Open Mic #9: Advancing Racial Justice Through Impact Investing: Foundations & CDFIs

This Open Mic is part of a double feature on racial justice and impact investing, presented in coordination with Ceniarth. The Open Mic will be followed by a webinar titled, "Racial Justice: What Can I Do Now?," featuring the voices of 5 CDFIs working across the U.S. Learn more and register for the webinar here.

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“If you don't talk about power and you don't get at that you never make systems change." — Rey Ramsey, Nathan Cummings Foundation

“[In] this new era we are going to need innovation and courage, courage to actually address the biases in our system and move beyond the rhetoric of diversity and equity and to actually internalize that in our daily practices and in our investment priorities.” — Darren Walker, Ford Foundation

 

These calls to action — along with many others — were heard at the MIE National Conference in May and have only intensified in the recent weeks. This Open Mic will feature an action-oriented conversation with James C. Wahls of the Annie E. Casey Foundation and George Ashton of the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), who will share approaches to investing in communities of color, particularly via Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), and provide insights for how foundations can mobilize rapidly and innovate for systems change. Join us not only to learn more specifically how impact investing happens, but how you can make it happen — in the short, medium, and long term — for and with the communities you care about.

 

Open Mics are lightly structured, webcam-enabled calls for MIE members to come together and discuss ideas and opportunities to create impact. Intended to be flexible, Open Mics embody the goal of mobilizing with urgency, employing a simple concept: