On October 23, 2025, Sydney England, GSIC’s Executive Director, contributed to the Georgia Interfaith Public Policy Center’s (GIPPC) 2025 Legislative Summit – inviting the faith-based, nonprofit, community development, and municipal leaders in attendance to consider how impact investing can be a tool for community wealth-building. Religious institutions currently invest between $200 billion and $400 billion in impact investments across the United States. This impressive figure represents only 11% of what they could invest, revealing an enormous opportunity for local community development. Faith communities are discovering they can deploy capital through proven models that generate competitive returns while creating real...

The question isn't whether investing in Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) carries risk. It's whether we can afford the risk of letting them fail. As foundations and asset allocators navigate an increasingly volatile economic landscape, I find myself fielding the same question repeatedly: "Should we double down on CDFIs right now, or is this the moment to pull back and protect our...

Due to the the tireless efforts of Profitable Purpose Consulting, B Local Georgia, and many, many others, Georgia has a growing B Corp community! Check this FAQ resource GSIC co-developed with Kevin Christopher of Rockridge Venture Law to help more entrepreneurs take steps...

On February 5, 2025, TruFund Financial Services held its Annual Ecosystem Breakfast – bringing together more than 30 key stakeholders from Atlanta’s entrepreneurial and small business ecosystem. A diverse mix of participants – representing traditional banks, CDFIs, quasi-government agencies, business support organizations, and private sector investors – contributed to a lively, generative discussion on the challenges and opportunities...

Nearly 30 years ago, Atlanta captured the world’s attention as the city played host to the 1996 Summer Olympics. Last week Mission Investors Exchange (MIE) - one of the country’s leading impact investing networks - announced that Atlanta will host its 2026 biennial conference...

The Georgia Social Impact Collaborative (GSIC) is pleased to announce that Sydney England will serve as the new Executive Director. Sydney joins GSIC having spent the past decade working in various capacities in the field of impact investing.

GSIC partnered with the GoATL Fund to host a Catalytic Capital Wine Night sponsored by BNY Mellon at El Vinedo Local, a minority-owned restaurant in Atlanta, Georgia. The event brought together impact investors, philanthropic foundations, and family offices to celebrate the growth of the impact investing...

Royal Thanaka is a unique line of skin care products that features Thanaka, an ancient ingredient from the central forest in Myanmar. For over 2,000 years, it has been used by local people for skin protection and nourishment. GSIC caught up with co-founders Htwe Htwe and Mary Ellen Sheehan to learn...

Bread and Butter Farms aims to utilize what the earth provides holistically to grow vegetables, fruits, and herbs with zero chemicals. They simply take care of the soil, plant heirloom seeds, and harvest to provide the most nutrient-dense produce possible. GSIC caught up with founders...

April 14, 2022   By: Tyler Thompson and Jeffrey Shiau   Profile Summary: Entrepreneur Name: Tyler Thompson Venture Name: Atlanta Green Market (a subsidiary of TESS: The Environmental Solutions Store) Impact Focus…

March 7, 2022   By: LaDerrius Williams, GSIC Social Impact Fellow   On Friday, February 18th, 2022, Georgia State University’s (GSU) Social Entrepreneurship Club and the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies Career Center…

February 7, 2022   By: Kayla Jones, GSIC Social Impact Fellow   Ashani O’Mard served as the Executive Director for the Atlanta Affordable Housing Fund (AAHF) since January 2020. AAHF is a social impact fund designed to…

December 4, 2021   By: LaDerrius Williams, GSIC Social Impact Fellow   Women and diverse-led companies are reshaping the small business landscape. In the United States, 17 percent of Black women are in the process of starting…

October 29, 2021   By Mandy Eidson, Senior Manager, ANDP Loan Fund   In 2014, a report by the Carsey School of Public Policy highlighted how Community Development Financial Institutions, or CDFIs, had “stepped into the…

Imagine being able to invest in a diverse portfolio of residential real estate properties around Atlanta’s rapidly growing market that not only delivers a great return, but also empowers the people in the properties that you’re invested…

Healthcare Georgia Foundation is pleased to announce that Access to Capital for Entrepreneurs, Inc. (ACE) has been awarded $250,000 in Strategic Health Impact Investment funding. The Foundation is thrilled to establish this partnership with…

Announcing the Community Guarantee Pool, powered by the GoATL Fund   ATLANTA – June 8, 2021 – At a time of heightened need across the region, the GoATL Fund (GoATL), an initiative of the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta,…

ATLANTA - May 24, 2021 - Illuminarium Experiences, a new breakthrough global experiential entertainment company, announced today that tickets for its first Illuminarium in Atlanta, opening July 1, 2021, are now on sale at Illuminarium.com. Tickets…

At the end of 2020, Crossing Capital Group, Inc. (CCG) established the The Oikos Institute for Social Impact (Oikos) to create mutually supportive ecosystems with seminaries and universities, foundations, government agencies and denominational…

Founders: Majesty & Elize Gayle Venture Name: Evo Haven Impact Focus Area(s): Sustainable Housing; Opportunity Zone Fund Business Stage: Startup Year Venture Established: 2020 Business Type: LLC   Evo Group Holdings…

By: Ed Thomas, Co-Founder and CEO of 412 Technology   In 2020 alone, it seemed like half of California was on fire, there have been so many hurricanes that we’ve run out of names, and the year is on pace to match 2016 as the hottest…

By: Thelma Johnson, CEO of Albany Community Together! (ACT) & Christine Reeves Strigaro, Executive Director of The Sapelo Foundation    Albany Community Together! (ACT!) is a Community Financial Development Institution (CDFI)…

October 2, 2020   Your business looks beyond a P&L statement for this week, this month and even this quarter, because you know that the social impact evolves and pays back over the long term. You know you and your business…

August 31, 2020 Dr. Roshawnna Novellus, EnrichHER.com I founded my company, EnrichHER, partly because my mother instilled in me at a young age that, as a Black woman, I was going to have to be my own financial advocate. She knew she…

July 29, 2020 By: John Moon, Purposity Summer Intern We believe that humanity is fundamentally good.  Earlier this year, a series of fifteen tornadoes hit Tennessee in a single night, causing a single mother and her teenage daughter…

In 2017, PadSplit launched as an innovative new model providing affordable housing for workers who have been unable to keep pace with the city’s rising rents, which according to RentCafe have increased by 65 percent in the last decade. In…

Goodr has joined forces with Atlanta Public Schools to provide emergency food to APS students at five meal distribution sites during closure. Students will be able to access prepared meals from 10am-12pm Monday - Friday. This includes: Douglas…

By: Ian Cohen, TARA Education Technologies March 4, 2020   “Data in education.” Whether you are an experienced educator or just an average community member, when you hear that phrase, I am willing to bet that only a single…

This post originally appeared on Boardwalk Capital Management. By: Scott Sadler, CFA February 23, 2020 Investors may not think of affordable housing as an "impact" investment, but without question some opportunities in this sector have…

Originally posted by The World Economic Forum By: Judy Oh, Global Shaper, Atlanta Hub, BrightHouse January 15, 2020   Millennials and Gen Z will be the majority of the workforce in 2020. For younger generations, workplace…

By: Aayush Gupta (22C) December 18, 2019 EIIG has a mission of working with entrepreneurs who have little to no prior business experience and frequently lack the skills necessary to start and grow a company of their own. The organization…

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…

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…

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.…

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…

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:…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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,…

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…

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 …