Social Impact Investing: “nobody knows if it will work, but if it does…”

So as promised in our earlier post, we wanted to share an update on the Global Impact Investing Network which President Clinton announced at the last plenary of the Clinton Global Initiative.  The new network will create:

• The GIIN Investors Council:  this multi-stakeholder council will provide leadership, disseminate the latest research and support the creation of an industry infrastructure.
• Impact Reporting and Investment Standards (IRIS):  This set of standards will address the lack of transparency and credibility that keeps the industry from growing by creating common metrics for social and environmental impacts.

President Clinton spoke about it off the cuff, endorsing it in his drawl, giving it a uniquely Clintonesque vote of confidence: “This is one of those deals where nobody knows if it will work, but if it does it will change the future.  I feel the same way about this network as I do about climate change, if we can make this economically viable it will change everything.  This is of enormous significance and I really like it.”

The announcement is a model of the partners CGI can inspire to sit around one table:

• Rockefeller Foundation committed $2.5 million
• J.P. Morgan added $750,000 to encourage other investors to join in
• USAID committed $1 million towards the IRIS initiative

The list of founding members reads like a ‘who’s who’ of venture philanthropy, including:

Acumen Fund, The Annie E. Casey Foundation, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Calvert Foundation, Capricorn Investment Group, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, Equilibrium Capital, Generation Investment Management, Gray Ghost Ventures, IGNIA, J.P. Morgan, Lundin for Africa, Lunt Family Office, Omidyar Network, Prudential, The Rockefeller Foundation, Root Capital, Shorebank/NCIF, Trans-Century, Triodos Investment Management, and Wolfensohn & Company.