REFERENCE
JEDI Lens Opportunities for Investing & Philanthropy
JEDI = Justice, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion
The Impact Collective is not a registered investment advisor or a professional investment organization of any kind. The information in this document is strictly for informational purposes—always do your own diligence work before making any investments.
Below are some examples of JEDI lens opportunities for investing in every asset class. Note that the ⚡symbol highlights organizations that are Black or BIPOC-led or owned. This list is far from comprehensive; it is an excellent tool to start/continue conversations with your investment advisors and/or other stakeholders about how to invest to close the racial wealth gap.
Opportunities for Investing Across Asset Classes
Public Equities | ||
Committed to being a bridge between social justice and financial markets, creating a social justice investing strategy. They target people, investments, capital, and education mostly for people of color. Note: There are multiple ways to invest with Adasina Social Capital: 2 Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs); 2 Separately Managed Accounts | ⚡Black owned, majority operated by women, members of LGBTQ+, and people of color | |
Focused on investing in majority women owned companies, and making decisions through the lens of sustainable planet and transportation, healthcare, natural & organic foods, affordable housing, education, communication, and financial services. Note: There are three ways to invest with Nia: 2 separately managed accounts and 1 mutual fund which does not trade on exchange and costs slightly more. | Executive team is mostly women | |
Centered on providing exposure to US companies that incorporate strong ethnic and racial diversity and works to support the NAACP mission and vision. They use various ways to promote this, specifically ETFs. | Executive board is mostly men from different backgrounds | |
Helping clients align their investments with values such as economic justice, human rights and climate action. A Certified B Corporation™, Zevin Asset Management is actively involved in shareholder advocacy to create positive social impact and enhance shareholder value | Women-owned, majority BIPOC investment staff | |
Venture Capital Opportunities | ||
Black-led national business development nonprofit accelerator and venture capital fund for New Majority Founders (i.e., individuals who have been historically underestimated, including Black and Latino men and women). Supports over 3,200 entrepreneurs across the United States, leveraging capital investments, owned curricula, grant funding, as well as corporate and philanthropic partnerships to scale businesses from high potential to high growth. | Black-founded and Black-led with mixed-race team and board of directors | |
Backs the most important companies of tomorrow that are building a sustainable, healthy, and equitable world. They invest at the intersection of profit, purpose, and breakthrough science & technology. | Founded by men and women from various backgrounds | |
Works with early-stage companies, and focuses on financial inclusion, productivity software and future of work, sustainability, precision/predictive health, and direct-to-learner EdTech. Invests in underrepresented founders of color, companies that address the needs of underrepresented communities, and companies demonstrating a commitment to building diverse teams. | ⚡Respective teams with members of various racial demographics. | |
Invests across two funds and leverages its professional network of 14,000 women to identify high-potential female founders and provide the starter fuel and access to propel these fearless founders to success. | All-women, mixed-race staff and advisory team | |
Illumen Capital | Leverages their power as investors to deliver capital along with bias reduction training and coaching for their fund managers’ portfolio. Their goals are to support an inclusive and optimal asset management industry. Mainly an impact fund of funds addressing systemic inequity by reducing racial and gender bias in investing. | Executive board of men and women from diverse backgrounds |
(fund of funds) | Aims to increase diversity in venture capital and private equity to promote equitable access to capital and expand investment opportunities to the next generation of tech-enabled companies. They prioritize women and people of color. VC Include offers a venture capital investment opportunity via their new fund of funds. | ⚡Led by majority women of color |
“Early stage venture capital. Investing with intention. Rooted in inclusion.” | ⚡Black-founded, diverse executive board | |
Investment funds designed for women backing innovative companies. | Female founder, women-led | |
Focused on working with teams that are led by women of color to promote wealth amongst women. As an early stage investment fund they aim to empower women of color. | Leadership team is majority women | |
Accolade Partners Empowerment Fund II (fund of funds) | Venture capital and growth equity fund of funds. It invests in funds for women. | Women-led with many diverse managers |
Public Bonds Loans made to a company or government with a contractual interest payment and maturity (repayment) date. | ||
OWNS is the Impact Shares Affordable Housing MBS ETF. They invest in agency mortgage-backed securities (MBS) backed by pools of mortgage loans made to minority families, low- and moderate-income (LMI) families, and/or families that live in persistent poverty areas. | Executive board is mostly men from different backgrounds | |
Works to give risk-adjusted returns through investment strategies that contribute to positive environmental and social outcomes. Their clients include faith-based investors, nonprofits, public funds, affluent people, and healthcare organizations. | Team is made up of a diverse group of people from age, gender, race, and religion | |
Private Bonds | ||
Oweesta (serving the Native Community) | Works on addressing the lack of capital and financial infrastructures that hold back economic development in Indigenous communities. They offer financial products and development services specifically for Native communities and CDFIs (community development financial institution). | ⚡Comprised mostly of Indigenous peoples and allies to the overall mission |
NDN Collective (serving the Native community) | Dedicated to building Indigenous power through organizing, activism, philanthropy, capacity building, narrative change, and grantmaking. Their work focuses on influencing all communities with a priority of Indigenous peoples and nations. | ⚡Executive team is Indigenous-led |
Focuses on helping institutions invest capital into underserved communities while creating impact deposit programs that create jobs, fund BIPOC business, and support affordable housing developments. This company focuses on economic and racial justice for BIPOC through investments. | Women-led | |
Seed Commons (community wealth cooperative) | Serves as a network of locally rooted non extractive loan funds, bringing big finance power under community control. Most of their investments are channeled to marginalized communities. | Executive team of most demographics of race and gender. |
Banking | ||
A bank comparison site that allows users to see how banks use money and compare all options on one platform. This is a platform that encourages users of all demographics to access banking information. | Women-owned | |
National Non-Profit Solutions | ||
Helps Black and African American communities build a foundation of intergenerational wealth and financial well-being, mainly through ownership. | Executive team of most racial and gender backgrounds. | |
The BLPF pools resources to allocate to the powerful ecosystem of Black-led social change organizations around the country. Through multi-year grants, supporting general operating funds, the BLPF will fortify Black resistance organizing, embolden the imagination and creation of liberatory Black futures, and invest in the development of Black movement infrastructure. | Racially mixed, primarily female led staff team. | |
Local Boston Area JEDI Investment Opportunities | ||
Blue Hub is a community development financing organization focused on building healthy communities where low-income people live and work. They use innovative financial tools and deploy capital to support projects that make communities more vibrant places to live, including affordable housing, school facilities, child and youth development programs, community based health centers, and foreclosure relief mortgage lending. | White woman led; mixed staff and board | |
BII Fund II invests integrated capital — primarily patient, non-extractive equity capital — in social enterprises and community-owned or controlled real estate to prevent displacement in Massachusetts and the Northeast. By using catalytic, integrated capital, communities of color will build intergenerational wealth and collective power. | Executive team of most demographics of race and gender. | |
(private investment fund) | Ujima creates a community controlled local economy led by people of color, including households, small business owners, workers, impact investors, grassroots activists, unions, faith, and civic organizations. The executive board is made up of various people within communities in Boston.
