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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 know every dollar under their influence can be part of their strategy to transform the world in a positive way. I care passionately that my “imprint” on this world is a positive one, from my lifestyle (vegan), to my conversation style (direct), to my car (electric), and to my work (venture capitalist).

The area I’m most passionate about is making sure investments I make have every opportunity to optimize ROI. One tool I use to do that is understanding the inclusion premium, a word we invented and invite you to use.

The inclusion premium is what happens when you manage the risks of group-think proactively instead of reactively. Everyone has experienced an episode of group-think. Maybe it’s a board you’re on, a sports team, a charitable organization, or a company you know well—but group-think is when everyone is so sure they’re right they do not seek to entertain contrary opinions.

Groups with different perspectives have inherently contrary opinions. They have to work through disagreements to wind up at a consensus. This tough process contributes to dramatically better financial outcomes.

Here are some of the financial statistics associated with using the inclusion premium to manage downside risk and optimize upside potential:

  • Racially and ethnically diverse startups outperform industry norms by 35%. (McKinsey, Why Diversity Matters)
  • In testing the performance of 2,360 public companies globally over the last 6 years, companies with one or more women on the board have delivered higher average returns on equity, lower gearing, better average growth and higher price/book value multiples. Racially and ethnically diverse startups outperform industry norms by 35%. (Credit Suisse, Gender Impact)
  • Among top quartile managers, there’s actually an overrepresentation of diverse managers, with 39% of diverse managers falling in the top quartile of performance, vs. 25% for non-diverse managers. And so it’s particularly interesting to note that you actually have a better chance of outperforming the benchmark by investing with diverse managers. (SuperReturn 2019, “Expansive viewpoints for better results: why you should consider diversity when choosing managers”)
  • Along all dimensions measured, the more similar the investment partners, the lower their investments’ performance. For example, the success rate of acquisitions and IPOs was 11.5% lower, on average, for investments by partners with shared school backgrounds than for those by partners from different schools. The effect of shared ethnicity was even stronger, reducing an investment’s comparative success rate by 26.4% to 32.2%. (Harvard Business Review, 2018, The Other Diversity Dividend)
  • This research utilized the Morningstar database to gather information on 5,000 US mutual funds to compare net alpha and value added between male funds and female funds. The present research found that female managers have statistically significantly higher net alpha and higher value added, compared to male managers, likely indicating that females are not allocated enough capital but have higher skill, as they are able to extract high value added even without proper capital allocation. (Natalie Borowski, Ph.D., “The Impact of Mutual Fund Manager Gender on Investor Capital Allocations”)

Research like this makes the reality of an “inclusion premium” for investors quite clear. At Valor, we’re actively using inclusion premium analysis as an additional layer of investment risk management and returns optimization.

Here are three ways we do it:

  • Sourcing Inclusion: We use industry benchmarks to make sure our funds source investments from across the full spectrum of founders seeking venture capital today. The end result is that Valor’s portfolio is led by 60% under-represented founders in a venture capital environment when the average is that less than 5% of venture capital is invested in under-represented founders. One of the ways we succeed at creating such clear alpha is through the nonprofit Foundation we started, Startup Runway. It is the largest pitch event for under-represented founders in the country. It has sourced many of our most interesting and innovative investment opportunities precisely because it sources from a group (startups led by women and people of color) that is historically under-invested in. See it for yourself—join us at the next Startup Runway Showcase and see the inclusion premium in action.
  • Recruiting Inclusion: When Valor makes an investment, the journey is just beginning. That team we invested in will be scaling quickly, and as they do that, we want them to be able to “see around corners.” That means making sure the next hires not only are exceptionally skilled, but also have exceptional perceptions and understandings not inherent in the core team’s DNA. We know more perspectives earlier in a company’s journey create an inclusive culture that is not only more effective in terms of financial performance, but also more attractive to acquirers.
  • Governing Inclusion: I was recently speaking with a successful Atlanta software company founder who walked away from a $100 million valuation and large investment at the 11th hour. He shared that when the final board composition was revealed, it “looked like a picture I didn’t want to be a part of”—all one race, all one gender. Smart founders—and investors—know that the board composition also has to also be informed by multiple perspectives, which is why when Valor takes a board seat, we pay attention not only to talents, skills and chemistry, but also to inclusion.

Inclusion is one of the risks controllable by investors and it is also one of the few risks that, if well managed, has a strong positive outcome for the investment. If topics like these get you going, and you want to join forces with us on the journey of inclusive innovation, please check out one of Valor’s upcoming events for investors at www.valor.vc.

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Lisa Calhoun is founding general partner at Valor.VC, the first female-led venture capital firm in Georgia. Valor.VC is based in Atlanta, Georgia. The investment firm’s second fund invests in financial inclusion platforms outside of Silicon Valley at the first institutional round. Find out more at www.valor.vc

The Georgia Social Impact Collaborative (GSIC) provides resources to connect, educate and inspire stakeholders for the purpose of accelerating the development of Georgia’s impact investing ecosystem. Recently, GSIC announced the launch of the Georgia Social Impact Map (the “Map”), an interactive platform designed to connect and educate stakeholders interested in accelerating impact investing for social outcomes. Intended as a resource for communities around the state, the Map connects new forms of capital to sustaining and scaling solutions to social challenges. GSIC also provides workshops and programming for training specific groups of stakeholders on ways to leverage impact investing to achieve their impact goals.

