Social Impact Panel Recap: Impact Strategies in Uncertain Times
As part of our recent Social Impact Summit, Revitate convened a series of panels to explore emerging trends and topics at the intersection of business and impact.
The event’s first panel focused on “Impact Strategies in Uncertain Times” to discuss how current challenges in macroeconomic conditions are shaping how business leaders pursue social impact.
The panel was moderated by Clayton Bland, Chief Wealth Advisory Officer for CliftonLarsonAllen and featured three executives:
Chris Marsh, Founder & CEO, Cherry Tree Capital Partners
Lisa Merage, Chief Impact Officer, Revitate
Nate Raabe, Managing Director, RX3 Growth Partners
In the discussion, Clayton and the panelists discussed the rising prominence of ESG - environmental, social, and governance - considerations in the business and investment communities. The group collectively emphasized that there is no “one-size-fits-all” approach to ESG; to remain effective, every organization must tailor its impact strategy to its specific assets, culture, and context.
A key aspiration for all panelists was to build social impact strategies that are fully integrated into their core business model, so that impact strategies remain resilient during high and low periods of the business cycle alike.
For Cherry Tree Capital Partners, achieving impact centers around the preservation of attainable housing for working families. At a time of high inflation and housing shortages, Cherry Tree’s investment thesis centers around identifying and preserving workforce housing properties in the Midwest. For investors, these properties are attractive as stable and cash-flowing real estate assets with high tenant occupancy rates and renewal rates. For families, the strategy preserves attainably-priced housing in markets where such product is becoming increasingly scarce.
Nate Raabe walked through RX3 Growth Partners’ commitment to supporting how its athlete-investors can serve as community role models as they further their professional, financial, and philanthropic goals. Nate discussed how part of RX3’s value proposition to its athlete-investors is the opportunity to improve their own financial literacy while leveraging their visibility to encourage their fans and communities to do the same. Nate also spoke about the importance of continued contributions to the community via regular charitable activities like RX3’s flag football tournament.
Lisa Merage focused her comments on the importance of establishing consistent goals, metrics, and accountability for an organization’s social impact strategy. Revitate is particularly focused on developing social impact scorecards, including one initiative organized in partnership with the Urban Institute to assess the community benefits of Revitate’s opportunity zone investments in a consistent, comprehensive and structured way.
In attempting to balance business and social impact imperatives during an economic downturn, the panelists all emphasized the importance of setting ambitious - but achievable - goals. Whereas firms may feel pressure in the current “ESG moment” to set out outlandish goals that grab short-term headlines and attention, starting smaller and building impact in a more incremental manner may engender greater credibility and results in the long run.
In closing, the panelists concurred that, regardless of the specifics that each firm endeavors to affect broader positive change, the importance of integrating social impact strategies remains essential. The economic downturn should strengthen - not weaken - the resolve of business executives to ensure that their organizations do well and do good.
Revitate intends to make the Social Impact Summit and similar panel discussions an annual tradition.