Note: They focus on microfinance through awarding small loans, working capital, growth capital, real estate loans, community infrastructure | ⚡Majority BIPOC executive team |
CFNE provides affordable financing to cooperatives and nonprofits across New England and neighboring New York State, creating and retaining thousands of jobs and housing units, and strengthening the strong and growing democratically-owned cooperative economy. | ||
LEAF lends nationally, with a focus on community-owned natural food cooperatives that create high quality jobs and provide access to healthy food in urban and rural communities; low-income cooperative housing developments; and worker-owned firms and other community-based businesses and social enterprises. Since its founding over 30 years ago, LEAF has invested and leveraged over $122 million, resulting in the creation or retention of more than 10,300 jobs. | BIPOC-led | |
Other General Impact Investing Opportunities | ||
The Transformative 25 is an annual list of funds, banks and initiatives that are demonstrating the power of integrated capital that is designed to reimagine the finance system to work for people and planet. | ||
A nonprofit devoted to helping investors move to impact investing and to help create the world we want to see | ||
Portfolio Alignment Opportunities
Angel Investing Networks
Angel Investing Networks (AINs) bring together funders and entrepreneurs seeking capital. AINs include a collection of investors who provide small or large amounts of capital to small startups or entrepreneurs, typically in exchange for equity in the company. Angel investors generally provide capital during the "family and friends" round of funding for startups.
Organization | Individual | Key |
BIPOC-O | ||
WO | ||
WO | ||
WO | ||
WO | ||
WO | ||
WO | ||
WO, BIPOC-O | ||
WO, BIPOC-O | ||
WO | ||
Networks for Female Investors & High Net Wealth Women
Organization | Individual | Key |
Michelle Yue (founder) Bertha Morales (founder) | WO, WI, BIPOC-O, BIPOC-I | |
Janine Firpo (founder) Ellen Remmer (founder) | WO, WI | |
WO | ||
Barbara Pierce (founder) | WO, WI |
Networks for Impact & Angel Investors
Organization | Individual | Key |
Additional Resources for Investors
Racial Justice Resources from | Their focus is centered on shifting investment practices toward sustainability, long-term investments, and the generation of social and environmental aspects. They prioritize entire communities of all people to empower social and environmental changes. The team is made up of mostly white and people of color of different genders. |
These Impact Principles are a framework for investors for the design and implementation of their impact management systems, ensuring that impact considerations are integrated throughout the investment lifecycle. | |
The JEDI Principles provide a framework for considering, implementing, and improving investments with a JEDI lens. They have been designed to be non-performative, and move beyond box checking, to enable continuous improvement at both the organizational and investment level. |
Race-Equity Focused Opportunities for Philanthropic Giving
CLTV’s approach to philanthropy is steeped in the tenets of Social Justice Philanthropy, which approaches philanthropy with a focus on investing in those entities and activities addressing the root causes of social, racial and economic injustices and systems change. We believe that focused, consistent and deep investment in the areas outlined below will lead to economic equity for Black and Brown communities.
As a result of conversations with economists, policy creators and leaders, researchers, and community partners, CLTV is focused on 3 Key Impact Areas for Closing the Racial Wealth Gap.
For more information about philanthropy please see our Recommendations for Philanthropy and Soul Fire Farm’s Equity Guidelines for Donors and Foundations
Education |
Seek and support initiatives that help individuals earn credentials and that lead to high wage, career-track, leadership roles in traditional industries (medicine, law, engineering, finance) and/or high-growth industries (bio-tech, environmental sustainability, digital technologies) |
Entrepreneurship |
Seek and support initiatives that help to grow and strengthen a sustained Black business ecosystem with a focus on both emerging industries (high-tech, environmental technology, bio tech) and legacy industries (real estate, personal care, hospitality) |
Home Ownership |
Seek and support initiatives that provide transformative opportunities for individuals and families to build a foundation for intergenerational wealth through homeownership. |
Additional Considerations
How to make decisions to ensure race-equity focused investing/philanthropy:
- The diversity of founders, leadership teams, and staff
- Stated commitment to economic inclusion within and outside of their organization
- Demonstrated positive impact advancing socio-economic equity in communities of color
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