The Foundation’s impact investment work includes program-related investments (PRIs) made over the course of three decades to a range of intermediaries and social service enterprises across sectors and geographies, as well as a series of targeted grants to organizations and academic institutions developing new investment products and platforms, conducting research and disseminating best practices.
Representative Impact Investments
Benefit Chicago
2015 | $50,000,000
Program-related investment in the form of equity to support a $100 million collaboration with Calvert Foundation and The Chicago Community Trust designed to give a wide range of investors an easy way to channel resources into a high-impact portfolio of loans and investments in local nonprofit organizations and social enterprises.
Housing Partnership Equity Trust
2014 | $12,500,000
Program-related investment in the form of a ten-year standby commitment to purchase preferred equity of the Housing Partnership Equity Trust REIT I, LLC, a nonprofit-sponsored real estate investment trust dedicated to preserving affordable rental housing across the U.S.
MyStrongHome
2017 | $5 million
Mission-related investment in the form of a guaranty to support start-up financing for a company that combines specialized climate-resilient construction, insurance, and financing to mitigate risk and increase safety and security for families in vulnerable coastal communities.
American South Real Estate Fund
2017 | $7,500,000
Program-related investment and a mission-related investment, both in the form of equity, to help launch a new, a triple-bottom-line real estate fund dedicated to investing in high-impact community development projects in the southern United States. It is expected that a portion of the program-related investment (PRI) will be syndicated to other investors.
NYC Energy Efficiency Corporation
2016 | $5,000,000
Program-related investment in the form of a loan to support financing products designed for energy efficiency project upgrades in affordable residential buildings located in low and moderate income communities in New York City.
MB Financial
2017 | $697,297
Program-related investment in the form of a deposit to support the Arts and Culture Loan Fund, a program that provides working capital loans to community-based, nonprofit arts and cultural organizations in the Chicago area.
Representative Grants
ImpactUS
2017 | $400,000
To support a new online broker-dealer platform offering a range of impact investment opportunities to institutions, individuals and advisors while providing nonprofit and mission-driven, for-profit enterprises an efficient and affordable channel to raise capital.
KOIS INVEST
2016 | $295,000
To support a feasibility study for the design of an impact investing holding company focused on preserving social impact for mature companies, and expanding access to impact investing.
Georgetown University Beeck Center
2015 | $75,000
To study current education and training programs aimed at individuals who are active in or seeking to enter the impact investing field.
echoing green
2016 | $50,000
Support for a research project conducted, in part, by Enclude, to study the capital needs and financing challenges of start-up social entrepreneurs, drawing upon data from the 700 fellows that have received seed funding and other support from echoing green.
University of New Hampshire Foundation
2017 | $50,000
Support for the Financial Innovations Roundtable, managed by the Carsey School of Public Policy and conducted in collaboration with the Federal Reserve, including a recent convening focused on finding ways for Donor Advised Funds (DAFs) to channel capital to community development organizations.
Urban Institute
2017 | $306,775
To advance understanding of the key goals and approaches of place-based impact investing collaborations, and to facilitate knowledge exchange on this topic among interested stakeholders.
