On our podcast, we expand the conversation around impact investing, strategies to finance & support social change, unlikely partnerships across sectors, and how to utilize the tools of the capital markets for a greater good.
Don’t miss out! Subscribe to Money + Meaning on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn, Spotify, or anywhere else you find podcasts. Margret Trilli, CEO of ImpactAssets, talks about their work channeling both impact investment and…
Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe to Money + Meaning on Apple Music, Stitcher, TuneIn, or Spotify.
Don’t miss out! Subscribe to Money + Meaning on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn, Spotify, or anywhere else you find podcasts. Margret Trilli, CEO of ImpactAssets, talks about their work channeling both impact investment and…
Don’t miss out! Subscribe to Money + Meaning on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn, Spotify, or anywhere else you find podcasts. Casey van der Stricht talks about MIT Solve’s new philanthropic venture fund, Solve Innovation…
Don’t miss out! Subscribe to Money + Meaning on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn, Spotify, or anywhere else you find podcasts. Sasha Dichter of 60 Decibels talks about centering customer voice to uncover business insights…
Don’t miss out! Subscribe to Money + Meaning on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn, Spotify, or anywhere else you find podcasts. Episode 52 of Money + Meaning featuring Joy Anderson of the Criterion Institute “Finance…
Don’t miss out! Subscribe to Money + Meaning on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn, Spotify, or anywhere else you find podcasts. Beth Bafford of Calvert Impact Capital walks through her experience shifting her personal portfolio…
Don’t miss out! Subscribe to Money + Meaning on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn, Spotify, or anywhere else you find podcasts. Rehana Nathoo of Spectrum Impact provides an overview of the field of impact investing…
Antony Bugg-Levine of the Nonprofit Finance Fund talks about the evolution of impact investing and the direct line between the civil rights movement and modern impact investing. Don’t miss out!…
A new episode of Money + Meaning, SOCAP’s podcast is now available! Don’t miss out! Subscribe to Money + Meaning on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn, Spotify, or anywhere else you find podcasts. Joe…
A new episode of Money + Meaning, SOCAP’s podcast is now available! Don’t miss out! Subscribe to Money + Meaning on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn, Spotify, or anywhere else you find podcasts. Allen Woods…
A new episode of Money + Meaning, SOCAP’s podcast, is now available! Listen Don’t miss out! Subscribe to Money + Meaning on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn, Spotify, or anywhere else…
A new episode of Money + Meaning, SOCAP’s podcast, is now available! Listen Don’t miss out! Subscribe to Money + Meaning on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn, Spotify, or anywhere else…
A new episode of Money + Meaning, SOCAP’s podcast, is now available! Listen Don’t miss out! Subscribe to Money + Meaning on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn, Spotify, or anywhere else…
A new episode of Money + Meaning, SOCAP’s podcast, is now available! Listen Don’t miss out! Subscribe to Money + Meaning on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn, Spotify, or anywhere else…
A new episode of Money + Meaning, SOCAP’s podcast, is now available! Listen Don’t miss out! Subscribe to Money + Meaning on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn, Spotify, or anywhere else…
How can technology help extend access to financial services to the 1.7 billion unbanked people in the world? In the latest episode of Money and Meaning, Lindsay Smalling interviews Kiva’s Chief Strategy Officer, Matthew Davie, about some of their new solutions to the challenges of financial exclusion. Davie talks about Kiva Protocol and other new ways they are working to change the underlying system in order to expand access to capital in emerging markets.
In this episode, Joan Larrea, CEO of Convergence, explains how blended finance can accelerate solutions to poverty, hunger, and the other SDGs. She also talks about the future of the blended finance industry and why we need to really hustle to get on a billions to trillions trajectory if we are to achieve the SDGs on time.
TechSoup was the first nonprofit in the US to launch a national direct public offering (DPO). In the year since the launch of this growth capital campaign, they have raised over $8 million, with individual investments ranging from $50 to $1 million. In this episode, Alex Kravitz has a conversation with Rebecca Masisak and Ken Tsunoda about their unique approach to fundraising, lessons they have learned from the experience, and how the DPO has helped TechSoup grow and strengthen their community.
