
Fall Conference Roundup: Emory MBAs Recap Social Impact Events
December 5, 2019
By: Sydney Maier, Carolyn Bero, Avi Scher
Emory University’s Goizueta Business School recently sent several students across the U.S. to attend conferences on social entrepreneurship, impact investing, and socially…

Misconceptions of Money & Value
By: Davion Ziere
December 2, 2019
For at least 3,000 years, money (including but not limited to coin, shell, paper and digital currency) has dominated how mainstream society measures value. It was originally developed as a tool to simplify…

Atlanta Entrepreneurs Discuss the Benefits of Impact Investing at Emory University
By: Aayush Gupta (22C)
November 26, 2019
“Most people think of entrepreneurs as risk-takers. I was taught that you have gifts, you have talent, so you invest in those,” said Kevin Rodgers, founder of SHWAXX Laboratories.
On…

VOTE NOTE: Civic Impact Awards
The Civic Impact Awards is an awards ceremony hosted by the Center for Civic Innovation to celebrate leaders and organizations who love Atlanta and are fighting for better policies, stronger civic engagement, and an Atlanta that is built for…

Relationships Matter for Diverse-Led Startups & Social Impact Startups
This post originally appeared on LinkedIn.
Relationships Matter for Diverse-Led Startups & Social Impact Startups: What We Learned By Spinning Up The Intentionally Good Project in 90 Days
October 14, 2019
On May 31st, we received notification…

Leveraging CDFIs for Mission
Foundations and community lenders scaling outcomes through capital
October 9, 2019
Last week, the Georgia Social Impact Collaborative (GSIC) hosted leaders from nearly 40 GA-based foundations and 15 community development financial institutions…

Smart Investors Use “Inclusion Premium” Thinking, and Here’s Why
By: Lisa Calhoun
September 30, 2019
If you’ve ever thought about spending your money with one brand instead of another because one of them had a better reputation, you’re an impact investor. Investors who want to scale their impact…

Atlanta Emerging Markets Inc., Spanx by Sara Blakely Foundation, and the Center for Civic Innovation Continue Support of Civic Problem-Solvers
Originally posted on Invest Atlanta
September 24, 2019
Four Atlanta social ventures have been awarded a total of $200,000 by the Spanx by Sara Blakely Foundation and Atlanta Emerging Markets, Inc. (AEMI) through the Civic Impact Loan Fund.…

This VP Proves Impact Investments Yield Big Returns For Investors And Communities
Originally posted on Forbes.com
September 17, 2019
The U.S. is struggling with mounting social issues, such as the growing wealth gap and an increase in the number of people experiencing homelessness. To combat these problems, foundation…

Pavan Iyer of Backyard ATL
August 29, 2019
By: Pavan Iyer, founder of eightvillage and Backyard ATL
Backyard ATL is an affordable housing initiative that provides Atlanta homeowners with backyard space a platform to earn additional income with their property. We…

Jack Griffin of FoodFinder
Profile Summary:
Entrepreneur Name: Jack Griffin
Venture Name: FoodFinder
Impact Focus Area(s): Food Insecurity
Business Stage (Ideation, Startup, Early, Later, Mature): Early
Year Venture Established: 2014
Business Type: Nonprofit
The…

Nedra Deadwyler of Civil Bikes
Profile Summary:
Entrepreneur Name: Nedra Deadwyler
Venture Name: Civil Bikes
Impact Focus Area(s): Historic Preservation, Community Identity, Culture Work
Business Stage (Ideation, Startup, Early, Later, Mature): Early
Year Venture…

The Evolution of Sustainable Business in the Southeast
June 27, 2019
By: Scott Sadler, Founder and President, Boardwalk Capital Management
Today’s companies echo the refrain that “sustainable business is good business” (or something like that.) But eight or nine years ago,…

Erin Croom of Small Bites Adventure Club
Profile Summary:
Entrepreneur Name: Erin Croom
Venture Name: Small Bites Adventure Club
Impact Focus Area(s): Health & Wellness, Food
Business Stage (Ideation, Startup, Early, Later, Mature): Startup
Year Venture Established:…

Terri-Nichelle Bradley of Brown Toy Box
Profile Summary:
Entrepreneur Name: Terri-Nichelle Bradley
Venture Name: Brown Toy Box
Impact Focus Area(s): Education, Black Children, STE(A)M, Cultural Representation
Business Stage (Ideation, Startup, Early, Later, Mature):…

