New Start New Jersey Hosts Private Capital for Public Good: Impact Investing in New Jersey

New Start New Jersey Hosts
Private Capital for Public Good: Impact Investing in New Jersey
 
Keynote Address by Ford Foundation;
Policies Recommended to Harness Impact Investing’s Potential
 
MADISON, NEW JERSEY – As New Jersey and all states assess how to bridge financial gaps to meet social needs, New Start New Jersey convened national experts to explore initiatives to maximize impact investing’s potential to achieve meaningful outcomes through collaboration with government, the business community, philanthropists and nonprofit organizations.  The event took place at Fairleigh Dickinson University’s Florham Campus in Madison.
 
Private Capital for Public Good: Impact Investing in New Jersey featured a keynote address by Xavier de Souza Briggs, Vice President of Economic Opportunity and Markets at the Ford Foundation, an entity whose longstanding, historic engagement in impact investing transformed domestic community development and global microfinance, among many other industries.  Focusing on the overall need to build a more inclusive economy, Briggs outlined the Ford Foundation’s efforts to reduce inequality and expand opportunity, with impact investing serving to allocate capital toward these ends.
 
In addition to Briggs, the session highlighted insights from a panel of impact-investing practitioners and thought leaders: Graham MacMillan, Senior Program Officer, Ford Foundation; Lara Metcalf, Managing Director, Social Finance; Brian Trelstad, Partner, Bridges Fund Management; and Ommeed Sathe, Vice President of Impact Investments, Prudential.
 
“With the private sector, philanthropists and individual investors ready to partner with governments and service providers to answer social challenges, we can open new avenues to achieve worthwhile goals in an era of constrained public resources,” said Tammy Murphy, Chair and Co-Founder of New Start New Jersey.
 
According to the Global Impact Investing Network, “Impact investments are investments made into companies, organizations, and funds with the intention to generate social and environmental impact alongside a financial return.” The Global Impact Investing Network’s 2016 Annual Impact Investor Survey reveals impact-investing assets under management have grown to nearly $80 billion, with over $15 billion committed to impact investments in the most recent year.  

During the session, New Start New Jersey presented recommendations aimed at promoting impact investing in the state, which include: appointing a council to author and advise on statewide strategy; establishing a catalytic first-loss fund; introducing a tax credit for impact investments; enacting legislation for Pay-for-Success transactions; and aggregating and publishing relevant data
 
The gathering aimed to generate momentum and plans within New Jersey similar to those emerging at the national level, notably from the United States National Advisory Board on Impact Investing – now the United States Alliance on Impact Investing – and its 2014 release of Private Capital, Public Good: How Smart Federal Policy Can Galvanize Impact Investing – And Why It’s Urgent. 
 
The forum marked the seventh public session since New Start New Jersey’s launch in November 2014.  The other events include: A Policy Agenda for Strengthening New Jersey’s Middle Class with the Center for American Progress; New Jersey’s Advanced Industries: What They Are & Why They Matter with the Brookings Institution’s Metropolitan Policy Program; the launch of the New Start Career Network with the John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University; Building Bridges (Roads, Rail & Tunnels) to a Stronger Middle Class: Infrastructure Investments for New Jersey; Latino Policy Forum: Immigration, Education & Employment; and Strategies to Address Long-term Unemployment for Older Job Seekers at the Center for American Progress in Washington, DC.