A peer learning and action community for staff and trustees of philanthropic institutions to align their investment practices with the values and principles of Just Transition.
The vast majority of assets held by philanthropic institutions are invested in the extractive economy (e.g., public equities and venture capital) in ways that gravely undermine their mission and vision – particularly for foundations that fund movements for racial, economic and climate justice.
The Just Transition Investment Community aims to facilitate measurable shifts in endowment dollars out of Wall Street and into community-controlled, movement-aligned Just Transition projects and loan funds that build economic power in Black, Indigenous and People of Color communities and nourish local, regenerative solidarity economies.
Because philanthropic wealth comes from historic practices of extraction and exploitation, we believe our sector has a moral obligation to repair these harms and redistribute wealth and power to the communities that have long borne the brunt of extractive capitalism.
Philanthropy can play a proactive role in building a just and thriving world by utilizing the entirety of the assets in our control and activating capital investments alongside grants to resource community-controlled institutions that are the building blocks of local, regenerative solidarity economies. We also believe that it is not simply a matter of moving money, but also of shifting power and being intentional about the HOW by deploying non-extractive capital, using trust-based approaches that center the community’s needs (rather than the investor’s) and deprioritizing financial return toward a long-term goals of transferring philanthropic assets into community control.
The members of the Just Transition Investment Community are following the lead of the visionary movements that are igniting a Just Transition away from the extractive economy and building new economic systems that provide for the needs of all of our communities. The learning and action that takes place among JTIC members are grounded in a new framework developed by Justice Funders in collaboration with movement partners, Shifting Capital and Power to Build the Regenerative Economy: A Just Transition Investment Framework for Philanthropic Institutions.
We are honored to be on this journey with them to transform their investments while redefining the role of capital, reimagining the purpose of endowments and reconsidering whether wealth accumulation and perpetuity should remain the status quo in philanthropy.
