What is a Community Impact Circle?

Brighton Jones Community Impact Circles (CICs) bring together a group of our clients and peers to learn in community about a specific philanthropic issue area, and the various strategies we can employ to make a strategic, meaningful impact.

CICs are a dedication of both time and resources. We meet six times over the course of three months to learn together, (online and/or in person, depending upon the location of our registrants), and each participant pledges to personally donate a minimum of $10,000 to organization(s) of their choice that are working on poverty alleviation at the end of our six sessions together.

What are the focus areas of the six sessions included in the Global Poverty Alleviation CIC?

Our curriculum, led by our in-house advisors and guest speakers from across the philanthropic and impact investing sector, unpacks the factors that contribute to poverty, nationally and around the globe. We also explore the strategies being used by community leaders, nonprofits, philanthropists, investors, and elected officials to combat poverty – ranging from direct service offerings to those in need, to policy change that can help level the playing field, and various strategies in between.

Our sessions included:

• Setting the foundation for our learning with Rodney Foxworth, a social entrepreneur and nonprofit leader working to close the racial wealth gap. Rodney is a Ford Foundation Global Fellow and Skoll Awardee, who led Common Future for 6 years, a nonprofit social enterprise where he and his team channeled more than $250 million into building economically empowered communities. Rodney now leads Worthmore, a strategic consulting, impact investment, and economic development firm focused on creating ownership and wealth for diverse communities and stakeholders. Rodney will lead us in a conversation about the concept of intersectionality and how it applies to poverty; alleviation strategies that we know don’t work, and those that we hope will inform the future; and the importance of language as we broaden our understanding of the issues affecting low-income families around the world.

• Changing systems in the U.S. that perpetuate poverty Jesús Gerena, CEO of UpTogether, where his team is changing policies, systems, and underlying beliefs so that all people in the United States are seen, invested in, and are able to build power and drive their own economic and social mobility. UpTogether’s model for systemic change through philanthropic and government partnerships centers community, cash and choice, and has distributed $190 million dollars in support of its mission in all 50 states and Puerto Rico. Jesús believes, “Poverty is not caused by personal failures. It’s rooted in system choices, nurtured by institutional racism, that disinvest and fragment communities. Our people and communities are the solution, let’s invest in them.”

• Race, gender, and the concentration of power with Ada Williams Prince, a thought leader at the intersection of philanthropy, equity, and global economic development, who has spent her career fighting for the rights of women, girls, and families everywhere. As former Director of Program Strategy at Pivotal Ventures, founded by Melinda French Gates, she directed strategies to invest in Black, Indigenous and women and girls of color; she was a Program Officer at the Marguerite Casey Foundation responsible for grant making to end family poverty and promote racial equity, and Director of Special Projects for OneAmerica, where she directed their women’s rights policy program, focusing on immigrant women and girls.

• Income generation and economic mobility with Roger Perez, Program Officer at GitLab Foundation. Roger has a deep background in international development and racial justice, and will lead us in conversation on the ways that a spectrum of interventions, from direct service to systems change, can work to increase individuals’ lifetime earning capacity. He’ll be joined by one of the grantees of the Foundation, Catalina Escobar of Makaia, where her team is utilizing technology and innovation for social change in Colombia.

• Understanding the spectrum of impact capital, from philanthropy to program-related below-market debt investments, with expert Caroline Bressan, CEO of Open Road Alliance. Caroline will demystify the ways that various forms of capital can work together to support social and environmental change. A veteran of impact investing with a specialty in debt financing, Caroline’s team is consistently ranked as a top impact fund manager. Prior to Open Road, Caroline was an Investment Principal at Dalberg, where she built a pipeline of opportunities in energy and agriculture in Africa, and an Investment Officer at Calvert Foundation, where she managed its $20 million Latin America-focused portfolio.

• Student-centered education as the foundation for long-term success with Dr. Kwame Akyeampong of Luminos Fund. Dr. Kwame began his career in Ghana, and now serves as Professor of International Education and Development at The Open University in the UK. He’ll be joined by Luminos supporter and prominent education funder, Tara Wondraczek, CEO of the mc2h foundation, which is dedicated exclusively to promoting literacy in Africa. They will lead us in conversation about the power of a global movement with local leadership, and how removing obstacles to learning can set children up for lifelong success.