SOCAP, Conscious Company Media, and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation Announce Inaugural SPECTRUM Conference
This post originally appeared on the website of PRNewswire.
ATLANTA, May 21, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- SOCAP (Social Capital Markets) and Conscious Company Media (CCM) will host the inaugural SPECTRUM conference on June…

Campus Sustainability Grants: Building Better Businesses through the B Corp Framework
This post originally appeared on the website of the University of Georgia's Office of Sustainability.
University of Georgia MBA student Zack Godfrey is challenging business owners in Georgia to rethink their practices and consider using…

Atlanta Lands Largest Impact Investing Conference for Foundations
Atlanta Lands Largest Impact Investing Conference for Foundations
Mission Investors Exchange (MIE) takes biannual conference south in 2020
On May 16, 2019, Mission Investors Exchange (MIE) officially announced to its members that Atlanta…

Urging the Georgia Senate Judiciary Committee to Vote In-Favor of HB230, the Georgia Benefit Corporation Act
May 17, 2019
By: Jeff Woodward, Steering Committee, Georgia Social Impact Collaborative
The Georgia Senate Judiciary Committee disappointed the social impact community in failing to vote in favor of HB230, the Georgia…

The Triple Bottom Line Approach
May 7, 2019
By: John Lanier, Executive Director of The Ray C. Anderson Foundation
I wonder how linguists feel when they hear frequently misused words and idioms. Is it like nails on a chalkboard, or do they find this vernacular…

Atlanta’s Creative Financing for Green Projects
April 26, 2019
Funded in part by a grant through the Rockefeller Foundation’s Innovative Financing program, Atlanta’s Department of Watershed Management (DWM) recently raised $14M to provide storm water improvements in the Proctor…

Chubb Foundation's Inaugural Pitch Night Makes Impact
April 24, 2019
By: Brandon Chubb, Chubb Foundation
What better way to spend an evening than to hear elementary school kids pitch innovative products and ideas that they've created all on their own? Well, that's exactly…

ONCE by WildArk: Linking Ecosystem Protection to Consumer Behavior
April 22, 2019
By: Sydney Hulebak, ONCE by WildArk
Human activity around the globe is causing the sixth mass extinction. In the last 50 years alone, 50% of the world’s individual species, 58% of the world’s biodiversity and 45% of…

Selling Pecans to Feed Those in Need
April 10, 2019
By: Andrea Jaron, Chief Development Officer, Meals on Wheels Atlanta
Meals on Wheels Atlanta is a nonprofit organization dedicated to serving our metro area’s seniors in need. In exploring ways to diversify funding sources…

Georgia Tech Hosted Eastern Regional Global Social Venture Competition Finals
Originally published on Scheller News on March 25, 2019
The Global Social Venture Competition (GSVC) empowers the next generation of social entrepreneurs by providing them with mentoring, exposure, and over $80,000 in prizes to transform…

What If We Only Paid for Success?
How can nonprofits create sustainable programming? How can impact investors ensure scalability? How can governments spread dollars furthers to actually fix social issues?
Pay for Success answers all three questions at once. Pay For Success…

With Social Impact Investing Support, Place-Based Model Moves to the Suburbs
March 26, 2019
By: Ashani C. O'Mard, Senior Director of Capital Development at the Atlanta Neighborhood Development Partnership
Atlanta is home to several inspiring placed-based models of community revitalization - from the transformative…

Take Risk and Get Paid Handsomely: One Entrepreneur’s Challenge to Start Ups and Impact Investors
March 23, 2019
By: Jeannie Tarkenton, Founder/CEO, Funding University
Being part of the impact investment “ecosystem” these days means you likely have a mash up of issues on your mind because – thankfully – the movement has matured…

Mark Crosswell of GoATL Fund
Profile Summary:
Entrepreneur Name: Mark Crosswell, Managing Director
Venture Name: GoATL Fund, an initiative of the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta
Impact Focus Area(s): Arts, Community Development, Education, Nonprofit…

Impact Investing and Building the Next Economy
February 19, 2019
By: Nikishka Iyengar, Founder and CEO, The Guild
This article originally appeared in Green Money Journal.
Growing up in Mumbai, India’s financial hub, it was hard to escape the pervasive Slumdog Millionaire-esque…

Measuring Social Impact on Technology Investments
February 15, 2019
By: Sean Williams, Performance Measurement, TechBridge
How do you measure the social impact of technology investment? It’s a big question TechBridge has been working to answer for nearly 25 years. In 2001, TechBridge…