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.
For the final episode of 2019, we bring you highlights from the SOCAP19 mainstage. The theme that ties each of this episode’s featured highlights together is that they all demonstrate the power of cross-sector collaboration. The clips highlight examples of ways that leaders from across the global marketplace have been working together in innovative ways to solve some of the greatest challenges of our time.
The evolution of microfinance from radical idea to global industry was surprisingly fast, sometimes messy, and filled with successes and failures. Despite numerous challenges, microfinance grew into a global industry that has helped lift millions of people out of poverty. As impact investing continues to move into the mainstream, what can the industry learn from the early days of microfinance?
Though no one can predict exactly how automation, robotics, and other emerging technologies will shape the future of work, we can be sure that workers will need to be able to quickly learn new skills in order to compete. Each panelist shares their unique approach to investing in the future of work, data and trends that are driving their strategies, and the solutions they are investing in to help ensure that workers are not left behind.
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.
Fran Seegull is the Executive Director of the U.S. Impact Investing Alliance, an organization spun out of the G7 Social Impact Investment Taskforce to raise awareness and grow demand for impact investing across America. In this episode, Lindsay Smalling has a conversation with Seegull that offers insight into the history and growth of the field, including many of the most important watershed moments and policy landmarks, and offers her perspective on the mainstreaming of impact investing. She also discusses both critiques of the field and the recent Business Roundtable announcement expanding the purpose of a corporation to be about serving all stakeholders, not just shareholders.
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.
At the intersection of democracy, impact investing, and progressive media, you will find New Media Ventures (NMV). This organization is a nonprofit seed fund and angel network working to create positive change across America by investing in entrepreneurs and activists “wrestling with the biggest challenges facing our democracy.” By investing solely to maximize impact, whether into nonprofits or for-profits, NMV is working to address fundamental challenges to democracy and to correct systemic power imbalances. In this episode, Lindsay Smalling sits down with Julie Menter, Managing Director of New Media Ventures.
For any community development initiative to achieve the desired positive outcomes, impact investors must design with communities instead of for them. Opportunity Zones, even with the recent criticism, are still seen as a way to drive investments that will build wealth and create social impact in marginalized communities. How can the great community development work that is being done at the local level be connected with big top-down policies like Opportunity Zones? This episode, recorded live in Baltimore, features a cross-sector panel of community leaders, investors, and OZ experts exploring inclusive community development.
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.
Foundations traditionally have grant-making staff and endowment investing staff that operate entirely independent of each other. How can we move past this traditional “two-pocket thinking” to utilize the full spectrum of capital - not just grants and market-rate investments - to better align a foundation’s entire portfolio with their desired impact outcomes? In this episode, Dr. Stephanie Gripne of the Impact Finance Center and Teresa Ish of the Walton Family Foundation discuss the work they are doing in this space and why creating sustainable fisheries requires innovative financing structures.
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.
Cooperatives hold incredible promise to build wealth in marginalized communities and reduce the racial wealth gap but myths and misconceptions about alternative ownership models are common. Many lenders and investors are skeptical of cooperatively-owned businesses or find them too “risky” to qualify for investment. This episode, recorded live at a SOCAP 365 event in Baltimore, is a panel discussion about the promise of the cooperative model to create social and economic change, including frank observations about the challenges that often prevent these businesses from securing investment or achieving success at scale.
How can innovative financial technologies help marginalized and underserved communities manage their personal finances and build wealth over time? In this episode of Money and Meaning, host Alex Kravitz talks to Marcia Chong Rosado of Village Capital, an accelerator for social enterprises, and Ramona Ortega, Founder of My Money My Future, a platform providing personal financial guidance for millennials of color who have been overlooked by traditional financial institutions.
