Impact Investing Opportunities in the Creative Economy: New Money + Meaning Podcast

Community Development, Interviews, Podcast, Racial Equity

Laura Callanan and her organization Upstart Co-Lab are working to convince investors that they have a tremendous opportunity to drive impact through investments in the arts, culture, and heritage-based businesses that make up the creative economy. Souls Grown Deep is a Foundation and Community Partnership dedicated to documenting, preserving, and promoting the cultural traditions and work of African American artists from the South. Under the leadership of Maxwell Anderson, Souls Grown Deep has partnered with Upstart Co-Lab to invest $1M in opportunities that align with their mission. On this episode, Lindsay Smalling interviews Callanan and Anderson about their partnership and the opportunities that creative lens investing offers for investors, museums, creatives, and communities.

Racial Equity, Social Justice, and Political Power: Alicia Garza, Rashad Robinson, and Javier Torres in Conversation on the New Money + Meaning Podcast

Podcast, Racial Equity, SOCAP19

In this episode, Javier Torres of the Surdna Foundation leads a conversation on what it will take to achieve racial equity with Black Lives Matter co-creator and Principal of the Black Futures Lab Alicia Garza and Rashad Robinson, President of Color of Change. They discuss how, in order to achieve real, lasting change, the conversation must move beyond income and wealth disparity and begin to address disparities in power.

Crystal Echo Hawk and Nick Tilsen on the Invisibility of Native Peoples and the Transformative Power of Indigenous-Led Narrative Change, Philanthropy, and Impact

Indigenous, Interviews, Podcast, Racial Equity

Invisibility and harmful stereotypes are two of the biggest challenges facing Indigenous people today. According to research conducted by The Reclaiming Native Truth Project, nearly 80% of Americans know little to nothing about contemporary Native peoples, which leads to systemic bias, racism, and neglect of Indigenous communities. On this episode, Lindsay Smalling talks with Crystal Echo Hawk and Nick Tilsen, two Indigenous leaders who head organizations working to change the narrative and the status quo in order to help Indigenous communities thrive. They discuss their efforts to bring about widespread narrative change, concrete examples of why it is such an exciting time to make big investments and big impact in Indian country, and where their movements are headed in the future.

How Access, Inclusion, and Impact can Close the Racial Wealth Gap: Highlights from SPECTRUM on Money + Meaning Episode 29

Podcast, Racial Equity, SOCAP Highlights

Despite bring the the fastest-growing population of American entrepreneurs, founders of color are systematically under-recognized and under-resourced in America today. How can we begin to build new systems that will support entrepreneurs of color? What will it take to build an inclusive impact economy? This past June, SOCAP convened the first ever SPECTRUM event in Atlanta to discuss these challenges and begin building an action plan to solve them. In this episode, we offer a selection of inspirational and insightful moments recorded live at SPECTRUM.

Driving Impact in Opportunity Zones at the Kresge Foundation on Episode 27 of SOCAP’s Money + Meaning Podcast

Community Development, Interviews, Opportunity Zones, Podcast, Racial Equity

The new Opportunity Zone legislation is expected to drive billions of dollars of investment into low income communities around the country. Yet, with limited oversight, this capital has as much potential to harm communities as is does to benefit them. In an effort to set a precedent for transparency in this new space, the Kresge Foundation has recently committed $22 million to two Opportunity Funds in exchange for higher levels of reporting and accountability. In this episode, Rip Rapson, President and CEO of the Kresge Foundation, and Kresge Social Investment Officer Aaron Seybert discuss the innovative way the foundation is working to shape OZ investment.