At Candide Group we remain committed to shifting the flow of money and power to create a world where all of us thrive, no matter who occupies our political offices. We make space at this moment for a multiplicity of emotions: from grief to hope. We are reflecting on the interdependency of cultural, economic and political change. And we center the long work of organizing — supporting the leadership of those most disinvested and disrespected by traditional power structures.

For the past few years, Candide Group’s very own Director of Impact, Jasmine Rashid, has been working on a book featuring many of our partners in the impact investing ecosystem and beyond. The time has finally come — to celebrate the official launch ofThe Financial Activist Playbook: 8 Strategies for Everyday People to Reclaim Wealth and Collective Well-Being (Berrett-Koehler Publishers)!

Happy summer! If you emailed any of our team members the first week of July, you may have seen our “OOO” autoresponder — acknowledging July as Bebe Moore Campbell Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) Mental Health Awareness Month. For the second year in a row, Candide Group wanted to create some space for the team to support mental wellness, so we took a collective week-long break to honor the often complex and emotional nature of our work.

At Candide Group, we define “impact” as the tangible and intangible contributions to improved realities on the ground for people and the planet. This means approaching impact as a journey rather than a destination – embracing what emerges rather than just settling for a goal that may have been set under an outdated context.

2024 has already been a year of tremendous growth for Candide Group, with the launch of our Afterglow Climate Justice Fund, the evolution of our Olamina community debt vehicle, and the continued commitment of our community of foundations and families seeking to make money a tool for social justice.

After spending time with loved ones, we have much to be excited about in 2024. In the meantime, we invite you to check out more about this last season of our work and news from our community below. From the Candide team to you and yours: have joyous, healthy, and peaceful holidays ahead.

Candide Group is launching a $50-100M catalytic debt fund for climate projects that create access and benefit for historically marginalized communities.

The Supreme Court's recent affirmative action decision will definitely impact social investors and grantmakers with a racial justice agenda — but it also won't stop us!

As we move into the heart of summer, the Candide Group team is balancing both big projects and intentional rest. July was Black, Indigenous, People of Color Mental Health Awareness Month, and in reflection and to honor our team, we kicked off the summer with a collective pause and a week away from work. Now, in the second half of the year, we find ourselves back to what we try to do best: moving capital, bringing amazing people onto the team, and continuing to share perspectives on impact with the field.

The Olamina Fund launched in October 2019 as a $40M loan fund with the goal of addressing the historic lack of access to capital in American communities — particularly Black, Native, and rural — who have faced decades of divestment and intentional extraction. Our core impact thesis was built around the principles of representation, community-centered products and services, access to capital, and community wealth-building.

At the end of 2022, Candide Group celebrated moving over $200m into 110+ companies, funds, and organizations since our inception. Why does this matter? What was our actual impact?

After two+ years of listening, prototyping, data collection, and analysis — we're thrilled to share our first-ever comprehensive Impact Report.

You may recall that in March 2020, a private prison company sued Candide Group (and our co-founder, Morgan Simon) for defamation regarding our activism in opposition to family separation at the US-Mexico border. We didn't think it was right that big banks were funding private prisons, profiting off of immigrant detention and mass incarceration. So we did something about it.

It is with great pleasure that we write to inform you that the case is finally over and that the truth proved victorious: we won!

We're celebrating a milestone: Candide Group has officially directed over $200m of client capital into 110+ impactful companies, funds, and organizations!

This newsletter feels extra special, because we’re announcing some updates that have been over a year in the making.

This last year has challenged every facet of us, and been a prime example of how resilience in the absence of growth is still stagnation. In our pursuit of transformative justice, we commit to changing ourselves, diminishing old wounds, and creating new space for connection.

$35M of our $40M loan fund is now serving communities! Two years out from Olamina’s official launch, we’re at a phase of the fund’s evolution where we’re eager to begin sharing more stories of our vibrant portfolio, uplifting the contributions of our Community Advisory Board (CAB), and imaging what else might be possible with the right capital and relationships in our ecosystem.

This season, we’re in listening and planning mode at Candide Group — strategizing on how we can go deeper in moving the kind of investments that best-in-impact companies and funds deserve. That reflection-work doesn't mean Candide Group has slowed, however. We invite you to check out recent closings we’re proud of, join us in welcoming growth in our team, and help us find the perfect fit for a new role with the Olamina Fund. More below!

Today we announce two pieces of exciting news.

The first is that $28.5M of our $40M fund has been lent out, with 97% of our investments going to BIPOC- and women-led organizations. With the guidance and support of Olamina’s Community Advisory Board (CAB), $11M of that closed in the first five months of 2021; and with existing opportunities, we can now see the path to being fully invested.

Summer is in full effect, and this season we’re welcoming new people and roles to our team, new spaciousness for self-reflection, and new catalytic opportunities to direct capital toward social change.

As much as our day-to-day work is centered on the private sector, we know that tomorrow’s election is of critical importance to our collective future — from economic justice to racial equity to environmental safety.

Proudly, in 2020 we directed the most capital and delivered what we view as the deepest impact in our firm’s history: nearly $50m into 30 companies and funds, with standout themes emerging like food justice, multi-stakeholder models, fund managers of color, and climate justice.

As much as our day-to-day work is centered on the private sector, we know that tomorrow’s election is of critical importance to our collective future — from economic justice to racial equity to environmental safety.

The leaders of the organizations we support put themselves at considerable risk in advocating for their own communities. As resource providers, part of our commitment to Black lives means funding public safety over policing in these communities.

We’re so excited to share with you the first round of impact-aligned borrowers in our portfolio, and how they’re caring for their communities.

In the midst of so much uncertainty, we’re fortunate to declare that our work — of directing capital toward the justice-oriented world we want to inhabit — continues, now more critical than ever.

As an investment vehicle, private funds like ours are a concrete opportunity to challenge the status quo of power, by rethinking whose voices are centered and who is at the decision-making table.

In 1964 Malcolm X declared, “the future belongs to those who prepare for it today.” Today is unquestionably that day.

Over 30 influencers working with Candide Group’s nonprofit arm, Real Money Moves, took action on the issue of big banks financing private prisons, and their role in family detention and mass incarceration

Candide is proud to have had a great start to 2019, supporting 3 major investments in Q1. As featured below, this work included directing capital to environmental sustainability, innovative entrepreneurs in Mexico, affordable housing, and much more.

In 2017, we took the name Candide from the Voltaire novel which speaks to the world’s fundamental struggle between good and evil. From family detention to climate change to #MeToo, 2018 was a year where struggle was front and center for many of us.