WNY Impact Investment Fund featured in The Foundation Review

The Western New York Impact Investment Fund is proud to announce it has been featured in The Foundation Review, a renowned publication that highlights innovative ideas and best practices in philanthropy.

The independent, peer-reviewed piece examines the performance of our fund and its place-based impact investment thesis after five years of deals in Buffalo. The article holds the WNY Impact Investment Fund up as a beacon for a new, socially-conscious way of investing.

Among the points:

• The Fund adopted the broad ethos of place-based impact investing, but it was the heavy input from local stakeholders that led to its success. That process led to goals and strategies specifically tailored to the region the Fund is designed to serve.
• The Fund's portfolio is making strong progress toward its double bottom line goals of financial success and social impact. The article noted the Fund's investments are showing "positive financial results and social benefits, as well as contributions to a growing, inclusive culture and capacity for impact investing."
• Through its investments and community activity, the Fund is playing a meaningful role in the region's economic resurgence.

The piece particularly highlights how Western New York Impact Investment Fund started with a novel idea, was developed by a consortium of partners in Western New York and then built investment strategies around the region’s needs and strengths.

"The Foundation Review did a deep dive into the history and performance of our fund, and they found an innovative example that other communities can follow," said Tom Quinn, CEO of the WNY Impact Investment Fund. "We're grateful for this external validation and love working every day to make a difference in the town we love."

One of the article's co-authors is Clara Miller, the former president of the F.B. Heron Foundation and one of the leading thinkers in impact investing. At the Heron Foundation, she was involved in the early discussions surrounding the formation of the WNY Impact Investment Fund.

"As the article makes clear, we at Heron Foundation were a minor ingredient in this work, but not the main thing!," Miller wrote in a recent social media post. "Real progress over time (which IS the main thing) depends not on an outsider, however well-meaning, but on local heart, muscle and staying power.

The article is titled, “A Promising Place-Based Collaborative Impact Investing Fund Strengthens Community and Informs Philanthropic Practice.” The Foundation Review is a peer-reviewed journal of philanthropy, written for foundation staff and boards

The Western New York Impact Investment Fund is an innovative, for-profit fund that seeks to support our region’s economic resurgence. Since it debuted in 2017, WNYIIF has made 17 investments in local companies. The fund raised $12 million in new funding in 2022 to deploy into the community, supporting local entrepreneurs as they grow their companies and have an ever-greater impact in Western New York.

Find the full publication here.