The Brief

The Week in impact investing: Counter-programming

ImpactAlpha · February 27, 2026

TGIF, Agents of Impact! 

  • Roundup: Split screen
  • Podcasts: Kathleen Simpson, David Erickson, Joy Anderson, and This Week in Impact
  • Spotlight: Green manufacturing in Africa

🗣 Multi-tasking. I confess I watched the entire 1-hour-and-47-minute State of the Union address while prepping the next day’s Brief. That split screen is nothing new. ImpactAlpha, like the Agents of Impact we cover, often zigs when others zag. After the speech, we went looking for policy innovation, not on Capitol Hill, but in the states of the union. ImpactAlpha’s Roodgally Senatus found the Utah Dream Fund, which is demonstrating “fair shared appreciation” second mortgages to help first-time homebuyers make their down payments. In Illinois, legislators are moving to authorize the state treasurer to deploy a sliver of its investment portfolio into funds that finance business transitions to employee ownership, without a single dollar of new appropriations. “That would represent a substantial investment of institutional capital in building wealth for Illinois workers,” Lafayette Square Institute’s Julien Rosenbloom wrote in a guest post.

Federal funding for climate-smart community infrastructure may be stalled, but sustainable community investments are not, writes John Moon of the Local Initiatives Support Corp., which this month committed an additional $100 million for energy-efficient and healthy affordable housing. Amy Cortese tracked not only the protracted litigation over the $20 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, but also the efforts by green lenders to find alternative financing to sustain their robust pipelines of investable green projects. Isaac Silk chronicled the pivots of Mast Reforestation, from tree-planting drones to “biomass burial” of charred snags, a saga of the shifting markets for carbon credits. ImpactAlpha’s Lucy Ngige reported on the analysis by Aruwa Capital’s Adesuwa Okunbo Rhodes of the returns of smaller funds; they really do outperform. So, yes, let’s keep watch on the unfolding political crises in Washington. But let’s look out as well for the Agents of Impact in every sector and geography, and the many more stepping up every day. – David Bank

The Week’s Podcasts

🎧 This Week in Impact. Host Brian Walsh takes up ImpactAlpha’s top stories with editor David Bank and producer Isaac Silk. Up this week: Away from Washington, states are taking leadership in clean energy, the ownership economy, AI regulation and more. Plus, why smaller funds are delivering bigger returns in Africa, and the winding path of Mast Reforestation, as it sought a sweet spot in the market for voluntary carbon markets.

🦸 Agents of Impact: Kathleen Simpson and David Erickson

  • This family foundation is trying to ‘meet the moment’ with all of its $100 million in assets. The Russell Family Foundation is a regional small fry among the giant pension, insurance and sovereign wealth funds in the Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance, which represents more than $9 trillion in assets. With $100 million in assets, Russell “can move a little bit faster,” Russell’s CEO, Kathleen Simpson, tells David Bank. The foundation is activating all of its resources, including grants, convenings and higher-risk “aspirational” investments in climate and inclusion. Learn more.
  • NY Fed’s David Erickson on making missing markets to build healthy communities. “The status quo is stupid, expensive and unfair.” That’s the first line of David Erickson’s 2023 book. At the Making Missing Markets gathering at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Erickson told David Bank how place-based collaborations are connecting the builders of health, wealth and vibrant communities with the “buyers,” including hospitals, insurers, corporations and government agencies. We turned their fireside chat into a podcast. Check it out.

📯 Criterion Institute Podcast: Expanding access to business ownership. Host Joy Anderson examines power dynamics, governance and the role of impact investing in “search funds,” a potentially transformative financial tool for entrepreneurship in the US and Africa (see also, “Expanding ‘entrepreneurship through acquisition’ for inclusive wealth creation in the US and Canada”).

The Week’s Spotlight

UK’s Manufacturing Africa to launch $200 million fund for green manufacturing startups. Every day in Ethiopia, five-year old Kubik is converting up to 45 tons of hard-to-recycle plastics into affordable green building materials, including rubber bricks, beams and columns. Kubik has raised $5 million to enter new markets, source directly from informal waste collectors and create 10,000 jobs. Kubik was helped by the UK government’s Manufacturing Africa program, which provides technical assistance to small and growing green businesses in seven African nations. The funding gap for businesses that are too small for private equity and too risky for commercial lenders led Manufacturing Africa to launch the special-purpose Forge Africa fund. The fund is raising $200 million and will blend development financing and pension capital to cut checks of between $1 million to $5 million. Manufacturing Africa is engaging domestic pension funds to ensure local currency availability. The fund is currently in the pipeline development stage and aims to begin deployment in the first quarter of 2027. “We had been missing a real opportunity,” said Priti Prajapati of the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office which oversees the Manufacturing Africa program.

  • Green jobs. Prajapati spoke at this week’s Green Business Building Forum in Nairobi. The pan-African gathering connected green startups with investors and other leaders who can help them succeed. Green manufacturing is a growth sector that can create good jobs for Africa’s growing youth population. Manufacturing Africa has mobilized up to £2 billion ($2.7 billion) into small and growing businesses, Prajapati says, “where most of the jobs are created.” 

The Week’s Talent and Jobs

💼 See and share more than a dozen new impact jobs posted this week on ImpactAlpha’s Career Hub and view hundreds of more jobs in impact investing and sustainable finance. Have a job listing to post? Submit it here.

Atlanta-based VC firm for underrepresented founders 6.8.10 Partners appointed Nicole Garner Scott, formerly with Northwestern Mutual, as vice president of investor relations and strategic capital… Lindelwe Lesley Ndlovu, formerly with African Risk Capacity, was appointed CEO of AfrexInsure, the insurance business of African Export-Import Bank… Greg Levin of New Leaf Climate Partners joined the board of the American Forest Foundation.  

Eugene Lewis, who founded the startup Every, became director of impact investments at Robin Hood… Annie McCluskey, formerly with National Geographic Society, and Everett Sanderson, formerly with City Light Capital, joined Superorganism as senior associates… Karin del Ray became an advisor to Rumah Group and Foundation. 

David Doyon, previously with Integrity Community Solutions, was appointed chief financial officer at Hawaii Community Lending… MacDonald Gomo, former director at Verdant Capital joined Impact Fund Denmark as a senior investment manager… Monarch Investment Partners tapped Kelly Cornelis as a strategic advisor… National Cooperative Bank welcomed Marniece Doss as treasury analyst… Mark Koppejan returned to Rabo Foundation as a catalytic finance manager.

Promotions: The Rockefeller Foundation promoted Carli Roth to director… Begoña Leiva was promoted to associate vice president at Enabling Qapital… Elemental Impact promoted Corina Standiford to chief communications officer, Kim Karris to chief growth officer, and Melissa Uhl to chief strategy officer… Imran Solomons was promoted to fund operations managers at Ninety One… Ingeborg Investments promoted Mira Kaufman to vice president of investments… Green Climate Fund promoted Darren Karjama to head of strategic engagement, outreach and partnerships.

That’s a wrap. Have a wonderful weekend. 

– Feb. 27, 2026