Beyond Grants

Mission-related investments (MRIs) are an important tool that East Bay Community Foundation uses to make change beyond philanthropic grantmaking. An MRI or portfolio investment is an investment that delivers market-rate returns and aligns with the values of the investor. Investing our assets under management in this way allows EBCF to use those assets for social and environmental impact while they are invested.

MRIs are an ideal way to have a bigger impact with all your charitable dollars. Advisor managed portfolio impact investing refers to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) screened and mission-aligned funds we are invested in within our strategies managed by external consultant Graystone Consulting (a Morgan Stanley Company). For EBCF, we add a strong emphasis on racial equity and ESG in our social impact intentionality including selection of diverse managers when possible.

When a fund advisor establishes a donor-advised fund at EBCF, they can select from six investment pools in our portfolio: ESG Cash Pool, Short-Term Pool, Intermediate-Term Pool, Long-Term ESG-Impact Pool, Long-Term Diversified Pool, and Opportunity Pool. The Opportunity Pool has a specific focus on racial equity.

EBCF Opportunity Pool

In our continuing dedication to eliminating structural barriers and advancing racial equity, we opened the EBCF Opportunity Pool to donor allocations in February 2021.

Like the Long-Term Diversified Pool, the Opportunity Pool is structured to prioritize long-term growth and no more than 20% of all assets in the pool can be illiquid at any time. The Opportunity Pool goes one step further to include the additional objective of increasing the number of minority- and/or women-owned business enterprises that EBCF uses as investment managers.

To manage the funds in our Opportunity Pool, we employ a unique set of criteria to effectively target financial return without contributing to the historic exclusion of fund managers who are women and Black, Indigenous, and people of color.

Quadruple Bottom Line

Our Investment Policy Statement, guided by our Board of Directors and Investment Committee, reflects this unique pool’s objectives. Where possible, Opportunity Pool Investments aim to achieve a quadruple bottom line by giving priority to these four criteria:

  1. Financial returns that are competitive with the market (required)
  2. Minority and Women-owned Business Enterprises (MWBEs), defined as owned and managed by racial/ethnic minorities, women, or founders with disabilities (required)
  3. Alignment in investment strategy including racial equity, environmental, social, governance (ESG) impact, and shareholder activism (highly recommended)
  4. Bay Area or California place-based or community focus within investment strategy (highly recommended)

Funds Meeting Our Opportunity Pool Criteria

Investments in the Opportunity Pool are managed by the fund managers in the list below* in line with our quadruple bottom line criteria.

Lindsay Lee, Authentic Ventures, Authentic Ventures Fund II
Paul Campbell, Brown Venture Group, Brown Venture Fund I
Avani Patel, Ember Fund, Ember Fund II
Daryn Dodson, Illumen Capital, Illumen Fund II
Uriridiakoghene “Ulili” Onovakpuri, Kapor Capital, Kapor Fund III
Joshua Pollard, Omicelo Real Estate, Omicelo RE II
Natasha Lamb, New Summit Investments, New Summit Income & Impact
Kristin Hull, Nia Impact Capital, Nia Global Equities
Kneeland Youngblood, Pharos Fund, Pharos Fund IV
Charles Hudson, Precursor Ventures, Precursor Fund IV
Edward Dugger, Reinventure Capital, Reinventure Fund I
Robert K. Jenkins, Renaissance Fund Management, Renaissance HBCUs Opportunity Fund
Sergio Monsalve, Roble Ventures, Roble Ventures Fund I
Jason Torres, Sana Capital, Sana Fund I
Noramay Cardena, Supply Change Capital, Supply Change Capital Fund I
Jodi Neuman, Trillium Asset Management, Trillium Sustainable Opportunities
Gayle Jennings O’Byrne, WOCstar, WOCstar Fund

*Fund manager, firm, name of fund

Portfolio Impact Reports

To foster information sharing and deeper connection, East Bay Community Foundation produces quarterly portfolio impact reports highlighting news of one or more of our impact fund managers and their work. Additionally, we highlight one fund, sharing its investment focus, aggregate impact, and examples of companies in the fund’s investment portfolio.

February 2023 Report

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