IFI Community Showcase: What Our Community Is Building - May '26 Edition |
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It’s inspiring to see the energy and depth of work blooming across the IFI community this month. From seminal new books exploring how to expand opportunity for all, to cutting-edge research on integrating AI into systemic investing, and essential guides for designing the next generation of impact vehicles, you are creating so much momentum for this movement! Read on for a snapshot of what the IFI community is creating this month ↓ - Voices from the Field: New Books, Systemic Change, and AI in Investing
- Tools & Market Infrastructure: Designing Impact Vehicles and The Comprehensive Investor's Handbook
- Opportunities & Field-Building: Flagship Events in Mexico and the New Fundraising School Cohort
- Take Action: Join the Impact-Linked Finance Movement
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A New Book on Expanding Access to Finance and Creating Opportunities IFI community member Antony Bugg-Levine has just published his new book, Investing in America. Don’t let the title fool you - this is far more than a US-centric resource. Antony explores universal ways to expand access to finance so that people and communities can turn hard work into security and progress, making it deeply relevant for our global community. The book officially launches on July 21st A virtual Q&A session with Antony is also in the pipeline to dive deeper into these themes, you can register your interest here to join the conversation. Rethinking Time: Investment Strategies for a World of Systemic Change Indy Johar challenges conventional investment time horizons, arguing that the future demands a shift from short-term optimization to a strategic, concurrent engagement with deep systemic issues. This perspective encourages investors to move beyond linear planning and embrace the complexity of long-term transformation, positioning capital to address multifaceted challenges simultaneously rather than sequentially. Systemic Investing Meet Artificial Intelligence Can artificial intelligence augment human work in systemic investing? TransCap Initiative and Mutua believe it can. Their SIxAI project is establishing a framework for responsible innovation in the field, detailing current and future adoption of emerging technologies, and the associated risks. A core objective is nurturing a community of change-makers and technologists to thoughtfully integrate AI, ensuring its use advances meaningful and equitable systemic transformation. Humanitarian Impact Finance Facility The Humanitarian Impact Finance Facility concluded a valuable series of webinars focused on Unlocking Efficiency and Impact of Local Operators in Humanitarian Services with Innovative Finance. The discussions highlighted key challenges faced by smaller, local, and regional operators, particularly those in the Global South, in accessing procurement for humanitarian services. The full video recordings of the two events are available below: |
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2. Tools & Market Infrastructure |
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How to Design Your Impact Vehicle Right We know the market needs more financing vehicles designed for real, long-term impact. That's why the new GSG Impact's Practitioners' guide to structuring impact vehicles is so timely and necessary. This resource dives deep into the critical design decisions (from purpose and stakeholders to legal structures) that ensure capital is truly fit-for-purpose. It’s an essential tool for anyone serious about building the next generation of patient capital. The Comprehensive Impact Investor's Handbook Jed Emerson and high profile experts from the impact investing field wrote an essential guide for investors committed to generating both financial returns and social or environmental value. It offers expert insights covering the full scope of impact investing, from total portfolio management and seed-stage strategies to choosing advisors, utilizing donor-advised funds, and implementing best practices for investor due diligence and impact communication. |
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3. Opportunities & Field-Building |
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Impact Days in Mexico May is the month of Impact Days, the flagship event hosted by Promotora Social Mexico from Monday, May 25th to Thursday, May 28th. IFI’s Mexico team will be there hosting a panel on blended finance - we'd love to see you there! Alt Funding School - now open for applications Considered Capital's Alt Funding School is a practical deep-dive into alternative funding for social entrepreneurs and those who support them. Whether you're exploring your options or actively fundraising, you'll graduate with a strategy that fits your business and your values - and meet a brilliant cohort of people you didn't know you needed. IFI members get 10% off - for the tenth and final cohort. Just mention IFI when you apply. |
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Join the Impact-Linked Finance Movement Impact-Linked Finance is a growing movement, and it’s worth celebrating! Practitioners have been sharing why linking impact to financial rewards matters. If you believe more people should know about it, join the campaign. |
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Want to feature something in our next Community Showcase? If you're working on something that's stretching the field, a paper, a tool, a pilot, a webinar, or even a question you're wrestling with, we'd love to help surface it. This Community Showcase exists to make visible the learning that's often happening quietly, in parallel, and across geographies. |
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This showcase is a testament to the collective power and commitment of this community. Thank you for continuing to share your insights, build innovative tools, and drive the field of innovative finance forward. We look forward to seeing what we’ll build together in the month ahead. |
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P.S. Help us spread the word! You can share the open link for this Showcase here with colleagues outside the IFI network. P.P.S. In case you missed it, you can view our April Showcase here. |
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