“We show people the options they have to invest according to their values.” – why taking the right investment decisions can create a lot of positive impact and how Co-op America helps to optimize them.

Justin Conway, Community Investing Program, Co-op America and Social Investment Forum, Washington, D.C., USA

Most of us know more or less what investing in real-estate, stock shares or some other financial vehicles means. But what is “community investing”?

Justin Conway, who works for Co-op America in this area, explains that Community Investing (CI) directs investors’ money into areas underserved by traditional financial services. In the USA and around the world, community investing makes it possible for local organizations to provide financial services to low-income individuals and capital for small businesses and vital community services, such as child care, affordable housing, and health care. Imagine not being able to obtain a loan for college, to start a business, or to buy a house, and you get an idea of how disadvantaged people in the US and around the world benefit from CI. In addition, community investing institutions provide important services, such as education, mentoring, and technical support, to guarantee the repayment of their loans – and success of the communities they serve.

For Justin working in the field of CI is a perfect combination of his skills and passion for doing something good for underprivileged people in society – and this with a very high leverage.

Enjoy Justin’s selected thoughts and statements of our discussion in the lines that follow. You may be able to read more about his work in our book “MyImpact”.

Justin Conway’s selected quotations:
“Often we are approached by people with a very specific social purpose they want to invest in. In these cases we help them find and evaluate the options available in the market.”

“We make sure that everyone can get involved in doing something good by investing their money according to their values.”

“We take complicated and unfamiliar financial information and make it understandable to a broad range of investors.”

“We are good at bringing the right people and organizations together to leverage different skills and expertise to create a positive impact.”

“We don’t manage money; we focus on the educational part. We show people the various options and teach them about the possibilities in social and community investing.”

“While today it is often considered a niche market, socially responsible investing is becoming more and more mainstream.”

“Sometimes I would like to have a more hands-on experience. However, here in Washington I can have much more impact considering my background and skills. I can see the impact I am helping create in all the personal stories of the various community groups we help people and institutions invest in. Reading them gives me a lot of satisfaction.”

“For Co-op America there will always be a lot of work in this area as we try to push the more social impact pieces.”

Some background on Justin Conway:
Born and raised in the US, Justin travelled quite a bit in the last few years, especially in Central America, and he also spent some time in Hong Kong.

During college Justin was a member of Co-op America, for the resources the organization provides in the field of labour rights. With his educational background in social research and economic sociology he came back to the United States in 2002 and was offered to work in the area of Community Investing for Co-op America. Even though he did not exactly know what to expect from the job, he knew it would be for a unique organization that he admired very much. Today he knows that in addition to being part of a great organization his job gives him the opportunity to use his background in economic development and have a high leverage to create a positive impact on the lives of many people.

Some background on Co-op America:
Co-op America is a not-for-profit membership organization founded in 1982. Its mission is to harness economic power — the strength of consumers, investors, businesses, and the marketplace — to create a socially just and environmentally sustainable society.

In its vision statement Co-op America claims that they work for a world where all people have enough, where all communities are healthy and safe, and where the bounty of the Earth is preserved for all the generations to come.
What makes Co-op America unique is its focus on economic strategies to solve social and environmental problems. This includes empowering and mobilizing people in their economic roles as consumers, investors, workers, business leaders to take personal and collective action for a world with social justice and environmental responsibility. Co-op America sees these issues as completely linked in the quest for a sustainable world. It works to stop abusive practices and to create healthy, just and sustainable ways forward.

Co-op America’s broad variety of programs all empower people to make changes in their personal life and join together with others in economic action for a better world. These programs include Living Green, WoodWise (forest-friendly choices), Fair Trade, Green Energy, Responsible Shopper, Sweatshops, Green Businesses, Social Investing and many more.

If you would like to engage with the work of Justin Conway or get to know more about Co-op America please visit www.coopamerica.org or www.communityinvest.org,
or, for more specific opportunities, contact joanna.stefanska@myimpact.ch or wolfgang.hafenmayer@myimpact.ch directly.