The mission would focus on creating a comprehensive, AI-powered directory of vetted experts in the impact investing and innovative finance space. This would serve as a critical infrastructure tool for the IFI community and potentially the broader impact ecosystem, addressing the persistent challenge of finding specialized expertise for complex impact-focused financial structures.

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Guiding Questions:

1. Who is this for — and what are we solving?

• Who are the core users, and what specific pain points do they face in finding and vetting impact-focused experts?

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2. What defines a trustworthy expert — and how do we reflect that?

• What constitutes “expertise” beyond credentials, and what information should be included in a profile to build trust?
• What standards and mechanisms (e.g. peer validation, diversity criteria) should guide inclusion and verification?

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3. How do we build a matching system that’s smart, fair, and easy to use?

• How should user needs be captured and translated into useful filters or metadata?
• What role can AI and public data play in enriching profiles and improving results?

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4. How do we engage the broader ecosystem in building and maintaining this?

• How can we involve IFI Chapters, partners, and global networks to crowdsource, validate, and expand the directory?
• What incentives will encourage experts to participate and keep their profiles current?

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5. What keeps this useful and sustainable over time?

• What governance or business models will ensure long-term quality, access, and evolution?
• How might the tool grow to include other types of expertise beyond legal/financial?

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Deliverable: 

• Create a searchable database of vetted experts (lawyers, structuring specialists, tax advisors, etc.) with specialized knowledge in impact investing
• Develop AI capabilities to intelligently match users with appropriate experts based on specific needs
• Establish a verification and recommendation system to ensure quality and relevance
• Build a sustainable model for maintaining and updating the directory

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Member curation: Any members interested in helping to build this type of public good

Length: 10 - 12 sessions

Timing: Monthly Meetings (September - August)

Whether you're a newcomer curious about alternative ownership structures or an experienced practitioner looking to unlock scalable financing mechanisms, this peer learning group offers a collaborative space to explore the strategic and practical challenges of funding purpose-driven and self-determined enterprises. Participants will engage in candid discussions about reimagining investment approaches that preserve mission-alignment, share real-world experiences, and collectively develop innovative strategies to support steward-ownership models beyond traditional bootstrapping methods.

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The facilitators from Purpose Foundation will draw from their practical experience and steward-ownership financing toolkit as a foundational framework, but the primary goal of this mission is to create a collaborative space that deepens our collective understanding of financing for steward-ownership.

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We'll leverage our expertise and case studies as conversation starters, actively inviting diverse perspectives to:

• Unpack the structural logic behind steward-ownership financing
• Critically examine current investment barriers and limitations
• Generate collective insights on innovative financing mechanisms
• Develop practical strategies to scale mission-aligned investment models

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Guiding Questions:

• What are the minimum structural elements required to create a financially viable and mission-aligned steward-ownership investment model?
• How can we design financing mechanisms that preserve an organization's core purpose and self-determination while still attracting meaningful capital?
• What barriers currently prevent more widespread adoption of steward-ownership financing, and what innovative approaches could help overcome these challenges?
• How do we balance financial sustainability with maintaining the fundamental principles of steward-ownership across different investment stages and sectors?
• What case studies or practical examples demonstrate successful financing strategies that truly embody steward-ownership principles?
• How can we develop co-investment or collaborative funding approaches that support the growth of more "Patagonias" without relying solely on bootstrapping?

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Member curation: This mission is designed for asset owners, family offices, foundations, and technical experts seeking to deeply understand and advance financing models for steward-ownership. 

Length: 5 sessions

Timing: Monthly meetings (September - February)

This building mission is designed for asset owners (especially those utilizing Donor-Advised Funds) who are concerned about the inefficiencies and missed opportunities embedded in the current DAF system. Despite their philanthropic intent, too many DAFs sit idle, locked in traditional structures that benefit intermediaries more than the causes they were created to support.

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This mission seeks to confront this inertia head-on by producing a clear, practical, and practical guide that empowers DAF users to take control of their giving. This guide will provide:

• Key questions asset owners should ask their wealth advisors to better align investments with philanthropic goals.
• Examples of innovative DAF practices and high-impact fund structures already being used to avoid idle capital.
• Actionable steps asset owners can take to improve how their DAFs are invested, with a focus on transparency, urgency, and impact.

Whether you’re rethinking your philanthropic toolkit or seeking to maximize the catalytic potential of your giving, this work is an invitation to rethink the role of DAFs and unlock their full potential for impact.

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Guiding Questions:

1. Why do DAFs remain idle, and who benefits from the current system? Within the same line of thinking, what assumptions do we hold about DAFs, and how do they shape our giving and investing behavior?
2. What are examples of DAF structures or practices that are already pushing toward catalytic or impact-first outcomes?
3. How can we design or influence DAF strategies to be more urgent, transparent, and accountable to the issues we care about?
4. What would a DAF ecosystem look like if it were optimized for public benefit—not just tax benefit?
5. What questions should asset owners be asking their wealth advisors about how DAF capital is held and managed?

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Member curation: Asset owners and intermediaries involved with DAFs

Length: 5 sessions

Timing: Monthly meetings (September - February)

Despite the growing appetite for innovation in the capital stack, many funders still default to grants, equity, or traditional debt, leaving mission-aligned entrepreneurs with few tools that truly meet their needs. This mission creates a space to go beyond the basics and explore innovative deal structures for risk capital and alternative approaches to risk.

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This will be a peer-focused learning group—not a course. We’ll build on core concepts from the Adventure Finance online lessons and book content, but center the conversation around lived experiences, technical design questions, and real-time decision-making.

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Participants will engage through:

• Live, lightly facilitated sessions guided by thematic questions
• Short content refreshers or pre-readings to ground each session
• Peer exchanges on practical implementation and tradeoffs
• Case-based discussions, either brought by participants or curated from Adventure Finance and other sources 
• Collaborative synthesis, aimed at building an action toolkit for your organisation

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Guiding Questions:

1. How do we define and price “risk” when impact is the goal?
2. What makes a capital tool catalytic versus extractive?
3. How can we adapt innovative deal structures, like revenue-based financing or redeemable equity, for our context?
4. What creative combinations or capital stacks are we seeing in the wild, and what can we learn from them?
5. How do we better match capital with values at the deal level?

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Member curation: Open to any IFI members interested in exploring risk capital options

Length: 4 sessions

Timing: Monthly meetings (September - December)

To launch and accelerate the adoption of impactK.ai–an AI-intelligent intelligent contract‑review platform that helps investors, advisors, and fund professionals score and benchmark impact terms. ImpactK.ai, beta version, scores fund-level agreements on 5 impact dimensions:  vision, governance, guardrails, incentives, and information rights.  Mission members will serve as beta testers, impact experts, strategic partners, and ambassadors. 

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Our Mission’s Mission: Building Impact, One Contract At A Time

ImpactK.ai is driven by a simple but powerful motto: build impact one contract at a time. ImpactK.ai fosters growth in impact investing through transparency and rigorous research, all of which requires data. ImpactK.ai helps users bake impact into their contracts and add teeth to their impact aspirations. Contracting best practices and objective, academic research are two important tools to stop greenwashing and fears of greenwashing.  

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Why ImpactK.ai

ImpactK.ai tackles three core barriers to effective impact contracting: 

• lack of accessible data on market terms, 
• limited transparency around what’s standard in the field, and 
• high transaction costs when parties reinvent the wheel, one deal at a time. 

ImpactK.ai offers a research-backed AI tool that automatically reviews contracts using over a decade of impact scholarship. It enables confidential benchmarking with drafting recommendations to improve impact terms and scale adoption. ImpactK.ai’s evolving benchmark (like all good tech, it improves with use) helps define best practices and norms, spreads knowledge (while respecting confidentiality), and reduces the cost of impact-focused deals.

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Building For a Better Tomorrow

This mission will help us improve ImpactK.ai, launch it, and accelerate adoption by new users.  Our goal of 100 new users in 2025 will help us update our benchmark and build momentum.

With your help, we want to reach this goal by:

• Recruiting IFI members to collaborate
• Leveraging IFI mission team member expertise to improve the functionality and user experience of ImpactK.ai.
• Leveraging IFI mission team member expertise to identify the best target users for ImpactK.ai.
• Recruiting asset owners as beta testers and benchmark enhancers
• Identifying partner organizations to host, publicize, and educate members about ImpactK.ai
• Building educational components of ImpactK.ai to support new-to impact parties.

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Member curation: Any members interested in helping to build this type of public good

Length: 4 - 5 sessions

Timing: Monthly Meetings (September - January)

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The field is moving toward greater accountability for impact, yet questions remain about what good ILC looks like in practice: How do we define impact? What are we rewarding? How do we navigate tensions between LP expectations, team incentives, and long-term goals?

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This mission is a space for candid dialogue, reflection, and shared learning among peers who are already experimenting with ILC or are actively considering it. Participants will surface lessons learned, raise challenges, and co-create questions to engage their LPs and internal teams more effectively.

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This will be a peer-focused learning group, not a course. It offers GPs the chance to:

• Share early-stage ILC designs and learn from other funds doing similar work
• Explore key friction points, including LP-GP dynamics, internal alignment, and metrics
• Identify practical gaps in implementation, from governance to measurement
• Co-develop questions for LPs, including those hesitant or resistant to ILC
• Contribute to a synthesis of emerging practice in ILC across European funders

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Each session will include short framing inputs (e.g. examples or frameworks), followed by peer exchange, breakout discussions, and joint reflection.

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While open to all fund types, we’ll tailor some of the facilitation based on interest offering specific breakout space if needed (e,g VC / Private Credit / Blended Finance.. etc  themed breakouts).

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Guiding Questions:

1. Why ILC? What role is it meant to play in your fund, and what problem is it trying to solve?
2. What does your ILC structure actually look like today, and what’s working or not working?
3. How do you define and measure impact and how does that connect to compensation?
4. How are you managing governance, accountability, and the risk of gaming or misalignment?
5. What are the gaps in LP-GP alignment, and what do you wish you could ask LPs directly?
6. What’s next for you and your fund, and what support or infrastructure do you need?

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Deliverable: 

• A deeper understanding of what ILC looks like in practice across peer funds
• Shared vocabulary and frameworks for structuring and refining ILC internally
• A peer-vetted list of “core questions to ask LPs” about ILC, especially in contexts of misalignment or resistance
• Connection to a growing group of GPs working to embed impact into the heart of capital strategy

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Member curation: This mission is designed for Fund Managers (GPs) who are actively implementing or developing Impact Linked Compensation (ILC) strategies.

Length: 5 - 6 sessions

Timing: Monthly meetings (September - February)

As more organizations commit to aligning their capital with impact goals, internal systems (especially compensation and performance structures) must evolve to reflect that commitment. Yet, few standardized frameworks exist, and practices vary widely across the field.

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This learning group offers space for peers to share real-world approaches, dig into technical questions, and co-develop standards and safeguards. Participants will gain clarity on how to structure ILC in a way that is accountable, transparent, and strategically aligned with their mission and investment goals.

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This is a peer-based learning mission, not a course. We’ll use guided sessions to explore real challenges, share emerging practices, and surface points of alignment across diverse models.

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Participants will engage through:

• Lightly facilitated group discussions focused on one core theme per session
• Shared frameworks and sample tools, where available
• Real-world examples of ILC strategies in development or implementation
• Collaborative reflection on how IMM and compensation frameworks intersect
• Collective synthesis to identify common challenges, solutions, and priority next steps

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Guiding questions:

1. Why does impact-linked compensation matter for your organisation, and what is its intended purpose?
   1. What are your impact objectives, and how do you currently assess whether it’s being achieved?
2. How specific are your impact goals, and how are they measured?
   1. Are they, or aren’t they met?
   2. Do you face any challenges in this regard, and why?
3. How are ILC structures being implemented or tested, and what mechanisms are used to apply and govern them?
4. What guardrails or safeguards are in place to ensure ILC doesn’t distort behavior or create misalignment?
5. How does your ILC strategy align with your IMM practice, and what does advancing this work require?

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Member curation: This mission is designed for family offices, foundations, and other asset owners who are exploring or actively developing impact-linked compensation (ILC) strategies.

Length: 5 sessions

Timing: Monthly meetings (September - December)

As more investors adopt systemic approaches to impact investing, there are questions about how to measure and report on systemic impacts. This Exploring Mission, co-led by Karim Harji and Matt Ripley (Impact Frontiers), will convene a working group to develop practical guidance on aligning impact reporting with systemic investing strategies. Participants will engage in a structured process to map current practices, clarify tensions and trade-offs, and co-create examples and tools that reflect both systems thinking and evolving impact performance norms. The mission aims to equip investors with actionable ways to communicate systemic impacts credibly and coherently, helping the field move toward more meaningful and aligned impact reporting practices.

