Impact investing firm i(x)
investments hosted the inaugural 2-day gathering, Entrepreneurs
Impact Summit (EIS), a new type of event that is rooted in
capitalism for social change in Santa Monica on Thursday, June 13, and
Friday, June 14. After a welcoming dinner and celebratory kick off on
Thursday evening, the conference programming began early Friday morning
with Trevor Neilson, CEO + Co-Founder, i(x) investments, and EIS
presenting sponsor Gunnar Lovelace, founder of Good Money. Both on stage
welcoming guests.
“This is not a normal conference of talking heads. This is a
conference that will produce very deliberate intentional commitments to
decarbonize our economy,” Lovelace shared in the opening welcome. “A
part of being here today is not looking away,” Neilson added in
talking about choices in how to deal with the world’s biggest challenges.
EIS was attended by over 300 people, including business leaders from all
over the world interested and engaged in participating in real solutions
to fight climate emergency, poverty, human rights and other immediate
world issues. Speakers included Lauren Gropper, Founder + CEO, Repurpose,
Inc.; Brian Sirgutz, Founder + CEO, Ampathy; Naomi Gleit, VP
of Social Good, Facebook; Jesse Draper, Managing Director, Halogen
Ventures; Joanna McFarland, CEO, HopSkipDrive; and Stephan
Nicoleau, Co-founder, Managing Director, FullCycle. Participating
sponsors also include Facebook, Brex, This Saves Lives, KelvinZero,
Loeb and Loeb, and Wastefuel.
Public commitments included:
-
Save the lives of cardiac arrest victims through crowdsourcing CPR.
(Matthew Wolf, CPRSave) -
To account for 10,000 new registered voters 18-25 years old. (John
Michael, CommonAlly
PBC) -
Encourage and actively support 5 clients as they incorporate
sustainable and responsible investing (environmental, social and
corporate governance-ESG) criteria in investment analysis and
portfolio construction. (Jake Block, Deutsche
Bank) -
Facilitate the employment of one million formerly incarcerated men and
women. Next year, we’re targeting 1,000/month; in 5 years,
10,000/month, to total by Year 10, 1 million+. (Richard Bronson, 70
Million Jobs) -
Over the next 12 months, FullCycle is committed to investing $100M in
companies – and their projects – to accelerate and scale the
deployment of climate-restoring technologies. (Ibrahim AlHusseini, FullCycle). -
Over the next 5 years, Good Money is committing to move at least $5bn
from big banks destroying the planet to a values-based financial
system where every customer is an owner for first time in history.
(Gunnar Lovelace, Founder + CEO, Good Money)
“Entrepreneurs can no longer sit on the sidelines and let
government and the nonprofit sector address the biggest problems we
face. The 300 entrepreneurs who came together for the inaugural EIS are
focused not on talk, but on action. This event, which will occur
annually, is the start of a new movement to align profit with purpose,”
added Neilson. Trevor founded Entrepreneurs Impact Summit along with
i(x) investments Chief of Staff Abby Pick and other i(x) team members.
Over the next 12 months, i(x) investments commits to raise/invest over
$100M in companies that address the global climate emergency by reducing
carbon emissions.
The summit organizers have already had applications submitted for 2020.
EIS 2020 plans are underway which will include an awards ceremony from
this year’s company commitments. For more information, go to entrepreneursimpactsummit.com
and follow @entrepreneursimpactsummit
for updates.
About i(x) investments
Founded in 2015, i(x) investments is a permanently capitalized holding
company for investors who want to create long-term economic growth in
combination with positive, measurable social impact. i(x) believes the
world’s biggest problems are also the biggest market opportunities and
invests in areas of human need: Renewable Energy, Green Commercial Real
Estate, Gender Equality, Media, Education, Workforce Housing,
Technology, Water, Food and Health. The company uses a multi-strategy
investment approach throughout the entire capital structure. For more,
please visit https://www.ix-investments.com/.
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