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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 loan fund is an effort created in partnership with the Center for Civic Innovation (CCI) to support early-stage civic entrepreneurs in scaling their businesses and expanding their community impact in Atlanta.

The Civic Impact Loan Fund, created in December 2016 by Atlanta Emerging Markets, Inc. in partnership with the Center for Civic Innovation, is an innovative investment tool that provides flexible, zero-interest loans to entrepreneurs who have early-stage businesses that are making a difference in their local communities.

“We are proud to continue supporting civic-minded businesses and those working on the front lines to make a positive impact on other people’s lives,” said Stephen McRae, President of AEMI. “These outstanding entrepreneurs are not only bringing new business ideas to life, but they are also showing their commitment to creating equity in our underserved communities. I wish each of these entrepreneurs continued success and admire their dedication to making Atlanta a greater city for all.”

The Spanx by Sara Blakely Foundation was founded in 2006 with a mission to support and empower women through education, entrepreneurship, and the arts. The contribution from the Sara Blakely Foundation ensured that at least $100,000 of the fund went to women-led ventures.

“For me, this is about investing in the person, not just the business,” said Sara Blakely, Founder and CEO of Spanx and the Spanx by Sara Blakely Foundation. “Not only do I believe we need to close the gap in women’s access to capital, I believe we need to give these women the holistic support that will enable them to soar. After providing them with a year of mentorship and training in partnership with CCI, we are celebrating their success and excited to invest in their businesses so they can grow and scale their impact.”

AEMI and the Spanx by Sara Blakely Foundation each contributed $100,000 to fund early-stage civic entrepreneurs. The applicants selected to receive the $200,000 in total funding are Civic Dinners, The Showcase Group, Brown Toy Box, and SwemKids (The William Pleshette Company). All four of the entrepreneurs leading these organizations are recent graduates of CCI’s Civic Innovation Residency program, a one-year intensive leadership, business development, and coaching program for civic entrepreneurs in the greater Atlanta-area that was sponsored by the Spanx by Sara Blakely Foundation. CCI also provided deal sourcing, underwriting, mentorship, and programmatic support, with loan servicing and back office support provided by Invest Atlanta.

“These civic problem solvers represent the greatest assets of our economy,” said Rohit Malhotra, Founder and Executive Director of the Center for Civic Innovation. “Each of their businesses exists to solve a specific systemic challenge, and their success will create ripple effects for generations. Civic Entrepreneurship is in Atlanta’s DNA. We’re just shining a light on the people who are on the ground, doing the work.”

The 2019 recipients are:

  • Jenn Graham | Civic Dinners aims to help create a more inclusive world where everyone feels invited and engaged in co-creating a better future by bringing people together over food for conversations that matter.
  • John Kennebrew | The Showcase Group works to strengthen justice-involved youth and families through psychological and personal development services inside and out of juvenile detention centers. Showcase Group provides support to incarcerated youth and their families by implementing psychosocial services such as advocacy and family and individual therapy by trained professionals.
  • Terri Nichelle-Bradley | Brown Toy Box produces children’s products and exposure experiences designed to encourage and prepare black children to pursue interests and careers in STEAM.
  • Trish Miller | SwemKids (The William Pleshette Company) is a 501(c)(3) school-based program that teaches children introductory swimming lessons and water safety skills as a part of their school’s curriculum. The William Pleshette Company, Swem Kids’ for-profit entity, is designing and testing a fully waterproof swimming cap to keep thick and curly hair dry in the water and address a cultural obstacle to swimming.

“This contribution is really going to take The Showcase Group to the next level,” said John Kennebrew, Executive Director and Founder of The Showcase Group. “We’ve grown from working with two youth out of the detention center to working with one hundred youth this year. Now, we’re able to put a Program Director in place to manage the logistics of working with the clinical social workers, advocates, and other community members who help to strengthen the youth we work with. It’s a great relief to now have someone who can manage the day to day relationships, while I can focus on taking the organization to the next level.”

Now in its third year of operation, the Civic Impact Loan Fund has provided $455,000 to a diverse group of early-stage businesses in many different impact areas, including community development, the arts, wellness, and education.

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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 leaders and trustees throughout the country are looking for new investment opportunities that yield both social and financial return. The potential of this impact is enormous, as over 86,000 U.S. foundations currently possess $890 billion in assets.

Private foundations are ideally suited to drive social change through “mission-aligned” or “impact” investments. Such investments, such as Ford’s $1 billion committment in 2017, are on the rise. Foundations such as The Patricia Kind Family Foundation in Pennsylvania have even mission-aligned 100% of their endowment portfolios.

Foundations have powerful potential, not only for their experience with initiating social impact, but also because they possess more risk-tolerant capital than most other investors. By making initial investments of patient capital, foundations can de-risk opportunities for private and government investors with even greater resources. By assuming this initial risk, foundations can onboard other more risk-averse investors to make meaningful, measurable impact on issues they care about.

