Skip to content

October 20, 2013

Investing for Social Impact

Various participants within the growing field of “impact investing” are developing a range of innovative approaches to deploy private sector capital to solve pressing social challenges.

Sign up for the Smarter Faster newsletter

A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

Foundations are increasingly embracing the strategies of the for-profit world to make high-impactinvestments. At the same time, various participants within the growing field of “impactinvesting” are developing a range of innovative approaches to deploy private sector capital to solve pressing social challenges. A panel at The Nantucket Project, a festival of ideas on Nantucket, MA, brought together three different perspectives on this topic: that of a Foundation, an investor, and a social enterprise.

The video below was moderated by Andrew Ross Sorkin; Julie Sunderland (Director of Program Related Investments, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation), Alicia Glen (Managing Director, Goldman Sachs) and Lindsay Beck (Founder, Fertile Hope).

Watch the video here.

Sign up for the Smarter Faster newsletter

A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

Related

Collage of geopolitical symbols, featuring a close-up of a man's bald head, China's flag, a globe highlighting Taiwan, and circuit patterns.

Why the USSR and China fell behind the US in the Chip Cold War

Both nations made missteps, but China still has a chance to make up lost ground.

Person examining a petri dish with tweezers, holding small colored objects, against a dark background.

Are microplastics really destroying our health?

They’re in our brains, hearts, and blood — but what are they doing to us?

Collage showcasing a stratospheric balloon soaring over Earth and a close-up of fingers, with "The Nightcrawler" emblazoned at the top, capturing the spirit of a creative renaissance.

How AI is ushering in a creative renaissance

Welcome to The Nightcrawler — a weekly newsletter from Eric Markowitz covering tech, innovation, and long-term thinking.

Two colorful cells with purple nuclei, green cell edges, and radiating filament structures against a black background.

When muscles work out, they help neurons to grow

The findings suggest that biochemical and physical effects of exercise could help heal nerves.

Two people viewed from behind against a blue sky, one wearing a pink top and the other an orange top, share a moment of quiet solace as the person in pink rests their head on the other's shoulder. It’s a serene scene that hints at healing and support after trauma.

3 emotional intelligence tips for helping a friend in a rough patch

Listen, set boundaries, and point them where to go.

Up Next

Perfection Erases Humanity

Filmmaker Casey Neistat explains how the democratization of filmmaking led to his unlikely career as a filmmaker – a career that began one day while playing with a 2000 iMac DV in the trailer park where he was living.