Birthdays present the chance to reflect on the passage of time, on how one’s life has intersected with the broader narrative of humanity. I was born on November 14, 1984
Go on the website of any environmental nonprofit worth its salt, and you will see language about the imperative to ensure a “just transition” to a green economy. The Climate Justice Alliance defines a just transition as “a place-based set […]
In the face of bad headlines–wildfires, the Delta variant, the Gulf Stream on the verge of collapse–I double-down on productive actions I can take: calling elected officials, donating, and finding ways to use Capital Good Fund as a better and […]
If there’s one thing I’ve learned running Capital Good Fund, it’s that sometimes good is good enough and sometimes it isn’t; knowing the difference is crucial. Take our DoubleGreen Loan, which we’ve offered since 2010. Ranging from $500 – $50,000, […]
The Big Lie that fueled an attempted coup now forms the basis of an entire political party’s strategy for holding on to power: make it hard for people who are likely to vote the “wrong way” to cast a ballot, label any election they lose as fraudulent, and slowly give themselves the power to overturn elections they disagree with.
One of the fundamental contradictions, if not flaws, of the nonprofit world is how the vast majority of us are funded. People and businesses generate massive profits, often at the expense of people and the planet–underpaying workers, skirting regulations, lobbying […]
When I started Capital Good Fund, in February of 2009, together with Mollie West and with the guidance of Alan Harlam, I was woefully unprepared for running a nonprofit financial institution. At the time, I was 24 and had precisely […]
Capital Good Fund’s role is not to prove that one can do well and do good. No, we are here to prove that one can do good, provided what many called an “integrated capital” approach: a mix of grants, low-interest debt, loan guarantees, and good public policy.
One might reasonably ask why any nonprofit, let alone a nonprofit lender, should dare to comment on politics. Isn’t that best left to pundits and politicians? In ordinary circumstances, I might agree—to a point. But these are not ordinary circumstances.
Celebrating the birthday of a nonprofit you founded doesn’t have the same nostalgia-soaked feeling as your own birthday: rather than the bittersweet recollections of childhood, this celebration has the bracing feel of adulthood.