Blog

Erik Schultz, a fellow financial activist, Just Economy Institute colleague (formerly the RSF Integrated Capital Institute) and philanthropic colleague at Arthur B. Schultz Foundation introduced me to Blake Jones and Kachuwa Impact Fund. Erik has since refocused his...

I met Janice through the Just Economy Institute alumnae network. She is full of energy for integrated capital approaches and her work at the Flexible Capital Fund is an illustration of the tenets of flexible capital for place-based integrated capital. Jen: How was the...

I met Dave Castillo at a Confluence Philanthropy Meeting in 2013 when he launched the Southwest Native Green Loan Fund with Confluence. Swift Foundation (where I worked from 2011-19) made an early decision to invest in a loan fund focused on Native Americans. Over the...

Deborah Frieze sat in the circle at the retreat center. It was day one of the RSF Social Finance Integrated Capital Investing retreat in the fall of 2017. She spoke about how she launched a fund focused on racial equity in Boston, one that involved the community as...

I met Reggie Knox of California FarmLink in 2016 at the Louisville, Kentucky meeting of Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems Funders. Ironically, I had traveled to the middle of the United States to discover an organization headquartered a few miles away from my...

Celina Adams, a colleague from the Just Economy Institute (formerly RSF Social Finance Integrated Capital Investing Institute fellow) and fellow financial activist introduced me to the  Northern Forest Center and its plan to launch the Northern Forest Fund....

Jen: How was Denkyem Co-op Created?   Dion: Denkyem was created to address the financing challenges facing Black-owned businesses. Dion Cook & Rudy Gadre believed that entrepreneurship was the most accessible vehicle for building generational wealth,...

I met Dawn McGee, an Advisor at the Just Economy Fellowship (formerly RSF Social Finance Integrated Capital Institute), in 2018 where she spoke about place-based investing for job creating and community well-being as the cornerstone of their investment portfolio. As...

Jen: How was the Kensington Corridor Trust created?  Adriana: Our four founding partners came together to envision economic redevelopment of the Kensington Avenue commercial corridor which had significant vacancy and blight. We were formed by a launch team with a...

Jen: How was the New Majority Capital Fund Created?  Havell: George Floyd's murder compelled us as founders to think about what we can do to address racial injustice and inequities. Given our backgrounds in entrepreneurship, private equity and hedge funds, we...