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#### Half of entrepreneurs don’t have this key relationship—you can change that
### ON May 21, 2021
Ask most successful people how they launched their business and they will say luck, grit, and *support from friends and family*: a spouse, their parents, maybe a successful sibling, or their dear Uncle Joe who’s always believed in them (and if they’re well connected, a few wealthy friends). Yet while most entrepreneurs have plenty of grit, perseverance, and sometimes a bit of luck, **many lack a network of friends and family members with excess capital to spare, particularly women, Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC)**, 
The lack of systems where entrepreneurs and investors can meet, form relationships of trust, and possibly do business together is one of the six gaps we identified in our  study. While this is a nationwide issue, what gives me hope are all the solutions popping up to address the “friends and family” gap, both locally and across the country.
We’re excited to hear from national featured guests who are actively solving these impact investing issues at our virtual . We’ll hear from:
*  President , sharing a truly community-centered approach to foundation giving and investing.
* , the founder of the  and Managing Director of The Investment Integration Project, how we can “learn from history to create opportunities for equitable wealth-building now”
* Impact investing educator, connector and instigator  Executive Director of Impact PHL
* , leading New Day Chester, an artists cooperative creating economic vitality in Philadelphia
Past conferences have launched ideas and partnerships. (Friendships too!)
Expect discussions with attendees and leaders from some of the many emerging and established Twin Cities-based funds and initiatives. We call them “sparks” because they are lighting fires for action by addressing the gaps in our ecosystem and inviting others to join their initiatives. They include:
* , Founding CEO, Co-Retailing & Impact Hub MSP Board member
* , a founding partner of , investing in Black, Latino, and Native American tech startups
* , Executive Director of Build Wealth MN
* , President of Northside Economic Opportunity Network
* , CEO, Venn Foundation
* , Investment Analyst, McKnight Foundation
* , Managing Director, NDN Collective
* , Co-Founder and Co-CEO, Ecotone Analytics
* , CEO, SISG/ConnectUP
* , Founding Executive Director, Lunar Startups
* , Associate Director of Investments for gener8tor
* , Founder of iPondr and iPondr@Work, a workplace solution centering team development through empathy
We hope you can join us on the 10th,  Stay tuned for more announcements!
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### About Susan Hammel, Founder and CEO
As a philosophy major who went to Wall Street, Susan Hammel translates between passionate social changemakers and expert accountants. In her role as CEO of , Susan is celebrating over 20 years as an impact advisor and is serving her sixth year as  Executive in Residence for impact investing. Like in her youth, Susan remains optimistic and passionate about changing the world and enjoys downtime by the lake with her husband and the 4 adult children in their blended family, their partners, plus a recent addition of a beautiful grandson.
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### What I'm doing now
Hope in the new year is our favorite team gratitude today and despite the very real challenges we face as humans, I’m positive about our future. People and place: they came up over and over again in our  study and events. We care about where we live, whether that’s in a small town in Iowa or a major city like Chicago. We care about the people who live there. Imagine if impact investing in people and place was the norm. How different would our places look? My place is Minnesota and I care deeply that all our people have a chance to find their healthy place here. What’s your place? Who do you care about? Do your investments match? If not, there’s plenty of chances to invest. As one my colleagues said today, “it’s 2025: let’s thrive”.
© 2023 Cogent Consulting PBC | Minneapolis, MN | Susan Hammel, CEO
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#### The Equity Triple Crown: how to hit a home run in Gender & Racial Equity Investing
### ON January 21, 2021
An unfortunate CEO expressed what many other business leaders think (but have the sense not to say publicly): “I would love to promote and hire more Black people but there just aren’t enough qualified for the job.”
And there it is, prejudice and ignorance expressed in a nutshell. We simply have to do better. We have to open our eyes to all of the talent surrounding us and look outside our daily professional interactions. These talented individuals might not look like the corporate success archetype (white male of a certain age) but they bring tremendous experience and skills. Diverse teams do better (if you don’t believe me, look it up).
But convincing you that diversity, equity, and inclusion matters isn’t the point of this blog. Nor is educating you about systemic racism and gender bias or tips to be a good white ally. We have other blogs and podcasts for that.
This is HOW to express these values and gain access to this talent, through your investments.
At Cogent, from our perch working with foundations across the country interested in exploring innovative and prudent ways to put more of their assets to work for mission, we see many approaches to tackling systemic racism and gender bias. To approach the work, we’ve developed an approach we call the “Equity Triple Play” to help guide our clients seeking to add diversity to their investments. Many foundations, nonprofits, and corporations share these values and we’ve found this approach helps them get started fast, go deep, and see results quickly.
There’s no time to lose.
So, what is this “Equity Triple Play”? We look at gender and racial equity investing in three levels:
Investment decision-makers: who makes investment decisions?
Investee leadership and team: who runs and works at the companies investors choose?
Positive product or service: who benefits from the products or services provided?
Let’s unpack each level of “play”.
