SOCAP17 once again provided the IDP Foundation with an amazing opportunity to gather in beautiful San Francisco with 3,000 social entrepreneurs, impact investors, and change-makers from over 70 countries. My optimism about the state of the world was reenergized in the presence of these innovative entrepreneurs and organizations. The agenda was jam packed with fabulous panels, keynotes and workshops from a variety of thought leaders in the impact investing arena.

The IDP Foundation’s thoughtful approach to investing has led us to be 92% mission aligned with our investment portfolio. This means the corpus of the Foundation is invested using SRI (Socially Responsible Investing) and Impact Investing strategies. We want our investments to seek and measure social impact alongside financial returns. SOCAP provided a place for us to learn about and explore new partnerships and opportunities as well as learn about the tremendous progress that impact investing is making to become main stream. For instance, we saw that foundations have become key players in the impact investing space. With a willingness to take on greater risks, foundations are putting more of their funds directly into mission and we are proud to be doing just that.

To witness just one of the high caliber speakers at SOCAP17, check out this video from a pioneer in impact investing, Jed Emerson. He provides inspiring reflections on the power of impact investing to advance economic performance together with social change and real environmental sustainability.

SOCAP17 celebrated the 10th Anniversary this year with the largest crowd yet. Not only are the number of people interested in impact investing growing, but the conversations are digging deeper into the life changing potential of impact investments from a variety of perspectives. The IDP Foundation is proud to be part of this conversation and driven to support social entrepreneurs and mission driven organizations.