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• Rural Mission Investing a topic at the Council on Foundations Rural Philanthropy Conference

  July 29, 2009

  David Wood, Wednesday, July 29th, 2009

  At the Council on Foundations Rural Philanthropy Conference, held in Little Rock Arkansas July 13-15, rural mission investing was a topic integrated both into an economic development track and we also had a breakfast on the topic that drew 25 people at 7:30 in the morning (it was already hot). Founder’s Circle Member Annie E. Casey, and new Leader’s Circle member Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation spoke about their experiences in using MRIs and PRIs in rural areas (Maine and Arkansas were featured examples), in vehicles ranging from CDFI lending institutions to venture capital. The economic development group took a tour of Helena-West Helena, Arkansas in the Mississippi Delta, where the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation, in partnership with Southern Bancorp, have made creative use of grants and investments to support the new business activity and educational institutions in the area. Former President Bill Clinton spoke at the conference – held in the Clinton Presidential Library – and his focus on the economic needs of rural communities, and his highlighting of the green economy opportunities – underscored, from the mission investing perspective, the potential overlap in rural and environmental investment strategies. It was a thought-provoking and inspirational event.

  From my perspective, the event also highlighted the potential for issue areas to illuminate key aspects of mission investing. Rural communities have different needs, and present different opportunities for mission investment too. New Leader’s Circle Member Community Foundation of the Ozarks, for instance, has just adopted mission investing and made its first direct investment in a rural hospital, which for reasons of location would have been very hard to underwrite by a conventional lending institution.

  We are beginning a project that will review the barriers to and opportunities for rural mission investing. If you have thoughts, experiences, or contacts you are willing to share, we’d love to hear them!

  posted 10:48AM 07/29/2009 by David Wood
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• California Endowment holds Mission Investing Forum: Building Healthy Communities

  July 16, 2009

  Lisa Hagerman, Thursday, July 16th, 2009

  On July 1 the California Endowment hosted a mission investing forum to explore how foundations can enhance their place-based and healthy community missions through mission investments. The California Endowment, a member of the More for Mission Leaders Circle, has committed $75 million of its endowment to invest in 14 distressed California communities. The mission is to transform these areas into places that are safe and healthy places for children to grow and learn.

  The Mission Investing Forum gathered current mission investors, intermediaries, consultants, and researchers to address ways to accomplish mission objectives while maintaining a rigorous investment discipline—that achieves both financial and social goals. Examples from investors included presentations from the Meyer Memorial Trust (see presentation pdf), F.B. Heron Foundation, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. Examples of mission investing opportunities came from investment intermediaries (and their portfolio companies) at the intersection of providing access to housing, healthy food, capital, and education in California’s communities. The sessions addressed ways to think about where to make market rate investments in these areas and how to think through the opportunities and challenges of an integrated mission investing strategy. See the California Endowment’s website for several resources on the conference and a live blog of the forum.
   

  posted 9:59AM 07/16/2009 by Lisa Hagerman
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