Forbes Nonprofit Council member Amelia Nickerson is Vice President of Development and Community Relations at First Step Staffing, an alternative staffing organization employing men and women experiencing homelessness. Founded in Atlanta in 2007, First Step is one of the first workforce development organizations to use impact and mission-related investment dollars to support its growth. Nickerson attributes First Step’s success to those early lenders who were willing to assume some risk to support social good. “With that success, we have been invited to bring the model to two additional cities, allowing us to continue expanding our impact and directly hire more men and women with barriers to employment,” she says.

First Step epitomizes the financial return that can accompany social change. In 2015, the organization purchased an existing for-profit staffing agency and converted it into a social enterprise with a mission-driven employment strategy. The same acquisition strategy allowed First Step to open a Philadelphia location, with a third acquisition underway. “Both opportunities were nearly 100% debt financed with impact investment dollars,” Nickerson says. “This model has allowed First Step to grow from 100 employees working each week and $2 million in revenue, to nearly 1,800 employees working weekly and a projected $42 million in revenue in 2019.”

According to Nickerson, First Step is now nearly 95% self-sustaining, relying on limited philanthropic dollars to support services like additional job coaching and transportation for clients, which helps increase job placement and retention rates. “In addition to providing jobs to those otherwise disenfranchised from the workforce, First Step is able to save the community millions of dollars each year,” she says. As the leader of the organization’s traditional fundraising efforts, Nickerson hopes to see an even greater increase in social impact investing, which she believes will be the driving force for expansion into more U.S. cities within the next five years.

Nickerson says impact investments from the foundation community will continue to fund new and diverse projects – from large affordable housing developments to research on environmental sustainability – throughout the country. She says the ensuing benefits to communities could be life-changing for many Americans. For example, First Step has been able to translate over $10 million in loans from community development financial institutions (CDFIs) and private foundations into more than $34 million in annual wages for the individuals it employs. “To fund this level of dramatic growth with traditional grant dollars would have taken years; however, by partnering with lenders and foundations in this way, we are able to move much faster,” she says.

Nickerson advises nonprofit leaders interested in attracting impact investments to begin talking with local foundations that are already doing mission-aligned investing about their current and future goals. For those whose communities are not yet active in the impact investment sector, she recommends initiating a conversation with foundation leaders and community experts about the potential risks and societal rewards of funding community initiatives with impact investments. “Review your current programs to understand the potential for scale and what collateral would be necessary to secure these types of loans,” she says.

Ultimately, Nickerson emphasizes the enormous potential of billions of untapped U.S. foundation dollars: “To drive long-lasting positive change in our society, philanthropic leaders need to begin looking at their entire portfolio of potential impact dollars. Nonprofit leaders and foundations need to work in partnership to better understand the risks and rewards of such investments, removing any concerns or perceived barriers that may exist based off more traditional investment strategies. The promise of the good work that can be accomplished and the transformational opportunities at hand are well worth the work.”

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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 are a turnkey solution that takes care of the design, financing and construction of a rental unit in a homeowner’s backyard. A homeowner signs a lease agreement for Backyard ATL to construct an Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU). After building and renting out the unit, the homeowner receives a percentage of the revenue as part of the land lease agreement while we continue to manage the rental.

 

 

 

 

 

 

*interior image from AIR Serenbe artist homes

The concept seeks to create a mechanism for homeowner preservation. The homeowner receives a new income stream that would otherwise be inaccessible to them. Homeowners can use this passive income to offset various rising costs from gentrification to preserve their existing homeownership. Backyard ATL’s scalability tangibly impacts density, providing housing choice via incremental, scattered development. This found density and housing choice helps keep market rates in neighborhoods down while integrating new residents into the community.

We are currently in a pilot phase. Generator, Ryan Gravel’s non-profit dedicated to the catalyzation of innovative ideas for cities, helped spark the beginnings of our pilot by connecting us to communities where the issues and opportunities related to Backyard ATL were most relevant. From that we were able to secure a partnership with Focused Community Strategies (FCS), a non-profit community developer in South Atlanta, to build out our program in their community. FCS helped us secure contracts to develop three sites in the South Atlanta neighborhood, which is in an early phase of gentrification and is presently home to a predominantly African-American working-class community. We have also obtained preliminary commitments from investors willing to fund the construction of the pilot projects. Our customers are proud to participate because it helps with their own housing and financial security and adds an affordable unit that integrates new residents into the community while preserving the existing character of the neighborhood.

Backyard ATL is a capital intensive business, and the model inherently has to be a for-profit, social venture. The reasons being that:

1) The market for our business only exists if we do our best to benefit the homeowner’s interests (i.e. homeowner preservation/cutting homeowner costs of living through passive income), and because our market is mostly lower-middle income homeowners, we have to be intentional to create a business model that benefits homeowners.

2) For this to be impactful on any sort of meaningful level socially, we need scale. Philanthropy is not an option as it does not offer a mechanism to scale the operations of this business. A for-profit model allows for the potential scale of Backyard ATL through access to a larger pool of capital. Ideally, the scale results in attracting political capital, resulting in philanthropic capital to layer our investment pool.

