Programs & Events

SOCAP19

SOCAP19: Highlights

(Past event)
SOCAP19 convened innovators in finance, entrepreneurship, business, government, and philanthropy to accelerate market ventures that support people, planet, and profit. This annual impact investing conference in San Francisco featured a number of contributions from MIE, including six dynamic sessions on catalytic capital and a special Member Appreciation Gathering, both co-presented with the Catalytic Capital Consortium (MacArthur Foundation, Omidyar Network, and Rockefeller Foundation). MIE also curated its signature Investment Forum, focused on how foundations and intermediaries partner to advance racial equity in asset management. (MIE members were required to log in to RSVP for the MIE Member Appreciation Gathering here. Attendance at SOCAP19 was not required to RSVP for this Gathering.)
 
Below, we've highlighted our top picks for session recordings from SOCAP19, including brief event takeaways. You can also find an overview of sessions and additional recordings on the following tabs. Visit MIE's Racial Equity Library for related resources, and stay tuned for a new Catalytic Capital Library in the coming months.
 

Catalytic Capital

Takeaways

  • Catalytic capital is an important tool for mission-driven investors, such as foundations, to provide more flexible, risk-tolerant, and patient capital than other types of investors. Read this essay for more.
  • Catalytic capital investors orient around impact and use the tools of investing to attract additional capital to impactful deals and markets. A powerful example of a catalytic capital in action is Terra Silva, a $90 million collaborative by Packard and MacArthur foundations that is designed to respond to the challenges of climate change. The project was announced in "Fighting Climate Change While Growing Markets," recorded here.
  • SunFunder presents a classic case study of catalytic capital and blended capital, in growing the overall market of clean off-grid energy. The company has unlocked over $62 million as of 2017 through a series of aggregated debt funds with support from Packard Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, and others. 

Recordings

Fighting Climate Change While Growing Markets (Click for Recording)
With the consequences of climate change already taking effect, investment partners are finding new ways to blend their capital to preserve and protect the world’s most critical tropical forests and the communities that depend on them. In this session, a panel of mission investors will explore how new investment collaborations can be catalytic – and how patient capital, at scale, can deliver financial returns while accelerating climate-smart forestry and agricultural practices worldwide. This session was co-presented by Mission Investors Exchange and the Catalytic Capital Consortium (MacArthur Foundation, Omidyar Network, and Rockefeller Foundation). John Balbach, MacArthur Foundation; Sarah Kearney, Prime Coalition; Shilpa Patel, ClimateWorks Foundation; Susan Phinney Silver, The David and Lucile Packard Foundation.
 
Embracing the Tradeoff: Using Low Cost Capital to Drive Deeper Impact (Click for Recording)
While most of the impact investing sector seeks to embrace the idea of double-bottom line investments that demand limited financial sacrifice, significant market gaps persist in sectors and geographies that require lower costs of capital to succeed. This panel highlighted impact-first investors that have relaxed their own constraints to achieve market-rate returns that are filling these global gaps, and how funds and enterprises in these markets are delivering impact in regions where commercial investors cannot venture. Rick Beckett, Global Partnerships; Richard Greenberg, OPIC; Lynne Hoey, Candide Group; Diane Isenberg, Ceniarth; Greg Neichin, Ceniarth.
 

Racial Equity

Takeaways

  • A multitude of studies have identified the economic and social benefits of diversity. Yet the asset management industry continues to struggle with a lack of diversity — despite evidence demonstrating that there is no significant difference in the performance of firms owned by women and minorities when compared to their peers. “People think of diversity as an add-on or tangential part” of their practice, notes Robert J. Manilla of The Kresge Foundation during MIE's Investment Forum. But in reality, “if you put more diverse people in a room, they make better decisions.” See this essay for more background on this topic. 
  • Extensive evidence proves that unconscious biases prevent capital from reaching investees of color and underserved communities — without regard to the value or promise of the investments themselves. How can we work to improve the quality and fairness of decision-making in the existing industry? This resource provides a growing list of ideas to reduce the effects of racial bias, through tools, training, and more.
  • Achieving change requires intentionality and going the extra miles to meet fund managers, investees, and consultants beyond your default networks and geographies. The importance of proactiveness, hard work, and patience was emphasized in several sessions.
  • How do we "make the case" for racial equity when faced with lack of willpower or skepticism among decision-makers? In response to a dialogue during the MIE Investment Forum on this topic, speakers discussed the benefits and disadvantages of making a "business case" or "moral case" for racial equity. Our take-away: understand the perceptions, motives, and biases of your audience to offer a perspective that they can most relate to.

Recordings

Implicit Bias in Asset Management (Click for recording)
Jennifer Eberhardt, Stanford Sparq; Ashby Monk, Stanford Global Projects Center; Daryn Dodoson, Illumen Capital; Miljana Vujosevic, Prudential
 
Smart Investing: A Call for Diversity in Foundation Asset Management (Click for recording)
Rip Rapson, Kresge Foundation; Susan Taylor-Batten, ABFE 

Catalytic Capital Track @ SOCAP19

Below, we've highlighted sessions from the catalytic capital equity track at SOCAP19, including recorded videos of certain sessions.
 
