In 2017 when I joined the Just Economy Institute, the cohort was dominated by women, with a strong representation of people of color. In fact, it is the one finance space I’ve experienced where being a cis-white male was not the norm. But Bill Stoddart joined in our...

I first met David Lynn and Mission Driven Finance via email. Their application to be considered as a Transformative 25 Fund was one of the first I reviewed that was outside of my experience with Swift Foundation and the Just Economy Institute. When I learned about...

I was first introduced to Oran Hesterman, the founder, and CEO of the national nonprofit Fair Food Network, at a Sustainable Food Systems and Agriculture Funders conference. He was piloting the Fair Food Fund, an integrated capital structure where grants and creative...

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...

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 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...