The Rockefeller Foundation (TRF) is a non-profit organization based in Manhattan. It was started in the early 20th century by John D. Rockefeller to launder the image of Standard Oil and the Rockefeller family. However, in the century since its inception the foundation has created an identity for itself beyond Standard Oil as an active and well respected development foundation.
Part of this identity has been as a pioneer in the field of impact investing. In 2008, the foundation created The Impact Investing Initiative. This initiative was focused on instigating a new sector of the financial industry focused on impact investing. Their project had four key goals: catalyzing collective action, developing industry infrastructure, supporting the scaling of intermediaries, and promoting research and advocacy.
From 2008 to the publishing of their first report on their impact investing activities in 2012, the foundation made over $30 million in grants toward various impact investment funds, research groups, and advocacy organizations. Their grant-making work continues to this day, in September they announced a $500k grant to Locus, an impact investment advisory firm in based in Virginia. The grant will be used for “the costs of the Community Investment Guarantee Pool, a mechanism to provide targeted guarantees to lenders, investors or intermediaries working to advance community development financing in affordable housing, small business and climate/energy solutions”.
In 2014, Judith Rodin, the former president of TRF, and Margot Brandenburg published “The Power of Impact Investing: Putting Markets to Work for Profit and Global Good”. This book discusses the logic and hypothesis behind impact investing, different market actors, entrance points into the industry, and models relevant to current and future impact investors.
The Rockefeller Foundation is responsible for creating much of the impact investing industry’s current infrastructure. Our company, Koined, is a beneficiary of their work and seeks to push financial culture and investment activity even further towards a mission-driven and positively impactful place. Where TRF has created knowledge products and tools for institutions, Koined seeks to create knowledge products and tools for the common person to engage in impact investing. To begin impact investing today, visit our site, https://www.koinedapp.com/
Key Sources:
The Rockefeller Foundation: https://www.rockefellerfoundation.org/
TRF Impact Investing Evaluation: https://www.rockefellerfoundation.org/report/impact-investing-evaluation-report/
$500k Locus Grant: https://www.rockefellerfoundation.org/grant/grant-locus-impact-investing-2020/
The Power of Impact Investing: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781613630365
