Impact Investments:
LGF makes impact (or mission-based) investments to further the Foundation’s mission of creating positive and sustainable change by actively deploying capital into companies, organizations, and funds that generate or attempt to generate a measurable social and environmental impact in the United States. We are not currently accepting unsolicited investment offerings.
Aravaipa Ventures focuses on companies that create disruptive technology with a global environmental impact. Impact Technology areas include transportation efficiency, building efficiency, water technologies, and smart agriculture. LGF started investing in Aravaipa in 2013.
Arborview Capital was founded in 2008 to invest in impact-focused high growth companies that can deliver top tier financial returns. All of their portfolio companies are mission-driven in areas such as water conservation, sustainable food production, health and wellness, and energy efficiency. They seek opportunities for value creation through sustainability. LGF started investing in Arborview Capital in 2017.
Clear Comfort uses a process inspired by the way the atmosphere cleans the air to bring you a clean, healthy pool without toxic chemicals. Clear Comfort technology produces powerful hydroxyl radicals that destroy contaminants on contact and produces trace amounts of safe hydrogen peroxide for an added layer of protection. LGF started investing in Clear Comfort in 2016.
Coastal Enterprises, Inc. (CEI) is a mission-driven lender and investor committed to the creation of quality jobs, environmental sustainability, and shared prosperity in Maine and throughout rural regions in the U.S. CEI combines financing, advising services and policy work to support small and medium-sized businesses and natural resource-based industries including farms, fisheries, forestry, renewable energy, and nature-based tourism. They also finance community facilities and affordable housing development. LGF started investing in CEI in 2017.
Durham Community Land Trustees (DCLT) is a community land trust that builds strong communities by developing, managing, and advocating for permanent affordable housing. DCLT offers residents with low and moderate incomes a stable foundation for achieving economic security in Durham, NC. DCLT believes in community, equity, and sustainability. LGF started investing in DCLT in 2022.
Ecotrust Forest Management manages land on behalf of investors and forestland owners to enhance forest health and productivity, and to produce a diverse array of forest products and services including timber, biomass, carbon, and improved habitat and water quality. They believe that creating reliable jobs for local residents and opportunities for local communities are a fundamental element of good forestry. LGF is invested in the Ecotrust Forest Fund which acquires industrially managed forests that are ecologically important and culturally significant, and transitions them towards more sustainable practices. LGF started investing in EcoTrust in 2014.
Impact America engages recent graduates and college students to address community needs, empowering a generation through collaborative efforts to promote change in the communities they serve. Impact America maximizes opportunity, and produces meaningful financial and social returns, by supporting best-in-class, diverse entrepreneurs directly improving the quality of life in underserved communities through scaling business focused on Health & Well-Being, Education, Essential Services, and Financial Security. LGF started investing in Impact America in 2016.
Invest Appalachia (IA) aims to increase investment into communities that have been historically under-resourced. IA is committed to a strategy that takes the best of impact investing and makes it work for Appalachia - putting community interest and impact first. IA works across the Appalachian counties of Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia, Ohio, North Carolina and Tennessee, aiming to make our region’s collective potential greater than the sum of its parts. LGF started investing in Impact Appalachia in 2022.
The JumpFund's mission is to seed and grow strong, female led ventures in the Southeastern, U.S. Their 80+ investors and fund partners understand that investments in early stage ventures led by women have greater potential to produce higher returns and are historically underfunded. This is particularly true in the southeast where less than 6% of venture capital is directed towards female-led companies. LGF started investing in The JumpFund in 2017.
The Natural Capital Investment Fund (NCIF) provides flexible financing to small and emerging natural resource-based businesses in rural, economically distressed communities in Central Appalachia and the Southeast. In addition to providing critical, timely capital, they also support clients with coaching and business development assistance to help them build capacity for success. LGF started investing in NCIF in 2013.
North Sky Capital was founded as a private equity firm in 2000. Since 2003, they have been working arm-in-arm with their clients to identify and invest in businesses and energy infrastructure projects that address the global challenges that coincide with rapid population growth and urbanization – resource scarcity, energy inefficiencies, increased waste, harmful emissions, food demands, etc. They seek to create a positive impact by stimulating positive social and environmental change while generating strong financial returns. LGF started investing in North Sky Capital in 2017. In 2022, LGF invested in a second North Sky Capital fund dedicated to renewable power, energy storage, water, and waste products.
RSF Social Finance's purpose is to transform the way the world works with money. LGF is invested in their Social Investment Fund, which provides mortgage loans, working capital lines of credit, and inventory financing exclusively to non-profit and for-profit organizations dedicated to improving the well-being of society and the environment. LGF started investing in RSF in 2013.
Self-Help Credit Union's mission is creating and protecting ownership and economic opportunity for all. They do this by providing responsible financial services, lending to small businesses and nonprofits, developing real estate, and promoting fair financial practices. While their work benefits communities of all kinds, their focus is on those who may be underserved by conventional lenders, including people of color, women, rural residents and low-wealth families and communities. LGF started investing in Self-Help in 2014.