3) The idea for the business was conceived out of a social need. Affordable housing is a large issue across all cities, and not many solutions are attempting to create a model that hits on “gentrification without displacement” like we are.

The challenge to all this is that this type of capital has been very difficult to find, especially in the fiscally conservative South. For Backyard ATL to be successful, there needs to be some sort of financial value put into the social value that we are generating. In other words, investors can take a reduced return with the knowledge that for each basis point they give up, they can create that much more affordable housing and reduce the socioeconomic and racial gap that much more.

Most investors’ expectations are that it is achievable to create the same meaningful social impact while maintaining traditional returns, which is practically and unfortunately untenable.

If Backyard ATL scales, we can help to keep thousands of low-middle income homeowners in place while accommodating Atlanta’s skyrocketing population growth. However, it can’t scale unless the social value of what we are bringing is not only accepted but also embraced by its investors. If we hope to provide market solutions that are actually solving social issues, we will need to find capital that is more conscience of the realities of the problems we are trying to solve.

 

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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 Issue

Social entrepreneurship is about solving problems. Tell us about the challenge you are focused on addressing and why it is critical that we make progress.

“FoodFinder addresses the massive issue of childhood hunger in America and the information gap that exists between families looking for free food assistance and the providers of that assistance. Inaccurate information found online and the stigma surrounding poverty are the two greatest obstacles to learning about and receiving help from a food pantry or similar program. Despite how pervasive food insecurity is in the United States, very little has been done to modernize or streamline efforts to feed the 40 million people who are food insecure. This is especially true for the local pantries and shelters that are on the front lines of feeding those in need – not all of them have an online presence. While websites that compile information on these free food providers exist, they often include incomplete or outdated information that offers little value to a person looking for a place where they can receive food. We’re already at full employment in America, so if we want to move the needle on hunger, we’re going to need bigger and more innovative solutions so that families can always put food on the table.”

Your Journey

Entrepreneurship is a journey that requires connections and support from a wide array of stakeholders across the ecosystem to help successfully identify, start, and grow a social enterprise.

“Coalitions, partnerships, and collaborative efforts have propelled my work to where it is today. The education system is arguably our biggest ally since public schools house food insecure students, play a tremendous role in supporting those students through breakfast and free/reduced lunch, and are home to the first responders to hunger that FoodFinder also wants to reach. Community-building for FoodFinder can enable possibilities that are impossible for us to achieve by ourselves. Partnerships can result in things like our efforts with the Georgia Department of Education who has contacted every teacher and administrator of every public school in the state with information and a call to action regarding FoodFinder – 8 times now. Especially in the nonprofit world, competition and cynicism can creep into those trying to help others. But we’re all trying to help the same people, so that’s why I’m excited for FoodFinder’s ability to help everyone from individuals to state/federal entities.”  

Why Georgia’s Social Impact Ecosystem Matters

Being an entrepreneur is hard and it’s even more challenging when you are a social entrepreneur as your business model and / or structure doesn’t follow the same path as traditional start-ups.

“FoodFinder is extremely grateful to be part of a new generation of social enterprises, one that innovates and develops new ways to help others without ever forgetting why we do it. For us, we don’t see being a highly efficient and effective startup as being mutually exclusive with being a kind, caring, and compassionate nonprofit. We strive to be both. As a result, our revenue mix should reflect that philosophy by having varied sources of income, ranging from large institutional partners like corporate foundations to unique opportunities for earned revenue where we can monetize our services while still fulfilling our mission. We’ll always have to fundraise. We’ll always have to raise more awareness of our work. But we’ll never get tired of doing so because we know better than anyone how much of a transformative impact our work can have.”

Interested in learning more about FoodFinder, please visit:

  • Instagram: @foodfinderus
  • Twitter: @FoodFinderUS
  • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FoodFinderUS/ 
  • Website: https://foodfinder.us/ 
  • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/10326829/admin/
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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 Established: 2013 / 2014
  • Business Type: Social Impact / LLC

The Issue

Social entrepreneurship is about solving problems. Tell us about the challenge you are focused on addressing and why it is critical that we make progress.

“Civil Bikes brings attention to unseen and under-recognized stories of Atlanta. We emphasize the importance of having someone who resembles or is from that particular community. We want to be as authentic as possible. This allows for those outside (and inside) to gain a deeper understanding of the lived experiences and have a nuanced view of the history. The Guide serves as a literal guide through the highs and lows of the historical narrative. The 1.5 to 2 hours is not enough time to tell the full story, so we pair the history up to sites that are critical to the telling of the narrative that we may have lost to demolition, at risk of losing because of neglect, or it has been adapted to some other use and we have no idea what purpose it once served. In a changing city, remembering is a challenge because sometimes people prefer to forget and move on.” 

Your Journey

Entrepreneurship is a journey that requires connections and support from a wide array of stakeholders across the ecosystem to help successfully identify, start, and grow a social enterprise.

