06/23/2020

Q&A Roundtable: The Future of Impact Finance

Economic realities have changed in light of the devastation wrought by COVID-19

Interest and investment in impact and sustainable finance have soared in recent years, highlighting a continuing shift of the field from a niche practice of do-good investors to a mainstream response to significant social problems.

The dizzying pace of development has inspired the formation of many groups with the goal of understanding the field and identifying and sharing best practices within it. They include the Global Research Alliance for Sustainable Finance and Investment (GRASFI), the Global Steering Group for Impact Investment (GSG), the Impact Management Project, the Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN) and the Impact & Sustainable Finance Faculty Consortium, where I am one of seven members of the steering committee.

For four years, our group of more than 190 professors around the world has researched, taught, questioned, and analyzed numerous issues related to impact investing and sustainable finance, from quantifying impact to understanding the role of philanthropy, financial markets, and public players. Each year, we gather this diverse faculty group at our home base at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University to share our insights.

Please select this link to read the complete article from Stanford Social Innovation Review.