Impact Investing
Criteria
The core of A to Z’s work is investing 100% of our endowment in impact-first investments, where we will happily sacrifice financial returns for positive societal outcomes.
We look for founders and fund managers with similarly impact-aligned practices, from their employees, culture, and mission to their products and services. If we are not aligned on the impact front, we move on.
We prefer catalytic opportunities, helping young organizations to ignite their ideas.
Investment Criteria
International
United States
Geographies
Sub-Saharan Africa, India, and Haiti.
Impact Themes
Livelihoods and quality healthcare, with a bias for gender-smart initiatives and proximate founders.
Primary SDGs
1 – No Poverty
3 – Good Health
8 – Decent Work.
Organization Type
Preference toward direct investing in social enterprises or innovative NGOs. Will also consider impact-aligned funds.
Capital Type
Agnostic. We seek to do what is best for the organization and are unafraid of complexity. If that means equity, we invest in equity. If debt, we can take debt. If alternative financing ideas that are outside of the traditional securities are best, we will happily oblige.
Ticket Sizes
$200K-1M.
United States
International
Geographies
Across the US.
Impact Themes
Gender and racial equity.
Primary SDGs
5 – Gender Equality
8 – Decent Work
10 – Reduced Inequalities.
Organization Type
Strong preference for indirect investing via diverse emerging fund managers. Open to venture, PE, real estate, debt, and everything in between. Will consider direct loans to nonprofits.
Capital Type
Agnostic.
Ticket Sizes
$500K-1M.