“My entrance into culture work came in an unassuming way and has multiple threads. It is an extension of my love of riding a bicycle and having the thought while touring Alabama- a largely rural state- that exploring history on a bicycle would be more interesting than riding in the back of a car! Another thread is while growing up, I constantly asked questions to understand why issues like racism, genderism, and nationalism existed, not using those words of course, but sought to understand these things that did not align with my beliefs or what my parents and family taught me. I became a social worker, lived in other cities and the practice of listening, examining society and embracing cultures were choices I sought in my professional, religious, and social life. The final thread was coming to terms with the fact that relationship and lifestyle choices were not enough to create equity for myself and others, that goodwill didn’t go far and wide. I was compelled to take action and find more intentional ways to address issues that are of concern and work to impact society. Today, I believe that the only way to have a future is to seek a just society.”

Why Georgia’s Social Impact Ecosystem Matters

Being an entrepreneur is hard and it’s even more challenging when you are a social entrepreneur as your business model and / or structure doesn’t follow the same path as traditional start-ups.

“There are entrepreneurs on both sides of my family and both are traditional in structure. I come from a non-profit/service mindset, and learning how to create a sustainable business model is one of my biggest challenges. Civil Bikes’ current business model takes money from admissions tickets and reinvests those profits into locally-owned businesses, cultural and historical spaces and artists, which changes our profit margins. 

Additionally, this direct exchange into the tour community supports spaces at-risk of being gentrified, harkens use to the identity and character of the neighborhoods, and are either Black, women, immigrant, or LGBTQAI/ Queer-owned. Other sources of revenue are a list of services: tours for our audiences, developing tours as an economic development tool for groups (municipalities, cultural groups, businesses, etc.), sponsorships and grants, and merchandise. 

Finally, I am thankful to my last employer for not seeing any conflict with me running Civil Bikes and appreciate Clay, my family, a few close friends and now my CCI [Center for Civic Innovation] family for that felt and necessary emotional, hands-on, and technical support. I’ve experienced burnout before and thankfully, it is not on the horizon!”

Interested in learning more about Civil Bikes, please visit:

  • Instagram: @civil_bikes
  • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/civilbikestours/ 
  • Website: https://civilbikes.com/
  • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nedra-deadwyler-7a793122/ 

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, that wasn’t necessarily the case.  

Most businesses at that time had yet to openly embrace sustainability, and the investing public surely didn’t uniformly believe that such activities were a good use of corporate funds.  Even today, investors still don’t all buy into the story.  But, as they say, “that’s what makes a market.”  (You’ll never get everyone to agree on anything.)   

As an indicator of how far sustainability was from the mainstream in 2010, only 20% of the S&P500 reported on sustainability factors.  It was still a confusing topic for many, and the term was still rather ill-defined in the public eye. 

As the owner of a new company focused on sustainable investing, I knew we had a challenge.  We wanted to tell the story that sustainability is about running a better company, and that including these factors in an investment process was logical and (importantly) didn’t undermine financial returns.  But as a startup, our credibility was a little on the light side.  

So, we teamed up with the Green Chamber of the South, where I was a board member, to create a new kind of sustainability conference.  We enlisted the help of Atlanta’s (and the region’s) companies and created a conference where the investing and business public could hear this truth about corporate sustainability directly from the decision makers.  Where my company lacked credibility, the region’s corporate giants had it in spades.   

Of course, we weren’t sure what we’d hear from those companies.  Would they even want to participate? And would they tell the same story that we were telling?  It turns out that we need not have worried.

We called that conference “Sustainability Interactive” (SI) and joked that it was like speed dating with a room full of CSOs (Chief Sustainability Officers.)  Indeed, attendees moved from table to table to hear sustainability officers tell their stories.  Incorporating a cocktail reception in the mix helped drive free flowing conversations and networking.

 In retrospect, the conference was well timed.  To quote one attendee from the solar industry, it signaled “a sea change” in business attitudes in the Southeast.  Companies told a story about Return-on-Investment (ROI). Yes, their sustainability programs were an investment – with a payback period and an expected return.  This wasn’t about hugging trees. It was about reducing costs, building more resiliency and reducing risks. (And thank goodness that’s what we heard…) 

On November 4, Sustainability Interactive will be back again, in its seventh edition.  And the conversation around the event is completely different. Sustainability is a “given” among companies large and small.  And while few companies published a sustainability report in 2010, 86% of the S&P500 does so today. Customers, shareholders and employees alike are engaged and are choosing to vote with their time and their dollars for companies whose principles and actions sync with their own.

From my perspective, companies have evolved greatly over this period, but perhaps not as much as their messaging has.  With a more receptive audience among customers and investors, what was once rather hidden moved to the front. Yes, they are doing more.  But they’re also saying more. 

So, SI-7 will be about companies doing more, and yes, telling us about it.  The conference will focus on business playing a role in addressing what ails our world.  We’ll be using the UN Sustainable Development Goals as a template and learning how companies in the Southeast are addressing these needs.  We’re looking forward to another lively evening. Visit www.greencs.org for more info.

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Atlanta-based Boardwalk Capital Management is an independent Registered Investment Advisor specializing in Sustainable and Responsible Investing. Their principals have decades of combined financial experience, providing counsel to individuals and institutions all over the country. They offer both proprietary investment solutions, and premier third-party managed strategies, in order to meet the unique needs of each client. Certain principles transcend investment styles.  Boardwalk Capital Management firmly believes in the value of asset diversification, tax efficient management and full transparency. Learn more at https://www.boardwalkcm.com/. 