Learning How to Leverage Impact Investing Firsthand at SOCAP18 in San Francisco
December 7, 2018
By: Ted Kietzman 19MBA and Janvi Pamnani 21BBA, Emory University's Goizueta Business School
Impact investing is a growing trend in the world of social impact and entrepreneurship. Traditionally, social enterprises were formalized…

Be Wary of Opportunity Zones in Georgia
December 5, 2018
By: Deborah Kasemeyer, Northern Trust
Opportunity Zones (OZs) could lead to greater infusions of capital into historically underinvested neighborhoods. And with over 250 OZs in Georgia, only 27 of which are in Atlanta, much…

Rutu Chaudhari of The Dharma Project on SOCAP
SAN FRANCISCO- October 2018- I am the owner of a yoga studio called All Life is Yoga, and the Founder and Executive Director of the Dharma Project, an Atlanta-based non-profit that brings mindfulness and yoga to communities and organizations…

Emory Impact Investing Group
Profile Summary:
Venture Name: Emory Impact Investing Group (EIIG)
Impact Focus Area(s): Business Lending, Consulting, Workforce Development, Job Creation
Business Stage (Ideation, Startup, Early, Later, Mature): Startup
Year Venture…

Greg Block of First Step Staffing
Profile Summary:
Entrepreneur Name: Greg Block, Founder and Chairman
Venture Name: First Step Staffing
Impact Focus Area(s): Homeless, Workforce Development, Disability Services
Business Stage (Ideation, Startup, Early, Later,…

Brian Cayce of Gray Ghost Ventures
Profile Summary:
Entrepreneur Name: Brian Cayce, Vice President, Investments
Venture Name: Gray Ghost Ventures (GGV)
Impact Focus Area(s): International Development, Technology, Financial Services
Business Stage (Ideation, Startup,…

Grace Fricks of Access to Capital for Entrepreneurs
Profile Summary:
Entrepreneur Name: Grace Fricks, President & CEO
Venture Name: Access to Capital for Entrepreneurs (ACE)
Impact Focus Area(s): Small Business Capital with Coaching and Connections, Job Creation, Asset/Wealth Building,…

Workshop on Impact Capital for Nonprofits & Social Enterprise
ATLANTA – October 4, 2018 – I attended and thoroughly enjoyed the October 4th Georgia Social Impact Collaborative workshop on Impact Capital for Nonprofits & Social Enterprise: Aligning Creative Capital with Mission. Not only did I learn…

Judith Winfrey of PeachDish
Profile Summary:
Entrepreneur Name: Judith Winfrey
Venture Name: PeachDish
Impact Focus Area(s): Agriculture; Environment; Food Products/Organics; Green Consumer Products
Business Stage (Ideation, Startup, Early, Later, Mature):…

Georgia’s Social Impact Map Goes Live
ATLANTA – October 4, 2018 – Nearly two years after hatching the idea, a collaborative of community leaders announces the launch of the Georgia Social Impact Map, an interactive platform designed to connect and educate stakeholders interested…

Jason Martin of Community Guilds
Profile Summary:
Entrepreneur Name: Jason Martin
Venture Name: Community Guilds [STE(A)M Truck Program]
Impact Focus Area(s): Education, Community Development, Work force development, Professional Development, Capacity Building
…

Jasmine Crowe of Goodr
Profile Summary:
Entrepreneur Name: Jasmine Crowe
Venture Name: Goodr
Impact Focus Area(s): Sustainability, Waste Reduction, Hunger Prevention
Business Stage (Ideation, Startup, Early, Later, Mature): Early
Year Venture Established:…

Jeffrey Martin of honorCode
Profile Summary:
Entrepreneur Name: Jeffrey Martin
Venture Name: honorCode
Impact Focus Area(s): Education, Employment Generation
Business Stage (Ideation, Startup, Early, Later, Mature): Early
Year Venture Established: 2015
…

Andrew Eck of Georgia Artisan Furnishings
Profile Summary:
Entrepreneur Name: Andrew Eck
Venture Name: Georgia Artisan Furnishings
Impact Focus Area(s): Sustainability, Workforce Development, Community Development
Business Stage (Ideation, Startup, Early, Later, Mature):…

Final Report Issued
ATLANTA – June 12, 2018 – After an exhaustive, year-long study on the state of impact investing in Georgia, the Georgia Social Impact Collaborative (GSIC) has issued a final report on the initial stage of a network mapping project. The…