On prior episodes of Money + Meaning, we have explored ways innovative ideas generated by unlikely allies can create change across institutions and communities. But what about the systemic level? Could conversations between people of different perspectives and backgrounds lead to more equitable economies or systems of government? In this episode, host Lindsay Smalling has a conversation that addresses these questions with unlikely allies who are working on civic engagement and democratic initiatives from two very different institutions: The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Mitch Kapor is fond of saying, “genius is evenly distributed by ZIP Code, but opportunity is not.” So, in 2011 Mitch and his wife, Freada Kapor Klein, set out to tackle this issue by investing in seed stage tech startups closing gaps of access, opportunity, or outcome for low-income communities and communities of color in the US. After more than 100 investments over eight years, Kapor Capital has not only been been able to generate gap-closing social impact, but has done so while achieving financial returns in the top quartile among VC funds of similar size. In this episode, Mitch shares lessons learned from his journey into impact investing and tries to dispel harmful biases still embedded in the VC community.
MPOWERD is an innovative solar light manufacturer recently named one as one of the Real Leaders 100 most impactful companies in the world. Their mission is to sustainably provide clean, safe, and affordable solar lighting to everyone. In this episode of Money + Meaning, host Alex Kravitz interviews Seungah Jeong and John Salzinger about their own journeys to impact and the inspiring ways MPOWERD products are helping people around the globe.
This week’s episode is a conversation with impact investing pioneer Dave Kirkpatrick of SJF Ventures and Impact Capital Managers. Dave was at the forefront of the impact investing industry when he co-founded SJF Ventures back in 1999. Originally the Sustainable Jobs Fund, SJF has grown from a $17 million first fund to the recent $125 million close of fund four. In this conversation, host Alex Kravitz asks Dave about his longevity in the industry, how his investment philosophy has evolved over the lifecycle of his four funds, and how the industry has changed over his 20 years as an investor.
Two-thirds of the workforce in the United States lacks a college degree. With many companies and job platforms screening candidates based on education, a significant number of smart, hard-working people are locked out of the job market. In this episode of Money + Meaning, Lindsay Smalling interviews Yscaira Jimenez and Orrian Willis of TechSF about the insights they can offer into this challenge and the details of their innovative partnership, as well as the impacts they are seeing the program create for workers, employers, and communities.
On this week’s episode of Money + Meaning, recorded live at the SOCAP 365 PNW event in Seattle, you’ll hear Sayer Jones, Director of Mission Related Investing for Meyer Memorial Trust, Lisa Yancey, Co-Founder of The We’s Match, and Stephen Green, Founder of PitchBlack, in a candid and realistic conversation about what it will take to close the racial wealth gap.
What happens when the people who live and work in a community are able to pool capital then collectively decide how to use those funds for the betterment of everyone in their community? The Boston Ujima Project is answering that question by blending grassroots organizing with finance to build an equitable, community-based local economy. In this episode, Lindsay Smalling sits down with Aaron Tanaka and Lucas Turner-Owens of The Boston Ujima Project about how their project evolved, how they are using the power of cross-sector collaboration to solve challenges and build wealth at the local level, and the impact they are seeing in the communities they serve.
Tens of millions of American lack access to healthy, affordable food, resulting in negative health outcomes and slowing economic development across the country. Despite their potential for creating tremendous social and economic impact, these “good food entrepreneurs” and their ventures often face significant barriers to success. In this episode, we take a close look at The Michigan Good Food Fund, a $30 million public-private partnership loan fund that offers patient capital and business support to businesses that increase access to affordable, healthy food in low-income and underserved communities in Michigan.
As user data collection has evolved from web data to mobile to ubiquitous environmental sensing, important questions are being raised about data usage, consumer privacy, and corporate transparency. Topics discussed include: Who owns the vast amounts of personal data that are being collected today? Is privacy becoming something that only the rich can afford? Has user behavior created an economic incentive for companies to care about data and privacy breaches? How are governments attempting to regulate “big data”? This discussion features Erika Karp, the founder and CEO of Cornerstone Capital, an impact investing firm, Sonia Katyal, the Chancellor’s Professor of Law at UC Berkeley and the Co-Director of the Berkeley Center for Law & Technology, and Timothy Morey, the VP of Strategy for frog design, a global design and strategy consulting firm.
