Alliance magazine, recently interviewed Jed Emerson, Senior Fellow with Generation Foundation, of Generation Investment Management. In the interview Emerson speaks about some innovative funding instruments – part of the Skoll Forum’s theme of “blended value investing” - which involve various forms of private investing for social goals. Emerson lays out the problems and posibilities of these innovative funding streams in clear terms, and challenges the foundation world to begin to see their fiduciary roles and responsibilities differently than they have in the past. Mostly he is calling for a sense of urgency…
He asserts in the interview that, “…We are basically using 19th century frameworks to understand 21st century challenges and opportunities.”
He also is insisting that members of the foundation community break away from out-dated and confining ways of thinking about the assets they control. He says, “We are trapped in a conceptual framework that to my mind is fundamentally wrong. We need to understand that form needs to follow function. It’s not about the distribution of assets over time, it’s about managing the assets for full value creation.”
Leaving no stone unturned Emerson also had some sharp things to say about the individuals who lead these organizations: “And the last thing I would say is that we are lacking in leadership. I don’t see the leadership on the foundation side that is holding peers accountable and challenging the foundation community from the inside to be better and achieve our full potential.”
He concluded the interview with this assessment of foundations today: “They are both essential and they are missing in action.”
Read the whole interview here.
To read more about “blended value investing”, check out this.