The Green Chamber of the South aims to bring together businesses and organizations across the Southeast to promote the growth, innovation and success of sustainability. Discover more at https://greencs.org/. 

The Georgia Social Impact Collaborative (GSIC) provides resources to connect, educate and inspire stakeholders for the purpose of accelerating the development of Georgia’s impact investing ecosystem. Recently, GSIC announced the launch of the Georgia Social Impact Map (the “Map”), an interactive platform designed to connect and educate stakeholders interested in accelerating impact investing for social outcomes. Intended as a resource for communities around the state, the Map connects new forms of capital to sustaining and scaling solutions to social challenges. GSIC also provides workshops and programming for training specific groups of stakeholders on ways to leverage impact investing to achieve their impact goals.

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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: 2018
  • Business Type: For-Profit Social Enterprise
  • Headquarters: Atlanta, Georgia

The Issue

Social entrepreneurship is about solving problems. Tell us about the challenge you are focused on addressing and why it is critical that we make progress.

“Nine out of ten U.S. children aren’t eating the recommended amount of fruits and vegetables. Many children go days without eating a single vegetable. This is critical because we know that young children with poor eating habits are on the road to continued poor nutrition into adulthood, making them susceptible to health-related diseases (e.g. obesity, heart disease, hypertension, cancer).

Teaching children about healthy eating should be fun, effective and easy for educators– and that is what Small Bites Adventure Club is focused on doing.

The mission of Small Bites Adventure Club is to help children discover, love and eat their vegetables. Our product, Taste Test Box, is a subscription farm-to-table cooking kit delivered directly to school classrooms and after school programs. The Taste Test Boxes include all of the fresh, pre-measured fresh ingredients and step-by-step picture instructions for students to create and try a healthy, delicious recipe. The ingredients are sourced from local, sustainable farmers.

We ship kits to after school clubs, preschool programs, summer camps and K-12th grade schools. We’ve reached over 8,000 students in the last year in Georgia – that’s over 30,000 bites of fruits and veggies!”

Your Journey

Entrepreneurship is a journey that requires connections and support from a wide array of stakeholders across the ecosystem to help successfully identify, start, and grow a social enterprise.

“I draw a lot of support from three key communities: the farm to school community, the public health community and the social impact community.

Over the last 15 years, I’ve been obsessed with the field of farm to school – getting kids to develop a healthy relationship with good food and the farmers that grow it. I wrote my graduate thesis on it, and spent a decade working with Georgia Organics to establish the state’s farm to school programming. Through this work, I have gotten to know the local food, nutrition and agricultural players in business, school districts,  academic institutions, government agencies, schools and nonprofits. It’s a very tight-knit and supportive community, and I know someone in every state doing great work.

In 2017, I worked out my idea to develop the Taste Test Box kit through a fellowship with Center for Civic Innovation. I wanted to figure out how to leverage technology and the meal kit industry to make it easier for teachers to lead hands-on cooking and nutrition education with their students — and support local farmers.  

Last year, I gave a pitch on the Taste Test Box concept and received our first order that very night. PeachDish was immediately signed on as our fulfillment partner, and we were off to the races!  

Since then, I’ve sent kits to almost everyone that I have ever worked with (teachers, farmers, school nutrition and public health and nonprofit leaders) to get their feedback, and we have made several good adjustments.

Also, I am always looking to the brilliant folks at CDC, academic institutions, and other public health agencies who are figuring out how to move the needle on child nutrition and physical health. It’s very important to me that our product be an effective tool to ultimately increase student preference and consumption of fruits and veggies.

Earlier this year, I participated in the James Beard Association Owning It workshop and pitch. It was incredibly rewarding to spend time with other women food business owners.”

Why Georgia’s Social Impact Ecosystem Matters

Being an entrepreneur is hard and it’s even more challenging when you are a social entrepreneur as your business model and / or structure doesn’t follow the same path as traditional start-ups.

“A lot of people are surprised that we are a for-profit company, since we have what seems to be a non-profit mission: helping children discover, love and eat their fruits and vegetables. I believe that there is and should be space for companies to address critical public health issues, and the social impact community makes this possible.

There are many companies out there that are marketing stuff to supposedly make us healthy or lose weight. The wellness industry is a $4.2 trillion industry – and most of it has nothing to do with actual health. (Gwyneth Paltrow will sell you a $66 egg, if you don’t believe me).  

When I saw that, I wanted to create a company that addressed a real public health problem while selling a product that focused on a real solution. On top of that, this work allows us to support and promote some amazing local farmers.”

Interested in learning more about Small Bites Adventure Club, please visit:

  • Instagram: @smallbitesclub
  • Facebook: @smallbitesclub
  • Website: www.smallbites.club (check back in the fall for website launch)
  • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erin-croom-0a50736/ 
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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): Startup
  • Year Venture Established: 2018
  • Business Type: For-Profit Social Enterprise
  • Headquarters: Atlanta, Georgia

The Issue

Social entrepreneurship is about solving problems. Tell us about the challenge you are focused on addressing and why it is critical that we make progress.

