From Wall Street to Main Street

With the 25×25 Impact Investing Initiative, YouthBridge Community Foundation has pledged to provide investment capital to improve the quality of life for children and families in our community. Specifically, we are adopting the long-term goal to invest 25% of our endowment assets in local and regional social impact investments by the year 2025.
YouthBridge CEO Mike Howard explains: “We believe outcomes for children improve when they and their families live in a strong, vibrant community. This initiative came out of us asking ourselves, ‘What can we do to get more capital into the hands of the community, to make opportunities available?’”

The initial investments will largely be made through multiple Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), like IFF, which has delivered on over 200 community development projects across the Midwest in the past year. Executive Director of their Southern Region, David Desai-Ramirez, applauds the example YouthBridge is setting. “YouthBridge’s leadership in St. Louis is in both the material investment of actual capital, and in such an assertive commitment to impact investing among foundations in our region.”