May 2022 | Field News & Resources
This page features this month's highlights, announcements, resources, and general news related to advancements in the impact investing field.
- A climate action plan by Boston Common Asset Management pledges to align investment strategies and firm activities to achieve portfolio emissions goals of net zero and global warming no greater than 1.5°C by 2050.
- An article in Stanford Social Innovation Review by Daniel Heimpel calls for rethinking of how municipal, state, and federal government funding is used to support the creation of more affordable and homeless housing. Heimpel argues for an increased use of catalytic public loans and guarantees to attract more philanthropic and market investors to help address this critical need.
- An initiative by Hispanics in Philanthropy’s impact fund, Inicio Ventures, is helping advance equity, capital and resources to Hispanic startups by building an open-source registry and spotlighting a list of Latino startup founders. The aim of the registry and the list is to make Hispanic startup founders more visible to investors who traditionally source opportunities through venture accelerators or through their own personal networks.
- McKnight Foundation CEO Tonya Allen reflects on what’s possible two years after the murder of George Floyd, pointing to the self-interrogation that has taken place in Minnesota and announcing the GroundBreak Coalition to activate $2 billion for homeownership, rental housing, commercial development, and BIPOC entrepreneurship.
- The California Health Foundation reports on a million dollar investment from its Innovation Fund into digital healthcare start up Laudio, which aims to improve retention of nursing staff at hospitals nationwide, a particularly acute challenge from the pandemic. The Innovation Fund supports the foundation’s strategy for all Californians to have access to the care they need.
- MacArthur Foundation, McKnight Foundation and The Kresge Foundation provided a program-related investment of $13 million in catalytic capital to Inclusive Prosperity Capital to support capitalization and deployment of clean energy upgrades across the US. The investments advance both clean energy solutions and climate justice.
- The Alabama Power Foundation, the corporate foundation of Alabama’s largest public utility, is incubating benefit corporations in hopes it will lead to a pipeline of companies in which they can make impact investments. The Foundation is also working to expand co-investment opportunities and to grow Alabama’s impact investing network through education and engagement of Alabama stakeholders.
- Graham Macmillan, President of Visa Foundation is one of four panelists discussing corporate philanthropy strategies to serve communities at the Milken Institute Global Conference. Building on the 2019 Business Roundtable redefinition of the purpose of the corporation and company pledges made in 2020 in response to renewed focus on racial injustice, the discussion focuses on what is driving corporate philanthropy now, and what is needed to ensure accountability.
- Coastal Enterprises (CEI), Partner Community Capital and Self-Help Credit Union have collaborated to publish a step-by-step guide to help other CDFIs disclose their greenhouse gas emissions, as part of a global movement encouraging financial institutions to report on their climate impacts.
- The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation committed to a $10 million anchor investment in Living Cities to launch the Catalyst Fund III, a $100 million fund to support the ecosystem for high-growth entrepreneurs and business owners of color, recognizing that business ownership is a proven pathway to closing the racial wealth gap.
- Prime Coalition’s new report, Barriers to the Timely Deployment of Climate Infrastructure, discusses how to bridge the financing gap for climate entrepreneurs in the later stages of development. The report, funded in part by MIE member The Schmidt Family Foundation’s Schmidt Futures initiative, makes the case for catalytic capital pooled with growth capital and project finance, depending on the gap being addressed.
