IMPACTASSETS 50™

An Annual Showcase of Impact Investment Fund Managers

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An Annual Showcase of Impact Investment Fund Managers

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ImpactAssets 50: A Global Landscape of Impact Investment Fund Managers
The ImpactAssets 50 (IA 50) is the first open-source, publicly published database of experienced private debt and equity impact investment fund managers.
https://www.impactassets.org/impactassets-50

ImpactAssets 50

An Annual Showcase of Impact Investment Fund Managers

IA 50 2025 PROFILE

REDF Impact Investing Fund

Total Assets Under Management: Less than $25M
Asset Class: Cash / Cash Alternatives, Private Debt - Absolute Return / Notes, Private Equity
Primary UN Sustainable Development Goal: 8 – Decent Work & Economic Growth
Entrepreneurship and Job Creation
Financial and Economic Inclusion
Workforce Development, Upskilling and Retraining

Firm Overview

Category: Private Debt - Financial Inclusion (Microfinance, SME Finance and/or CDFIs - Developed Markets)

REDF Impact Investing Fund is a 501c3 debt fund and certified CDFI which provides financing to businesses that create jobs and economic mobility for people overcoming barriers to employment. By increasing capital access to businesses that earn revenue which they use to create jobs for overlooked talent, RIIF is demonstrating the creditworthiness of these businesses whose impact is backed by evidence. Since 2019, RIIF has provided capital to 28 mission-driven enterprises across 12 states and the District of Columbia that provide paid work, training that strengthens skills, and supportive services that help create stability and ensure success for more than 30,000 people breaking through significant and often structural barriers to employment.  

Firm Headquarters: United States
Years of Operation: 5 – 9 years
Total Assets Under Management:
Less than $25M
Total Number of Investors: Between 5 – 25
% of Capital from Top 3 Investors: 25% – 49%
Investment Thesis:

Businesses led by people of color and leaders with lived experience of employment barriers have insight into solutions that generate long-term success for their employees and enterprises. By demonstrating the creditworthiness of this portfolio, RIIF aims to attract new sources of capital to finance the growth of inclusive employers. 

Investment Overview:

RIIF works to build borrower creditworthiness and reduce bias in underwriting to provide credit to BIPOC-led enterprises and those who share the lived experience of the people they employ. RIIF deploys flexible capital and structures financing using equitable and accessible lending practices, including participation of stakeholders in the investment committee. During underwriting, borrowers undergo an intensive capacity-building exercise to build financial and capital readiness. After loan closing, borrowers are eligible for technical assistance projects backed by our evidence that are expected to strengthen borrower financial health, respond to emerging challenges which often come in the form of delayed payments from government partners. RIIF borrowers join a 300+ community of peers to support meaningful jobs and long-term success of their employees. As borrowers improve financial sustainability and increase access to capital, RIIF portfolio enterprises generate revenue and employ more people overcoming barriers, the three key dimensions against which impact is measured. 

Company Differentiator:

With our affiliate REDF, we have a 30-year track record and in that time have seen 6x growth in the number of people overcoming barriers employed by our portfolio (133,000 to date) and 2x growth in revenue generated by the portfolio ($2.5 Billion). We are taking that knowledge to innovate around reducing bias in underwriting, creating revenue-based finance products to offer more patient capital and pricing, and targeted technical assistance with experts and interventions that work to create quality jobs and improve enterprise financial health.

Investment Example

RIIF provided seed financing to CONBODY, a prison-style fitness brand that hires formerly incarcerated individuals to teach fitness classes virtually and in person in NYC. Conbody aspires to change the narrative of how formerly incarcerated individuals are viewed by professionals. In 2020 RIIF modified this loan to extend the interest-only period during COVID, provided emergency grant funding and deployed technical assistance on cashflow management to the borrower and supported borrower to secure new contracts and improve cash position, and continue to service the loan.

Leadership and Team

Cumulative Leadership Experience in Impact Investing:
20 – 29 years
Cumulative Impact Experience of Top Three Firm Leaders:
10 – 19 years
Carrie McKellogg – CEO More Info

As Chief Executive Officer of the REDF Impact Investing Fund, Carrie is responsible for executive leadership, strategic growth and capital raising, and fund management. Under her leadership, the REDF Impact Investing Fund became a certified CDFI and has raised more than $11 Million in capital in service of the fund’s mission. Carrie’s 20+ year career includes executive leadership, investment and operating roles for the Inter-American Development Bank and policy roles at the U.S. Treasury.

Peter Lippman – CFO More Info

Peter brings over two decades of financial and consulting experience to REDF and provides oversight and management of all financial functions for REDF Impact Investing Fund. Peter is passionate about helping organizations innovate to maximize impact.

Emilie Linick – Senior Director of Impact Lending More Info

Emilie Linick is responsible for directing and growing REDF’s Impact Lending practice. She develops REDF’s short and long-term lending strategy, identifies partnership opportunities, and leads the functions of business development, loan originations, and portfolio risk management, all with a strong customer focus. Emilie enjoys working with REDF’s borrowers and developing innovative and flexible solutions to meet their financing needs for growth.

Financial Performance

Target Financial Returns Relative to Benchmark:
Concessionary Rates
Actual Performance of Impact Products/Funds Relative to Target Financial Returns in the Past Three Years:
In line with initial target returns
Financial Reporting Frequency to Investors or Donors
Quarterly

Impact Performance

Percentage of Total Assets Under
Management that are Impact Investments:
75% – 99%
Primary Impact Outcomes:
Increasing access to workforce development services, job skilling and retraining
Secondary Impact Outcomes:
Increasing access to financial services
Value-added Services Offered:
Access to markets
Business and legal training
Other: Support with financial statements

Investments systematically target companies where social and/or environmental impact is integral to the product/service being created:

We target financing to businesses that create jobs and economic mobility for folks overcoming barriers to employment like unstable housing, justice system involvement, disconnected young people. These businesses earn revenue from the goods or services they sell and use that revenue to create jobs (and economic mobility) for overlooked talent. RIIF loan agreements include covenants around the number of people employed and reporting requirements on the support provided and employment outcomes for the focus population. 

Investments systematically include social and environmental sustainability practices in the due diligence process:

We collect employee and owner/governance information on lived experience and demographic information and interview customers and partners to assess the firm's social capital in their communities.

Impact Tracking and Monitoring

Impact is Tracked:
Yes
Impact Verified by an Independent Third-Party:
No
Social and/or Environmental Impact is Reported to Investors and Donors:
Yes – to the public
Third Party Validations:
Member of Impact Capital Managers
Impact Frontiers Cohort Participant
Implement recommendations from Task Force on Climate Related-Financial Disclosure
Net Zero Assets Managers Initiative
Utilizes standardized impact metrics (e.g. IRIS+, GIIRS, etc.)
Participant on steering committees or leadership roles within impact industry associations
Publisher or contributor to industry white paper or other research in impact investing

Learn More

Key Contact Name: Carrie McKellogg
Phone: (415) 510-6019
Mailing Address:

801 S. Grand Avenue Suite 725, Los Angeles, CA 90017 USA

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