Wharton Business Radio Podcast: Matt Onek on Foundations and Impact Investing

In this podcast, Matt Onek, CEO of Mission Investors Exchange, joins hosts Nick Ashburn and Sandi Hunt on "Dollars and Change", originally aired on May 16 at 8pm ET on The Wharton School Business Radio and gives listeners an overview of how foundations are engaged in impact investing.

 

The discussion opens with an overview of how MIE was established and what attracted Matt to join the organization. He answers that from early on in MIE's formation, members have been focused on deploying more capital to mission, and that foundations are unique for keeping impact at the heart of the impact investing movement, something MIE supports through education and training. The discussion quickly dives deep into how foundations are uniquely structured (as opposed to government or business), allowing them to deploy patient capital to make catalytic investments.

 

Next the discussion turns to how foundations can ready themselves for impact investing. One way is restructuring the organization so that the investment team and the program team can work together to drive the kind of impact that grant making alone cannot do. Another is for foundations to begin making small loans to those they know and understand best: their grantees. Matt uses the Detroit Home Mortgage Program as an example of collaboration with multiple sources and kinds of capital working together. Listen to the full conversation below: