Transform Finance

08/08/2024

📢 Just released! Our briefing for investors interested in Employee Ownership: https://bit.ly/InvestingInEO

👉 What you’ll find in the briefing:
1. An overview of the Employee Ownership (EO) fund space
2. Various financing approaches that funds use for their deals
3. An analysis of financial targets
4. A framework for evaluating the impact of EO funds
5. Recommendations from Transform Finance

🙏 Special thanks to Andrea Armeni, Harvey Koh, Catherine Toner, and Humaira Faiz for their valuable feedback on draft versions of the briefing.

🖥️ Want to dig into this content together? Register for our webinar on August 20th (9am PT / 12pm ET) with special guest Aner Ben-Ami. https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0rcOGvpzssE9F7vWrv7EAU-GObxlrgLznw #/registration

In our new briefing, Transform Finance outlines various stages that investors may find themselves in exploring the space: understanding the landscape of EO funds, identifying the investment approaches of different funds, and comparing and evaluating the potential impact of funds.

08/06/2024

💥We’re hiring! 💥 Transform Finance is kicking off an exciting new research effort and we are looking for a Lead Researcher to join our project team. bit.ly/TFresearcher

This year-long research project seeks to understand the various ways in which businesses can promote the public good. We will collect and compile existing efforts that are creating new models and narratives within the business community, map and analyze these strategies, surface gaps, and develop guidance for key stakeholders positioned to promote scalable solutions.

🌟Ideal candidate 🌟
1. Has significant experience conducting research and sharing findings in writing
2. Is familiar with corporate governance, ESG, social enterprise, social finance, impact investing, and/or stakeholder capitalism
3. Has a demonstrated commitment to advancing conditions for communities of color, working class communities, and other marginalized communities.

The position is remote. Either full-time or part-time (at least 20 hours per week). Salary range: $90k-$105k (for full-time work).

➡️Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Applications received by August 23rd will be prioritized. Apply now: bit.ly/TFresearcher

06/20/2024

We’re excited about 2 webinars featuring our Program Director Julie Menter coming up in the next few weeks!

⭐ June 24th: The Evolving Landscape of Employee Ownership Investing with Alison Lingane and Felipe Witchger.
Registration: https://airtable.com/appOZmllVO3Q1Kg6v/shrtkGzL9qpNutboE

🔥 July 18th: How Alternative Ownership Enterprises Can Drive Social Transformation, specifically focused on startups and VC investors, hosted by Leaders for Climate Action
Registration: https://lfca.earth/event/48853556-f600-40a0-bec3-b56734334d3b/join/?utm_source=linkedin&utm_medium=event-description&utm_campaign=july24

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02/29/2024

🤔 Curious about Alternative Ownership Enterprises and how to invest in them? Investing in intermediary funds can be a great option.

Check-out the database of AOE funds we just released on our website. There are at least 25 funds currently raising capital, some which invest exclusively in Cooperatives or in ESOP conversions while others include such financing as part of a broader portfolio that may encompass real estate, mission-oriented businesses, or non-ESOP private equity deals.

Transform Finance is pleased to release a new database for investors interested in Alternative Ownership Enterprises (AOEs). Alternative Ownership Enterprises (AOEs) are firms that significantly shift economic value and decision-making power toward the non-investor stakeholders they impact, such as....

01/31/2024

Our first webinar of 2024 is starting now! Register to join!

This webinar will be the 2nd in a series we are planning over the next several months on Alternative Ownership Enterprises. On January 31st, we are thrilled to be hosting Smitha Das of World Education Services and Santhosh Ramdoss of Gary Community Ventures to discuss how Alternative Ownership Enter...

01/10/2024

Webinar alert!

For our first webinar of 2024, we are thrilled to be hosting a conversation with Smitha Das from World Education Services, and Santhosh Ramdoss from Gary Community Ventures. They will discuss how Alternative Ownership Enterprises, and ownership more broadly, can be used specifically to address the racial wealth gap.

Register now to join this important conversation on January 31st at 10am PT / 1pm ET.

http://bit.ly/aoewebinar2

This webinar will be the 2nd in a series we are planning over the next several months on Alternative Ownership Enterprises. On January 31st, we are thrilled to be hosting Smitha Das of World Education Services and Santhosh Ramdoss of Gary Community Ventures to discuss how Alternative Ownership Enter...

12/19/2023

Do you think investors will be more interested in alternative ownership enterprises or less as a result of the OpenAI saga?

