President's Letters

Dear Colleagues:

We are pleased to share two exciting updates that are contributing to the Nathan Cummings Foundation’s growing engagement in impact investing.

In December 2016, we launched a national search for consultants to support the Board in a learning and decision-making process on impact investing. This builds on a long history of mission related investing through using our influence as an investor to increase corporate accountability and our more recent expansion into direct impact investing. We selected Sonen Capital to engage, educate, and guide our Board towards a set of recommendations on impact investing and its strategic role within the Foundation. We selected Sonen because of the depth and breadth of their expertise in impact investing, their field leadership, and commitment to collaboration with organizations across the sector.

We’re also thrilled to announce the appointment of Lisa Green Hall to the Board’s Investment Committee as an independent advisory member. Lisa’s career spans more than 25 years in community development finance and impact investing across for-profit, non-profit and government sectors, and she is a lifelong advocate and champion for economic and social justice. She has extensive board experience and joined Anthos Asset Management in 2013, where she launched a new portfolio dedicated to impact investing with capital from the endowment of the family’s charity and established the public profile and market presence for the Skopos Impact Fund. Lisa joins John Levy (Chair), Myra Drucker and William Goetzmann, who currently serve as independent advisory members on the Investment Committee.

We’re inspired by the growing momentum within philanthropy to accelerate change and increase our impact on important issues through the capital markets, specifically through impact investing. We look forward to learning from and working with you as we consider deepening the alignment of our endowment in ways that are consistent with our mission and strategies.

Thank you,

Sharon L. Alpert
President & CEO

Nathan Cummings Foundation