Paving the way for greater impact investing in Asia Pacific

Since 2017, The Sasakawa Peace Foundation has been taking steps to embark upon the journey of impact investing by carving out around US$100 million of our endowment and set up 'Asia Women Impact Fund'. We at the same time put endeavor into the advocacy work in encouraging our foundation peers in Asia to explore financial tools other than grant-making to achieve their missions - as we believe there are limitations to grant-making to create impact despite its necessity in some cases.

As part of this endeavor, earlier this year, we commissioned Asian Venture Philanthropy Network (AVPN) and Amala Paradigm to conduct eight case studies in Asia and the US to learn about the various pathways of how foundations started with impact investing, and the lessons they have drawn throughout the way. The report was showcased at a workshop we organized at AVPN 2018 annual conference, and was furthered being featured on Stanford Social Innovation Review (SSIR) in September this year. Please see more detail here.