About

I believe within 10 years, the concept of social leadership will include paying attention to the broad societal impact of one's investments. In other words, what we now refer to as "Impact Investing" will eventually just be "investing."

Why? Well, we designed economics back when a slide rule was the ultimate in computational technology. The firm was complex enough; we developed externalities as a way of dealing with the rest of the community and world. We're now in a time where economics is being overhauled. As a result of that, Finance is also being overhauled.

There is a lot that needs to be done to get from there to here:

We need to build the model, and that means we need to collect data on how firms and communities interact.
We need to help those investment advisors who want to understand how to best help their clients learn knew ways of thinking.
We need to develop new technologies for them to use.

In the broadest sense, my interest is creating environments that develop the precursors* necessary to build products and services, and then designing products and services so that they regenerate these precursors in society. In this way, the cycle - the economy - can function elegantly and support what we, as humans, value in our lives.

This approach is highly relevant to evaluating the impact of investment and grantmaking, creating innovation environments, ensuring corporate social responsibility programs are strategic assets, developing sustainability efforts, etc.

* - These precursors are also known as "intangible assets."

Jessica Margolin is a leading Impact Investment and Venture Philanthropy Strategist, Author, and Speaker. She brings over 15 years experience helping communities and organizations align their long-term sustainability with their growth and developmental goals.

Jessica holds an MBA in Strategic Management and Organization and an MS in Materials Science in the area of nanotechnology, both from the University of Minnesota; and a BA in Physics from UC Berkeley.

Margolin Consulting is located in San Francisco, California.

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