ICONIQ Impact

We’re thrilled to have worked alongside our partners at Lever for Change to host this webinar in honor of #WorldRefugeeDay!   Since receiving a collective $24.25 million in funding three years ago, the five finalists of the Larsen Lam ICONIQ Impact Award have scaled their programs to improve the lives of millions of refugees across the world. Here are just some of the many things these visionary organizations have achieved:   Global Refuge has expanded their mental health programming to include a more holistic, trauma-informed approach so that refugees receive sustainable support beyond the initial welcome. Village Enterprise has provided technical assistance to community-based organizations so localized groups can adapt their model according to the unique needs of each community. Resourcing Refugee Leadership Initiative (RRLI) has centered refugee leadership in their organization and programs so they can better represent the true needs of the refugee community.

ICONIQ founding partner Michael Anders spoke at yesterday’s #ForbesIconoclast Summit about why philanthropy is not reaching its full potential: silos, bureaucracy, a lack of understanding on where and how to start, and more.   At ICONIQ Impact, we aim to quickly, diligently, and effectively mobilize capital towards the world's most complex challenges, focusing on areas where philanthropy has the potential to be catalytic. This can look like supporting overlooked and underfunded groups, funding a new project or approach that we believe has huge potential but needs support to get off the ground, or partnering to support hyper-local initiatives.   

Divesh Makan, founding partner of ICONIQ Capital, spoke with Bloomberg Wealth's David Rubenstein about AI, ICONIQ's community, and why #CollaborativePhilanthropy is a core part of ICONIQ's DNA. Listen to the full interview below 👇

Earlier this week, head of ICONIQ Impact, Matti Navellou, joined Samantha Fenwick on BBC News Business Matters to discuss the unique role philanthropy can play in catalyzing government funding.   In a time where governments across the world are cutting their aid budgets, philanthropy is more important than ever. But it’s neither a stopgap measure nor a replacement. Rather, philanthropic dollars can fund bold ideas that have the potential to be transformative and can serve as proof points for other funders—including governments—to follow.   Unlike governments, philanthropists are not bound by political constraints or annual budgets, and unlike the private sector, they are not beholden to shareholders or an economic bottom line. Philanthropists are in a unique position where they can be flexible, innovative, and risk tolerant with their giving, ultimately helping to prove out solutions and crowd in other funders.   Listen below 👇

Last week, Matti Navellou, head of ICONIQ Impact, joined the Women Moving Millions Summit to discuss the power of collaborative philanthropy with thought leaders, activists, and donors leading the charge on critical issues that intersect with gender.   “The world’s challenges are growing more complex and becoming too urgent to tackle alone. The traditionally siloed philanthropic model hinders progress. We must pivot to a collaborative approach where resources are pooled, expertise is leveraged, impacted communities are centered, and learnings are shared.” -Matti Navellou, head of ICONIQ Impact   #WMMSummit2024 #collaborativephilanthropy #impact #genderequity  

Earlier this month, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced that extraordinary ocean temperatures had triggered a historic coral bleaching event—one that is being called the “widest-ever global coral crisis.”   Coral reefs provide coastal protection against storms, reduce beach erosion, and support more species per unit than any other marine environment. But climate change has had disastrous effects on these critical ecosystems.   Rising sea temperatures, ocean acidification, human pollution, and more have placed extreme stress on corals. When they become too stressed, the symbiotic algae they need to survive dies. This process is called bleaching, and while bleached coral can recover, if the water surrounding them stays too hot for too long, they die.   This #EarthDay, we’re celebrating the vibrant and steadfast climate leaders of our Ocean Co-Lab community who work tirelessly to protect our coral reefs:   Global Fund for Coral Reefs, The Nature Conservancy, and Coral Gardeners are restoring critical reef sites, innovating new technologies to increase coral production, and supporting the coastal communities whose lives and livelihoods depend on coral reefs.   Photos courtesy of Coral Gardeners and The Nature Conservancy, which are developing the tools needed to scale up reef restoration. 

We’re thrilled that CodePath, a grantee of our Education & Economic Mobility Co-Lab, has been recognized as one of Fast Company’s most innovative companies in the education sector! CodePath partners with over 110 universities and 70 tech employers to provide students from underrepresented backgrounds with the technical training, mentorship, and interview preparation needed to break into the tech sector. They’re diversifying the industry and making tech education more equitable.   Please join us in congratulating them! 👏 👏 👏

Turn Forward, a grantee of our Ocean Co-Lab, is looking for a new Executive Director. Learn more about this great opportunity below 👇

India’s Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change recently updated their Plastic Waste Management Rules to help improve the safety and health of the country’s wastepickers. Wastepickers are informal workers who salvage recyclable materials for resale, diverting tons of plastics and more from landfills. Despite the critical role they play recycling nearly 20% of India’s waste each year, wastepickers continue to face discrimination, unstable incomes, limited access to social security schemes, and unsafe working conditions.    Chintan (Environmental Research and Action Group)—a grantee of our Climate Equity Co-Lab—supports predominantly female wastepickers with education, business planning, political organizing, and tools to advocate for protections as a workforce. This increases their upward mobility, safety, and agency.   Join us and Chintan in celebrating this win!

A child’s future success is often inextricably tied to factors out of their control, such as their gender, race, or zip code. In the United States, fewer than one in 13 kids born into poverty will go on to hold a high-income job in adulthood, and this number falls to just one in 40 for Black children. To help close the opportunity gap in the United States, we and our partners launched the Education & Economic Mobility Co-Lab—a $56M collaborative philanthropy fund supporting 16 grantees working on improving mental health in schools, helping marginalized parents access education and wrap-around social services, and establishing career pathways for underserved communities. The Co-Lab offers each organization unrestricted grant funding for three years, because we know our grantees are the experts and we want them to have the freedom to plan for the long-term. They have a deep understanding of the challenges they’re working to solve, the communities they serve, and how their funding should be spent. The grantees work across three key areas:  💼 Seven of the Co-Lab’s organizations are providing more #EquitableCareerPathways for marginalized youth by ensuring all students and young professionals have access to the types of paid internships, vocational trainings, and apprenticeships that lead to high-wage jobs. 🧠 Five of the Co-Lab’s organizations are improving #YouthMentalHealth by advancing local and federal policy, supporting student-led mental health advocacy, increasing access to teletherapy for the most at-risk youth, and more. 👨👩👦 Four of the Co-Lab’s organizations are bolstering #TwoGenerationSolutions, supporting underserved caregivers, like single parents and first-generation families, with everything from ensuring school readiness for their children to earning a college degree.  Please join us in congratulating all grantees: CareerWise Colorado, CodePath, Opportunity@Work, Propel America, inseparable, Generation Hope, TRAILS, MindRight Health, i.c.stars, Hopebound, AVANCE, Inc, Raise The Barr founded by NFL Player Anthony Barr, Jeremiah Program, FreeWorld, Active Minds, Inc., Genesys Works 🎉 🎉 🎉 To learn more about the Education & Economic Mobility Co-Lab and its grantees, check out our press release here: https://lnkd.in/eBDsYw6x #Education #EconomicMobility #Philanthropy #CollaborativePhilanthropy