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Participants will engage through a series of peer learning sessions, collaborative workshops, and case-based discussions that center real-world dilemmas in reporting systems-level impact. By sharing experiences, challenges, and emerging practices, fund managers and asset owners will collectively surface insights and co-develop guidance that is grounded in practice. The journey will emphasize open dialogue, reflection, and iteration—creating space to test ideas, learn from each other, and shape practical, usable disclosures that reflect the complexity of systems change.

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Guiding Questions:

1. What is the purpose of our impact reporting, and who are its intended users?
2. Where do we define the boundaries of the system we are trying to influence, and which stakeholders are most relevant within it?
3. How do we report in dynamic or emergent contexts where outcomes are uncertain or evolving?
4. How are we addressing complexity, non-linearity, and long time horizons in our reporting?
5. How are we adapting established impact frameworks (e.g. the 5 Dimensions of Impact) to better reflect systems-level change?
6. How are we reporting negative impacts and articulating our own contribution to systemic change?

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Deliverable: 

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The primary output will be a practical Implementation Guide on Reporting Systemic Impacts, aligned with the Impact Performance Reporting Norms and culminating in a public consultation draft. This guide will provide hands-on, supplementary guidance for investors with systemic change ambitions—supporting them to articulate, assess, and disclose their contributions to long-term, systems-level outcomes in a way that is transparent, meaningful, and grounded in practice.

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Member curation: Open to any asset owners, mangers or philanthropic initiatives with a focus on systems change

Length: 5 sessions

Timing: Monthly meetings (September - February)

Traditional fund structures weren't built for today's challenges. While you're trying to balance financial returns with meaningful impact, many conventional funds force you into rigid frameworks that don't match your goals or timelines. Meanwhile, innovative GPs are experimenting with structures that could better serve both your mission and your returns—but these new models can be hard to evaluate without context.

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You'll walk away understanding what's actually working in the evolving fund landscape, which structural innovations align with impact investing principles, and how to spot opportunities that traditional due diligence might miss. Most importantly, you'll gain the confidence to engage with GPs who are thinking differently about fund design—because the most interesting investment opportunities often come in unfamiliar packages.

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This isn't about chasing trends. It's about expanding your toolkit to deploy capital more effectively toward the outcomes you care about.

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Guiding Questions:

1. What problems are traditional fund structures actually solving—and where are they falling short for mission-driven capital?
2. How do we distinguish between genuine structural innovation and unnecessary complexity that just creates more work?
3. What risks are we actually taking when we invest in non-traditional structures—and which ones are we avoiding that we shouldn't be?
4. How do we evaluate whether a novel structure aligns with our impact goals, or if it's just creative financial engineering?
5. What role can we play in encouraging structural innovation that serves both our mission and the broader ecosystem?
6. How do we build internal capacity and external partnerships to confidently navigate an increasingly diverse fund landscape?

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Member curation: This session is designed for asset owners and allocators who see their capital as a tool for positive change—whether you're at a foundation, impact-focused family office, or mission-driven institution.

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Length: 4 sessions

Timing: Monthly Meetings (September - December)

Impact-Linked Finance (ILF) has emerged as a promising approach to align financial and impact value by directly linking enterprise rewards to impact performance. This mission, stewarded by Roots of Impact, convenes practitioners to examine how ILF can move beyond pilot projects or standalone funds to become a default feature of innovative finance. Together, we will interrogate emerging models, identify what’s working and where challenges remain, and surface pathways to make ILF more feasible, scalable, and integrated across different contexts. Participants will critically assess how ILF mechanisms can strengthen IMM practices while maintaining operational and financial alignment, and contribute to shaping next-generation approaches to rewarding impact.

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This Mission will be based on a collaborative inquiry model, grounded in collective learning. The sessions will be directed by a set of guiding questions to stimulate thought processes and allow snowballing of ideas. The value will come from the different perspectives in the room, collectively shaping a meaningful direction to take ILF to the next level. Each session will begin with a short presentation/discussion prompt to spark discussion and ideas. The Mission may make use of a Design Lab to reimagine the status quo, if this is relevant (e.g. outlining entrenched systemic challenges in the impact finance space, reimagining finance from the standpoint of being truly impact-first, and then exploring how ILF can serve as a structural solution to bring these visions to life).