SOCAP Session Guide

 

Features

Sessions co-presented by Mission Investors Exchange and the Catalytic Capital Consortium (MacArthur Foundation, Omidyar Network, and Rockefeller Foundation):
 
Fighting Climate Change While Growing Markets (Click for Recording)
With the consequences of climate change already taking effect, investment partners are finding new ways to blend their capital to preserve and protect the world’s most critical tropical forests and the communities that depend on them. In this session, a panel of mission investors will explore how new investment collaborations can be catalytic – and how patient capital, at scale, can deliver financial returns while accelerating climate-smart forestry and agricultural practices worldwide.
John Balbach, MacArthur Foundation
Sarah Kearney, Prime Coalition
Shilpa Patel, ClimateWorks Foundation 
Susan Phinney Silver, The David and Lucile Packard Foundation
 
Catalytic Capital in Action: Cases from the Field
While the growth in impact investing activity among mainstream investors may be an encouraging sign, investments willing to accept either disproportionate risk or concessionary return remain critical for unlocking additional investment dollars and maximizing positive impact. Grounded in frameworks put forth in Tideline’s report, “Catalytic Capital: Unlocking More Investment and Impact,” this introductory session will explore the experiences of two impact-driven companies and the ways in which catalytic capital has been critical to their success.
Brian Hill, Edovo 
Alycia Kellman, SunFunder
Christina Leijonhufvud, Tideline
Bryan Locascio, Tideline
 
Overcoming Barriers to Deploying Capital Into Underinvested Areas
This session will look at a number of barriers often cited when investors seek to deploy capital into underinvested areas, including: structural limitations on underwriting models, regulatory challenges, lack of benchmarks and historical performance data, deal pipeline and deal size, and misunderstanding of impact business models. The discussion will showcase practitioner strategies for addressing these barriers, proven approaches for introducing these products to investors, and ways catalytic capital can play a role in accelerating investment.
David Bank, Impact Alpha
Julia Shin, Enterprise Community Investments, Inc
Sunwoo Hwang, Sixup
Daniel Gura, Habitat for Humanity
Margret Trilli, Impact Assets
 
What Impact Deals Happen Only Because of Catalytic Capital?
The impact investing market is neither all commercial nor all concessionary. In this session, leading impact investors make the case that the full spectrum of capital is essential to achieve bold and lasting change. They will share the market segments in which impact investors can and do achieve substantial impact alongside market-rate returns, but also where they can’t – where the impact they seek forces them to accept greater risk, longer time horizons, or lower returns.
Robynn Steffen, Omidyar
Reuben Teague, Prudential
Candice Hampson, Big Society Capital
Christine Looney, Ford Foundation
 
Blended Finance 2.0 - Increasing Accountability to Increase Impact
Increased transparency is an essential step toward improving the coordination, accountability, and effectiveness of blended finance. Yet the field faces misapprehensions regarding what and how information should be disclosed and why reporting standards differ across investor types from Family offices, to Foundations and Development Finance Institutions. During this interactive session, participants will be challenged to ask themselves: What’s holding us back from greater transparency, and what are we willing to do differently to achieve greater impact?
Joan Larea, Convergence Finance
Catherine Pax, Open Society Foundations
Jaime Garcia Alba, IADB
Sarah Alexander, Blue Haven Initiative
Yasmine Saltuk Lamy, CDC Group plc
 
Getting Real for Real Impact
While surveys point to rapid growth of dollars invested for impact, what portion of those dollars are delivering meaningful change on the ground? Institutional investors seek quantified risk and returns, multi-year track records and large ticket sizes. Yet by definition delivering impact often requires developing new models in unknown markets, as impact investments frequently address market failures or monetize new assets. Can you be an impact investor if you aren’t willing to wear new risk?
Charlotte Kaiser, NatureVest
Peter Kelly, Goldman Sachs
Debra Schwartz, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
Rekha Unnithan, Nuveen

 

Additional Highlights

Embracing the Tradeoff: Using Low Cost Capital to Drive Deeper Impact (Click for Recording)
While most of the impact investing sector seeks to embrace the idea of double-bottom line investments that demand limited financial sacrifice, significant market gaps persist in sectors and geographies that require lower costs of capital to succeed. This panel highlighted impact-first investors that have relaxed their own constraints to achieve market-rate returns that are filling these global gaps, and how funds and enterprises in these markets are delivering impact in regions where commercial investors cannot venture.
Rick Beckett, Global Partnerships
Richard Greenberg, OPIC
Lynne Hoey, Candide Group
Diane Isenberg, Ceniarth
Greg Neichin, Ceniarth
 
 
Financing the Frontier: The Catalytic Influence of Grant Capital
Investing in frontier and emerging markets presents significant opportunity to advance global development. Yet deploying capital into such markets is often associated with high costs. This session will explore the ins and outs of using grant capital and other strategies in these markets.
Paul Basil, Villgro Innovations Foundation
Michelle de Rijk, DOEN Participaties B.V.
Maggie Flanagan, The Lemelson Foundation
Katrina Ngo, Global Impact Investing Network
 
How Can Family Offices Catalyze Impact?
Join a conversation with family office leaders who have used this innovative financing approach alongside their traditional investments and philanthropic grant making to achieve impact at scale.
Michael Etzel, The Bridgespan Group
Arani Kajenthira, Ph.D, Walton Enterprises
Adam Rein, CapShift
Lauren Booker Allen, Jordan Park
Barr Even, Dalio Foundation
 
Climate Finance: Offering a Better Climate for Using Blended Finance Approaches
Blended finance” has received an increasing amount of attention. But has that attention matched the amount of blended capital that has flowed into solving the Sustainable Development Goals? We’ll dive into why the answer is no, and the challenges of bringing blended finance to market.
Shilpa Patel, Director, Mission Investing, ClimateWorks Foundation
 
Catalytic Capital: Science and Engineering Innovation is a Critical and Under-Pulled Lever

A profound capital gap persists for early stage, science-based companies with promising solutions to social problems. Catalytic capital is the right fit for addressing this need, with its ability to accept disproportionate risk, longer-time horizons and an impact-first lens. This panel will feature speakers that have successfully mobilized catalytic capital into investment transactions that advance science as a primary driver of social advancement, sharing their lessons learned and vision for the future.
Sarah Kearney, Prime Coalition 
Ryan Macpherson, Autodesk Foundation

Racial Equity

Below, we've highlighted sessions at SOCAP19 focused on racial equity featuring MIE members, including MIE's Signature Impact Investment Forum on Tuesday, October 22. Review the SOCAP site for sessions related to racial equity across tracks, including the Racial Equity and Indigenous Communities tracks.
 
SOCAP Sessions
 
Racial Equity Library
 
 
Investment Forum: Asset Owners and Asset Managers Working Together to Advance Racial Equity
2:45 PM - 3:45 PM, Tue, Oct 22, 2019, Southside Theater
What role should asset owners play in ensuring that racial equity is at the heart of the impact investing movement? In this fast-paced signature program by Mission Investors Exchange, 3 foundations each pair with a financial intermediary and dive deep into strategies to transform the field of investment management. From racial diversity to unconscious bias, each pair will share practical methods and lessons learned to advance equity in investment decision-making, as cornerstones of large-scale systems change.
Rob Manilla, Kresge Foundation
Bert Feuss, Silicon Valley Community Foundation
Angela Matheny, Colonial Consulting
Rosanne Potter, Cleveland Foundation 
Liz Michaels, Aperio
Andrea Dobson, Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation
Kesha Cash, Impact America Fund
 
Implicit Bias in Asset Management
Jennifer Eberhardt, Stanford Sparq
Ashby Monk, Stanford Global Projects Center
Daryn Dodoson, Illumen Capital
Miljana Vujosevic, Prudential
 
Smart Investing: A Call for Diversity in Foundation Asset Management
Rip Rapson, Kresge Foundation
Susan Taylor-Batten, ABFE 
 
Closing the Wealth Gap: Essential Conversations for Impact Investors
By 2020, white American households are projected to own 86x more wealth than African American households, and 68x more than Latino households. The economic health of our country requires strategies to combat these disparities. Leading political and policy experts tackle critical questions at this high-stakes moment in American history: What solutions are needed to ensure greater participation in wealth-building? What can impact investors do? Going into 2020, what should impact investors understand about the political landscape?
Rodney Foxworth, Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE) 
Felicia Wong, Roosevelt Institute
 
Operationalizing the Business Case for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
The workshop will provide a chance for investors and entrepreneurs to dive deep into the “how” of institutionalizing and operationalizing gender smart / DEI principles. Organized around small working groups facilitated by expert practitioners, groups will explore ways to integrate DEI practices within their chosen focus area using a proprietary tool, Capria Quantum. At the conclusion of the session, participants will take back actionable, pragmatic DEI strategies to their businesses and investment funds.
Cathy Clark, CASE i3 at Duke University
Uma Sekar, Director, Capria Ventures
Megan Walsh Thompson, Ford Foundation
 
Reinvigorating Impact Investing by Returning to Our Roots in the Civil Rights Struggle
The modern impact investing movement in the United States was born out of the mid-20th century Civil Rights struggle. This panel will consider the vital contribution impact investing can make in the U.S. if we reorient around this history. Join this generative conversation with seasoned impact investors and next generation civil rights leaders discussing what’s possible when finance and financial knowledge is connected to the leaders who can use it most effectively to drive racial equity.
Jacquelyn King, W. K. Kellogg Foundation 
Tiasia O'Brien, Synergize Insights 
Dorianna Blitt, BF Partners
DD Johnice, Kaiser Permanente
 
Racialized Language Workshop
Language is a powerful tool for dividing and uniting. There is a close relationship between race, racism and language. Many terms that are part of regular vernacular have systemic underpinnings and help maintain the status quo: “tar and feather”, “time Nazi”, “low man on the totem pole”, etc. Led by W.K. Kellogg Foundation facilitators, this participatory workshop is a unique opportunity for a collective conversation, not just a semantics lesson. We will create a safe, nonjudgmental space for inquiry to increase understanding.
Andrew Brower, W.K. Kellogg Foundation
 
Operationalizing Racial Equity in Our Work
While the language and concepts of racial equity are spreading across the field of finance, how are firms integrating strategies to imbed racial equity as a rigorous management practice? From organizational structure, staffing, sourcing, deal flow, and learning and adapting from outcomes, leaders and firms are demonstrating that a racial equity focus is not the work of a stand-alone diversity office, but deeply integral to their entire organizational practices and processes. This session will feature leaders that will share their strategies and work to increase their financial and social impact across the field.
Andrew Brower, W.K. Kellogg Foundation
 
