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Where finance meets impact.

  • What’s Behind the Growth of Impact Investing

    The Rockefeller Foundation coined the term “impact investing” at a 2007 meeting of investors, entrepreneurs, and philanthropists in Bellagio, Italy. Fast forward two decades and we’ve seen demand for sustainable impact investments grow exponentially.  Impact investing refers to investments that generate a measurable social or environmental impact along with a financial return. Over the years,

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  • Does Impact Investing Equate to Lower Returns?

    While it may seem like a new trend, impact investing has roots that trace back centuries and it’s here to stay. But like any alternative investment strategy, public endorsement of the approach has varied. Throughout the years, hesitation stemmed from concerns about financial returns, the ability to measure social impact and stability of the markets.

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  • How A Canoe-Building Small Business, Kamanu Composites, Switched To Making Face Shields To Weather The COVID-19 Storm

    How A Canoe-Building Small Business, Kamanu Composites, Switched To Making Face Shields To Weather The COVID-19 Storm

    If there’s one thing Kamanu Composites has done well over the past 13 years, it’s been finding a way to stay afloat as a small business. The O‘ahu-based company, which specializes in outrigger canoe manufacturing, is one of the last of its kind on the islands. Most of Kamanu’s competitors have packed up and taken

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  • Wealth Inequality: The Secret Cost of Unequal Access to Credit

    America, “the land of equal opportunity”, isn’t delivering on its promise for the 90 percent that find themselves on the wrong side of the ever-widening wealth gap. In fact, the United States has a level of wealth inequality between the rich and poor that is larger than any other major developed country. According to the

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  • Impact Story: Mountainside Community Cooperative

    Impact Story: Mountainside Community Cooperative

    How Capital and Coaching Allowed Mountainside Residents To Purchase Their Park and Control Their Own Destiny Margaret Jones grew up and went to school in Camden, Maine; however, that didn’t make things any easier for her when she moved back to the idyllic town of her youth after 30 years of being away. Although Camden

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  • Change Makers Interview: Mary Houghton – ShoreBank, Community Finance Pioneer

    Change Makers Interview: Mary Houghton – ShoreBank, Community Finance Pioneer

    When Mary Houghton partnered with Milton Davis, James Fletcher, and Ron Grzywinski to purchase what was then South Shore Bank in Chicago in 1973, she had no idea that she was shifting the course of community finance in the U.S. The quartet of “mutually respecting” entrepreneurs created ShoreBank, which was committed to fighting redlining and

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  • CNote CEO Catherine Berman Selected for InvestmentNews’ 2020 Icons and Innovators List

    CNote CEO Catherine Berman Selected for InvestmentNews’ 2020 Icons and Innovators List

    The entire CNote team is proud to announce that Cat Berman, our brave and inspiring leader, was selected as one of ten innovators driving change in the financial services industry! Read the full release below.   OAKLAND, Calif., February 13, 2020 (Newswire.com) –​​​​InvestmentNews has recognized Catherine Berman as a 2020 Icons and Innovators honoree. Catherine was

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  • List of 2020 Institutional Impact Investing Conferences

    We’ve rounded up some of the largest Impact Investing events around the United States for institutions and those in financial services that are interested in learning more about effecting change with their dollars. These events afford great opportunities to learn from and collaborate with like-minded investors in an inspiring setting. We hope to see you

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  • What You Need to Know About Social Investment

    Social investment, also known as socially responsible investing, social investing, and impact investing, allows investors to align their values with investment strategies that positively impact social issues while generating a financial return. Social problems such as natural resource preservation, better education and healthcare, animal welfare, corporate responsibility, inequality, and climate change are attracting those that

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  • Impact Investing Glossary

    Core Financial Terms At times, personal finance can seem like a whirl of unfamiliar jargon. What are the distinctions between terms like ‘Impact Investing’ and ‘SRI’? We put together this glossary of terms as a reference point for anyone who is interested in learning more about the ins and outs of finance and impact investing

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