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Guiding Questions:

1. What are the greatest value-drivers of ILF today, and what enables or constrains its success across different contexts and players?
2. What entrenched challenges in the impact investing ecosystem could ILF help address, if we reimagined financial instruments with impact as the starting point?(e.g. Fx risk in emerging market transactions; lack of enterprise-friendly deal terms; lack of patient capital, etc.)
3. How can ILF mechanisms strengthen IMM practices, and vice versa?
4. How can ILF balance the importance of contextual, on-the-ground specifics with the efficiencies gained in creating models/frameworks that are standardized and scalable?
5. How can we conceptualize the role of incentives in driving impact alignment between stakeholders vs driving impact additionality?
6. What is needed to incorporate incentives along the full finance value chain, i.e. bringing together ILF and ILC?
7. What is needed to take ILF from a niche to an accessible and scalable innovative finance solution, without diluting its value?

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Member curation: Open to asset owners and technical experts and ecosystem builders

Length: 7 sessions

Timing: Monthly Meetings (September - February)

This exploring mission will workshop the best way to highlight and showcase groundbreaking fund structures, processes, and incentives that push the frontier of impact finance. Ideas might include: 

• A public nomination process for innovative funds and a selection committee with diverse expertise to evaluate nominations
• A series of stories, case studies and profiles of innovative funds published on impact-finance outlets e.g. Impact Alpha 
• Listserve of innovative funds that have been curated by IFI but include funds from the showcasing efforts of various partners 
• Collaboration with existing showcasing initiatives to amplify impact - such as Impact Assets IA50 list 

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The mission serves as a bridge between innovation and adoption, helping proven innovative fund models gain broader recognition and replication while educating the market about alternatives to conventional funding approaches that often mute impact in favor of financial returns. 

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We’re interested in exploring how we can amplify existing showcase initiatives and create new showcasing strategies that are additive to this growing ecosystem. 

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Guiding questions:

• What showcasing efforts for innovative funds already exist, and how effectively are they driving LP adoption and market awareness?
• What are the biggest barriers preventing broader adoption of innovative fund structures, and how might better showcasing address these barriers?
• Which innovative funds are well suited for showcasing across innovative incentives, structures and processes? 
• How do we translate complex innovative fund structures into clear, compelling narratives that resonate with traditional investors and ecosystem players?
• How do we measure whether our showcasing efforts are actually driving adoption of innovative fund models rather than just generating awareness?
• What showcasing strategy, process, or framework should we collectively develop and pilot to effectively bridge the gap between fund innovation and market adoption?

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Deliverable: 

This mission will conclude with a concrete pilot showcasing initiative collectively designed during the sessions—whether that's a nomination process, partnership with existing platforms, or a new series of innovative fund case studies—along with a roadmap needed to implement it effectively.

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Member curation: Target participants include asset owners, select fund managers and existing networks that are already doing the work of highlighting and showcasing innovative funds. 

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Length: 6 sessions 

Timing: Monthly Meetings (September - February)

This mission will work together to co-create a functional prototype of an AI-powered tool that helps users select and understand legal terms for impact-oriented deal and fund structures, customized by jurisdiction. The tool will embed expert knowledge from legal, tax, and regulatory domains to help users reduce cost, save time, and expand access to alternative finance structures globally.

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Guiding Questions:

1. What is the purpose — and who is it for?

• What specific need will the AI agent address, and for whom (internal team, external users, or both)?
• What tasks should it handle to maximize value or efficiency?
• How will we measure success?

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2. What data powers it — and how is it protected?

• What proprietary and public data should the agent use?
• How will we ensure security and privacy, especially with sensitive information?
• How will we maintain and update the knowledge base over time?

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3. How is the information organized?

• What taxonomy or frameworks will structure the agent’s knowledge?
• How will we categorize different data types and tailor sub-frameworks to specific use cases?

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4. What will the user experience feel like?

• What interface(s) will best serve our users (e.g. chatbot, embedded tool)?
• What level of technical skill will users need?
• How will we gather feedback to continuously improve?

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5. What are the risks — and how do we manage them?

• How will we handle internal vs. external data access securely?
• What ethical guidelines and safeguards are needed to mitigate bias and prevent misuse?

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6. What will it take to build and launch?

• What skills, resources, and partnerships are required?
• What’s the timeline — and how will we test before full deployment?

