At Chicago Booth, the Rustandy is the destination for faculty, students, alumni, and leaders everywhere committed to tackling complex social and environmental problems. A central component of the Rustandy Center’s work is to catalyze social innovation, which includes social entrepreneurial ventures and the entities that fund them. The IFRC complements the center’s well-established impact investing programming, which comprises a suite of experiential learning opportunities for students. The Steven Tarrson Impact Investment Fund—one of the largest student-managed impact investing funds in the country—supports direct private investments in early-stage social impact companies and allows MBA students to network and gain real-world experience. Students can also participate in national impact investing competitions, pursue summer internships, and seek out programming or mentoring led by the Rustandy Center’s impact investor in residence Priya Parrish, ’09, an adjunct assistant professor of strategy at Booth and managing partner of private equity at Impact Engine. Last month, the Rustandy Center also published its first impact investing case study, examining a decade of place-based investment in Chicago’s historic Pullman neighborhood, as a valuable teaching tool for faculty and students interested in the field.
The IFRC data collection collaboration comes as impact investing is becoming an increasingly important part of the investment landscape, with individual and institutional investors seeking to combine private sector financing with the promise of achieving broader social and environmental aims.
“Investors around the globe are embracing impact investing as a way to leverage capital for social good, and with that shift comes interest in richer understanding of the field, which academic research can provide,” said Caroline Grossman, ’03, Rustandy Center executive director and adjunct assistant professor of strategy at Booth. “Booth’s Rustandy Center is happy to help bridge that gap in knowledge for faculty, students, investors, and anyone else interested in doing work that’s grounded in data, backed by research, and focused on maximizing social impact.”
The upswell in impact investing is evident from allocations of large institutions, foundations, development finance institutions, and family offices, as well as the increase in funds focusing on private and publicly held securities that seek to achieve both financial and social returns.