Investments

In the face of a $8.4 trillion racial wealth gap in the United States, solutions aimed at fostering economic equity are not only crucial, they serve as beacons of hope for tangible change.    Apis and Heritage Capital Partners (A&H), a Black-led impact investment firm founded in 2021, is addressing the racial wealth gap by […]

World Education Services (WES) today announced an investment in 8B Education Investments, a social fintech company specializing in supporting African students to attend global universities. 8B facilitates fair student loan financing and support services.    WES’ catalytic investment will help 8B unlock additional student loan capital from its banking partners to bring education finance to African students at scale. […]

By Matthias Pries, Impact Investing Manager  Migration is the loom that weaves the rich tapestry that is Canadian society. Walk down the main street of any Canadian city and you can see, smell, and hear it. Working at World Education Services (WES) has given me a chance to strengthen this tapestry. How? By investing in […]

By Matthias Pries, Impact Investing Manager    “Sometimes you have to be together in a physical space with folks to forge trust and build genuine relationships and connection.” Betty Francisco, CEO of Boston Impact Initiative This idea captures the inspiration for World Education Services’ inaugural investee partner gathering. In late October, ahead of the SOCAP23 […]

Ownership is a key driver of wealth creation, yet many individuals and communities lack access to these opportunities. This ImpactAlpha article, co-authored by Smitha Das, Senior Director of Investments, WES, and Santhosh Ramdoss, President & CEO, Gary Community Ventures, explores emerging investment strategies, such as employee ownership, homeownership, and community wealth building. These approaches have […]

As a former international student from Thailand, Pat Chaisang’s wish is to support other international students as they begin to pursue fulfilling careers in Canada. This desire ultimately led her to found Isempower – an all-in-one technology platform that helps international students bridge the gap between education and employment.  According to Isempower, 70 percent of […]

by Smitha Das, Joi Edwards, Katheryn Witt   Rethinking Who’s at the Table Philanthropy has the power and the resources to help build an economy where all people—no matter their race or class—can thrive. Power, ownership, and choice over where and how capital is used—to build a representative economy—should be shared. If we want investments to […]

  The World Education Services (WES) Mariam Assefa Fund today announced a $500,000 commitment to Mission Driven Finance (MDF) Capital Partners, a new vehicle to fuel inclusive economic development by equipping businesses and projects doing good with the right capital in the right size at the right time.  Mission Driven Finance, co-founded by Lauren Grattan and […]

The World Education Services (WES) Mariam Assefa Fund today announced two new impact investments totaling US$750,000 in Blackstar Stability and the Dearfield Fund for Black Wealth, both of which leverage homeownership as a tool to help Black and underserved communities build generational assets and bridge the racial wealth gap.   Homeownership is key to building […]

Advancing equity and impact requires rethinking how we invest. In this ImpactAlpha article, Smitha Das, WES’ Senior Director of Investments, shares six trust-based investment practices that shift power to investee partners and communities. From redefining risk to leveraging participatory investment models, these practices help create a more equitable and just economy.

This piece is co-authored by Smitha Das and Katheryn Witt and is the result of a partnership between the WES Mariam Assefa Fund and Common Future. In March 2022, Common Future launched the Action Lab: Participatory Investing, a partnership with the WES Mariam Assefa Fund. The Action Lab is a 12-month initiative in which funders are learning […]

This blog post was created by Katheryn DeWitt of Common Future and originally published on Medium.  Foundations in the United States hold over $1 trillion in assets — 93 percent of which is invested in Wall Street rather than being used for the common good. What’s worse, decisions about the allocation of these assets are regularly […]

This blog post was created and originally published by SOCAP. Employee ownership is a powerful business model that can scale businesses, create higher-quality jobs, and strengthen communities, but limited financing is available to help businesses make this transition. Impact capital can expand democratic employee ownership to build generational wealth, help close the racial wealth gap, […]

The WES Mariam Assefa Fund is excited to announce its partnership with Community Credit Lab (CCL). With a $100,000 recoverable grant from the Fund, CCL will pilot and test new financial lending programs with input and direction from local lending partners and communities that know the needs of their communities best. A recoverable grant is […]

The World Education Services (WES) Mariam Assefa Fund today announced two new impact investments totaling US$900,000 aimed at supporting economic mobility and expanding shared ownership models among workers and entrepreneurs from historically excluded communities. These impact investments, in Apis & Heritage Capital Partners and ETF@JFFLabs, align with the Fund’s mission of building a more inclusive economy […]

On December 15, World Education Services (WES) brought immigrant serving-organizations together for a Twitter chat to discuss funding for and investing in organizations and solutions that enable immigrants and refugees to thrive. The conversation focused on how to drive more capital toward creating a more inclusive economy. More than 40 individuals and organizations joined us […]

NEW YORK — (Dec. 15, 2020) — The WES Mariam Assefa Fund today announced impact investments of $750,000 to ensure that immigrants and refugees in the United States have access to the tools and capital they need to acquire digital and other job-related skills, establish credit, increase their earning potential, and start businesses of their […]