News Tip: Expert Available to Comment on National Impact Investing Recommendations

After last year's G8 Leaders Summit, leaders wanted to determine how impact investing -- investing for both financial gain and positive social outcomes -- could help accelerate economic growth and address some of the world's most challenging problems. As a result, 27 people, including Duke adjunct professor Cathy Clark, were asked to serve on the United States National Advisory Board on Impact Investing. The group released recommendations at the White House today for how U.S. policymakers could encourage impact investing, and Clark is available to comment on those national recommendations. Catherine ClarkClark is an adjunct professor at the Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship (CASE), at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Businesscathy@cathyhc.com An expert on social entrepreneurship and impact investing, Clark founded the CASE i3 Initiative on impact investing, which focuses on providing knowledge and tools to students, practitioners and academics.   Quote:"The government has already been deeply involved in impact investing for decades. Banking regulations from the 1970s have unleashed more than $60 billion of capital in the form of community development finance, which has helped lift people out of poverty across the U.S. Nearly every major bank is involved.""Now, we realize that by tweaks to the rules of the game, governments can encourage private sector investment in a broad array of outcomes, from education and health to financial inclusion and energy efficient buildings. Plus, the private sector is much larger than philanthropy and governments and has resources and talent that can be applied toward addressing these issues, so it’s a smart thing to do."

                                  _        _        _        _Duke experts on a variety of other topics can be found at http://newsoffice.duke.edu/resources-media/faculty-experts.