“The projected net worth for Blacks in 2053 is $0. That is not for you and for me but that is for the children we are creating solutions for today. Brown Toy Box produces STEAM-themed subscription boxes, children’s products and in-class experiences all designed to not only change the way Black children see themselves and what is possible for their futures, but to also disrupt, dismantle and destroy that abysmal forecast.

We are working to create a new narrative through early exposure, positive cultural representation, and access. We are using all the data we have around the science of play to counteract a systemic social crisis.”

Your Journey

Entrepreneurship is a journey that requires connections and support from a wide array of stakeholders across the ecosystem to help successfully identify, start, and grow a social enterprise.

“My journey has been a long one with a lot of significant challenges. Creating this business has been and continues to be an uphill battle, but I know that if it were easy everyone would do it. In fact, when I first launched as a direct-to-consumer subscription box, I knew I was only reaching a portion of my market- affluent Black moms who understood the importance of preparing their children to explore STEM. The problem was, when I created this business, I knew that I wanted to touch high-potential children born into in high-poverty communities. Until I figured out a way to do this, spiritually the work felt a bit disconnected. So, it really wasn’t until we expanded our business model from solely being direct-to-consumer to also working with corporate partners to get our products into the hands of young scholars in Title 1 schools that we started seeing real traction and I felt like I was really working in my mission.

One of the things that makes Atlanta so special is that once I was clear on what Brown Toy Box was going to be and how we were going to implement our solution, it feels as though Atlanta just rallied behind me in a lot of ways. I was selected as a Center for Civic Innovation Fellow, then a Civic Innovation resident funded by The Sara Blakely Foundation, and finally, I was chosen to be a part of the City of Atlanta’s Women’s Entrepreneurship Initiative. Because my work is so centered in improving the lives and futures of Black children, I am excited to be selected as one of the companies asked to join the Russell Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship’s Founding 100, which starts this month. Emory has also been supportive in many ways. Just last month, I received a small but meaningful investment from Emory Impact Investment Group. The school’s social impact students worked with me to create an impact measurement tool, because one of the most important aspects of my work’s success is to collect data and quantify impact.”

Why Georgia’s Social Impact Ecosystem Matters

Being an entrepreneur is hard and it’s even more challenging when you are a social entrepreneur as your business model and / or structure doesn’t follow the same path as traditional start-ups.

“What is interesting about the social impact space is people still assume that if you are running a mission-driven business that you should be nonprofit. I have always been clear that while I support and respect so many nonprofits both locally and nationally, I didn’t want to structure my business that way. My focus is growing a sustainable and impactful business with capacity to create jobs while procuring from black and brown makers, toy designers, and self-published authors for our boxes. The more we can grow and scale, the more impact we can make. Therefore, for me, the work that folks like Conscious Capitalism, Center for Civic Innovation and others are doing around amplifying the work of for-profit social enterprises is important.

The elephant in the room is that as a Black female founder and CEO it is still difficult to gain access to the room. Luckily for me, I have worked hard to build my network, but I am very clear that I still don’t have access to all the rooms that need to hear about the work and impact of the work we are doing with Brown Toy Box. I, along with others on the front lines actually doing the work, still need to be endorsed by Atlanta’s kingmakers and that is a very small and exclusive group of who’s who. That needs to change and there needs to be more space at the table- to be clearer- more Black business social impact business leaders need to have unfiltered access to the room. I think this will do a lot to open pathways to funding, more significant corporate sponsorships, and deeper understanding.

The current conversation around innovation in Georgia is squarely centered on tech. The truth is that the social impact space is not only driving innovation in key areas such as education, sustainability, health, food justice and public health, but it is the impact and outcomes from this work that will ultimately make communities more livable, attractive to prospective companies, and will play a major role in the economic development of our state.”

Interested in learning more about Brown Toy Box, please visit:

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 12 & 13, 2019 at The Gathering Spot in Atlanta, GA.

SPECTRUM, made possible with support from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, is a two-day cross-sector convening to bring together business leaders, entrepreneurs, thought leaders, practitioners, and investors to identify ways to foster economic growth that is based on equity, diversity, and inclusion where everyone can thrive.

“The fastest-growing population of American entrepreneurs are people of color, and the next wave of innovative companies are coming from cities like Atlanta, New Orleans, and Memphis,” says Lindsay Smalling, CEO of SOCAP. “SPECTRUM is a convening to accelerate the market for these game-changing solutions and create an inclusive impact economy.”

“The conscious business movement has tremendous potential to redesign business in service of all life, but it is not as inclusive and diverse as it needs to be. With SPECTRUM we hope to create space for honest conversation and take a hard look at systemic bias that limits the best business has to offer,” said Meghan French Dunbar, CEO and Co-founder of Conscious Company Media.

SOCAP and Conscious Company Media are both part of Intentional Media, a family of media and event brands catalyzing the transition to an economy that ensures social, environmental and economic systems thrive together. SPECTRUM is the first collaboration by the two companies, which are each bringing their respective audience and experience in designing world-class convenings.

