Essex County Community Foundation Initiative
Activating local impact investors through community foundations is key to the larger impact investing movement
Events
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- Apr 2, 2024 – Arts, Culture, and Creative Economy Financial Innovation Webinar
- Apr 4, 2024 – Housing and Financial Innovations Webinar
- Apr 11, 2024 – Essex County Community Foundation Call for Social Ventures
- May 21, 2024 – Arts, Culture, and Creative Economy Financial Innovation 1-Day Workshop
- May 22, 2024– Housing and Financial Innovation 1-Day Workshop
- May 23, 2024– Nonprofit and Social Venture Education Day
*Watch recordings of past events on the Impact Investing Institute by creating a free account using these simple instructions.
What We’re Doing
Impact Finance Center (IFC) identifies, educates, and activates impact investors and develops community infrastructure (i.e. Impact Investing Institute and CO Impact Days). Our initiatives include courses (e.g. online, in-person, and hybrid), podcasts, case studies, tools, and thought leadership articles. The Barr Foundation and Gilson Family Foundation are sponsoring this work in Essex County, Massachusetts, beginning with a focus on Arts, Culture, and the Creative Economy, and Housing.
Essex County Community Foundation, as part of their ongoing systems change work, has embarked on a learning journey to determine how best the community and ECCF can offer and provide additional ways to bring friendly, low-cost resources (capital) to nonprofits and social enterprises in their community. They have partnered with Impact Finance Center to help Essex County learn about impact investing and financial innovation to bring additional resources to the programs people care about.
Can we reimagine how capital is deployed and inspire more individuals (in and outside of our county) to provide these resources to reduce cost and promote investment for the social sector? What would a vibrant impact investment ecosystem look like in Essex County? What would a vibrant marketplace look like?
The First Step: Identify
Working with Essex County Community Foundation, Impact Finance Center is working to identify local philanthropists and investors interested in learning about innovative methods of place-based investing in Essex County.
The Second Step: Educate
One-Day Workshop + Five Sessions: IFC is presenting in-person workshops for Essex County investors to gather and explore financial innovation, full spectrum capital and impact investing in a small group format. Participants will continue the learning after the workshop with five virtual sessions in a peer cohort.
The Third Step: Activate
The Philanthropic Opportunity Scan: Ready to put your newfound financial innovation, full spectrum capital and financial innovation knowledge into practice? IFC offers advisory services to support investors to facilitate their own Philanthropic Opportunity Scan to source impact investments within their own philanthropic portfolio.
Design a Community Foundation Impact Investing Strategy in 5 Steps
- Map Nonprofit Grantee Investments: Philanthropic Opportunity Scan
- Map Intermediaries: National Intermediary Landscape Scan
- Map Community Foundation Impact Investing Leaders: National Community Foundation Impact Investing Landscape Scan
- Map Individuals, Foundations, Family Offices, and Corporations who want to invest
- Develop the strategy