Financing Social Entrepreneurs

Dr. Charly Kleissner is a pioneer in the field of impact investment. He believes that the deeper meaning of wealth is to make a positive contribution to humanity and the planet. Dr. Kleissner co-founded KL Felicitas Foundation (www.klfelicitasfoundation.org), and Social-Impact International (www.social-impact.org), which help social entrepreneurs worldwide to accelerate and increase their impact.  Dr. Kleissner co-founded ...

Garvin is the Chief Investment Officer of Green Alpha Advisors, an asset management firm that aims to use science-driven, fundamentals-based research to invest in companies whose innovative products and services will enable the transition toward a sustainable economy (the Next Economy).

Prior to co-founding Green Alpha Advisors in 2007, Garvin worked at Forward Management, LLC where he managed the Sierra Club Stock Fund and...

Tim Freundlich is President of ImpactAssets, a boutique donor advised fund that specialises in socially responsible and impact investment options to mobilise human and financial capital towards a sustainable world. Tim is a long-term innovator in new financial instruments in the social enterprise sectors and was instrumental in establishing the precursor to ImpactAssets, the Calvert Giving Fund. Tim is also co-author of th...

Jason Scott is a Co-Managing Partner and on the Board of Directors of Encourage Capital, an investment firm that seeks to change the way investment capital is used to solve critical environmental and social problems. The firm was formed through the combination of Wolfensohn Fund Management, LP and EKO Asset Management Partners, LLC. Prior to EKO, Jason was a founding Director and investment analyst at Generation Investment...

Rodney is Founder of ClearlySo which works with high-impact businesses, charities and funds in the UK to raise capital, and introduces them to institutional and individual investors. ClearlySo is Europe’s leading impact investment bank, and has helped some 100 clients raise more than £108 million in investment capital by leveraging its extensive network of high-net-worth individual and institutional investors. Rodney held ...

Ron Cordes is a veteran of more than 30 years in the investment industry – he co-founded and then sold AssetMark Investment Services. In 2006, together with his wife Marty, Ron set up the Cordes Foundation — a family foundation focused on social entrepreneurship, impact investing and creating economic opportunities for women, later broadening its focus to include ethical fashion brands, sustainable manufacturing and engagi...

In this podcast, Susie discusses RSF’s core integrated capital approach for delivering impact and catalyzing change. She also contrasts RSF’s “patient capital” approach with the transactional nature of commercial financing, details the kinds of support that RSF provides to growing social enterprises, and describes RSF’s five thematic funding areas. Susie highlights RSF’s commitment to developing new sources of finance for ...

Min Pease leads the impact investing program at Echoing Green where she supports Echoing Green Fellows seeking or receiving impact investment. In large part, this involves getting social entrepreneurs investment ready and helping them to find investors that have an aligned understanding of their mission. Min also works to engage investors in the Echoing Green community. In this podcast, Min discusses the results of Echoing...

Silicon Valley Community Foundation (SVCF) is the largest community foundation in the world, with more than $8 billion in assets under management.  The community  foundation serves the Silicon Valley community and offers donor advised funds and other means for philanthropists to support the local and global causes they care about. It was founded in 2007 and has been a leader in addressing Silicon Valley communities most ch...

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is one of the largest private foundations in the United States. Based in Chicago, the Foundation makes grants and impact investments to support non-profit organizations in Chicago, across the U.S., and in approximately 50 countries. It has an endowment of $6.3 billion and provides almost $300 million annually in grants and impact investments; it has awarded more than US $6 ...

Kevin Barenblat is a highly experienced software entrepreneur with a passion for applying technology for good. He is a big believer that talented people can leverage technology to create scalable solutions to some of the world’s toughest problems. Kevin is the founder of the Fast Forward accelerator that helps tech nonprofits by investing money, providing training and mentoring, and helping scale them to impact using what ...

Clara Miller is President of the Heron Foundation, a US foundation that helps people and communities help themselves out of poverty. Heron began as a grant-maker 25 years ago. Over time, Heron has aligned an increasing portion of its assets to mission related investment. In 2011, it made the decision to invest all its endowment in mission related investment, which it achieved at the end of last year, under Miller’s leaders...

The Ford Foundation has long been a pioneer when it comes to supporting social change via social sector innovations such as the Green Revolution, microfinance, public-private partnerships in cities, and impact investment. In this interview, Christine Looney, senior program investment officer in the Impact Investing program, and Graham MacMillan, Senior Program Officer for Impact Investing and Inclusive Economies, discuss t...

Joel Solomon is a highly experience social investor who has invested in over 100 early-growth stage companies in North America. Joel was instrumental in the development the Endswell Foundation, the largest, BC-based, charitable foundation in British Columbia funding environmental issues in the 1990s. Joel is currently Chair of Renewal Funds, Canada’s largest mission venture capital firm, with $98m assets under management. ...

Christie is director of New media ventures –the first seed fund and national network of angel investors supporting media and tech startups that disrupt politics and catalyze progressive change in the US. She has overseen investment into a growing portfolio of more than 40 non-profits and for-profits, including NationalField, Sum of Us, and Upworthy. Christie is passionate about fostering an independent, vibrant, and divers...

In recent years crowdfunding has become an increasingly popular way for entrepreneurs and others to raise money for businesses and projects that might otherwise not get funded. Tom Dawkins is founder of the StartSomeGood crowdfunding platform that is designed specifically for the needs of social change ventures and projects, supporting them in raising the funds they need to transform ideas for good into action and impact. ...

Jim Sorenson is a highly successful entrepreneur and business executive who has become a pioneer in the field of impact investing. Jim has built successful companies in sectors ranging from technology and life sciences to real estate and private equity investment. Following his experience setting up a videophone for the deaf community, Jim became interested in field of social innovation and has become an active investor an...

Ceniarth is a family office and related private foundation that supports social entrepreneurs delivering market-based solutions that improve livelihoods in underserved communities.  Ceniarth primarily engages in developing economies in sectors such as agriculture, energy, and financial inclusion.  Leveraging a full spectrum of financial tools, Ceniarth aims to support the most effective enterprises generating measurable im...

Building on the interview with Echoing Green President Cheryl Dorsey in episode 4 of Financing Social Entrepreneurs, this episode focuses on Echoing Green’s new impact investment programme. Min Pease leads the impact investing program at Echoing Green where she supports Echoing Green Fellows seeking or receiving impact investment. In large part, this involves getting social entrepreneurs investment ready, and helping them ...