December 2019 | Field News & Resources
This page features this month's highlights, announcements, and general news related to advancements in the impact investing field.
- A group of foundations launched the $12.5 million Tipping Point Fund, which will provide catalytic grant capital in areas of field building unlikely to be financed through market activity alone. Inaugural funders are Ford Foundation, Omidyar Network, Rockefeller Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, Packard Foundation, Surdna Foundation, Blue Haven Initiative, Rockefeller Brothers Fund and Visa Foundation. The U.S. Impact Investing Alliance will assist in managing the fund’s operations.
- The Kresge and George Gund foundations have invested in Arctaris Impact Investors, which is building a social impact fund of as much as $50 million to address the needs of Northeast Ohio's undercapitalized manufacturing companies, Crain’s Cleveland Business reports. Kresge's guarantee will provide capital to communities in need of revitalization, especially those in eligible Opportunity Zones that have suffered from systemic undercapitalization. The Gund Foundation has committed to a 10-year, $500,000 low-interest loan.
- The Russell Family Foundation has made three impact investments totaling $6 million and awarded six grants totaling $380,000. The investments support a variety of place-based efforts in the Puget Sound Region, including community development and organic agriculture.
- Federal regulators took another step toward overhauling the Community Reinvestment Act regulatory framework, with federal agencies issuing a notice of proposed changes to CRA rules, Opportunity Finance Network reports.
- Facing media scrutiny about wealthy developers influencing and benefiting from the Opportunity Zone program, a group of senators rolled out a bill to expand OZ reporting requirements, The Hill reports.
- Forbes debuted its OZ 20: The Top Opportunity Zone Catalysts, comprised of 10 trailblazing community organizations and 10 innovative OZ funds. Sorenson Impact Center judged the finalists based on a framework that prioritizes community benefit and engagement, transparency and impact.
- The $289 million Louvre Endowment Fund, entrusted with the upkeep of one of the world’s oldest art collections, has invested in an impact fund that will help preserve historical buildings and environmental parks, Bloomberg reports.
- The Coca-Cola Foundation awarded a $1 million grant to Girls Who Invest, a New York–based nonprofit committed to getting more women into the money-management business by providing training and job-placement assistance, Crain’s New York reports.
- The Economist explores the trends in economic research into the causes and consequences of surging inequality across the rich world.
- This Wired profile of Italian-American economist Mariana Mazzucato looks at what she learned about just how central a role government has played in technological innovation and how her findings have influenced political leaders in the US and abroad.
- Nonprofit newservice Crosscut examines how Catholic shareholders, including Mercy Investment Services, aim to change America’s largest private prison companies, in their roles as shareholders.
- Cynthia Muller, Director of Mission Investment at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, speaks with The Wharton School Impact Initiative podcast about the unique position corporate foundations have in addressing systemic inequities.
- Cornerstone Capital’s CEO, Erika Karp, helps CNBC unravel the nuances of ESG investment funds and gender lens investing.
- Dr. Carmen Rojas, who becomes president and CEO of the Marguerite Casey Foundation in 2020, writes about the responsibility of her new role and philanthropy’s need for bold dreams.
- Andrés Spokoiny, president and CEO of Jewish Funders Network, shares the experience of Jewish philanthropic organizations following the last recession and warns of the need to be ready for the next.
- This Omidyar Network resource offers families in the initial stages of exploring impact investing a guide to building an investment team.
- This Ten Years’ Time report, Climate Change & Social Change, offers a guide as to how funders can invest in both.
- Invest for Better hosted a webinar, Making the Most out of an Invest for Better Circle, form small communities of women committed to increasing their knowledge and participation in values-aligned and impact investing.
- Joe Milam of The Legacy Funds provides insight into Place-Based Impact Investing in The Need for Localized Risk (Venture) Capital: Place-Based Impact Investing, published in the The Journal of Private Equity.
People Moves & News
If your organization has a personnel announcement to share, please email Rebecca Price at [email protected].
- Sue Desmond-Hellmann, CEO of The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is stepping down after more than five years in the role. The foundation has appointed Mark Suzman, President of Global Policy & Advocacy and chief strategy officer, to replace her. Suzman, who joined the foundation in 2007, will assume his new role on February 1, 2020.
- Joel Wittenberg, Chief Investment Officer at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, received the Foundation 2019 Industry Innovation Award.
-
McKnight Foundation welcomes Nichol Higdon as Vice President of Finance and Operations.
Impact Jobs
Share jobs with the Mission Investors Exchange community here!
- Social Finance is seeking a Managing Director to lead their team and realize their mission to mobilize capital to drive social progress.
- Indiana Philanthropy Alliance is seeking a Vice President of Community Foundation Programs to provide leadership for the training and technical assistance program associated with Lilly Endowment’s Giving Indiana Funds for Tomorrow (GIFT) initiative for Indiana community foundations.
- The Miami Foundation is seeking a President and Chief Executive Officer.
- Mosaic Fellowship is open for applications, part of the Impact Capital Managers commitment to build a pipeline of diverse, skilled talent in the alternative investment industry.