Emerging from the pandemic and a larger social awakening, the public sector, private corporations, and other institutional investors committed more than $300 billion to social impact and an equitable recovery from the pandemic. How can investors turn these intentions into impact and ensure these moments turn into effective movements, so that this capital creates opportunities for all and builds just and inclusive communities?
MDI and CDFI credit unions and cooperativas are member-owned financial cooperatives: organized in response to social movements by under-invested and marginalized communities. They have been on the frontlines of natural and economic crises, providing critical resources to support recovery and rebuilding efforts. Their impact was formally recognized by the development of historic initiatives such as the Treasury’s Emergency Capital Investment Program, EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund and public-private partnerships which are poised to invest more than $36 billion in capital to advance a just and equitable recovery from the pandemic and ensure all communities can benefit from a greening economy.
This session will feature community lenders, institutional investors and CDFI intermediaries to illuminate stories of impact and successful models used to leverage these historic public-private partnerships, frameworks to assess actual vs. perceived risk, and insight on how they have worked strategically with intermediaries to de-risk and advance systems change by investing in community-led movements.
Panelists will also share lessons learned on cross-sectoral partnerships and the role of CDFIs in building markets and ecosystems in disenfranchised communities through an equity and climate justice lens.
