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Should Christians Engage in Politics?

With all the chaos in Washington, DC these days, I‘m often asked whether Christians should be involved in the public square.  My response is that times like these are a call to action for those who follow Jesus.  Christian voices are needed in Washington, in our local communities, and on our online platforms more than ever.
 
Plato said that the wise who refuse to take part in government suffer to live under the government of worse men.  I think that sentiment applies to all forms of citizen engagement.  Our silence will be filled by voices we may not want to hear.  It’s quite noble to compete for the good society wherever we’re called to serve.
 
And if the news is pulling your down, it might be time to recall those inspiring examples who made a difference before us.  No story is more encouraging than William Wilberforce who used his seat in Parliament to abolish the British slave trade.  He also gave us a blueprint for COMMONWEALTH in the many social impact ventures that he and his friends formed through the Clapham Sect.  For more on his story, you can read Eric Metaxas’ terrific biography or watch the film based on his book (both called Amazing Grace).
 
Chuck Colson liked to say that the Kingdom of God will not arrive on Air Force One.  It’s great news indeed that we are privileged to help bring it forward through our spheres of influence and our acts of service.
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Where Did The Idea For Impact Investing Come From?

Where did the idea for impact investing come from? Read a preview below and click here for the full article in Barron’s:

“The Rockefeller Foundation coined the term “impact investing” in 2007 to describe private investments that generate a financial return alongside social or environmental impact.

At the time, the idea wasn’t new; it just didn’t have a name, and, more importantly, there wasn’t a cohesive strategy or infrastructure to support the development of a variety of investment products. There also wasn’t a large base of investors ready and willing to buy these investments if they did exist.

More than 10 years later, impact investing may not be mainstream, but it’s getting there, with at least $228 billion in invested assets mostly in private markets, according to the Global Impact Investing Network’s latest figures. When the definition is broadened to include public funds seeking to invest in companies with the best environmental, social, and governance, or ESG, practices, the level of assets swells to nearly $9 trillion, according to the latest figures from The Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment…”

 

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Do Foundations Need To Step Up Their Game In Impact Investing?

Do foundations need to step up their games in impact investing?  Read a preview below or click here to read the full Forbes article.

“There’s a growing number of people in the world of social entrepreneurship focused on not just building impact-oriented companies, but on creating a more fundamental systemic change.

With that in mind, 45 impact investors, researchers and others recently met at a two-and-a-half day pow-wow in Sheffield, Mass., to focus on one important piece of the puzzle: the role of philanthropy and foundations  in creating what organizers Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors and Impact Entrepreneur term an “impact  economy”. Their conclusions were recently published in a report called Philanthropy Transforming Finance: Building an Impact Economy…”

 

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What’s a Start Up Studio

From Medium.com:

Startup studios are sometimes called “venture builders.” Or startup factories. Or venture studios. They are still new enough that there isn’t yet a single, consistent nomenclature. This article is one of the earlier pieces describing what a startup studio really is: a company whose product is other companies.

If you haven’t yet heard of venture-builders…let me introduce them to you: They’re organizations that build companies using their own ideas and resources.

Unlike incubators and accelerators, venture builders don’t take any applications, nor do they run any sort of competitive program that culminates in a Demo Day. Instead, they pull business ideas from within their own network of resources and assign internal teams to develop them (engineers, advisors, business developers, sales managers, etc.).

Click here to learn more.