Our financial system wasn’t built with equity, sustainability, or positive social and environmental impact in mind, but – with committed funders, innovators and technical experts -- it’s adapting and improving. The financial marketplace and the marketplace of ideas demand no less.
The Innovative Finance Initiative (IFI) is seeking to accelerate that improvement by helping create a practical infrastructure over a five-year field-building project. Blue Haven Initiative, alv Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation, The EQT Foundation and those they’re bringing together will identify the gaps in our financial system. And they’ll create new ways to fund what matters by supporting the people, tools and ideas that will push the boundaries of how capital flows toward impact.
In recent years we’ve seeing legal, capital and investment structures that are designed for impact – catalytic capital, blended finance, impact-linked compensation, outcome-based financing, recoverable grants, structured exits, steward ownership, community-led decision-making, stakeholder-aligned voting structures and low-profit limited liability companies (L3Cs), among them. But so much more lies ahead.
For its part IFI will serve as a dynamic hub of public tools, guides and frameworks. It will develop a directory of tax, legal and technical experts. It will offer trainings; events and workshops rooted in practitioner experience. It will conduct collaborative experiments and publish research briefs and co-authored outputs. It will harness emerging AI tech tools trained on trusted sources and data. And it will host community-led missions to deepen shared understanding among the evolving social impact community’s growing roster of stakeholders.
Let’s encourage ideas to meet structure -- where disruptive financial and legal models will find the support they need to thrive. Join the thought leaders in the IFI community at https://airtable.com/appS9VNFFnB4RhttB/pagGQ0KJa3XiZc6dF/form
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To explore how your business or nonprofit organization can more effectively drive positive social or environmental change, reach out to Marc Lane in confidence at mlane@marcjlane.com or 312/800-372-1040.