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Deliverable: 

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The goal (will be dependent on additional funding for the mission):

• Fully functioning beta version of the AI agent (deal & fund term sheet builder) by Q3 2026
• External-use version ready by Q4 2026, with:
  • Jurisdictional logic embedded for key markets
  • Integrated UX interface (chat, dropdown, or hybrid)
  • Clear disclaimers, feedback mechanisms, and customization features
  • Living database of alternative finance terms, frameworks, and use cases

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Member curation: Any member interested in co-designing the tool

Length: 1 year+

Timing: Starting in September or October

This learning group is for individuals, family offices, and foundations who are exploring, practicing, or refining strategies for funding tax justice. Whether your interest stems from a commitment to tax justice itself, or from its intersection with other critical issues—like strengthening democracy, advancing climate action, or funding health and education—this space is for you. It offers a place for deep reflection on the role of capital and taxation, honest dialogue, and practical exchange.

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Guiding Questions:

1. What do we mean by Tax Justice — scope and entity?
2. Why is it so underfunded and what is holding you and others back  — risks and fears ?
3. What can/should we fund and how can we bring more funding   —  different messaging, mindset shift ? 
4. What roles can we play in shaping systems, not just funding projects?

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Deliverable: 

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The mission aims to produce a Learning Guide and/or Resource List, fostering a shared understanding of tax justice, exploring funding challenges and solutions, and identifying roles in shaping systems rather than just funding projects. 

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Member Curation: Ideal for asset owners

Length: 4 - 5 sessions

Timing: Monthly meetings (September - February)

This Learning Mission invites family office principals and advisors to build a foundational understanding of impact measurement and management (IMM) as it applies to their strategies, portfolios, and investments. Co-led by Karim Harji and Ellen Carey Maginnis, the mission will help participants explore how to design an IMM approach that aligns with their values and goals, bridges philanthropy and impact investing, and operates effectively across asset classes and investment types. Sessions will integrate strategic and operational perspectives: Karim will focus on designing and refining IMM strategies, while Ellen will lead on implementing IMM in funds and direct investments. Participants will gain strategic frameworks, operational insights, and practical examples of how family offices can embed IMM to drive aligned impact and financial outcomes.

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Length: 5 sessions

Timing: Monthly meetings (September - February)

Whether you're just begun to question traditional investment approaches or you've been pioneering inclusive funding strategies for years, this peer learning group invites deep reflection on how we can make capital more equitable and responsive.

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Participants will engage in honest conversations about reimagining investment decision-making and evaluation, sharing practical experiences, and collectively challenging existing frameworks. We'll dive into strategies that bring investors closer to the entrepreneurs and communities they aim to support, creating a collaborative space for learning, critique, and innovation.

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The facilitators (Heather and Nathaly) from Village Capital will draw from their 15 years of research and practice as a foundational framework, but the primary goal of this mission is to create a collaborative space that challenges and expands our understanding of inclusive investment processes through the lens of who participates and how processes are structured. 

We'll leverage our methodologies as conversation starters, actively inviting diverse perspectives to:

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• Push beyond current inclusive investing models
• Critically examine our approaches as funders
• Generate collective insights
• Reimagine more equitable investment strategies

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This mission is about collective learning, not presenting a definitive solution. We aim to amplify varied voices and challenge our own assumptions about what true inclusivity means in investment.

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Guiding Questions:

• What does "inclusion" truly mean in the context of investment processes, and how do different organizations currently define and implement inclusive practices?
• When is peer-based selection or decentralized decision-making most appropriate in investment strategies, and what are its potential limitations?
• How can investment processes be redesigned to mitigate inherent biases and create more equitable opportunities for entrepreneurs from diverse backgrounds?
• What strategies can asset owners employ to bring decision-making closer to the communities and entrepreneurs they aim to support?
• How do different business models and growth strategies challenge traditional investment approaches, and what does true inclusivity look like beyond demographic representation?
• What systemic barriers exist in current investment processes, and what innovative approaches can we develop to make capital more accessible and responsive to diverse entrepreneurial ecosystems?

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Member curation: This mission is designed for funders and intermediaries exploring more inclusive investment processes.

Length: 5 sessions

Timing: Monthly meetings (September - February)

This exploratory mission will work together to create a toolkit on alternative exits for impact focused funders. It will explore: 

• Employee ownership/buyouts
• Management buyouts
• Nonprofit buyouts
• Community buyouts
• Impact mergers and acquisitions
• Redeemable equity
• Dividend-based exits
• Impact buy-backs and redemptions
• And more!

