Program areas at Social Finance
Impact investing services - through its impact investing portfolio, sfi develops and manages impact-first investments and innovative financing solutions that generate positive outcomes for people and communities. As an intermediary, sfi works in collaboration with its partners to design, launch, and manage impact investment projects. Its partners include federal, state and local governments seeking to deploy public funds to address long-standing Social issues, with a focus on outcomes, and, in some cases, by leveraging private impact investment funds. Sfi also works with direct service providers which work with communities and people to improve life outcomes, as well as workforce training providers in a variety of fields. Sfi engages impact investors seeking improved Social outcomes through their investments. Sfi also analyses program data, often working with external evaluators with specific expertise. Increasingly, sfi works with loan or income share agreement originators and servicers which are active in consumer lending. Sfi's impact investments are structured either through equity or loan financing structures. It establishes separate affiliates or subsidiaries for each impact investment financing to enter into the various contracts with its impact investors, governments (if applicable), the applicable service or training providers, as well as evaluators and loan or income share agreement originators and servicers. Three impact investment strategies employed to date include: . Social impact bonds ("sibs"), which enable governments to achieve results for communities by partnering with investors and service providers to tackle particular Social challenges. Government only pays once a program achieves outcomes that benefit service recipients and generate public value. Sibs transfer risk of non-performance from the public to the private sector and align project partners on the achievement of meaningful impact. . Career impact bonds ("cibs"), a distinct contracting structure based on deferred tuition agreements like income share agreements or outcomes based loans in which impact investors' funds cover upfront program costs and critical wraparound support services for low income, under skilled, or under employed students in order to advance their economic mobility. Unlike traditional student or consumer loans, deferred tuition agreements under the cib programs link repayment to outcomes: students repay program costs as a percentage of their income, or as a fixed dollar amount, only once they gain meaningful employment after graduation and achieve the designated income threshold. In some instances, repayment is made by employers of graduating students upon achievement of retention or other thresholds. . Dreamers graduate education loan fund, a unique impact fund which supports graduate educational loans for dreamers (undocumented immigrant youth who came to this country at a young age) to attend graduate school to achieve their professional goals. The fund provides graduate education funding at terms comparable to government student loan programs for dreamers, who do not have access to these traditional educational loans. Each impact investment team remains engaged in an impact investment project once it is launched through an ongoing project management and active performance management role to support achievement of the project's goals and outcomes. Achievement of the project's goals and outcomes.
Market education - sfi works to build the pfs field through research and publications that synthesize sfi's learnings in its impact investment and advisory work. Through key market education efforts, including white papers, op-eds and blog posts, speaking opportunities, and media engagements, sfi contributes to the advancement of evidence-based policy, effective philanthropy, and impact investing.
Impact advisory servives-public sector practice - sfi partners with elected officials, policymakers, civic leaders, community members, and service providers to develop government funding tools that link funding to outcomes to maximize the impact of taxpayer dollars. Sfi analyzes data to support better decision making and helps actively manage programs for outcomes. We establish collaborative governance strategies to drive improvement and innovation. Sfi also strengthens the capacity of government departments to enable more effective and equitable delivery of public service, and it supports partners in designing and executing innovative programs, practices, and partnerships, grounded in pay for success principles.