Money + Meaning

By re-examining traditional methods of investing and funding, foundations and endowments are working with partners to connect capital with communities most affected by the climate crisis. This path helps center the voices of people in frontline communities who are most familiar with the challenges and addresses social and environmental impacts, from pollution to health inequity to systemic racism. Leaders from social justice organizations and foundations discuss how they are reshaping their work to support community wealth creation and strategies to mitigate climate change in a new Money and Meaning podcast recorded at SOCAP23.

In this episode of Money + Meaning, Advantage Capital Managing Director Ryan Brennan discusses how the firm continues to evolve its practices and expand its reach. His conversation with Nzinga Broussard of Sorenson Impact Institute was recorded live at SOCAP23. With a portfolio that includes more than $4 billion invested over more than 30 years, Advantage Capital demonstrates how investing can create waves of positive impact across communities and sectors. The firm’s unique investment approach prioritizes meaningful impact measurement and dynamic partnerships.

As the global impact community evolves and expands, so does SOCAP Global’s annual flagship conference. One key element is SOCAP Open, which invites the impact community to submit session proposals and brings new voices and differing perspectives to SOCAP. SOCAP Open offers individuals and organizations the chance to showcase innovative ideas, delve into impactful solutions, and open conversations about pressing issues on the SOCAP stage. Two members of the SOCAP team sat down for a Money + Meaning podcast conversation on guidelines and updates for this year’s process.

A new Money + Meaning podcast episode features a SOCAP23 session exploring innovative funding models that go beyond equity and debt. Three fund managers share their capital solutions designed to better meet the financial needs of many entrepreneurs, especially founders, who often are overlooked in traditional funding markets.

A Canadian social finance firm is demonstrating the value of a community-driven outcomes tool for positive impact. With a focus on revitalizing Indigenous economies, Raven Indigenous Capital Partners is partnering with communities to address social and environmental challenges and expand access to capital. Their innovative financial projects and products include Raven’s Indigenous Outcomes Fund and Community-Driven Outcomes Contracts, which address priority issues in Indigenous communities such as health, climate, and workforce development.

This Money + Meaning podcast features a SOCAP23 panel moderated by Enable Ventures Founder Regina Kline. During the “Closing the Disability Wealth Gap” dialogue, Kline spoke with entrepreneurs from four catalytic, impactful, high-growth startups who are leading the charge in technical innovations specifically for the disability sector. In this conversation, they are joined by customers and end users of their products to discuss how these innovative solutions are changing the world.

On the final day of SOCAP23, three Content Curation Council members gathered to discuss highlights and insights from the event and take a look at what’s ahead. Matthew Bishop, Senior Fellow at Sorenson Impact Institute, moderated the discussion with social impact leaders Andia Chakava of Afrishela, Morgan Simon of Candide Group, and María Carolina Suarez Visbal of Latimpacto. As Content Curation Council members, the three helped select and shape sessions and speakers under the event’s overarching theme, Facing Urgency: Impact at the Speed of Trust.

With a record of strong growth over the last decade, the impact investing field has the opportunity to lead in new ways and build on that promise by attracting new investors, organizations, and partnerships for action to drive and amplify positive change. That’s part of the message that Jim Sorenson, Founder of the Sorenson Impact Foundation, shares with Robert Munson, President of SOCAP Global, in a new Money + Meaning podcast. In a Q&A session, they explore the importance of cross-sector events like SOCAP23 and the power of leadership and collaboration for positive social impact through policy, enterprise, and investment.

By embracing a broader view of impact and community from the start, the people who helped found and nurture SOCAP built a strong foundation for an event that continues to grow and connect global changemakers. From the first SOCAP conference in 2008 to the upcoming SOCAP23, the behind-the-stage leadership shares a passion for building the impact community while creating an event to help drive action on some of the world’s most pressing challenges. This episode features the story behind SOCAP’s origins and a look at its future, drawn from a conversation at SOCAP22. SOCAP Global President Robert Munson facilitated the Q&A with other SOCAP leaders and founders.

In a time of growing global challenges and social divisions, the arts and culture sector presents new opportunities for connection and transformation to drive systemic change.

Technology-driven startups and entrepreneurs are crafting products and methods to reduce the food industry’s greenhouse gas footprint. As they create foods with alternative materials and innovations, they also are shaping a more resilient future for people and the planet. This episode provides a behind-the-scenes look at leaders and products from four food tech companies. They shared the stories behind their brands — and samples of their creations — during an interactive session at SOCAP22.

As impact investing makes a difference in communities around the world, practitioners are addressing regional challenges with innovative approaches that can inspire others. Made-in-Canada impact investing approaches to social and environmental issues get the spotlight in this Money and Meaning episode.

This Money and Meaning episode features a powerful SOCAP22 session with Trisha Etringer, Shelley Buffalo, and Sikowis Nobiss of the Great Plains Action Society, who call for action and support to end the missing and murdered Indigenous women crisis. Pulling from their personal and professional experiences, they share how the private sector can move toward a more just and regenerative economy by recognizing, trusting, and investing in the work of Indigenous women.

