Nonprofit investment firm GreenLight Fund comes to Baltimore

Multi-city venture philanthropy org GreenLight Fund is expanding to Baltimore with the backing of more than 80 local investors, including Fearless and The Abell Foundation.

The fund’s poverty alleviation-minded investment model centers on bringing proven national nonprofits into new communities. Organizations that GreenLight invests in have third-party validated outcomes and impact, and have a replicable revenue model. In Philadelphia, for example, that manifested in $4.2 million for five nonprofits focused on education, workforce development and families over the past several years.

“Social innovations addressing seemingly intractable problems exist across the country,” said GreenLight Fund cofounder and board chair John Simon in a statement. “The GreenLight model matches those with communities that need them, helping children and families thrive.”

The fund is looking for an executive director in Baltimore who will then hire a program associate to work alongside them to engage in conversations with leaders, community stakeholders and residents. They’ll determine key issues not being addressed where a new nonprofit can be additive to existing local work.

GreenLight Fund intends to bring four new nonprofits to Baltimore over the course of five to six years. The first selection is expected in 2022 after a yearlong vetting process to determine community need.

Fearless decided to support the local launch for two reasons, as COO John Foster outlined in a statement from the digital service firm: “We love to partner with organizations that are working to make our city a better place for the next generation,” he said. “We also decided to work with the GreenLight Fund because they aren’t starting from scratch.” Specific funding amounts were not disclosed.

GreenLight Baltimore will be the organization’s 10th launch city. Watch the January launch event here:

Donte Kirby is a 2020-2022 corps member for Report for America, an initiative of The Groundtruth Project that pairs young journalists with local newsrooms. This position is supported by the Robert W. Deutsch Foundation.