The session will begin with short presentations from the leaders of Black Farmer Fund, Invest Appalachia, and Obran Capital Advisors about their experience with raising and deploying integrated investment capital focused on building the businesses and structures needed to support a non-extractive and non-exploitative economy. The examples shared will demonstrate the variety of tools used in a blended capital stack. RSF Social Finance defines integrated capital as “the coordinated use of different forms of financial capital and non-financial resources to support an enterprise that’s working to solve complex social and environmental problems.
Following the presentations, there will be working sessions in up to 10 groups around the workshop room to tackle a complex challenge with a simulation of developing and capitalizing an integrated capital fund. Each group will be facilitated by one of the presenters or other facilitators affiliated with the Collective Action for Just Finance (Transformative 25 Funds) who are attending SOCAP. Each group will start with a discussion of when is philanthropy necessary to tackling an investment challenge and what the role of integrated capital is in solving the problem. The groups will explore different fund structures and investment terms to uniquely address the dynamics of the specific challenge, including the demographics and cultural norms of the beneficiary population, the types of businesses being supported, the geography, and other factors.
The distinct role of philanthropy in both creating the organizational capacity for funds to be developed and the catalytic funding needed to capitalize these funds will be discussed and applied to the specific situations in each group, as well. The breadth and strength of the four years of Transformative 25 Funds that have been recognized by Collective Action for Just Finance will be highlighted both in the initial presentations and by the facilitated sessions. Over 80 funds have collectively raised hundreds of millions of grant and investment dollars to bring creative and high-impact investing to a wide variety of both US and international challenges and funding needs, including climate investing, supporting Indigenous, Black, and women entrepreneurs, alternative ownership enterprises, and more.