Access, Inclusion, Impact - SPECTRUM 2020
This summer in Atlanta, SOCAP launched SPECTRUM, a convening designed to spur dialogue and significant action toward building an impact economy based on equity, diversity and inclusion. SPECTRUM gathered innovators and founders of color who have been systematically under-recognized and under-resourced. Let’s continue the conversation in this interactive session where cross-sector leaders and investors will recap the importance of SPECTRUM and what we learned. Next, we want to hear from you. Come help us co-design SPECTRUM 2020.
Sterling Champion, SHE 
Paige VanDenburg, TriLinc Global
Tanay Tatum-Edwards, FreeCap 
Bree Jones, Parity
Chelsey Crim, Hope Street Group 
Jonny Newburgh, Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta: GoATL Fund
 
Connecting Founders of Color to Community and Capital
Founders of color have been absent from the wealth-building that continues to transform our entrepreneurial ecosystems. Cities are consequently failing to benefit from the success and impact of these entrepreneurs. To address this, Living Cities launched an initiative in 2018 to tackle the many access challenges that founders of color experience. Our panel will share their vision for a truly inclusive economy, plus learnings and success stories about unlocking resources for high-growth founders of color.
Elizabeth Reynoso, Living Cities
TD Lowe, 42Phi Ventures 
Savina Perez, Hone 
Monique Woodard, Cake Ventures
 
Racial Diversity in Real Estate – Improving a Lagging Sector
The $15 trillion U.S. Commercial Real Estate sector, has historically been less diverse than the nation, and has trailed other business segments in creating leadership and ownership opportunities for people of color. This panel will discuss the ways in which industry actors are working to intentionally address privilege and exclusion. Beyond social justice arguments, we will explore the economic benefits of having a more diverse sector, and why investors should demand results in this area.
Reuben Teague, Prudential 
James Wahls, Annie E. Casey Foundation 
Pamela West, Nuveen
 
Using Innovative Training to Empower Women and People of Color to be Entrepreneurial Leaders
As America becomes increasingly aware of social injustice and systemic racism, we’re left with one overarching question: How do we fix it? This session explores the role knowledge and skill-based entrepreneurial training play as a corrective action for historically under-served communities. Using successful examples from Momentum and Delta I-Fund, we’ll discuss how entrepreneurial training for under-served communities leads to community and economic development for any region; proving diversity and inclusion isn’t goodwill, it’s good business.
Chauncey Holloman Pettis, Winrock International- Arkansas Women's Business Center
Amy Hopper, Winrock International
Darrin Williams, Southern Bancorp
 
Creating Black Pathways: Closing The Racial Wealth Gap Through Tech, Education, and Financial Solutions
Despite the magnificent strides African American’s have made, there is still a tremendous amount of progress that needs to be done as it pertains to the racial wealth gap. With an emphasis on finding solutions and creating career opportunities, these 4 change makers will discuss their work to end mass-incarceration, increase literacy, end police violence, and build financial sustainment through venture capitalism.
Hadiyah Mujhid, HBCUvc 
Tanay Tatum-Edwards, FreeCap
 
How Seeking Market Rate Returns is Perpetuating White Supremacy
Are you ready to look at your own unexamined assumptions around white supremacy and impact investing? We’ll host an interactive session to explore the history of market rate returns, how we structure investments, and how to distribute risk and rewards between stakeholders. We’ll explore innovative, emergent wealth-sharing structures that can counter extractive capitalism and white supremacy. Leave this session supported to come into deeper alignment with your commitment to justice, equity, and collective liberation.
Ryan Honeyman, LIFT Economy

Place-Based Impact Investing

Below, we've highlighted sessions related to Place-Based Impact Investing at SOCAP19, including many featuring MIE members. Programs are also still evolving: visit the SOCAP session guide for the latest details closer to the conference date.
 
Session Guide
 
Unlikely Partnerships Driven by Opportunity Zones
 - , , Gallery 308
One of the latest community development policies, Opportunity Zones, has given rise to crucial conversations about cross-sectoral collaboration and innovation in the impact world. The Opportunity Zones legislation has increasingly drawn unlikely players into the field of impact investing and community development. This panel will feature some of these key players in sharing their experiences and discussing how collaboration and community engagement can unlock the full impact potential of Opportunity Zones across the country.
Jen Collins, Beeck Center for Social Impact + Innovation at Georgetown University 
Michael Everett, NuovoRE 
David Gross, Our Opportunity 
John Lettieri, Economic Innovation Group 
Elise Liberto, Brown Advisory
 
Market or Mirage? Opportunity Zones Come into Focus
1:30 PM - 2:30 PM, Wed, Oct 23, 2019, Cowell Theater Mainstage
The market for Opportunity Zones is coming into focus as investors, funds, and local stakeholders work to maximize the value of the tax benefit. How can impact developers, enterprises, and entrepreneurs make the most of this opportunity? What can impact investors and philanthropies do to influence this market toward positive impact? What might be in store for new regulations? Panelists will answer these questions and more as they discuss early trends shaping the OZ market.
Otis Rolley III, The Rockefeller Foundation 
Fran Seegull, U.S. Impact Investing Alliance 
Ja'Ron Smith, White House 
Lisa Woods, KPMG
 
Beyond the $$$: How Investing in Inspiration and Social Capital Creates More Collaborative Impact Ecosystems
8:30 AM - 9:30 AM, Wed, Oct 23, 2019, Firehouse
It’s all about the money. Or is it? It’s time for entrepreneurs, investors, entrepreneur support organizations, and foundations to start building sustainable relationships that transcend securing financial capital. In order to create truly collaborative impact economies, the focus must shift towards an approach that also emphasizes the importance of inspiration capital and social capital. This session will explore how entrepreneurs can engage with local ecosystem builders to elevate their stories, ideate cutting-edge projects, and grow their impact-driven ventures.
Felicity Conrad, Paladin 
Sarah Koch, Case Foundation 
Katelyn Roberts, SEED SPOT 
Natalie Self, MSW, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation 
Dustin Shay, Village Capital
 