OpenAI is an Alternatively Owned Enterprise. The company is controlled by a non-profit 501(c)3, a majority of the directors on the board of the non-profit are independent and don't own OpenAI stock, and "the Nonprofit’s principal beneficiary is humanity, not OpenAI investors.” Our program director Julie Menter has been thinking about what the OpenAI saga can teach us about alternative governance models.

A few takeaways:
- Structure is necessary but not sufficient to protect a company's mission. It’s still great news that the OpenAI governance structure which was designed to benefit everyone, not just investors, did hold up under intense pressure.
- Who holds governing power matters (their individual skills, expertise and experience)
- Government regulation will also be critical to prevent risks and increase the likelihood the technology benefits all of humanity

Read Julie’s perspective and let us know what you think below!

The leading artificial intelligence company, OpenAI, recently fired and then promptly re-hired its CEO Sam Altman, and switched up its board of directors as a result. Along the way, there have been all sorts of takes about the board’s intentions, the employees’ reasons for threatening to quit an...

11/21/2023

😎 We’ve been thrilled with the positive responses to our report about Alternative Ownership Enterprises: https://bit.ly/aoe-hub!

⚡Join us next week, on Dec 1st at 10am PT / 1pm ET, for a webinar to provide key insights from our research and provide answers to your questions about Alternative Ownership Enterprises. We’ll also be joined by Margot Kane at Spring Point Partners to hear about her experience investing in AOEs and why other mission-oriented investors should support this field. Register now: bit.ly/aoe-webinar

🌎 Alternative Ownership Enterprises shift power and wealth to workers, the community, and the planet and can help foster an economy that works for everyone. We’re launching a campaign to educate and mobilize investors about the power of AOEs, and are grateful for our community’s partnership in this work!

Join our webinar on Friday, December 1st at 10am PT / 1pm ET to gather key insights from our research about Alternative Ownership Enterprises (AOEs). This webinar will cover why AOEs are a powerful lever for impact today, dive into the details of different AOE models, and answer your key questions a...

11/15/2023

Our report on Alternative Ownership Enterprises is out! https://bit.ly/aoe-hub

Learn how you can support a more just economy by supporting alternative ownership enterprises that shift power and wealth away from shareholders to workers, the community, and the planet.

We are so thankful for the help of many on this project, including:
- Kate Raworth at Doughnut Economics for writing a great preface, and to Erinch Sahan for his thought-partnership on this project
- Jason Spicer at Baruch College and his team at the University of Toronto for their in-depth research into 12+ AOE models
- The 60+ asset allocators, fund managers, field builders, and businesses, as well as technical assistance providers, lawyers, and academics who shared their time and expertise to inform this work
- The Transform Finance team and Board: Cathy Albisa, Aner Ben-Ami, and Chid Liberty

Let us know what you think! We would also love to hear your input and feedback as we shape the next phase of our work. If you have invested in AOEs, what was your experience? If you haven’t yet, what has held you back? How can we best serve the needs of investors at this time? What unexpected partners should we seek to engage with?

10/23/2023

Check out our latest article in the Stanford Social Innovation Review, which outlines how impact investors can support a more just economy by prioritizing alternative ownership enterprises that shift power away from shareholders to workers, the community, and the planet:

Impact investors can support a more just economy by prioritizing alternative ownership enterprises that shift power from away from shareholders to workers, the community, and the planet.

03/17/2023

Register today for NCRC's Just Economy Conference, which is less than 2 weeks away! Our session on 3/29, "Corporate Investment Roundup: Equity in Small Business Lending Solutions" will feature our executive director, Andrea Armeni, Paul Disselkoen of PayPal, Jeanne Wardford of the
W.K. Kellogg Foundation, and Pierre Joseph of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.

Learn more and register:

The Just Economy Conference is the national event for community, business, foundation, policy and government leaders who want a nation that not only promises

02/02/2023

Hosted by the Intentional Endowments Network (IEN) and Second Nature, the 2023 Higher Education Climate Summit will convene higher education presidents, endowment stakeholders, sustainability and DEI professionals, and other stakeholders to network and advance practical strategies to further institutional climate justice commitments.

Feb 5 - 7, 2023, join a community of 250+ higher education leaders committed to addressing inequality and the climate crisis. In-person registration is at capacity, but you can still register for the virtual event here:

2023-02-05, Coral Gables, FL