Taffi Ayodele

I'm very excited to announce the official launch of my impact investment fund know.capital with a $250,000 donation to the Drexel Food Lab which was founded by the omnipotent and super human Jonathan Deutsch, Ph.D., CHE, CRC at Drexel University in 2014. These funds will help build out the physical plant at the lab which will expand its capacity and capabilities to work deeper with industry both large and small, and also create more amazing experiential opportunities for Drexel's undergrad, grad, and certificate students. Jon truly runs a unique and impactful program at Drexel University's College of Nursing and Health Professions, and I can't think of a better partner with whom to embark on this journey. know.capital is an investment fund that invests at least 2/3 of our fee revenue profits in creating and operating unique nonprofit and for-profit social impact initiatives while pursuing maximum return strategies for our investors who bear no financial sacrifice for our philanthropic work. I've been working on this for 12 years (no one has accused me of working fast), and this is a culmination of countless mistakes and trial and error, and just pain and suffering (honestly). And there is more discomfort ahead of course. The pain points that I'm addressing are two fold: 1) "impact investing" is ill-defined and the impact side of the equation is unclear, and 2) nonprofits suffer from structural liabilities of fragmentation, governance structure, and fundraising dynamic that potentially compromise the pursuit of their missions and their ultimate impact. These two pain points have to be addressed concurrently since there is no other mechanism that I've been able to come up other than what I know best (Wall Street's fee business model) that can act as a sustainable funding source for needed social solutions that may not have any ROI prospects. And we need to pay nonprofit professionals more if we are to attract the best talent. We can't ask people to sacrifice "for the greater good" when they are often doing thankless work, getting paid pauper wages, and worrying whether or not they can retire with any level of financial security. From an investor's point of view, it's important to point out that this is not a zero sum equation. We're just offering another solution to investors who may care about also making a social impact of some kind, but with no financial sacrifice (have cake and eat it too). One can still have a traditional wealth manager and investments, one can still donate money to a worthy nonprofit or a university endowment, etc. We just want to expand the pie of what social impact investing and philanthropy could mean, create solutions that can potentially be massively scalable, and direct capital and world-class talent to initiatives that can potentially make the world a better place. Imagine if "Wall Street" can do that. More to come!

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It was an honor to be in conversation with Darrick Hamilton and Deepak Bhargava as part of The Henry Cohen Lecture Series at The New School. Deepak’s new book Practical Radicals is an extraordinary analysis of power and how we win progressive victories, despite being up against the odds. We discussed strategies on how to create economic systems that are fair, just and affirmatively inclusive, with a focus on investing in people. https://lnkd.in/dNnd7gC8 #events #books #economy #economics

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This month marks 70 years since Brown v. Board of Education – the milestone Supreme Court decision ruling that separating children in public schools on the basis of race was unconstitutional. Here in New York we have a lot of work to do. Seventy percent of New York City’s schools remain intensely segregated, due to decades of redlining, gentrification and unequal access to schools with screened admissions. In fact, we have one of the most segregated school systems in the country. How do we solve this multipronged problem? In a new report co-authored with New York Appleseed, we offer one solution: The New York City Department of Education can help meet the class size mandate and reduce segregation with intentional and inclusive school mergers. Arts and Letters 305 United is one of New York City’s few models for school mergers that explicitly center school integration. Our analysis of their merger process only bolsters this report’s recommendations that the New York City Department of Education should make the engagement, thoughtfulness, and central value of integration part of the standard model for all future mergers. Read our report co-authored with New York Appleseed. And join us in conversation & community on Wednesday, May 22, 2024, at Brooklyn Borough Hall, 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. Brown vs. Board 70 Years Later: The State of Integration in NYC Public Schools RSVP HERE: https://lnkd.in/em8TNMrQ

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