For generations, people from all backgrounds have come to the US in pursuit of the American Dream: opportunity, access, resources and ultimately ownership. Yet many minorities are systematically excluded from drivers of wealth, such as home ownership and entrepreneurship. As a result, the racial wealth gap is widening, with predictions that by 2020 the median white household will own 86x more wealth than its black counterpart, and 68x more wealth than its Latino one. This panel explores systemic issues that have led to this inequity, why catalyzing wealth creation for communities of color should be a national imperative, and how we can invest in historically marginalized communities.
The textile and apparel industry is among the world’s most extractive and environmentally damaging industries, accounting for 10% of global CO2 emissions and 20% of industrial wastewater. This episode of Money + Meaning, a live recording from SOCAP18, explores circular fashion innovations that are working to turn the industry from extractive to regenerative.
Season 2 of Money + Meaning kicks off with a special episode featuring luminaries from the SOCAP18 main stage including Anand Giridharadas, Joy Anderson, Joan Carling, Mitch Kapor, and Amit Bhatia. Themes include gender lens investing, the racial wealth gap, indigenous rights, distinguishing real change from fake change, and how complex power structures underlie all these important discussions.
Unlikely Allies: Capital Impact Partners & Mission: Launch are working to address the link between mass incarceration and deep poverty by creating pathways to build financial health for returning citizens.
Live panel from “Investing to End Poverty” — featuring speakers from Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, PIDC, Wash Cycle Laundry, GreenLight Fund, Esperanza US, and Triskeles Foundation.
Excerpts from SOCAP15, SOCAP16, and SOCAP17 mainstage speakers, in celebration of the SOCAP18 happening in San Francisco this week. Tune in to live stream on our website!
Live panel from “Pay for Success: What’s Brilliant and What’s Broken” — featuring speakers from Corporation for Supportive Housing, City of Seattle Office of Innovation and Performance, Seattle Housing Authority, and Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.
Unlikely Allies: Financial services firm LendUp and current Treasurer for City of St. Louis discuss a new partnership to support the emerging middle class.
Live panel from “Chasing Solutions: Financing Climate Action” — featuring speakers from Veris Wealth Partners, PAX World Funds, NatureVest, and Rocky Mountain Institute.
Unlikely Allies: Rockwood Leadership Institute, Renewal Funds, and RSF Social Finance are training financial activists through the new Integrated Capital Institute.
Live panel from “Investing for Racial Equity” — featuring speakers from Prudential, NYCEDC, Living Cities, Urbane Development, and Roosevelt Institute.
Live panel from “Unusual Investments: Breaking the Mold for Raising and Investing Capital” — featuring speakers from BALLE, Beneficial Returns, Candide Group, and Jenny Kassan Consulting.
Unlikely Allies: CultureBank, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts discuss a new model for partnerships.
Live panel from “Building a Successful Investor Ecosystem for 21st Century Philadelphia”, presented in partnership with ImpactPHL and featuring speakers from Ben Franklin Tech Partners, Philanthropy Network of Greater Philadelphia, The Reinvestment Fund, and Investors’ Circle.
We are excited to announce that SOCAP has launched a new podcast series, Money + Meaning: Unlikely Allies Building New Markets for Impact. Hosted by SOCAP’s own Lindsay Smalling and…
Money + Meaning: Unlikely Allies Building New Markets for Impact seeks to expand the conversation around impact investing, strategies to finance & support social change, unlikely partnerships across sectors, and how to utilize the tools of the capital markets for a greater good.
Through digital content & live events, SOCAP cultivates a broad community of cross-sector allies, accelerating the flow of money for meaningful impact on a local, national, and global scale.
