New program teaches powerful strategies to leverage diverse capital as a tool for long-term change
San Francisco, March 13, 2017—In its latest initiative to revolutionize investing and giving, RSF Social Finance today opens applications for the Integrated Capital Fellowship. This intensive program will give financial practitioners the tools and strategies they need to help values-driven clients deploy various forms of capital for lasting social and environmental benefit.
Fellows will learn to apply RSF’s integrated capital approach: the coordinated use of diverse financing tools (including loans, loan guarantees, investments and grants), network connections and advisory services to support enterprises that are solving complex social and environmental problems. RSF has modeled this approach for over 30 years, and recently expanded its tool kit with a new series of collaboratives—themed philanthropic funds supporting innovative social enterprises. Active funds include the Biodynamics Capital Collaborative, Fair Trade Capital Collaborative, Local Food Capital Collaborative, Soil Health Capital Collaborative and Women’s Capital Collaborative.
The Integrated Capital Fellowship is ideal for professionals who work with family foundations, family offices, high-net-worth individuals and community foundations. The nine-month program involves three in-person training intensives running three to four days each, one-on-one sessions with expert advisors, peer coaching, case studies, webinars and independent study. RSF is accepting applications through April 15, 2017.
“Wealth holders who want to use their money to fund transformative change need financial practitioners who have the same passion they do, as well as the leadership skills and financial expertise to deploy capital in ways that will have lasting, positive impact,” said Deb Nelson, RSF’s vice president, client and community engagement.
“We’re looking for people with financial expertise and an activist impulse who want to be at the forefront of fundamentally rethinking the purpose of wealth.”
Fellowship is first of its kind
The fellowship is the first program for financial practitioners who want to focus on integrated capital. RSF will select 15 to 20 people for the inaugural program, which begins Oct. 1 with a three-day intensive session at the Essex Woods Meeting and Retreat Center near Boston. Other intensives will take place at Paicines Ranch in Paicines, California, and Hollyhock Centre on Cortes Island, British Columbia.
Faculty members include Joel Solomon, chair and co-founder of Renewal Funds and an author whose new book, The Clean Money Revolution, comes out in May; Marian Moore, producer and lead facilitator of Play BIG and Lead with Land; and Akaya Windwood, president of the Rockwood Leadership Institute.
“Our long-term goal is to facilitate the flow of money to where it’s needed most,” said Nelson. “We plan to educate and connect thousands of integrated capital practitioners through this program and our other field-building efforts. These practitioners will serve as the bridge that connects wealth to innovative solutions.”
Apply online by April 15
Philanthropic support allows us to charge tuition for the Integrated Capital Fellowship on a sliding scale, from $10,000 to $25,000. The fee covers instruction, coaching, materials, webinars and other resources, as well as on-site lodging and meals during the intensive sessions. Full details and an application are available at http://rsfsocialfinance.org/integrated-capital-fellowship/. Applications are due April 15.
About RSF Social Finance
RSF Social Finance offers innovative opportunities to invest, give, and get funding that generate positive social, economic, and ecological impact. Since 1984, RSF has made over $450 million in loans, grants, and investments supporting social enterprises in the areas of food and agriculture, education and the arts, and ecological stewardship. Find out more about how RSF connects social enterprises with diverse forms of capital.
Media contact
Sarah Grolnic-McClurg, Thinkshift Communications
sarah@thinkshiftcom.com
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