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Blog Archives: January 2019 — December 2019

Moving Toward Active Ownership

December 16, 2019
Jonathan Scott, Singing Field Foundation
As a small family foundation (under $5 million in assets), we have an “active ownership” strategy that allows us to punch above our weight and extend our impact beyond our modest levels of grantmaking. We chose our investment advisors, Clean Yield Asset Management, in large part because of their willingness to work with our foundation on several strategies, all at no extra cost and as a core component of their business practices: Proxy Voting – Our advisor partners vote all of our proxies on behalf of our foundation, in alignment with our ...

9 Lessons for Investing in Native Communities

November 25, 2019
Jen Astone, Integrated Capital Investing
Shells collide releasing a bright clap with each footfall, feathers fly skyward, and drums beat in the crisp Tesuque Pueblo air. Two long lines of dancers wearing pine bough headdresses circle toward the drummers in prayer as we investors, philanthropists, and entrepreneurs watch on. Leaning into the warmth of a midday winter sun, I am grateful to be still and honored to be in the presence of a Native community practicing their cherished rituals, those my government worked so hard to extinguish. It is day two of Confluence Philanthropy’s ...

• Investing in Native Communities Learning Journey

November 25, 2019
Impact investors travel the world over in search of dealflow. And yet, too few explore the exciting partnership opportunities among our neighbors. Investing in Native American Communities, ripe for those looking for impact with a sustainability, social equity, or    place-based lens, provide unique opportunities for long-term patient capital. The Rainmakers Investment Collaborative, a working group at Confluence Philanthropy, has spent the past decade in dialogue and partnership with Tribal Leaders in a commitment to raise and deploy $4 ...

• Finding the Right Strategic Consultant

November 08, 2019
Navigating the field of mission investing can be challenging. The field is rapidly evolving, and the range of terms, strategies, objectives, and resources available to investors can be overwhelming. For investors seeking strategic guidance or technical support beyond the services provided by an investment manager, Confluence often recommends engaging a strategic consultant.  These consultants (some of whom also serve as registered investment advisors, or RIAs), assist investors to determine impact priorities, evaluate investment advisors, ...

• Impact for Breakfast Chapter Launches in San Francisco

November 05, 2019
Sarah Adams, Vert Asset Management
Impact for Breakfast (IFB) was founded in London, UK, ten years ago by Audrey Selian, Co-Founder of Rianta Capital, a family office based in Zurich that invests in businesses in India. IFB is an informal networking group bringing together professionals working on or interested in impact investing. Attendees work at venture capital funds, foundations, family offices, financial advisor businesses, not-for-profits, and policy organizations. The events showcase a featured speaker who introduces a specific theme or topic and shares their expertise ...

• Invest in a More Resilient Economy and Build a More Resilient Portfolio

October 30, 2019
Catherine Berman, CNote
Impact investing provides more than impact. Diversification and counter-cyclical investments can create standalone value for investors, especially as risk assets get pricier. To some, impact investing is a concessionary exercise where you sacrifice returns and financial rigor to "do good." However, those more in tune with the goal of impact investing know it does not have to be about trading a financial loss for a social gain. Impact investing can drive smart investment choices that both bring in strong financial returns and have a societal ...

• Renewable Energy: A Dialogue Addressing Investment Opportunities

October 09, 2019
How can experienced renewable energy project investors find new opportunities? What makes an investment attractive? What are Green Banks, and how can they help identify new deals? Confluence, in partnership with the Energy Foundation, organized a renewable energy investing roundtable discussion entitled Renewable Energy: A dialogue addressing investment opportunities at the UN Climate Week. The meeting was generously hosted at The Surdna Foundation. The focus of the convening was the innovative Green Banks model, which is a nationwide ...

• RiskShift: Communicating Climate Risks to Investors

October 09, 2019
Despite the increasing urgency to act in the face of climate change and the scale of the problem, the rate of investments deployed toward creating climate solutions remains severely insufficient. The IPCC estimates that investments in renewable energy alone need to double from the current level of $250B per year to meet the annual global growth in electricity consumption and to decarbonize the existing energy systems. Moreover, studies estimate that if no immediate action is taken and temperatures increase by 2°C, the global GDP will fall 15% ...

• CONFLUENCE MEMBERS UNITE DURING CLIMATE WEEK

October 01, 2019
Last week saw the meeting of leaders from more than 70 countries at the UN Climate Action Summit in New York, in the midst of the highly publicized Worldwide Climate Strike championed by Greta Thunberg and other youth activists. Sadly, the desired advances in the 2015 Paris Agreement were not achieved due to the refusal of the world’s leading polluters to make significant new commitments. Indeed, the United States remains poised to pull out of the Paris Agreement despite having experienced its first rise in emissions last year, after years of ...

•Making Impact for Racial Equity:The investment industry can and should do better

September 17, 2019
Lisa Hayles, Boston Common Asset Management
Many foundations are committed to social justice – yet they continue to rely on a “business-as-usual” approach in their investment practices.  Maintaining the status quo is often counterproductive as it produces some of the same barriers that mission-focused organizations are attempting to tackle through grantmaking. Confluence Philanthropy addresses this challenge in a recent report:  “It’s About Time: A Call to Advance Racial Equity in the Investment Industry.” Confluence is committed not only to challenging philanthropists to adopt a ...

