Cordes Foundation

11/12/2025

An incredible evening celebrating the launch of “Strong Floor, No Ceiling” by our friend Oliver Libby. Grateful to gather such an inspiring group of leaders and changemakers to reflect on what it means to build a stronger, more inclusive future. 💫

His book is available on Amazon now! 📕

09/24/2025

✨ It’s been a while… so please allow us to (re)introduce ourselves. ✨

We’re Marty, Ron, Steph, Eric, and now Hazey — the team behind the Cordes Foundation. As a family foundation, we advance economic opportunities for women through a threefold approach: Connect, Convene, and Catalyze.

We connect social entrepreneurs to resources, convene folks who care, and catalyze capital for impact. 💡

Our philosophy is simple: when women earn and lead, entire communities rise. From artisan cooperatives to ethical fashion brands to microfinance models, we back entrepreneurs who are reimagining systems and building pathways for women to thrive. 👗🌍✨

We’re so excited to share more of our journey, our partners, and the impact stories that inspire us every day. 💙

01/15/2025

What started with 20 microloans in a Ugandan village has grown into something remarkable - a full-service banking facility serving 3,000 women entrepreneurs. But the real story isn't just about growth in numbers. It's about what happens when you combine patient capital with genuine community leadership, and trust that local entrepreneurs know best how to strengthen their own economies. The new Women's Microfinance Initiative facility in Buyobo stands as proof that this model works.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/from-20-loans-3000-entrepreneurs-how-patient-capital-local-leadership-uvqpe/?trackingId=cNSGNZdqd4zLy9YgzdKlKA%3D%3D

09/06/2022

Proud to support the The Model Alliance!

It's unacceptable that the creative workforce behind the $2.5 trillion global fashion industry still lacks basic protections in the State that gave birth to the American labor movement.

We're glad to have the support of Amazon Labor Union President .smalls_ – a once in a generation leader – as we organize our industry to fight for the rights of all fashion workers.

If you can, pitch in today to support our grassroots summer fundraiser at the link in bio. is generously matching donations up to $5k before midnight, so you can double your impact!

04/03/2020

An amazing organization that we support - - has teamed up with none other than to inspire creativity during this time at home, while giving back to crucial artisan support programs ❤️ Please join us in supporting Nest’s Co-op and you will receive an adult coloring book from Nest! 🎨 All the illustrations are done by Nest artisans for Yo-Yo Ma's incredible Bach Project concert tour and were converted into coloring pages just for us! You can also tune into a Bach Project-inspired Spotify playlist as part of the campaign 🎶 All the donations go to an important cause so we hope you will check it out 😊
Link in bio!
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
📷 the artist Nest selected to create the Concert Poster for Yo-Yo Ma’s Bach Project Concert in Athens!

02/10/2020

“There are real investing opportunities with impact. It’s not about disguised philanthropy,” says Ron Cordes, Co-Founder of the Cordes Foundation, on the ability to achieve critical financial gains while also generating equally as important social returns.

“If you show them they can make money, they start to see we’re talking about the same thing,” says Jennifer Kenning co-founder and CEO of Align Impact, an investment management firm.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-money-investing-esg-idUSKBN20417Q Reuters Money

When former investment manager Ron Cordes started a charitable foundation in 200...

01/22/2020

9 more days left to apply for the Cordes Fellowship!!! Inviting exceptional social entrepreneurs or nonprofit leaders building sustainable solutions towards poverty & injustice globally who would be exciting about spending 5 days in Mexico at the 2020 Opportunity Collaboration connecting with 300 other like-minded entrepreneurs, investors, philanthropists and innovators!

Each year scholarships are provided for ~60 high-impact leaders to attend the Opportunity Collaboration as full fare delegates. Applications are open through January 31st!

The Opportunity Collaboration Global Cordes Fellowship is for high-impact, innovative, entrepreneurial for-profit and nonprofit executives with a demonstrated commitment to building sustainable solutions to poverty and injustice around the world.

12/20/2019

“I am excited to lead MicroVest through the next phase of its growth and am invigorated by the firm's pursuit of generating meaningful returns while helping to expand access to financial services to those who need it most."

- Ron Cordes on being appointed Chairman of the MicroVest Board

MicroVest Announces New Chairman of the Board Posted on December 19, 2019 in PR Newswire MicroVest Capital Management (MicroVest) today announces that Ron Cordes, currently Vice Chair, has been appointed Chairman of the Board, succeeding Bo Cutter. Mr. Cutter, who co-founded MicroVest in 2003 and ha...

09/11/2019

Tune in tomorrow to hear about impact investing from our co chair Eric Stephenson along with Toniic CEO Adam Bendell on the MITs Social Entrepreneurship Alumni Group webinar!

What is “impact investing”?  Consideration for deployment of capital, from concessionary to market-rate return across all asset classes. This webinar is the first of a four-part Investor Track Webinars planned for the coming fiscal year by the MIT Social Entrepreneurship Alumni Group (SEAG) Acc...

07/11/2019

"Most clients don’t realize in a donor-advised fund that you can not only give away money to the things you care about, you can also invest it in the things you care about as well.” - our co-founder Ron Cordes speaking on the power of DAFS

Many donor-advised fund investors don't realize they can make impact investments as well as giving to charity.

06/21/2019

Meet the 2019 Cordes Fellows!

Cordes Fellowships to join OC 2019 were awarded to exceptional social entrepreneurs and high impact nonprofit leaders from Argentina, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Fiji, France, Ghana, Greece, Haiti, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Malawi, Mexico, Morocco, Nepal, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, the Philippines, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Africa, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Syria, Taiwan, Tanzania, Uganda, the United States and Zambia. Learn more about their incredible work via the Opportunity Collaboration 2019 Delegate Roster!

https://oc2019.pathable.com/users?per_page=50&with[filter_scope]=users&with[ribbon_ids][]=21104

06/04/2019

"Impact investors need to talk about more than portfolio returns" by Gabrielle Morgan & Hummayun Javed vía Stanford Social Innovation Review

A review of dozens of case studies, industry reports, and discussions reveals important insights into impact investing from innovators and early adopters.