Shari Berenbach, Calvert Foundation’s President & CEO, penned an article for the July issue of Microfinance Insights, a new magazine dedicated to the fastest growing multiple bottom-line arenas in the world. Shari’s piece, “Calling All Investors!” focuses on the new opportunities available to the everyday person who wants to invest in microfinance.

"Private capital is an important source of financing for microfinance and is likely to eclipse the initial catalytic role played by development agencies. Institutional investors can and will play an important role in building out that market, investing in transactions of significant scale. Presently, however, there are now several avenues for individual investors to channel their capital in safe, reliable investment vehicles that generate modest returns," Berenbach writes.

> Read more on our website

By Paul Iribe, a Calvert Foundation intern from Hamilton College

The BRAC Africa Loan Fund is a newly created fund that will provide local currency debt financing to three microfinance institutions in Tanzania, Uganda and Southern Sudan. Calvert Foundation has committed a $1 million investment and has raised and will manage another $1 million from two of our Community Investment Partners. 

BRAC, a nonprofit, nongovernmental development organization based in Bangladesh, was established in 1972 in the aftermath of the Bangladesh Liberation War. BRAC was able to adapt and persevere through difficult times, a characteristic that has allowed the organization to expand successfully into other countries facing difficult circumstances, including troubled and war-torn areas such as Afghanistan.

With nearly $900 million in total assets, BRAC replicates a sustainable business model in countries around the world, serving populations ignored by traditional banking systems. One of BRAC’s greatest strengths its ability to adapt to an area’s cultural needs in order to best serve the local population.

Another strength in BRAC’s business model is its ability to create value chains. For example, if there is a milk producer that has no access to viable markets, BRAC will help create the shipping companies, transporters and sellers to distribute it. This higher level view of a business helps unemployed and underemployed individuals earn a living wage.

During its 36-year history, BRAC has developed a highly integrated development strategy that combines economics with cultural sensitivity to development programs that are specifically tailored to the need of the local community. Using microfinance as an entry point, BRAC furthers its impact by implementing several programs, including education, health and vocational training. BRAC strongly adheres to its mission of poverty alleviation and empowerment of the poor through its holistic approach, and is a true leader in the industry. 

Calvert Foundation is excited to introduce such a unique and high-impact group into our portfolio and we look forward to serving more underserved communities in Africa through our partnership with BRAC.

> Explore all of the organizations in Calvert Foundation's portfolio

By Brian White, a Calvert Foundation intern from the University of Chicago

Adam Cramer didn’t come to the Washington, DC area with the goal of working for Calvert Foundation. In fact, before he left California, he was about to begin his Ph.D. in Art History. But when he arrived on the East Coast, a call from his friend Lauren Rogal changed that. “She encouraged me to interview for her position at the Foundation, as she was leaving to go to law school. At first I told her I did not think I was well qualified for the job and I did not plan on applying, but she really pushed me towards it and I thank her for that,” he said.

After starting at Calvert Foundation, Adam’s work quickly expanded beyond his initial responsibilities. “When I started here, I was responsible for the Foundation’s Community Investment Note prospectus and its compliance with state securities laws,” he said. “However, as the Foundation has grown over the past year and a half, my work here has grown in step.” Adam is now responsible for – among other things – product and service packaging and business development assistance for Community Investment Partners, the Foundation’s third-party advisory and asset management unit.

While his work in the growing community investment arena involves a lot of uncertainty because of the market’s relative youth and its atypical nonprofit business goals, Adam takes an adventurous view towards his job. “Though this can be intellectually exhausting, the potential to play a formative role in the growth of the field is what keeps things fun and interesting,” he said.

Like many of his colleagues at Calvert Foundation, Adam is always seeking to expand his knowledge and capabilities. On a recent trip to Israel, he participated in a conference known as ROI120, which brought together 120 young Jewish entrepreneurs, artists and activists with the goal of providing a platform for these young people to launch their own initiatives. This spirit of optimism and dynamism is reflected in Adam himself. “The Hebrew term for social justice,” he explains, “literally means ‘fixing the world,’ and I think this really echoes the sort of work we do at Calvert Foundation, where our efforts to alleviate poverty are not a post-script to a profit-maximizing enterprise but the very material of what we do.”

Financial advisors are critical valued partners helping to introduce community investment and channel more capital to communities in need.  They make it possible for their individual and institutional clients to learn about and invest in the Community Investment Note – as well as other community investment products. Calvert Foundation is pleased to work with over 300 advisors across the country who help their clients incorporate high impact options into their investment portfolios.

While many of our investors come directly to us, many rely on their advisors to handle the transaction, provide guidance on term and rate, and work through any special targeting. One core advantage to working with an advisor when purchasing a Community Investment Note is that many of them can help you purchase the Note through your brokerage account, so it will appear on your statement with all of your other investments. Advisors have also told us that community investing helps deepen the relationships they have with their clients, as this often provides opportunities to discover what is really important to their clients.

If you are looking for a financial advisor in your area who is familiar with our products, search our Financial Advisor Database. Please note, however, that we cannot guarantee nor endorse the services of the advisors listed since these advisors provide services independent from Calvert Foundation. 

> Ask Shari a question.