Going for the Triple Play is the goal and reviewing your investment through these three levels establishes a baseline. As a Little League Mom for 14 years, my son’s coach used to holler at the home run hitters, just get on base! Many times these powerful hitters struck out swinging for the fences and every now and then, they hit a home run. My son listened to his coach and, more times than not, found a way to get on base. And once he got on base, everyone knew that Danny would find a way to get home.
By all means, swing for the fences if you feel your organization is ready to seek the Triple Play. But it’s also ok to start by picking managers and investees with one or two levels of “play”, as that is better than a strike-out on diversity. Do it again. Keep score. Hold yourself accountable for results. This is how change happens.
The Triple Play gives you an avenue to start and that’s what matters. Get in the game.
Susan Hammel Bio: As a philosophy major who went to Wall Street, Susan Hammel translates between passionate social changemakers and expert accountants. In her role as CEO of Cogent Consulting, Susan is celebrating over 20 years as an impact advisor and is serving her sixth year as Minnesota Council on Foundation Executive in Residence for impact investing. Like in her youth, Susan remains optimistic and passionate about changing the world and enjoys downtime by the lake with her husband and the 4 adult children in their blended family, their partners, plus a recent addition of a beautiful grandson.
#### Racial Equity & Impact Investing
### ON September 9, 2020
Seeing a lot for sale signs lately around your neighborhood?
But the prices are astronomical?
The more you look, the more you notice that your neighborhood isn’t truly yours anymore.
It seems as if your neighborhood is being gentrified.
Gentrification is the process of renovating and improving a house or district so that it conforms to middle-class taste.
If you look across America, this is slowly becoming the standard: pushing Black, Indigenous, people of color (“BIPOC”), and other marginalized groups out of their own neighborhoods. However, this shouldn’t be the case at all!
Marginalized groups should have the opportunity to grow and strive within their own places with true ownership.
This is where people can use capital for social justice. Foundations create mission-related investments (MRIs), program-related investments (PRIs), and other types of impact investment to help those who typically do not have access to traditional capital markets. For example, some foundations, such as  have used impact investing to create storefronts in Downtown Minneapolis for minority and female business owners. Also, social entrepreneurs use impact investments to “buy back the block”, meaning buying and re-vitalizing the block for those in the community at a non-inflated price. These types of investments allow marginalized groups to stay and flourish in their neighborhoods.
Impact investing gives marginalized groups opportunities for which they wouldn’t normally be considered It is quite interesting how Black women are the most educated group in America but have the least venture capital. They are also given less support in the financial world compared to their white counterparts. Foundations and other organizations can help Black people receive proper support. The traditional sources of financing have denied marginalized groups suitable access to the investment world for too long. **It’s time for people to put their money where their mouth is and use their capital for justice.** Create an opportunity for marginalized groups to generate wealth for their future generations. The time for change is now and that change is impact investing at the forefront.
**Take Action**
To learn more and dive deeper into these topics, learn more about:
* Shared ownership models as a key tool for social change. Check out a group we admire: 
* Community land banking as vehicles to retain community ownership such as 
* Shop and buy local. Amazon is NOT helping your neighborhood’s vitality!
* If you own your own business, consider converting to a shared ownership structure.
* If you’re an investor, consider asking potential investees if they would consider a shared ownership model.
#### Impact Investing 101 for Social Entrepreneurs
### ON August 25, 2020
In light of everything that has been going on in our country lately, many Americans have started to look into social change and social impact. How can they create social change in their communities? How can we be the change we want to see? How can my actions have a social impact?
Furthermore, during this pandemic, many Americans have also started to look deeper into their finances. Should we start a high yield savings account? Should we start investing in companies or stocks? What if I told you that you could combine these two sentiments? Yes, you could invest in something that will have a social impact while giving you a financial return. Impacting investing aims to generate specific beneficial social or environmental effects in addition to financial gains. This type of investing is sometimes called social impact investing, double bottom line investing, and social change investing. These types of investments use your money to invoke social change while receiving a financial return. It is truly a win-win.
Now impact investing isn’t just for big companies, but for non-profit foundations and entrepreneurs. There are several types of impact investing. You can invest your money in developed or emerging markets in a variety of industries, such as education and healthcare. Wouldn’t it be amazing to know that you’re helping an overloaded healthcare system or underfunded schools? Impact investing gives investors a chance to give back to communities that have been neglected or overlooked.
Now, I’m sure you may want to know, how can we trust our money is going to the right company? That’s when we check out the company’s commitment to corporate social responsibility (CSR), their sense of duty to create a social impact in society as a whole. For example, let’s say you’re really into renewable energy and want to invest. Look into companies that are all about renewable energy and invest your dollars with them. Another good way to get started is to seek out a “b-corp” bank such as Sunrise Banks or b-corp companies such as Peace Coffee. They are dedicated to producing public benefits (and we’re proud to say that our company, Cogent Consulting just became a PBC last year!). With impact investing, you will be helping to invoke a social impact while receiving a financial win. Like we said before, it’s truly a win-win.