Emerging Ecosystems: Are Mid-size Cities the Next Hub for Social Enterprise?
2:45 PM - 3:45 PM, Wed, Oct 23, 2019, SFAI Seminar 2
While major cities like San Francisco have the most robust entrepreneurial ecosystems, the cost of living and working in these cities is often prohibitive, making them inaccessible for many social entrepreneurs. In this session, panelists with experience in Minnesota, North Carolina, and Louisiana will speak to the challenges and benefits of growing a business in emerging entrepreneurial ecosystems, using both their experience and recent research from Halcyon’s Social Enterprise Ecosystem Report (SEER).
Allison Barmann, Bush Foundation
Justin Desrosiers, SustainVC
Sydney Gray, Mama Maji 
Erica Plybeah Hemphill, MedHaul 
Ryan Ross, Halcyon
 
Scaling Impact and Resilience in Emerging Markets via Local Funds
 - , , Southside Theater
The support of local fund managers for promising social entrepreneurs offers the ability to leverage millions of dollars of investment into hundreds of millions in revenue, employment for thousands, and scalable products and services that improve the lives of millions. In this session, panelists will discuss the challenges and best practices in scaling up the flow of capital in local economies and in selecting companies that will be resilient to the upcoming global recession.
Richard Ambrose, Pomona Impact
Ed Brakeman, Umsizi Fund
Shruti Chandrasekhar, IFC/World Bank Group
Will Poole, Capria Ventures
Nicole Rossell, MBA, Terra Global Capital
Megan Walsh Thompson, Ford Foundation
 
People As Policy: Investing in State & Local Opportunity Zone “Deal Jockeys”
11:00 AM - 12:00 PM, Thu, Oct 24, 2019, Firehouse
Up to $6 trillion in sidelined capital could move into distressed communities in the next decade. Rapid training, deployment, and support of Opportunity Zone “deal jockeys” is needed to help localities prepare for this investment. Deal jockeys are cross-sectoral specialists who understand finance, social capital, collaboration, and disruption. Now being tested in a few places, this model could emerge as a critical accelerant for future community impact, equitable development, and silo-breaking for years to come.
Dan Carol, Milken Institute 
Alex Flachsbart, Opportunity Alabama 
Ann Rogan, Office of Mayor Tubbs, City of Stockton  
Otis Rolley III, The Rockefeller Foundation
 
Inclusive Opportunity Zone Investments for Community Development
1:30 PM - 2:30 PM, Thu, Oct 24, 2019, Big Top Tent
With billions of dollars expected to flow into opportunity zones, the most important question is: Who will benefit? This workshop will provide a technical overview of the Opportunity Zone program, explore how it could intersect with inclusive impact investment, and describe initiatives. We will look at workforce housing, grass-roots social enterprise incubation, and community economic development through locally-owned qualified opportunity zone businesses.
Tina Castro, CFA, Avivar Capital 
Jerome Garciano, Robinson & Cole LLP
Cort Gross, Jubilee Impact Fund
 
Moving from Ecosystem Building to Large-Scale Social Change in Latin America

2:45 PM - 3:45 PM, Thu, Oct 24, 2019, Firehouse
Please join us for an interactive, roundtable discussion about how DFI’s, foundations, and NGOs are strengthening the social entrepreneurial ecosystem in Latin America. This roundtable will explore the entrepreneurs innovating at the forefront of social change and the investors working diligently to support them. Our discussion will drill down on what’s working and what’s missing from the toolkit, and how we can collaborate to form concrete solutions to drive large-scale social change.
David Bohigian, Overseas Private Investment Corporation 
Beth Collins, Catholic Relief Services 
Liz Diebold, Skoll Foundation

Outcomes, Tech, Arts, & More

Below, we've highlighted sessions related to a variety of themes at SOCAP19, including many sessions featuring MIE members. Sessions are also still evolving: visit the SOCAP session guide for the latest details closer to the conference date.
 
Session Guide

 

Sectors In Focus 

Financing a Future that Works: Lessons from Innovations in Education Finance
 - , Southside Theater
If we are to be living and working longer, with jobs transformed by automation, our skill development processes must be modernized. New market-based funding models, such as impact investing and income share agreements, are emerging to facilitate the necessary design, scale, and student participation. In this session, panelists will discuss the innovations necessary from a variety of public and private sector players to finance a future that works.
Tonio DeSorrento, Vemo Education 
Maria Flynn, Jobs For The Future 
Isabelle Hau, Omidyar Network 
Brittany Stich, Guild Education
 
Can Happy Water Investors and Happy Rivers Co-exist in the American Southwest?
10:00 AM - 11:15 AM, Wed, Oct 23, 2019, C 230
There is no shortage of water investors in the American Southwest, but there are only a few existing examples of impact investments that directly help rivers and streams. How can environmental philanthropy encourage investing that actually helps? This session will present lessons learned about how – and where – impact investing that could help southwestern rivers is possible. Using case studies, we will discuss what failed and why, along with approaches that are working and under development.
Ricardo Bayon, Encourage Capital 
Peter Culp, Culp & Kelly LLP  
Jill Ozarski, Walton Family Foundation
 
