February 2020 | Field News & Resources

News in Foundation Investing

• The Rockefeller Foundation is investing $65 million in America’s workers and their families. As part of this effort, the foundation is launching the U.S. Equity and Economic Opportunity Initiative, which will provide $36.5 million to transform economic stability and mobility for nearly five million low-wage workers.
• Walton Family Foundation’s Equitable Facilities Fund made a $16 million loan to Rhode Island’s growing Blackstone Valley Prep school for a new, larger building. 
• Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta’s impact investment vehicle, GoATL Fund, has invested $1.5 million in Reinvestment Fund, to target a variety of local investments as well as early childhood education in the region.
• MIE board member Bert Feuss shares his insights on why a diverse group of investment managers is good for returns. The senior vice president of investments for Silicon Valley Community Foundation points to a Knight Foundation study that reveals that 13.5% of $63.95 billion in assets held by 26 of the nation’s 50 top foundations are managed by firms led by women and people of color. Find more coverage from ImpactAlpha here. 
• In their 2020 annual letter, Bill and Melinda Gates reflect on the foundation’s last 20 years and share how the organization will prioritize the climate crisis and gender equality over the next 20 years.
• Next City dives into how the $33.1 million Community Investment Guarantee Pool—created by a Kresge Foundation-led collaborative that includes eight other philanthropic organizations—aims to support financial institutions with a mission to serve people and communities that mainstream financial institutions don’t.
• Jessie Ball duPont Fund, one of the nine foundations supporting the Community Investment Guarantee Pool, hopes to reproduce the effort in its hometown of Jacksonville, Florida, the Jacksonville Business Journal reports.
• BlackRock launched a foundation that will focus on financial inclusion. The New York-based company seeded the BlackRock Foundation with a $589 million contribution, Pensions&Investments writes.  
• This article on how foundations can foster diversity and inclusion highlights Annie E. Casey Foundation’s effort to increase the number of people of color on its staff from 42 percent to 57 percent in six years, from The Chronicle of Philanthropy.  
• More than a quarter of family foundations are now engaged in impact investing in some form, Reuters notes in a piece on family offices leading the way on investing for impact.
• Annie E. Casey Foundation is funding staff training on racial equity for the Baltimore City Public School system, along with an implementation plan that will detail how the school system will work toward building equitable outcomes for students.
• Texas Women's Foundation has invested 100% of its financial assets in a 100% gendered impact portfolio that yields strong financial returns and social benefits to women and girls. The foundation is the first, and to date only, women’s fund or foundation to move its entire assets into gendered impact.
• A new report from the Association of Charitable Foundations calls on foundations to ensure that their processes are not inadvertently discriminatory. The report sets out seven characteristics of excellent practice, which include understanding the mission, basing decisions in evidence, and learning from failure, Civil Society News reports. 

News Across the Field

• The Global Impact Investing Network is inviting organizations to participate in its 10th Annual Impact Investor Survey, which generates a report providing insight into global impact investing activity and market trends. Click here to participate by Friday, March 6th. 
• Private equity giant KKR has closed on its $1.3 billion KKR Global Impact Fund. The Fund will invest in companies where financial performance and social impact are intrinsically aligned, TechCrunch reports.
• As impact investing grows, so does the need for investment networks to connect the often disparate groups driving the field’s progress, an Impactivate piece notes.
• Bloomberg highlights 10 funds with a conscience.
• An article published by the Center for American Progress examines flaws in the design of the Opportunity Zone program and calls for a transformation of the U.S. approach to placemaking.

Impact Jobs