Calvert Impact is a leading impact investing firm with 30 years of experience tapping U.S. capital markets to channel money into high impact projects globally, creating products and services that enable everyone—from an individual with $20 to institutions with billions—to invest for impact with integrity. Believing that where and how we invest our money matters, Calvert Impact works to change the financial system to prioritize solutions instead of exacerbating problems by activating the full power of capital markets without diluting social and environmental impact integrity. Calvert Impact raises capital from individual and institutional investors to finance sectors that mainstream capital markets aren’t comfortable with yet but have transformative impact potential—like off-grid solar in Sub-Saharan Africa or small business in unbanked communities across the U.S.—working to get capital flowing more efficiently and at scale. The organization builds financial products meeting the needs of projects and businesses in high-potential sectors and the people who want to invest in them, designing investment products that are easily accessible so more people can put their money to work for a better world. Founded in 1995 as Calvert Foundation with funding from Calvert Research and Management, Ford Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, and Mott Foundation around the bold idea that investing directly in communities was not only a good investment but one everyone should be able to make regardless of wealth, Calvert Impact launched its Community Investment Note® available for as little as $20 through over 135 brokerages. Over 30 years, Calvert Impact has moved billions of dollars supporting growth of markets like microfinance, affordable housing, and clean energy access, raising over $3 billion cumulatively with a Community Investment Note® balance of nearly $600 million.
Why it matters: Calvert Impact demonstrates that democratizing impact investing requires building accessible financial products that enable anyone from individuals with $20 to institutions with billions to invest in high-impact sectors that mainstream capital markets avoid, proving that financial inclusion works in both directions. By creating the Community Investment Note available through over 135 brokerages and raising over $3 billion to finance transformative sectors like off-grid solar and small business in unbanked communities, Calvert Impact shows that moving capital efficiently at scale to solutions delivering financial, social, and environmental returns demands infrastructure making impact investing as accessible as conventional investing. The organization’s 30 years moving billions while becoming financially self-sufficient demonstrates that channeling capital to communities that need it can operate on a sustainable business model rather than requiring perpetual philanthropy, embodying the founding vision that poor people need a chance, not charity.