Gender Lens Investment in Agriculture
1:00 PM - 2:15 PM, Wed, Oct 23, 2019, C 210
Women entrepreneurs are critical to the economic development of agricultural markets around the world, but do not receive the resources, funding, and support needed to scale. This is in part a reflection of gender biases in early-stage investment, but what can investors do to address this? Come and learn about options that investors could adopt to reduce gender bias in the agricultural investment pipeline, including alternative capital structures, gender lens impact toolkits, and acceleration services.
Diane Isenberg, Ceniarth, LLC 
Heather Matranga, Village Capital 
Lisa Willems, AlphaMundi Group
 

Corporations

Corporate Financial Innovation and Impact Investing: Direct investing, Supply Chain, and Accelerators
 - , ,  BATS! Theater
Increasingly large corporations are becoming impact investors. Whether you work at a corporate foundation or manage a corporate social responsibility program, marketing department, and/or innovation team, this session is designed for you to learn by doing. Through this, you will better understand all available opportunities that can empower you to do well by doing good, simultaneously increasing revenue, decreasing costs, improving brand, and reducing risk. We will cover impact investing strategy, process, governance, and investment efficiency through a new framework for evaluating both philanthropy and investing. The learning format uses a case method, leveraging examples of successful impact investing strategies deployed by a diverse range of corporations, including: Patagonia Tin Shed Ventures Internal Fund, Clif Bar White Road Investments External Fund, Closed Loop Fund and Closed Loop Ventures Commingled Funds, Starbucks’ use of a green bond to upgrade its supply chain, TechSoup’s Direct Public Offering, and Wells Fargo’s and Nike Foundation’s use of an accelerator.
Dr. Stephanie Gripne, Impact Finance Center, CO Impact Days and Impact Investing Institute
Erika Murdock Balbuena, Amazon Web Services 
Claudine Emeott, Salesforce 
Ryan Macpherson, Autodesk Foundation
Ken Tsunoda, TechSoup
 

Outcomes-Based Financing

Pay for Success 2.0: The Next Generation of Outcomes-Based Funding
12:15 PM - 1:15 PM, Wed, Oct 23, 2019, Southside Theater
While early signs of the Pay for Success financing model were promising, a number of obstacles have emerged and prevented widespread uptake. These challenges include overly rigid deal structures, insufficient consideration of government contracting and non-profit operating realities, and lack of a strong infrastructure centered on outcomes. Come hear from social innovators who, through improved contracting, performance management, research, and payment structures, are advancing the next generation of outcomes-based funding.
Ian Galloway, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco 
Sindhu Lakshmanan, Living Cities 
Roger Low, America Forward at New Profit 
Sara Peters, MPP, Project Evident 
Angeli Weller, PhD, Weller Worldwide
 
Moving Beyond the Hype: What Works in Results-Based Finance for Health Outcomes
2:30 PM - 3:45 PM, Wed, Oct 23, 2019, C 210
Results-based financing (RBF) is becoming increasingly popular in the health arena. However, strong criticisms have been raised about these instruments, including that they are overly complex and increase transaction costs. To date, only a handful of projects have been attempted, but these have provided some interesting lessons. This session will candidly debate various results-based finance instruments, examine what has and hasn’t worked to date, and explore priorities moving forward.
Dianne Calvi, Village Enterprise 
Kusi Hornberger, Dalberg 
Omer Imtiazuddin, USAID 
Jake Segal, Social Finance
 
Divide, Conquer and Collaborate: The Case for Cross-Sectoral Outcomes-Based Funding
1:30 PM - 2:30 PM, Thu, Oct 24, 2019, Gallery 308
The way we find, train, and retain talent is rapidly evolving, yet we know little about which programs and practices are effective. This is the allure of outcomes-based funding: paying only for things that work. This panel will discuss an interlocking set of tools, from Social Impact Bonds (governments paying for achievement of policy goals), to Career Impact Bonds (learners paying for increased earnings) to Employer Impact Bonds (companies paying for better retention and advancement).
Stuart Andreason, PhD, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta 
Jake Edwards, Social Finance 
Isabelle Hau, Omidyar Network
Sarah Keh, Prudential Financial 
Justin Steele, Google.org
 

Arts & culture

The Next Big Thing? A Thousand Little Things: Arts, Culture, and Sustainable Economies
1:30 PM - 2:30 PM, Wed, Oct 23, 2019, SFMOMA Artists Gallery
Nature’s ecosystem services, such as breathable air, clean water, wildlife and aquatic life, are the direct and indirect contributions of ecosystems to support human’s quality of life. These services are being assigned monetary value in the trillions per year. This fascinating discussion will focus on how arts and culture are playing an increasing role in strategies and transitions that are moving from extraction to regeneration.
Aviva Kapust, The Village of Arts and Humanities
Tatewin Means, Thunder Valley CDC 
F. Javier Torres, Surdna Foundation 
Kaiton Williams, Impact America Fund
 
Saying No to Opioid Money is Not Enough: bringing $60 billion of arts organization endowments off the sidelines for impact investing.
Thurs Oct 24 , 2:45pm, Gallery 308
Museums have been in the news recently for declining donations tainted by opioids and tobacco, but no one is asking how U.S. arts organizations are investing their $60 billion in endowments. Libraries, museums, and performing arts organizations often anchor low income communities and many artists are warriors for social justice, so how can we get these endowed arts organizations off the sidelines and into impact investing?
Tom Campbell, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
Max Anderson, Souls Grown Deep Foundation)
Ravi Rajan, California Insitute of the Arts
Philippe Gaboriau, Louvre Fund
Laura Callanan, Upstart Co-Lab
Justina Lai, Wetherby Asset Management
 