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Members will be invited to bring their own examples (or those that they have heard of) to discuss and brainstorm how to create a toolkit for others to explore alternative exit options.

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Guiding Questions:

• What does a mission-aligned exit look like in practice?
• How can exits preserve community control, worker wealth, and long-term impact?
• What types of capital are best suited for alternative exit pathways?
• What trade-offs are we willing to make between liquidity, control, and legacy?
• What are the pros and cons of each alternative (e.g., employee ownership, redeemable equity, community buyouts)?
• What enabling structures (legal, financial, philanthropic) are needed to make these options work?
• How can foundations and family offices play catalytic roles (e.g., guarantees, patient capital, blended finance)?
• How do we support founders and investees in planning for values-aligned exits from the start?
• Who should be involved in the design of exit strategies — and when?
• What narratives do we need to shift within our own institutions and the broader field?

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Deliverable: 

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This group will co-create a living, open-source-style toolkit to help funders:

• Understand the range of alternative exit pathways
• Assess when and how different options apply
• Explore real-world examples and case studies
• Access key questions, red flags, and design considerations
• Adapt these tools to their own portfolios and contexts

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The final toolkit might be published as a PDF, web resource, or interactive decision tree — with clear, jargon-free language and practical application in mind.

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Member curation: IFI members with impact portfolios interested in alternative exits

Length: 10 sessions

Timing: Monthly meetings (September - May)

This peer learning group is designed for family offices and foundations who are exploring, practicing, or refining impact-first funding strategies. Whether you’re just starting to question traditional investment-return models or you’ve been deploying full spectrum impact capital for years, this space invites deep reflection, honest conversation, and practical exchange.

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We’ll use a set of guiding questions to anchor our sessions — exploring how we define success, assess risk, structure capital, and show up as long-term partners in the ecosystems we care about. But the real value of this group will come from each other.

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These sessions will be spaces to: 

• Interrogate our assumptions
• Learn from peers across a spectrum of experience
• Explore the messy, meaningful work of putting impact first

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Together, we’ll surface the tensions, opportunities, and structures that shape our strategies — and support each other in designing funding approaches that reflect our values, respond to context, and stretch what’s possible.

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Guiding Questions:

• What does impact-first really mean — and how do we define success beyond returns?
• What kinds of capital can we deploy — and where are we holding back?
• How do we assess risk, trust, and accountability in our decision-making?
• What roles can we play in shaping systems, not just funding projects?
• How do we learn, adapt, and stay grounded in the communities we aim to serve?

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Member curation: Ideal for asset owners

Length: 6 sessions 

Timing: Monthly Meetings (September - February)

This exploratory mission will bring together fund managers and LPs to explore the potential of Patient Fund Structures (including but not limited to permanent capital vehicles) and how to address the market challenges in raising. We’ll focus on case-sharing, candid conversation, and collaborative inquiry, to co-create tools and strategies to help the ecosystem — including large DFIs — better understand, design, and fund patient capital vehicles.

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Guiding Questions:

• What are patient capital vehicles uniquely good at in the context of long-term impact and systems change? What issues do they create for fund managers?
• What is the demand for patient fund structures?
• What barriers do LPs (especially DFIs and institutional capital) cite when declining to invest in patient capital structures?
• What creative capital structures have fund managers used to extend time horizons?
• How have patient capital vehicles been blended with catalytic capital? How have they been used by traditional market funds?
• How do we manage things like revaluations, carry, exit pathways, and reinvestment in evergreen models?
• What language and framing best resonate with DFIs and institutional investors?
• How can we frame the positive aspects of patient fund structures more effectively?
• What tools, data, or case studies could shift mindsets or reduce perceived risk?

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Deliverable: 

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The group will look to produce a few different deliverables including potentially working on a public commitment by a set of large funders to consider patient fund structures. Resources will aim to:

• Clarify structures and benefits for different investor types
• Map constraints faced by GPs and LPs
• Equip fund managers with framing, data points, and FAQs for LP conversations
• Offer engagement strategies for catalyzing DFI participation
• Highlight case studies and workarounds from the field

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Member curation: Mission designed for asset owners, intermediaries and fund managers 

Length: 8 - 9 sessions

Timing: Monthly meetings (September - June)