•How Active Owners Can Support Workplace Equality

August 29, 2019
Meredith Benton, Whistle Stop Capital
We know that bias, discrimination, and harassment in the workplace are persistent and widespread.  Forty-eight percent of African-Americans and 36% of Hispanics have experienced race-based workplace discrimination.  Sixty-four percent of Americans believe that sexual harassment in the workplace is a serious problem and 55% of senior-level women say that they have been sexually harassed during their careers. We know the promotion gap precedes the pay gap;  Much of pay equity disparity comes from diverse employees being unable to move up the ...

•Investment Call to Action on Nature-Based Climate Solutions

August 27, 2019
Radha Kuppalli, New Forests
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the UN body for assessing the science related to climate change, approved a special report, “Climate Change and Land,” at its 50th Session held in early August 2019. The report’s full name is Climate Change and Land, an IPCC special report on climate change, desertification, land degradation, sustainable land management, food security, and greenhouse gas fluxes in terrestrial ecosystems, and is the second in a series of Special Reports to be produced in the IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Cycle....

• Confluence’s Racial Equity Initiative – New Report Release

August 05, 2019
PRESS RELEASE August 5, 2019   It’s About Time: Impact Investors Confront Lack of Diversity in Field New Report from Confluence Philanthropy calls on investors to promote racial equity   OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA – Confluence Philanthropy released a new report today that offers a strong call to action to advance racial equity in the investment industry. The report, “It’s About Time: A Call to Advance Racial Equity in the Investment Industry,” is the result of a year-long listening tour and research effort. The dynamic, ...

• Climate Solutions Summit - Keynote Remarks: Kate Gordon

July 10, 2019
California has been at the forefront of the climate change discussions in terms of the state’s pioneering policies, technological innovation, and groundbreaking policies; and also its vulnerability to climate disasters. At Confluence’s 2019 Climate Solutions Summit in San Francisco, CA, Kate Gordon, Director of the California Governor’s Office of Planning and Research, delivered her keynote speech, “From Ambition to Action.” Gordon, a nationally recognized expert at the intersection of climate change, energy and economic development, ...

• Solutions for Clean Energy Investors

July 10, 2019
What are some of the latest innovations in clean energy across various financial instruments and asset classes? What role do specialist intermediaries play in navigating the complex landscape of renewable energy investing and how can we work together to build a stronger clean energy financing ecosystem? Rounding out the afternoon at Confluence’s 2019 Climate Solutions Summit, Marisa de Belloy, Executive Director at Overlook International Foundation, moderated a plenary on the state of renewable energy investing. Three clean energy investing ...

• Banking with Values

July 10, 2019
A banking partner is more than a service provider—their mission and values dictate how our money is put to work 24 hours a day. Between 2016 and 2018, banks invested $1.9 trillion in fossil fuels globally. To foster conversations on how banking can evolve to support a greener planet, Confluence organized a session at our 2019 Climate Solutions Summit. The session touched upon some larger, systemic issues within the banking system that are creating inequity and serious social challenges, one of which is climate change. Jean Rogers, founder ...

• The San Francisco Foundation’s Approach to Impact Investing

July 09, 2019
Picture Above: Sonja Velez, CFO of The San Francisco Foundation, offers keynote address at Confluence’s 2nd Annual Advisor’s Forum, sharing the San Francisco Foundation’s approach to impact investing and key lessons learned. Blog by Sonja Velez, CFO of The San Francisco Foundation The San Francisco Foundation is a community foundation that has served the San Francisco Bay Area since 1948. Our holistic approach to our “north star” – advancing racial equity and economic inclusion – incorporates grantmaking, donor engagement, advocacy, and ...

• Voices from the Next Generation of Investors

July 09, 2019
Over the next 30 years, an estimated $30 trillion of wealth will exchange hands from the baby boomers to Generation Xers and Millennials. The next generation of investors are poised to play a pivotal role in tackling some of the most pressing issues of our time. We already see Millennial donors bringing a heightened sense of urgency to considering the social and environmental impact of their investments. As new stewards of family wealth, this often involves pushing traditional boundaries both in negotiating family dynamics and relationships ...

• 2019 Advisors Forum - Keynote Remarks: Rev Dr. William J. Barber, II

July 09, 2019
At Confluence’s 2nd Annual Advisor’s Forum, Reverend Dr. Barber II detailed his organization, The Poor People’s Campaign, and their work with the current state of the political system, and more. Reverend Dr. William J. Barber II is president of Repairers of the Breach and national co-chair of the 2018 Poor People’s Campaign. He leads an alliance of more than 200 progressive organizations best known as “Moral Monday.” This coalition has led justice work in North Carolina for a decade and inspired organizing across the nation. The Washington ...

• Working Effectively with Emerging Managers

July 09, 2019
Increasingly, foundations are looking at investment managers who are in the early stage of their life cycle, managers raising a first or second institutional fund, managers raising relatively smaller funds with more targeted impact strategies, and managers whose businesses are minority or female-owned. Doing so ensures that opportunities are not missed and valuable voices which hold unique perspectives are heard. How we can support new leadership to disrupt the predominant paradigm? At Confluence Philanthropy’s recent 2nd Annual Advisors ...

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