catalytic Capital for SunFunder, Ummeed, Kiva and Small Businesses in the U.S.
Catalytic capital is, well, catalyzing capital in this week’s #DealFlow. Off-grid solar in Africa. Mortgages for low-income home buyers in India. Financial services …
#Dealflow 10.13.16:
Dealflow #Dealflow : Tyson Goes Beyond Meat, Bridges Backs Vegetarian Express and USDA Invests in Rural Development Nov. 13, 2016 Sustainable food, animal welfare and …
#Dealflow 10.5.16:
Proponents of pay-for-success financing structures are laying the groundwork to pioneer the tool in as-yet untested social issues, like drug addiction recovery and …
Rockefeller Brothers Fund: How the oil heirs are getting out of fossil fuels
The Rockefeller Brothers Fund — founded in 1940 by the five sons of John D. Rockefeller Jr. — made headlines a couple years ago when it announced …
Q&A with Roopa Kudva: Smartphones + Aadhaar = Tipping Point for Impact Investing in India
Tipping points are hard to call, at least until they’re obvious. But Roopa Kudva, a partner at Omidyar Network and managing director of …
#Dealflow 9.29.16: Solar Power in Senegal, Sustainability Down Under and Soil Health for a Cool Planet
Does sustainability drive alpha? More investors seem to buy the argument that a more efficient supply chain, better governance and mitigation against growing …
#Shifts September: New Theses, Markets and Signals Guiding Impact Investors
Welcome to #Shifts, ImpactAlpha’s monthly roundup of the ideas and trends driving impact investing. In this edition: investors see opportunity in scaling impact …
Debating the Impact Economy: What Did the Presidential Candidates Say?
Debating the Impact Economy: What Did the Presidential Candidates Say? No, Fran Seegull and Nancy Pfund did not get a shout-out from the …
Q&A with Amit Bouri: The Opportunity for Impact Investing to Change the Trajectory of Progress
Global leaders, technocrats and development pros were in New York City this week to mobilize cash — and action — for the multi-trillion dollar global development agenda …
#Dealflow 9.21.16: d.light’s D Round, $17.5M for Medical Credit Fund, Global Goals for Hedge Fund Chief
Sure, the sharp drop in the price of photovoltaic panels has spurred the off-grid solar market in Africa. But what’s really driving investor …
The Why of Impact Investing, Millennials and the Last Word at #SOCAP16
Jed Emerson has been studying his history, as evidenced by the arc he traced from Dutch East Indies Company in 1604 and the …