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Abbot Hill in Wilton, New Hampshire, is home to High Mowing School, a Waldorf boarding high school, and Temple-Wilton Community Farm, one of the first biodynamic community supported agriculture (CSA) programs in the U.S. \rBrad Miller, a biodynamic farmer turned teacher at High Mowing, developed an innovative horticulture program that engages students in the many facets of stewarding land while learning life lessons from it.
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“There was a total absence of any high-quality soil product,” says Ritchie. “That’s when we decided to enter a market that’s never been there before—biodynamic compost. It’s real. It’s truly organic. It’s living soil.”\r\rOn July 8, 2009, the duo founded Malibu Compost, and became the first-ever local producer and distributor of certified biodynamic compost. After years of demonstrating the strength of their business model, the company received a Program Related Investment (PRI) loan from RSF to
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The RSF Social Impact Fellowship is missioned with growing the field of social finance, one cohort of thought leaders at a time. During their time at RSF, fellows work closely with the lending team to identify prospective borrowers, conduct due diligence, and structure loans.
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In the latest RSF Quarterly, we explore the role of nature in education and the arts. Brad Miller, a teacher at High Mowing School, shares with us the life lessons his students gain through their study of biodynamic horticulture.
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BK ROT, one of RSF Social Finance’s 2015 Seed Fund grantees, received a small gift in support of their efforts to establish a sustainable grassroots composting service in Brooklyn, New York. In this blog post, co-facilitator Renée Peperone tells us more about BK ROT’s work and what the funds have made possible.
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Deb Nelson, formerly the executive director of Social Venture Network (SVN), will join RSF Social Finance in late January as the new Vice President of Client and Community Engagement.
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Arc of Greater New Orleans has evolved much since its inception in 1953. Today, the organization is a culmination of decades of work by devoted individuals whose ultimate goal is to integrate people with intellectual disabilities into their communities. Arc serves some 900 children, adults and their families in Jefferson, Orleans, St. Bernard, and St. Tammany Parishes by providing various services such as child care, family service coordination, and supported living assistance.
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What is the best way to distribute money amongst a group a non-profits? This is a question that foundations and donors struggle with on a regular basis.
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What will it take to build a thriving social enterprise sector that can lead the way to the next economy?\r
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When Robert Egger founded DC Central Kitchen (DCCK), he used his experience as a nightclub manager to promote the new community kitchen with a splash: The very first meals he delivered to the homeless shelters of Washington, DC, were leftovers he’d picked up from George H. W. Bush’s inauguration.
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For six years, RSF Social Finance has been the primary organizational partner for Play BIG, an intimate annual convening I lead that espouses the idea of activating one’s “whole portfolio” to mission. Play BIG emerged from pioneering work that Carol Newell funded in British Columbia. It is designed for aspiring and experienced investor/ philanthropists who have many millions in discretionary wealth, recognize the dire planetary situation, and want to direct their money toward solutions.
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Obesity and diabetes rates in the United States have hit an all-time high. More than two in three American adults are considered overweight today, according to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, a health research center. Children are no better off, reporting skyrocketing increases in new Type-2 diabetes cases; a condition previously unheard of in people under 30.
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Amy Bird joined RSF Social Finance in June of this year, and is responsible for cultivating strong relationships with education borrowers. RSF’s communications manager, Enrique Perez, recently interviewed Amy about her journey from student to globetrotter to move-and-shaker in the Waldorf education movement.
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Kate Danaher, RSF Social Finance Lending Manager, talks with Chris Mann of Guayakí and Rob Everts of Equal Exchange.
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RSF Social Finance is pleased to announce the 2015-2016 Social Impact Fellows. This cohort marks RSF’s sixth year of the fellowship program. The fellowship is designed to support the development of the next generation of inspiring leaders in the social finance field. RSF also seeks to bring a fresh perspective to the organization’s business development activities.
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I have read the Wall Street Journal cover-to-cover nearly every business day for the last 20 years. It’s been a central part of my financial education, and has allowed me to research a myriad of topics that I did not immediately understand. Steadily, I have increased my knowledge of highly specialized financial structures and concepts.
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Meet Tim Green, Senior Counsel, Legal & Compliance. Tim provides legal and compliance support to all of RSF’s program areas and leads RSF’s Troubled Loan Committee (TLC).
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We see clear signs that more people want their values and money to be aligned. They are beginning to shift what they purchase, where they bank, and how they invest. They yearn to connect directly with the producers of their food, for example, and seek to know that their financial decisions are beneficial, not harmful, for both people and the Earth.
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The walls of Seattle’s Pioneer Square Historic District have long featured canvases splashed with elevating colors and dramatic shapes. Yet this neighborhood’s rich artistic and cultural tradition experienced a slump in the 1990s when market forces drove artists out of the area at an alarming rate.
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People have been talking for years about the “valley of death” between seed money and growth capital that confronts and sometimes swallows up social enterprises. Now we’re finally starting to see a critical mass of funders willing to fill the gap with capital combinations designed for enterprises that maximize social and environmental value.
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