SOCAP convenes the largest and most diverse impact investing community in the world at its annual flagship conference, which has hosted over 20,000 participants since its founding in 2008. Conscious Company Media was founded in 2014 and produces Conscious Company Magazine, the first nationally distributed publication in the US to focus solely on sustainable business and business as a force for good, as well as the Conscious Company Leaders Forum and the World-Changing Women’s Summit.

“This new convening is a thoughtful and exciting continuation of the conversations that emerged during the Racial Equity track that the Kellogg Foundation supported at SOCAP17 and SOCAP18. Impact investors, social entrepreneurs, and business leaders will be essential partners to create pathways for equitable opportunity and harness the power of the capital markets to improve the lives of children, their families and their communities, ” said Cynthia Muller, director of Mission Investment at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

The Kellogg Foundation has been on the forefront of racial equity, establishing itself as an anti-racist organization more than a decade ago, and allocating $100 million of its endowment to mission-driven investments over the last decade. Narrative change, racial healing, and relationship building are pillars of their work.

At SPECTRUM, programming will feature provocative talks from leaders actively working on a more inclusive impact economy including Marc Bamuthi Joseph, Vice President and Artistic Director of Social Impact at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts; Francine Chew, VP, Impact & Responsible Investments Group at Prudential Financial; Frederick Hutson of Pigeonly; Edward Dugger III of Reinventure Capital; Jasmine Crowe of Goodr; Jessica Stago of Change Labs; Lisa Yancey of the We’s Match; and Rohit Malhotra of Atlanta’s Center for Civic Innovation. Anchor conversations on the business case for racial equity, impact investing, and conscious business, as well as a focus on accessing capital will draw on the expert networks of SOCAP and CCM.

An advisory board of local and national leaders in conversations of racial equity were engaged for initial event concept and programming guidance. SPECTRUM Advisory Board members are Andrew Brower, W.K. Kellogg Foundation; Kelly Burton, Founders of Color; Courtney Counts, KTC; Elaine Dinos, Kindred Lane; Rodney Foxworth, BALLE; Marcos Gonzalez, Vamos Ventures; Twanna Harris, Atlanta BeltLine Inc.; Venus Lockett, Urban Asset Builders (UAB) Inc.; Cynthia Muller, W.K. Kellogg Foundation; and Joey Womack, Amplify 4 Good.

“As the birthplace of the Civil Rights Movement, Atlanta has always had a storied legacy of disrupting the status quo while leveraging creativity and innovation to challenge systemic and institutional barriers. Convening national thought leaders to share global best practices is absolutely critical in how we reimagine the future of cities as entrepreneurial ecosystems,  promote inclusive innovation, address the inclusion of underrepresented communities, and create new tactics of democratizing opportunity for everyone,” said Twanna Harris, VP of Brand, Content and Strategic Initiatives for Atlanta BeltLine, Inc.

SPECTRUM will deliver actionable insights and connections and provide concrete ways to start activating change, individually and organizationally, in a bold conversation for the field. Significant time is being allocated for attendees to be in conversation and a skilled facilitator and coalition builder, Nadia Brigham, has been engaged to guide the conversation. Nadia brings over 20 years of experience advancing diversity, equity and inclusion particularly focused on racial equity and community engagement. Together with attendees, Nadia will guide the conversation to ensure that clear objectives are established, insights are gathered, and meaningful action continues after the event concludes.

“For way too long, impact investing and conscious business have had a blind spot around the barriers to a truly inclusive impact economy,” says Smalling. “We are launching SPECTRUM to shine a light on racial equity and explore the full range of possibilities.”

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About SOCAP

SOCAP is the largest and most diverse impact investing community in the world. We convene a global ecosystem and marketplace – social entrepreneurs, investors, foundation and nonprofit leaders, government and policy leaders, creators, corporations, academics and beyond –  through live and digital content experiences that educate, spur conversation, and inspire investment in positive impact. www.socialcapitalmarkets.net

About Conscious Company Media

Conscious Company Media is the nation’s leading media company dedicated to purpose-driven businesses and social enterprises. The company’s flagship product — Conscious Company Magazine — was the first nationally distributed print publication in the U.S. to focus exclusively on sustainable and conscious business practices. In addition to the magazine, Conscious Company Media produces national events, such as the World-changing Women’s Summit and the Conscious Company Leaders Forum, to train business leaders to use business as a force for good, as well as an internationally distributed podcast, World-Changing Women. www.consciouscompanymedia.com

About the W.K. Kellogg Foundation

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation, founded in 1930 as an independent, private foundation by breakfast cereal innovator and entrepreneur Will Keith Kellogg, is among the largest philanthropic foundations in the United States. Guided by the belief that all children should have an equal opportunity to thrive, WKKF works with communities to create conditions for vulnerable children so they can realize their full potential in school, work and life. The Kellogg Foundation is based in Battle Creek, Michigan, and works throughout the United States and internationally, as well as with sovereign tribes. Special emphasis is paid to priority places where there are high concentrations of poverty and where children face significant barriers to success. WKKF priority places in the U.S. are in Michigan, Mississippi, New Mexico and New Orleans; and internationally, are in Mexico and Haiti. For more information, visit www.wkkf.org.

SOURCE SOCAP