Month: September 2024

Power In Community

By Hannah Chua, Ambitio US Program Associate, and Cate Fox, Ambitio US Program Director

There are many dimensions to shifting capital, power, and ownership to cultural communities under threat, but at the core of making those important shifts is the underlying belief that those who are closest to the grassroots know best the opportunities and needs of their community and thus the value of community-informed and led funds. A number of years ago, Ambitio US Economic Trailblazer investee, Boston Impact Initiative (BII) , in addition to its own investment funds, launched the Emerging Fund Manager Cohort program. This program has successfully developed and equipped emerging fund managers from historically marginalized communities across the country with tools, infrastructure, and peer network that can help them navigate and thrive in the field of impact investing. After guiding four cohorts through its curriculum, BII is hosting an upcoming in-person convening for the first four cohorts of the Emerging Fund Manager program in November. Ambitio US is excited and grateful for the opportunity to attend and support this important gathering!

The lack of representation and high barrier to entry in the field of impact investing means that there is also a critical lack of perspectives–perspectives that are needed to create culturally responsive support systems that consider the historical and contemporary conditions of extraction and exclusion of marginalized communities in their fund administration. We need the lived experiences of BIPOC and women-identified fund managers to shift practices and make the field of impact investing accountable to the communities it aims to serve (thus shifting power). With less than 10% of the asset management industry comprised of people of color and women-owned firms controlling just under 1% of U.S. assets , BII’s Fund Manager Cohort program plays a critical role in diversifying the landscape, thereby increasing financial support for entrepreneurs from historically marginalized communities, and stimulating the local economies.

Since the program was launched during the pandemic, much of the coursework and activities of the program have been online. The virtual environment has had benefits, but it has also had serious drawbacks for community-building efforts. The upcoming three-day in-person convening, scheduled for November 6–8, 2024, is set to change that. It will feature collective discussions and a grounding in the Boston community (BII’s home), fostering deeper relationships among fund managers, where they can talk candidly about what is going well, what challenges remain, how the field is growing, and what is needed to support that growth.

For us at Ambitio US , 2024 has been a year of deep reflection on the power of relationships and collaboration in the face of systems that seek to divide and conquer. The upcoming gathering solidifies that our strength is in each other by creating a community of practitioners who can be sources of hope, ideas, and strength for one another.

It is incredible and beautiful to see that some of our first investments (e.g., BII , Boston Ujima Project , EB PREC , Ekvn-Yefolecv , and others) are shaping some of our strategies and organizing as Ambitio US begins to consider its sunset and closing investments over the next few years. Together, these trailblazers are not just imagining change — they are making it happen.

You can learn more about the Emerging Fund Manager Cohort program and its participants (including familiar faces from Ambitio US grantees neighborbuilt and Roanhorse Consulting ) here .

This article was originally published on Medium. Read it on Medium →

by habtamu