A fresh take on forest impact investing with Dr. Stephanie Gripne

In today’s episode, I am joined by Dr. Stephanie Gripne, Founder and CEO of the Impact Finance Center and Impact Investing Institute. In our conversation Stephanie identifies some primary challenges with raising capital for forests – that is the need to first, raise investors and second – think about what the forest needs. She describes the need for full spectrum capital to address the needs of the forest value chain, and will have you reconsider your thoughts on impact investing – from philanthropic giving to commercial return seeking investors.Host: Shauna Matkovich - The Forest Link Details 00:38Introduction to Stephanie Gripne and her organisation, Impact Finance Center06:26Sustainable Forestry Investment Club and how it came to be11:42Four parts of the sustainable forestry investment club – identify and educate investors13:04Second part – connect capital stewards with community stewards that need the money13:35Third part – governmental spending/grants for start ups14:23Part four – mainstream 2.0 – retirement programme (invest in forests?)16:45Investor profile & education modules via Forestry Investment Club17:53Point of difference in how organisation teaches investing22:00Explanation of investments with negative 100% loss/return24:28Examples of impact investment transactions29:42Reverse engineering in an investment strategy30:22Early stages of nature-based investment34:12Where do you learn about all the regulations – Green Biz Group – series of conferences36:12Mainstream 2.0 & future projects & plans37:40Actionable advice to investorsSignificant quotes:[03:36]            You can think of the Impact Finance Center as an investor accelerator, where we grow investors like we grow trees.[12:50]            There is a really big need globally for us to create investor accelerators, the same way we have the accelerators for entrepreneurs.[18:17]            The only way to solve this problem is to shift the question from what does the investor want to what does the forest need.[26:34]            The only way you can heal a river, whether it is a physical river or a river of capital, which is our mainstream and Wallstreet capital is to restore the flow. That is holistically looking at the capital.[32:22]            We got to get more money to the forests, to the communities in a way that is needed.[38:03]            You shift power to the forest and the communities, you learn about full spectrum capital, and then you restore the flow of the capitalLinks mentioned:Impact Finance Center: https://impactfinancecenter.org/Green Biz Group: https://www.greenbiz.com/Sound Library:Nature by MaxKoMusic/SoundcloudSopwell Woodlands and Scohaboy Bog SAC, Cloughjordan, Co Tipperary, IRELAND by wild_rumpus/SoundcloudSign up now for the ForestLink’s newsletter, where you’ll receive technical advice, reflections, and best-practice guidance to support you with your forest-linked investment strategy or business straight to your inbox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.