Entrepreneurs and investors are partnering to help improve the textile industry's social and climate impact. With innovative materials and operational changes for efficiency and transparency, they are taking aim at the 1.2 billion tons of CO2 produced annually during textile creation. This Money + Meaning episode features a discussion from SOCAP22 with fashion leaders and funders who are seizing the opportunity to reshape material, supply chain, and consumer systems for greater circularity in textiles. By funding and creating projects to close the fashion ecosystem loop, they are moving forward on a path to decarbonization and realizing new opportunities along the value chain.

As companies face growing demands from customers, investors, employees, and regulators to improve their environmental and social impact, some are creating or adding to the job of chief sustainability officer. Through a broader scope and emphasis, this sustainability-focused role can help organizations meet new expectations and set a path toward a more resilient future. This Money + Meaning episode builds on information from a new report from Korn Ferry on The Rise of the Chief Sustainability Officer, which incorporates information from interviews with more than 50 CEOs and CSOs on the role of sustainability in their operations, strategy, culture, and leadership. The conversation, moderated by Imogen Rose-Smith, Managing Director of Confluence Partners, explores how the rise of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) considerations among stakeholders has more companies looking to incorporate sustainability throughout their enterprises and drive business success.

Organizations are expanding their impact mindset to create transparent, holistic approaches that can help shape sustainable supply chains and advance diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. In this Money + Meaning conversation, Amy Brachio, EY Global Deputy Vice Chair for Sustainability, and Imogen Rose-Smith of Confluence Partners discuss how organizations and investors are addressing social and environmental issues to build positive impact on communities.

This episode of Money and Meaning is a recording of a fireside chat at the 2023 Sorenson Impact Summit with Randy Shumway, Founder of Cicero Group, and Geoff Davis, CEO of Sorenson Impact. Randy discusses how his more than 20 years of volunteering with people who are experiencing homelessness have influenced Cicero Group’s consulting work for social impact with governments and foundations. And he shares why evidence-based approaches are necessary to effectively address the increasing dilemma of homelessness throughout the United States.

This episode of Money and Meaning is a recording of an onstage conversation at SOCAP22 between Dr. Allison Boxer, Managing Director of Sorenson Impact Center, and Dr. Roslyn Artis, President and CEO of Benedict College. The college in Columbia, South Carolina, is among the highest-ranked historically Black colleges and universities, or HBCUs, in the Southeast. Benedict College is also a partner in Sorenson Impact Center’s MAPS Project. Using data and a student-centric approach, the MAPS Project aims to help higher education institutions adapt to changing enrollment trends and better serve the needs of more diverse student bodies. In this podcast, Dr. Artis and Dr. Boxer discuss opportunities and challenges at Benedict College and how innovative financial structures can help HBCUs support students on a path toward academic and professional success.

Empowering women impact entrepreneurs to reach their fullest potential and drive social and environmental change is the goal of the Cartier Women’s Initiative (CWI), which became SOCAP’s newest Entrepreneur Program partner in 2022. Through the SOCAP Entrepreneur Program, CWI fellows and other selected social entrepreneurs from around the globe gain access to SOCAP’s broad network of investors, donors, and changemakers. In fields from fashion to wastewater management to health care, the CWI fellows are building solutions to address some of the world’s biggest challenges. At SOCAP22, several CWI social entrepreneurs shared more about their company’s impact story and the challenges of their work in conversation with Sarah Sterling, Executive Director of Entrepreneurship at SOCAP Global. This episode of SOCAP’s Money + Meaning podcast features highlights of conversations with Angel Chang of ANGEL CHANG, Ting Shih of ClickMedix, Rebecca Hui of Roots Studio, Orianna Bretschger of Aquacycl, and Kelly Nguyen of DrKumo Inc. Listen to the conversation to hear from these entrepreneurs and learn about the support that the SOCAP community can provide to advance the entrepreneurs’ dreams and amplify collective impact.

For 30 years, Advantage Capital has imagined new possibilities for impact by investing private institutional capital in businesses from traditionally underserved communities. Ryan Brennan, Managing Director at Advantage Capital, says the firm’s goal is to get funding to innovative entrepreneurs poised for growth by moving “capital to places where it doesn’t naturally go.” Brennan is featured in the newest episode of SOCAP’s Money + Meaning podcast recorded live at SOCAP22 in San Francisco. In a conversation with Imogen Rose-Smith of Confluence Partners, Brennan discusses Advantage Capital’s 38-question investment matrix, impact measurement, institutional investors, and more. “Our ethos is quality jobs, real wages, ability to create and grow wealth in some of the toughest communities in the United States,” Brennan says. “We’re going to places capital doesn’t go, probably for a reason.” Founded 30 years ago as one of the first participants in a public-private partnership designed to attract venture capital firms to Louisiana, Advantage Capital has since grown to serve 80 funds and 17 states. “We have this mission of taking capital to New Orleans, to rural Nebraska, to upstate Connecticut and finding these incredible entrepreneurs that in a lot of cases are being missed by traditional sources,” Brennan says. With an investor base that is predominantly insurance companies and banks, Advantage Capital stretches beyond traditional impact investor sources by offering a fixed-income investment, he said. “What we’ve found over 30 years is that they might’ve gotten into it for a fixed rate of return; now they love the impact.” Listen to the full conversation!