Impact Investments

Overview

We invest catalytic capital to fill significant gaps left by the conventional marketplace and unlock additional capital from other sources for mission-driven intermediaries and enterprises. New impact investments are developed in collaboration with MacArthur program teams and investment partners to advance key institutional priorities, initiatives, and programs. In addition to our impact investments, we award about $5 million in grants each year. Our grantmaking goals are to strengthen and grow the field of impact investing globally, strengthen the catalytic capital ecosystem, and advance equity and inclusion throughout the fields of investment and finance.

Current Priorities for New Impact Investments

• Chicago Commitment: Expand access to flexible, risk-tolerant capital for developers engaged in community-centered real estate projects and creative placemaking efforts.
• Climate Solutions: Accelerate innovation and the deployment of clean energy and technology in India and the United States, especially within historically marginalized communities.
• Indigenous Autonomy: Invest in financial intermediaries that build the economic power and cultural independence of Indigenous people.
• Just Home Project: Invest in new housing models that help break the link between housing instability and jail incarceration.

Current Priorities for Field Support Grants

• Advance the Catalytic Capital Ecosystem: Increase knowledge, awareness, and use of catalytic capital globally through the Catalytic Capital Consortium.
• Build Field Infrastructure: Support investor engagement, learning, connection, and collaboration, primarily through multiple networks in the United States and globally.
• Impact Integrity and Policy: Strengthen standards, transparency, and accountability, including the practice of impact measurement and management, and inform public policy.
• Equity and Inclusion: Support the advancement of historically underrepresented and marginalized groups within the fields of investing and finance.

Eligibility

Recipients of our grants and impact investments include traditional nonprofits, for-profit enterprises, special-purpose funds, public agencies, or quasi-governmental entities. Impact investments may take the form of debt, equity, or a guarantee and may be structured as a Program-Related Investments or Mission-Related Investments depending on specific investment characteristics and purpose.