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November 2015 | Philanthropy Northwest
Katherine Porras, Momentum Fellow | When I moved to Oregon in 2013, I found myself captivated by the beauty of its green valleys and blue rivers. A few months ago, I was thrilled to be accepted to the Momentum Fellowship's investment position at Meyer Memorial Trust. This is a unique opportunity to help serve marginalized communities, while growing professionally with an amazing cohort dedicated to the field of philanthropy. We are fortunate to have this opportunity and we all recognized its potential, not only forging our own career paths, but also for the magnitude of possible contribution when a group of nine diverse professionals striving for excellence work together towards a common goal: making the future of philanthropy more diverse, equitable and inclusive.
November 2015 |
David Wood, Initiative for Responsible Investment | On October 22, the U.S. Department of Labor announced it was withdrawing a guidance memo from 2008 for ERISA plans on Economically Targeted Investments (ETIs), reverting instead to previous guidance issued in 1994. This move had been long sought by responsible investors, who shared the DOL’s concern that the 2008 guidance “unduly discouraged fiduciaries from considering ETIs and ESG factors” when making their investment decisions. This is big news. Here are three things I took from the announcement:
October 2015 |
Lauren Sato, Canopy | Six months ago, Canopy launched in the Pacific Northwest with a grand vision to build the infrastructure necessary to create a thriving ecosystem for place-based impact investing. Half a year later, our commitment to this vision has led to many exciting changes. Based on interest and feedback from the field, Canopy has evolved from its early work of conducting field-building research to include robust technical infrastructure building and educational programming, all aimed at creating equitable prosperity in our region — from northern California to Alaska, from the Pacific Ocean to Wyoming — and ultimately across the United States.
September 29, 2015
11:00am PDT
Webinar
Join Mission Investors Exchange and the Council on Foundations for a one-hour webinar discussing the implications of the new U.S. Department of Treasury guidance on mission-related investments.
September 2015 |
At its September program meeting, Meyer Memorial Trust awarded 40 grants and one program-related investment (PRI), totaling just over $6.1 million for organizations working across Oregon and southwest Washington.
September 2015 |
Jeff Clarke, CEO | When a small group of foundations came together more than 10 years ago to discuss the prospects for increasing the number of foundations making program-related investments, those of us around the table were energized by the potential of impact investing. At the same time, we also knew it would take a long time — and a lot of hard work to inform and influence — before it would become accepted as a mainstream idea. That meeting was, among other things, the genesis of Mission Investors Exchange. While we certainly had big aspirations for the field, I’m amazed to see how quickly impact investing is evolving, both in practice and underlying regulation. On September 15, the Internal Revenue Service released important new guidance for private foundation managers who make investment decisions, noting that they are not required to select only investments that offer the highest rates of risk-adjusted return. The IRS now recognizes that aligning investment decisions with a foundation’s charitable purpose can be a component of a prudent investment policy.
September 2015 |
Tim Crosby, Cascadia Foodshed Financing Project | I grew up working on family farms and participating in a family foundation that supports community and environmental vitality. While pursuing a business degree, I realized that food is at the intersection of many social and environmental issues, and that the best way to preserve farmland would be to improve the economics of farming — which means figuring out how to finance good local food businesses and make them more accessible and competitive in the marketplace. This nexus of philanthropy, food and finance has come together in Cascadia Foodshed Financing Project, the latest project to join Philanthropy Northwest’s incubation platform and regional impact investing network. So what is it, and why does it matter?
