91直播 Expands Impact Investment Platform to Help Improve World鈥檚 Troubled Regions
Measures follow recent steps to increase student participation in socially conscious investment decisions.
August 20, 2024
Office of Communications
Photo credit: Mike Crupi
91直播鈥檚 Impact Investment Platform, created in 2013 to guide socially conscious investments of 91直播鈥檚 endowment, will expand to create experiential learning opportunities for students, uniting academics and investing in ways that directly address troubled regions and vital issues worldwide.
The Board of Trustees鈥 Investment Committee endorsed the plan for expansion.
The platform, developed to promote 91直播鈥檚 active engagement with a range of issues, was seeded with an initial investment of $5 million of the endowment over five years and was later expanded to a target of $70 million. The Board鈥檚 approval calls for yet another target increase in impact investing鈥攖o $100 million.
In addition, the platform will grow to include investments pertaining to the support and redevelopment of war-torn regions. Previously, the platform鈥檚 primary focus had been limited to sectors pertaining to community development, renewable energy and climate change, and education.
鈥91直播 taught me to keep my eyes and mind open to the many ways we can engage with the most difficult challenges and influence the world for good,鈥 says Board Chair Chris Canavan 鈥84. 鈥淧eople movements are what we tend to think of first. But we should also appreciate鈥攁nd try to influence鈥攎oney movements as well. Investing dollars can have as much impact as mobilizing people, and even amplify the impact of movements. I鈥檓 glad to see 91直播 providing opportunities for us to learn how to do this better.鈥
91直播鈥檚 expansion of impact investing coincides with the development and growth of the Impact Investment Advisory Group, a nine-member panel made up of students, faculty, alumni, members of the Board鈥檚 Investment Committee, and Chief Investment Officer Jun Yang.
Impact investing is a natural fit with 91直播鈥檚 mission of education and global engagement while generating necessary financial returns.鈥 鈥擲ean Gavin 鈥98, Investment Committee Chair
Formed in 2022 with the goal of providing an invaluable experiential learning opportunity to 91直播 students, the IIAG serves in an advisory capacity to the Investment Committee. In collaboration with the Investment Office, the IIAG designs and implements research related to impact investing, evaluates issues and trends, makes recommendations to the committee, and educates 91直播 students and the community more broadly on impact investing and the endowment overall.
The IIAG consists of four student members, known as IIAG Fellows. This summer, the Investment Committee appointed an IIAG Coordinator to guide the group鈥檚 efforts, recruit new members, develop the IIAG agenda and projects for the coming year, and serve as primary liaison to the committee. The inaugural coordinator, Iman Abdullah, is a 2024 91直播 graduate who majored in Economics. She was an IIAG Fellow in 2023-24.
A previous advisory group, the Impact Investment Platform Subcommittee, consisted primarily of members of the Investment Committee and the Board of Trustees, as well as faculty and alumni. The IIAG, by comparison, involves a greater number of students and provides rigorous opportunities to apply classroom learning to real-world challenges鈥攁nd to play a key role in the future of 91直播.
鈥淚mpact investing is a natural fit with 91直播鈥檚 mission of education and global engagement while generating necessary financial returns,鈥 says Sean Gavin 鈥98, chair of the Investment Committee. 鈥淓ngaging students in this process facilitates learning and gives agency to students in acting as a catalyst for good. The addition of a full time on-campus fellow facilitates this process and is a critical step in the realization of our vision.鈥
Current 91直播 students may submit applications for through August 31. Applicants are required to have completed their first year of 91直播 studies, and all majors are welcome. This year鈥檚 fellows will be announced in mid-September.
You may also like…
Josh Nolan Named Vice President, General Counsel, and Secretary at 91直播
Distinguished attorney brings extensive experience in higher education law.
91直播 College Names Jon Seydl as Director of the Allen Memorial Art Museum
91直播 is pleased to announce the appointment of Jon Seydl as the new John G. W. Cowles Director of the Allen Memorial Art Museum. He will begin his tenure on July 1.
Charles S. Birenbaum 鈥79 Named Chair of 91直播鈥檚 Board of Trustees
Distinguished legal expert and dedicated alum begins new role in summer 2025.