Technology

Investing in Workforce Tech Without Losing Your Shirt
2:45 PM - 3:45 PM, Wed, Oct 23, 2019, Gallery 308
We’re entering a new era of innovation to ensure workers thrive in the age of automation. But as startups hustle to solve critical workforce issues, both tech entrepreneurs and investors are grappling with the role of philanthropy and impact investing to seed and scale the best ideas. We’ll explore the frontier of workforce tech, and debate the role different capital sources can play in jumpstarting successful worker-centric technologies and business models.
Amon Anderson, Acumen 
Elizabeth Garlow, Lumina Impact Ventures - Lumina Foundation 
Sonali Kothari, JFFLabs 
Jason Palmer, New Markets Venture Partners  
Jean Shia, Autodesk Foundation
 
Evolving Labor Market Models for the Future of Work
8:30 AM - 9:45 AM, Thu, Oct 24, 2019, C 210
The future of work is being shaped by both technological disruption and shifts in societal preferences. People and organizations will need to mitigate against the negative effects of disruption, especially for underskilled populations. This panel will discuss evolving labor market models, which are moving to close the enormous supply/demand gap between jobs and qualified workers. We’ll also cover what needs to change in our current conception, definition, and implementation of education to meet future job requirements.
Kerri Briggs, Ph.D., Cicero Social Impact 
Geoff Davis, Cicero Impact Capital 
Sarah Keh, Prudential Financial
 
Tech's Turn to Impact

8:30 AM - 9:45 AM, Thu, Oct 24, 2019, Cowell Theater Mainstage
Impact investors have long backed tech-powered solutions. Now, mainstream tech venture capitalists increasingly are targeting global social and environmental challenges as they search for world-positive companies and “impact alpha.” Tech’s turn toward impact has the potential to unlock exponential solutions, but raises new issues about accountability, community engagement, and unintended consequences. We’ll explore the opportunities, deals, and dangers.
David Bank, ImpactAlpha
Seth Bannon, Fifty Years
Maryanna Saenko, Future Ventures

& More

A Global Movement that Matters to Millions
 - , , Cowell Theater Mainstage
It will take collaboration from all of us, bravely exploring ideas and solutions, to solve the world’s toughest problems. Represented on stage and in the audience are efforts that are reaching millions and addressing complex systems like feeding 10 billion people by 2050 and pursuing equity and justice for all. Inspiring announcements and updates from across issue areas and geographies will kickstart the convening of this global ecosystem and marketplace.
Andrew Brower, W.K. Kellogg Foundation 
Sara Farley, The Rockefeller Foundation 
Tom Ferguson, Imagine H2O 
Nicholas Glicher, Thomson Reuters Foundation 
Marcos Gonzalez, VamosVentures Social Impact Fund 
Anna Lappé, Panta Rhea Foundation 
Raul Pomares, Sonen Capital 
Rod Robinson, Connxus, Inc. 
Manoj Sinha, Husk Power Systems 
Roy Steiner, Rockefeller Foundation
 
Anchors Aweigh: How & Why Anchor LPs Help Impact Fund Managers Get Started
 - , , Cowell Theater Mainstage
Who are today’s “impact anchors” and what is their role in the impact ecosystem? This panel brings together anchor LPs and impact fund managers to dive into this question from both the investor and investee perspective. Panelists will explore the responsibility of anchor investors to get fund managers into business, the risks they are and aren’t willing to take, and the creative ways they can shape the playbook for the next generation of anchor LPs.
Tony Berkley, Prudential
Kesha Cash, Impact America Fund 
Shawn Cole, Harvard Business School 
Shuaib Siddiqui, Surdna Foundation 
Marieke Spence, Impact Capital Managers
 
The Future of Capitalism
9:45 AM - 10:45 PM, Thu, Oct 24, 2019, Cowell Theater Mainstage
From climate change to gun violence, from rising populism to millennial activism - corporations, investors, and capitalists of every stripe are being asked to account for the role of capital in the global social order. But are we at an inflection point or a breaking point? Panelists will discuss how impact investing will reshape our political economy, and what this means for investors, asset managers, businesses, entrepreneurs, and citizens around the world.
Andrea Armeni, Transform Finance
Fran Seegull, U.S. Impact Investing Alliance
Shuaib Siddiqui, Surdna Foundation
 
The Missing Middle in the LDCs: How to Fill A Persistent Funding Gap
10:00 AM - 11:15 AM, Wed, Oct 23, 2019, C 205
Small and midsize enterprises (SMEs) in Least Developed Countries (LDCs) - many led by women - are chronically unable to secure startup or growth capital from local banks. Yet, local SMEs are engines of growth that can create jobs, build dynamic economies, and provide a path out of poverty for millions. Leaders from the impact investment and economic development space will share ideas for how to fill this funding gap in order to advance verifiable development impact in LDCs.
Pierre Berard, MCE Social Capital 
Emilie Debled, Investisseurs & Partenaires-I&P 
Richard Greenberg, OPIC
 
