Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship’s Kohler to Speak at Vatican Conference on Impact Investing June 28

Media Mention, Press Release
 John Kohler
John Kohler

John Kohler, executive fellow and director, Impact Capital, at Santa Clara University’s Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship, will speak at the Second Vatican Conference on Impact Investing, which will take place in Rome from June 26-28.

A recognized expert in impact investing, venture capital and corporate executive management, Kohler is pioneer of a new investment vehicle—the Demand Dividend—that presents investors with a “structured exit” alternative to equity, while providing social enterprises with more appropriate funding vehicles. He also is co-founder and director of Toniic, a syndication network of impact investors.

Kohler published a report on impact investing entitled, “Coordinating Impact Capital: a New Approach to Investing in Small and Growing Businesses,” and recently co-authored a chapter on equity investing in “New Frontiers of Philanthropy” (Oxford Press-2014).

Talk title: “Sources of Capital and the Enterprises in Which They Invest”

Description: Kohler will inform and explore the landscape of sources of impact capital, their expectations, and their fit with different types and stages of social enterprise.

When: Tuesday, June 28, 9:15 a.m.

More information on the Second Vatican Conference on Impact Investing:

The Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace and Catholic Relief Services will host the Second Vatican Conference on Impact Investing in Rome from June 26-28. Celebrating the Extraordinary Year of Mercy established by Pope Francis and his 2015 encyclical, “Laudato Si,” the conference is titled, “Making the Year of Mercy a Year of Impact for the Poor.”

Among the speakers at the conference will be Cardinal Peter K.A. Turkson, President, Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace and Dr. Carolyn Y. Woo, President and CEO, Catholic Relief Services. The event sponsors are Matt Bannick, managing partner at the Omidyar Network and Roger D. Huang is the Martin J. Gillen Dean for the Mendoza College of Business at the University of Notre Dame and the Kenneth R. Meyer Professor of Global Investment Management.

The inaugural Vatican Conference on Impact Investing was convened in 2014. It brought together Impact Investing leaders from around the world to engage leaders of Catholic institutions on how private capital could be catalyzed to lift the poor and vulnerable out of poverty.

About Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship

Founded in 1997, Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship is one of three Centers of Distinction at Santa Clara University. Miller Center accelerates global, innovation-based entrepreneurship in service to humanity. Its strategic focus is on poverty eradication through its three areas of work: The Global Social Benefit Institute (GSBI), Impact Capital, and Education and Action Research. To learn more about the Center or any of its social entrepreneurship programs, visit www.scu.edu/MillerCenter.