Engaging Investment Committees and Boards in Advancing Impact: Takeaways from the Jessie Ball duPont Fund
by Mari Kuraishi, President, Jessie Ball duPont Fund
Mari Kuraishi, President of the Jessie Ball duPont Fund, spoke at the 2024 Mission Investors Exchange National Conference to share insight on engaging committees and boards to advance impact investing. This post covers session highlights and key takeaways.
Following the Great Recession of 2008, the Jessie Ball duPont Fund (the duPont Fund) began its impact investing journey after it lost $90 million, a third of its endowment, in just 90 days. In addition to increasing our grantmaking to more than the statutory 5%, this crisis spurred our Board of Trustees to engage in impact investing as a means to increase the benefit we could provide to the communities we serve. In addition, Jessie Ball duPont’s will, which guides our trust, gives us specific allowance to invest without necessarily maximizing financial benefit. While returns are on par with other private foundations of our size (according to the Council on Foundations–Commonfund Study of Investment of Endowments for Private and Community Foundations), this allowance permits us to consider more opportunities that might be ignored if we were guided solely to maximize return.
We started with program-related investments (PRIs) focused on supporting preservation and development of affordable housing. It took us a while to expand to mission-related investments (MRIs), as our regular investment advisors did not embrace the concept. About a decade later, we engaged an outside investment advisor to recommend MRIs.
With both PRIs and MRIs, we started small and experimented with investment types. For example, we provided low-interest PRI loans to community development financial institutions focused on affordable housing and small business lending. Over time, we learned that bridge loans to nonprofits against government reimbursements could also benefit the community.
Today, the duPont Fund’s portfolio dedicated to impact investing has grown from about a third of the endowment to more than half. We’re proud to be among a small group of foundations that have achieved that milestone.
Our Commitment to Equity
These investments are influenced by, and wholly consistent with, our commitment to equity. Our investments reflect a mix of passive ESG investments and active participation in new funds through partners that help us meet our equity goals, including Center Creek Housing Fund, Illumen Capital and SustainVC. As another example, the duPont Fund established the JAX Microfinance Fund (JMF), which invests via innovative, non-predatory online platforms supporting entrepreneurs and small businesses. The first JMF investment was in Honeycomb Credit, a loan crowdfunding platform that provides local entrepreneurs the capital they need to grow and expand. 95%of the small businesses receiving loans so far have been owned by women and/or people of color. You can learn more about all of our impact investments via our Impact Investing Dashboard.
For other foundations that are looking to drive outcomes through impact investing, here are some key tenets of the duPont Fund’s experience:
Internal Alignment and Clear Goals
The duPont Fund’s impact investing portfolio is overseen by our Director of Impact Investing, Chris Crothers. Chris actively participates in finance and endowment conversations between trustees and outside investment advisors. In this role, he is responsible for conversations around impact investments with staff and trustees to ensure open, transparent communication and alignment of the impact investing portfolio with the duPont Fund’s corpus, as well as its mission and goals. In 2021, when our Trustees approved a $50 million carveout to devote to impact investing, we recognized the need for dedicated impact advisors to reduce staff time and effort spent on filling our deal pipeline for MRIs and to manage that carveout. When we internally aligned on clear goals and expectations for our investments, these outside advisors had a better view of our mission – leading to stronger alignment in our finances and values. Learn more about our goals on the Impact Investing Dashboard.
Collaboration with the Board of Trustees
In addition to Chris’ role in overseeing the portfolio, the Board of Trustees has been involved since the beginning. Not only did they lead the decision to begin impact investing, they also determined thematic guidelines for PRIs, such as affordable housing, community facilities and small business development. The Trustees also collaborated with staff to align MRIs with the duPont Fund’s mission, centered around the following categories: equitable & inclusive economy; health & education; place & community; and climate & sustainability.
Dedication to Building the Field
Through transparent communication and collaboration among staff, Board and outside advisors, the portfolio continues to grow and be a catalyst for positive change in the communities we serve. Our openness to learning new approaches and support from peer groups like Mission Investors Exchange and the Northeast Florida Impact Investing Exchange also helps us drive our mission forward.
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About the Jessie Ball duPont Fund
The Jessie Ball duPont Fund is a private foundation that works to expand access to opportunity and create inclusive growth for the people, organizations and communities that Jessie Ball duPont knew and loved. We envision a world in which every member of those communities feels they belong, and is engaged in shaping the future of their community. We use our grantmaking, investments, research and partnerships to increase equitable access to opportunities and resources for members of society who have historically been excluded, and placemaking to build stronger communities where all voices are heard and valued. Learn more at www.dupontfund.org.