Democratizing Impact Investing… One Financial Advisor at a Time
11:00 AM - 12:00 PM, Wed, Oct 23, 2019, Cowell Theater Mainstage
Financial advisors play a key role in democratizing impact investing for the retail market. “Mass affluent” clients account for the majority of the $25 trillion in U.S. professionally managed assets, and these clients are supported by an army of over 310,000 advisors. This panel will explore the ways in which large institutions and new tech-based entrants are upping their game to provide advisors with impact investing access and education as never before.
Christina Leijonhufvud, Tideline 
Joshua Levin, OpenInvest 
Rehana Nathoo, Spectrum Impact
 
When Winners (Don't) Take All: Narratives and Tools for Economic Mobility
11:00 AM - 12:00 PM, Wed, Oct 23, 2019,  Southside Theater
Issues like growing inequality and the extreme effects of climate change suggest that our economic system is failing. We’ll look at the history and limits of the current paradigm and hear from leaders who have combined the best of the public, private, and people sectors to address disparities. Panelists will discuss income share agreements, alternative ownership models, investing for racial equity, and more. Together, we can forge a new economic narrative to reshape our future.
Joelle Gamble, Omidyar Network 
Brinda Ganguly, Living Cities 
Brendan Martin, The Working World, Inc. 
Carol Tan, New York City Economic Development Corporation
 
Innovative Lending to Catalyze Employment Enterprises
8:30 AM - 9:30 AM, Thu, Oct 24, 2019, Firehouse
Employment social enterprises (ESE’s) are revenue-generating businesses that employ, train and support people striving to overcome serious employment barriers. Like any business, ESE’s need flexible capital to grow. Traditional lenders and even impact investors haven’t caught up with the potential so new models are emerging to deliver the capital and advisory services needed to accelerate the movement. Join innovative lenders to learn why ESE is a smart investment, and what other investors can do to get involved. 
Sindhu Lakshmanan, Living Cities 
Emilie Linick, REDF Impact Investing Fund 
Reed Mayfield, RSF Social Finance
 
The Business Case for Gender Lens Investing: Calibrating Investor and Entrepreneur Expectations
8:30 AM - 9:45 AM, Thu, Oct 24, 2019, Gallery Tent
The business case for bringing a gender lens to investing has been established. Entrepreneurs and investors understand that empowering women and ensuring gender equity leads to improved business performance. However, putting this into practice can be challenging and costly for entrepreneurs, not always equipped with the tools, skills and resources needed to make changes to their businesses. Should the impact investing sector pioneer these practices into mainstream investing? Examples of companies and best practices included.
Nicole Etchart, NESsT 
Katie Naeve, Root Capital 
Jessica Villanueva, MEDA 
Yasmina Zaidman, Acumen
 
Deconstructing Impact Jargon: A Workshop on Social Enterprise Legal Structure
10:00 AM - 11:15 PM, Thu, Oct 24, 2019, Gallery Tent
This workshop will provide an overview of the various social enterprise legal structures available to entrepreneurs and investors. Panelists will explore why corporate form matters for mission-driven organizations and how legal structure can be a tool to embed impact into deals through several diverse case studies.
Aviva Aminova, Omidyar Network
Jennifer Barnette, Cooley LLP
Joel Beck-Coon, Humanity United
Sushil Jacob, Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights
 
Walking a Mile in Their Shoes: An Experiential Networking Game Around Financial Inclusion and Resource Access
11:30 AM - 12:45 PM, Thu, Oct 24, 2019, Gallery Tent
This session will explore the themes of inequality, privilege, and financial exclusion through an interactive networking game of working together and trading resources. We’ll explain the rules and set everyone loose for 20-minutes of fast-paced action. Afterwards, we’ll debrief and discuss our shared experience. Join us for this fun and engaging session where you’ll make new friends and learn something as well! (Note: please arrive within the first five minutes to participate)
Danielle Burns, MBA, AIF, CNote  
Becca Shepherd, Tides
 
Within Reach: New Vehicles that Bridge Philanthropy and Impact Investing
2:45 PM - 3:45 PM, Thu, Oct 24, 2019, SFMOMA Artists Gallery
The most cutting-edge foundations are making headlines with billion-dollar impact investing commitments, yet these commitments often represent less than 1% of their assets. What is keeping them from investing more across their charitable portfolios and endowments? For many, impact investing requires new skills, involves taking uncomfortable risk, and raises internal confusion. This session examines intermediary-based approaches and partnerships that leverage outsourced investment capacity, maintain charitable compliance, and foster collaboration to bring impact investing within reach.
Alejandra Castillo, YWCA USA
Kate McAdams, Arabella Advisors
William Towns, Ph.D, MBA, Benefit Chicago
Jeffrey Usher, Kansas Health Foundation 
 
Stakeholders to Investors: The New Funding Model for NGOs and Social Enterprises
2:45 PM - 3:45 PM, Thu, Oct 24, 2019, SFAI Seminar 2
Learn how the global nonprofit social enterprise, TechSoup, flipped its funding model to raise capital, deepen community engagement, and grow revenue. TechSoup is the first SEC-qualified nonprofit to raise funds nationally through a Reg A+/Tier 2 offering. Using several investment vehicles, including a Direct Public Offering (DPO), they raised $8 million of growth capital in less than a year. A must-see session for nonprofits and social entrepreneurs seeking new capital-raising strategies.
Jessamine Chin, VMware
John Katovich, Cutting Edge Counsel
Rebecca Masisak, TechSoup
Kayley McSprint, Microsoft
 
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