Money + Meaning

In this episode, Javier Torres of the Surdna Foundation leads a conversation on what it will take to achieve racial equity with Black Lives Matter co-creator and Principal of the Black Futures Lab Alicia Garza and Rashad Robinson, President of Color of Change. They discuss how, in order to achieve real, lasting change, the conversation must move beyond income and wealth disparity and begin to address disparities in power. They also share personal stories of why they do the work they do, how they are contextualizing their work in the current political climate, and what they want listeners to think, feel, and do after listening to this conversation.

Fran Seegull is the Executive Director of the U.S. Impact Investing Alliance, an organization spun out of the G7 Social Impact Investment Taskforce to raise awareness and grow demand for impact investing across America. In this episode, Lindsay Smalling has a conversation with Seegull that offers insight into the history and growth of the field, including many of the most important watershed moments and policy landmarks, and offers her perspective on the mainstreaming of impact investing. She also discusses both critiques of the field and the recent Business Roundtable announcement expanding the purpose of a corporation to be about serving all stakeholders, not just shareholders.

Invisibility and harmful stereotypes are two of the biggest challenges facing Indigenous people today. According to research conducted by The Reclaiming Native Truth Project, nearly 80% of Americans know little to nothing about contemporary Native peoples, which leads to systemic bias, racism, and neglect of Indigenous communities. In this episode, Lindsay Smalling talks with Crystal Echo Hawk and Nick Tilsen, two Indigenous leaders who head organizations working to change the narrative and the status quo in order to help Indigenous communities thrive. They discuss their efforts to bring about widespread narrative change, concrete examples of why it is such an exciting time to make big investments and big impact in Indian Country, and where their movements are headed in the future. 

Echo Hawk, a member of the Pawnee Nation, is Founder and CEO of IllumiNative. Tilsen, a member of the Oglala Lakota Nation, is Founder, President, and CEO of NDN Collective.

At the intersection of democracy, impact investing, and progressive media, you will find New Media Ventures (NMV). This organization is a nonprofit seed fund and angel network working to create positive change across America by investing in entrepreneurs and activists “wrestling with the biggest challenges facing our democracy.” By investing solely to maximize impact, whether into nonprofits or for-profits, NMV is working to address fundamental challenges to democracy and to correct systemic power imbalances. In this episode, Lindsay Smalling sits down with Julie Menter, Managing Director of New Media Ventures.

For any community development initiative to achieve the desired positive outcomes, impact investors must design with communities instead of for them. Opportunity Zones, even with the recent criticism, are still seen as a way to drive investments that will build wealth and create social impact in marginalized communities. How can the great community development work that is being done at the local level be connected with big top-down policies like Opportunity Zones? This episode, recorded live in Baltimore, features a cross-sector panel of community leaders, investors, and OZ experts exploring inclusive community development.

Featured voices include Pickett Slater Harrington of Joltage, Candace Chance of the Baltimore City Intergenerational Initiatives for Trauma and Youth (B-CIITY), John Brothers of the Baltimore Children and Youth Fund, Ben Siegel of the City of Baltimore, and Elise Liberto of Brown Advisory.

Despite bring the fastest-growing population of American entrepreneurs, founders of color are systematically under-recognized and under-resourced in America today. How can we begin to build new systems that will support entrepreneurs of color? What will it take to build an inclusive impact economy? This past June, SOCAP convened the first-ever SPECTRUM event in Atlanta to discuss these challenges and begin building an action plan to solve them. In this episode, we offer a selection of inspirational and insightful moments recorded live at SPECTRUM. 

Featured voices include Marc Bamuthi Joseph of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Jessica Stago of Change Labs, Frederick Hutson of Pigeonly, Jay Bailey of the Russell Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, and Nadia Brigham of Brigham Consulting.

Foundations traditionally have grant-making staff and endowment investing staff that operate entirely independent of each other. How can we move past this traditional “two-pocket thinking” to utilize the full spectrum of capital - not just grants and market-rate investments - to better align a foundation’s entire portfolio with their desired impact outcomes? In this episode, Dr. Stephanie Gripne of the Impact Finance Center and Teresa Ish of the Walton Family Foundation discuss the work they are doing in this space and why creating sustainable fisheries requires innovative financing structures.

The new Opportunity Zone legislation is expected to drive billions of dollars of investment into low-income communities around the country. Yet, with limited oversight, this capital has as much potential to harm communities as is does to benefit them. In an effort to set a precedent for transparency in this new space, the Kresge Foundation has recently committed $22 million to two Opportunity Funds in exchange for higher levels of reporting and accountability. In this episode, Rip Rapson, President, and CEO of the Kresge Foundation, and Kresge Social Investment Officer Aaron Seybert discuss the innovative way the foundation is working to shape OZ investment.

Cooperatives hold incredible promise to build wealth in marginalized communities and reduce the racial wealth gap but myths and misconceptions about alternative ownership models are common. Many lenders and investors are skeptical of cooperatively-owned businesses or find them too “risky” to qualify for investment. This episode, recorded live at a SOCAP 365 event in Baltimore, is a panel discussion about the promise of the cooperative model to create social and economic change, including frank observations about the challenges that often prevent these businesses from securing investment or achieving success at scale.

How can innovative financial technologies help marginalized and underserved communities manage their personal finances and build wealth over time? In this episode of Money and Meaning, host Alex Kravitz talks to Marcia Chong Rosado of Village Capital, an accelerator for social enterprises, and Ramona Ortega, Founder of My Money My Future, a platform providing personal financial guidance for millennials of color who have been overlooked by traditional financial institutions.