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Social Investment Practice

We work across Kresge’s seven program teams to strengthen neighborhoods and improve the quality of life in America’s cities by addressing barriers to capital.

Social Investment Practice Funding Opportunities
2021 Commitments

$109M

 In 2021, Kresge made 12 new social investments

About the Practice

We use the full spectrum of capital tools to address the financial barriers that confront communities of color and other underserved communities.

We work alongside our seven program teams to unlock capital for those places and projects that improve equitable outcomes. Our work supports an often under-resourced community-development financial system and includes program-related investments (PRIs) loans, equity investments, strategic deposits, and unfunded guarantees, which reduce risk for other investors.

Social investing at Kresge dates to the financial crisis of 2008. In 2015, Kresge’s Board of Trustees approved a $350 million impact investing pool to be deployed through 2020. A goal to leverage $1 billion from other investors was surpassed in 2019. We seek to partner with banks, other foundations, and government sources, and frequently partner with Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) and mission-aligned intermediaries. We also work with our endowment partners to deploy mission-related investments (MRIs) from Kresge’s corpus.

Social Investment Practice Resources


All Social Investment Practice Resources

What We Invest In

We partner with each of Kresge’s program teams to find barriers to capital impeding progress in their sectors and obscuring pathways to opportunity. Then, we find capital solutions to topple those barriers. Whether through investing in solar+storage solutions, affordable housing. place-based community development or minority entrepreneurship, our work always supports the strategies of Kresge’s seven Program teams. We support field-building efforts in community development finance through a small grantmaking budget, especially those that address racial equity in our Program sectors. (Data through 2021)

American Cities

$46 million

Detroit

$166 million

Arts & Culture

$15 million

Education

$9.5 million

Environment

$49.6 million

Health

$65.4 million

Human Services

$55.4 million

Social Investment Practice

$42.6 million


Mission Money Markets Newsletter

Kresge’s Social Investment Practice shares its latest news, investments, and other learnings in a bi-monthly newsletter. Sign-up now to get the next edition in your inbox.