For me, the most interesting and thought provoking presentations at this year’s conference were ones that centered on how to influence or alter the behavior of investors and the flow of investment capital into more sustainable business (and especially agribusiness) models. Most past conference presentations have been focused more on influencing the behavior of consumers, but in the current economic environment, that is no longer enough to grow the Green economy.
The presenters that inspired me most at this year’s conference were Woody Tasch, President and Chairman of Slow Money and Ted Levinson of RSF Social Finance. Tasch, a venture capitalist and investor talked about how we need to transition from a capital investment market place that is driven by the short-term nature of venture capitalism to one that is guided by “nurture” capitalism. In order to address the structural problems in our financial markets and our economy we need markets that promote preservation and restoration rather than extraction and consumption. He believes (as do I) that there’s potential for a revolutionary shift in consciousness around what it means to invest and that we need groups of investors who are motivated and guided by principles. Tasch suggested one goal of getting one million investors to put 1% of their assets into local food growing and production systems as a starting point. For more information on this visit http://www.slowmoneyalliance.org/principles.html.
Ted Levinson, a senior lending manager at RSF gave a run down of what his company does. They are three components to what they do: 1) Giving (they manage $38 million in Donor-Advised Funds representing 117 donors); 2) Investing (they invest the portion of Donor-Advised funds that have not yet been granted); 3) Lending (they lend money to mission-driven social venture enterprises –both non-profit and for profit—that have a deep social impact). He noted that while they are still actively lending to the tune of $15 million a year, there is a direct correlation between the number of investors in their Social Investment Funds and the amount they can lend from that pool. They have several different funds that people can invest in if they want to support these businesses including one that has a minimum investment of one thousand dollars. I guess you could call it principled investing for the general public!
Last but not least, someone who is always inspiring, Priya Haj, CEO and cofounder of World of Good gave a overview of her triple bottom line social venture company’s business model and a summary of how her relatively young company has shifted it’s marketing strategy to stay true to its principles during these tough times. World of Good was founded in 2004 to create sustainable, market-based solutions to address global poverty. Through a series of strategic relationships with online and offline retail partners, they create opportunities for thousands of marginalized artisans around the world to gain access to a rapidly growing segment of consumers who are looking to make informed, educated, and socially-responsible decisions when they shop. Haj noted that World of Good has recently partnered with Disney, Hallmark, Starbucks, and Target to bring it’s products into the mainstream market. At the same time, the WorldofGood.com online marketplace has enabled them to increase their total number or producers/artisans to 150 from more than 34 countries around the world –helping them to obtain a fair wage for their goods and earn a sustainable living!
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