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Please just watch this video. Then share it…

March 31st, 2012 - Posted by Jonathan Jenkins to
Description
"Return to Capital" report and video launch by Panahpur
Why is this interesting?
This report by one of the UK's progressive foundations is well worth reading. But the main reason I have added this is the 5 minute introductory video. It is stunning. It simply sums up exactly why I chose to work in this space, mirrors my own personal journey and my "calling" for finding a different way of using the capital markets. A video that I have sent to all my sceptical friends and peers just to make them pause and think. Well worth 5 mins of your life to watch. Inspired me, bolstered my spirits beyond belief. It is a bit of Jerry Maguire Mission Statement for me...
 



Financing The Greater Good - Forbes

March 30th, 2012 - Posted by Chenoa Farnsworth to
Description
Approximately one mile from the Honolulu airport sits Kuhio Park Terrace (KPT). Home to low-income families living in two 16 story high-rise towers and fourteen low-rise buildings, KPT is one of the few remaining public housing high-rise communities west of the Rockies.   The corroded trash chutes, ripped-out fire alarms, leaking ceilings [...]
Why is this interesting?
Great to see impact investment dollars being put to work in Hawaii. This article really got me - one of my first jobs out of college was working with a local non-profit at KPT - the realities of poverty are with you every day at this place.
 

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Sustainability Needs Cities – Blog | SustainAbility

March 30th, 2012 - Posted by Chenoa Farnsworth to
Description
Sustainability needs cities as much as cities need sustainability.
Why is this interesting?
I think this goes to the heart of the localization movement as well. Not only is local an important strategy for sustainability - it is also critical to bring the impact investment movement to our cities - to localize our relationship with financial resources and create new opportunities for interaction between impact investor and social entrepreneur in our communities. This is the only way we will obtain enough critical mass and widespread adoption of sustainable principals to create real change.
 

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Micro-Bias: If You Want a Kiva Loan, It Helps to Be Pretty and Light-Skinned - Business - GOOD

March 30th, 2012 - Posted by Antony Bugg-Levine to
Description
Alex Goldmark, continues a run of fascinating articles for Good, with a report on how unintentional bias creeps into investment decisions on micro-lending sites like Kiva.
Why is this interesting?
Impact investing, especially through retail platforms like Kiva, gives the owners of capital (rather than development bureaucrats) the power to decide who gets money. If impact investing is going to contribute to creating a more just and vibrant society, we need to ensure that we understand and overcome our own biases that might otherwise lead us to make investment decisions that either fail to transform society or, even worse, exacerbate social problems. This article, and the behavioral economics understanding it draws on, shows how hard it is to get this right. As Thelma (of ...and Louise fame) said: this is some tricky sh-t!
 

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Learning from Microfinances Woes - Randall Kempner - Harvard Business Review

March 30th, 2012 - Posted by Antony Bugg-Levine to
Description
Randall Kempner, head of the Aspen Network for Development Entrepreneurs, asks whether impact investors and supports of entrepreneur-led development have as solid evidence to back up our claims of impact as we would like to believe
Why is this interesting?
Too rarely in our field do we see a leader like Randall willing to concede that our evidence for our impact is not completely solid. And too rarely do we allow ourselves to share our own intellectual (and emotional) vulnerability openly. We should celebrate Randall for doing both and value the ideas his article (and the comments) raise.
 

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