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Find Your Place

Four ways to be part of IFI. Choose the one that fits what you're looking to do right now.

How do I engage with IFI?

Builder, Explorer, Learner, and Subscriber describe how you want to engage right now. Move between them as your work or capacity changes. There's no ladder to climb, and IFI needs people at every level of involvement.

Which one sounds like you? Tap to jump to it:

The four segments

Listed alphabetically, not by commitment level. Pick whichever fits how you want to show up right now.

Builder

By application

You are actively working in innovative finance, doing work that doesn't fit neatly into how the market or existing structures define what's valuable. You are deploying capital, advising on it, or structuring it every day, working in the gap between what finance is and what it could be. At IFI, Builders connect with peers doing similar work, access expert guidance, and stay plugged into what's working across the field.

Apply to join

Explorer

Pledge required

You have already built fit for purpose work of your own, deploying capital, structuring funds, or designing deals that push past what conventional finance allows, and now you want to put that experience toward the field itself rather than only your own work. At IFI, Explorers co-create with us, leading missions, contributing knowledge, and building public goods for the field alongside a small group of senior practitioners doing the same.

Express interest

Learner

Self-paced

You're deepening your understanding of innovative finance. Maybe you're new to the field, coming from adjacent work, or already active and rethinking how your own work is designed. At IFI, Learners access the Academy, join webinars, and build the knowledge and connections that sharpen how they show up in the field.

Apply to join

Subscriber

No participation commitment

You want to stay informed about what IFI is doing and learn from a distance, without taking on an active membership commitment right now. Subscribers receive IFI's newsletter and access our resource library.

Subscribe

Academy is open to every segment above. Individual courses are priced separately.

Start anywhere. Move whenever.

Most people begin in one place and grow into another as their work changes. Movement between segments is expected and encouraged, in either direction, with no need to have it all figured out before you choose.

Questions

Still deciding?

A few things worth knowing before you pick.

What's the difference between these four, and is one "better" than another?
None of them rank the others. Explorer, Builder, Learner, and Subscriber describe different shapes of participation, not different levels of importance. The right one is whichever matches how much time, focus, or capital you can put toward this work right now, not the one that sounds most impressive.
Can I change how I engage with IFI?
Yes, always. You're never defined by the segment you pick today. Movement between them is expected and encouraged as your work, capacity, or commitment changes, in either direction, and there's no penalty for moving.
How do I know which one fits me?
Read the descriptions and pick whichever sounds closest to how you want to show up right now. There's no wrong answer, and wherever you land, you can always change it later.
What does it mean to be a Builder?
Builders are actively working in innovative finance, doing work that doesn't fit neatly into how the market defines what's valuable. Builder membership connects you with peers doing similar work and keeps you plugged into what's working across the field. It's by application, and renews each year based on staying engaged.
What does it mean to be an Explorer?
Explorers have already built fit for purpose work of their own and want to put that experience toward the field itself, not only their own work. Explorer membership runs through a pledge, a specific commitment of time, knowledge, or capital for the year, and includes Mission leadership, peer groups, and IFI's most senior circle.
What does it mean to be a Learner?
Learners are deepening their understanding of innovative finance, whether brand new to the field or already active and rethinking how their own work is designed. Learner membership is open to everyone and centres on the Academy, webinars, and the wider IFI community.
What does it mean to be a Subscriber?
Subscribers want to stay informed without taking on an active membership commitment. It's self-selected and always open as a way back in later, no application, no expiry.

Ready to find your people?

Show up and help build what finance is missing.

Come on Board Just the newsletter for now

What do we mean by ‘innovative finance’?

We believe innovative finance includes a wide array of approaches to managing capital and ultimately resourcing enterprises and interventions that create positive social and environmental outcomes.

Innovative Finance uses all the financial and philanthropic tools available. And when the right tool doesn’t exist, it builds new ones.

Want to dig deeper?

The Innovative Finance Initiative is a time-bound effort to support the work of reimagining how capital flows.

We are focused on learning, exploring and building together through connectivity events, collaborative learning and shared resources.

Whether you're new to this space or already experimenting, there’s room to learn more, ask questions and share what you’re working on.
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