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Impact Investing for Educational Equity

Stanford Social Innovation Review
This article is deemed a must-read by one or more of our expert collaborators.
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Impact Investing for Educational Equity Giving Compass
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Giving Compass’ Take:

• Jamie Merisotis explains how the Lumina Foundation is working to improve educational equity through impact investing. 

• How can funders work together to increase educational equity across the country? 

• Read about the need for equity-driven policies for higher education. 


To borrow a frequently used legal phrase, the low educational attainment of minorities in the United States should shock the conscience of America. The most recent Census figures show that 47 percent of white Americans hold at least an associate degree. Degree attainment rates are far lower among other groups: Only 31 percent for African-Americans, 25 percent for American Indians, and 24 percent among Latinos.

None of these numbers is good, particularly in a country that ranks among the wealthiest, and that aspires to world leadership in fairness and opportunity. They also fail to capture the stakes for educational have-nots. We know that college degrees, industry certificates, and other high-quality credentials create economic opportunity and increase social mobility. Two-thirds of new jobs require credentials beyond the high school diploma, and without such credentials, millions of people face a steady decline in their standard of living.

These barriers to opportunity will affect all Americans eventually, as companies and managers continue to endure a workforce shortage numbering in the millions—a shortage that limits the country’s ability to compete in the global economy.

Lumina Foundation is working at this intersection of fairness, education, and opportunity. As the nation’s largest foundation devoted exclusively to higher education, our goal is to help policymakers, institutions, businesses, and others grow the national attainment rate of degrees and other post high-school credentials from 48 percent to 60 percent by 2025. To achieve this level of change, however, all of us who support equity in education need to not only make improving equity and attainment part of our stated goals, but also match our social justice message with a shared economic narrative.

Read the full article about investing in educational equity by Jamie Merisotis at Stanford Social Innovation Review.

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Since you are interested in Impact Investing, have you read these selections from Giving Compass related to impact giving and Impact Investing?

  • This article is deemed a must-read by one or more of our expert collaborators.
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    How Two ESG Funds Are Driving Asia’s Economic Growth

    Giving Compass' Take: • Prachi Seth highlights two ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) funds successfully driving economic growth in Asia and discusses how they achieve results.  • Are ESG funds the appropriate vehicle for your philanthropic efforts?  • Learn how ESG funds are surviving economic crisis.  While the pandemic has resulted in disruptions and uncertainty in the market, asset owners, fund managers and impact investors have remained active. Many have undertaken fundraising and investment in a more climate-aware portfolio. To demonstrate how ESG funds can catalyse sustainable economic development and offer greater security and co-benefits, we hosted a webinar featuring two impact funds aligned with the Paris Agreement. The first is a growth equity fund called The Norwegian Innovation Fund. Managed by AV Group Ltd (AVG), it focuses on clean technology and renewables. The second is the SDG+ Indonesia Fund, an ESG-screened global public equities and Indonesian debt fund. Managed by PT Bahana TCW and AWR Lloyd, it provides an annual cash yield to a conservation-focused NGO and creates SDG+ outcomes for its investors. Read on to find out how they work. The Norwegian Innovation Fund: Harnessing the investment potential of clean tech AVG and the Norwegian government have established in partnership The Norwegian Investment Fund, which aims to bring out Norway’s forerunners in green solutions and upscale them across Asian or U.S. markets before they are eventually acquired. This is strategically sound, as Asia is the next big market for clean solutions, with strong potential for economic growth and increasing consumer openness. These clean tech companies can also become catalysts in the renewable energy sector by discouraging Asia’s reliance on fossil fuels. The sovereign wealth fund of Norway’s response to the pandemic has provided additional opportunity, as they have liquidated $37 billion to inject back into the domestic economy, especially into renewable energy and infrastructure-based companies. SDG+ Indonesia Fund: Creating multi-capital returns through innovative funding models AWR Lloyd, a strategy consulting firm with a 20-year track record in providing international best practice investor relations (‘IR’) services to companies in Southeast Asia, partnered with PT Bahana TCW Investment Management, Indonesia’s fourth largest fund manager with over US$3 billion AUM, to launch the ‘SDG+ Indonesia Fund’. The fund employs a multi-capital returns philosophy by taking a holistic approach in quantifying financial and non-financial impacts of the beneficiaries’ programs. Its objective is to encourage investors to quantify the economic value of non-financial returns, expressed as SDG outcomes. Read the full article about ESG funds by Prachi Seth at AVPN.


Looking for a way to get involved?

Learning with others and benchmarking are key steps towards becoming an impact giver. If you are interested in giving with impact for Higher Education, take a look at these events, galas, conferences and volunteering opportunities to connect with individuals like you.

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