Propel was founded to use capital creatively for social impact
Since 2008, we’ve invested $50 million in companies, non-profits, and future leaders working across 16 of the 17 UN sustainable development goals, and impacting millions of lives. Our 100+ partners are challenging the status quo and building a future that works for the many, not just the few.
Sparked by a shared interest in cross-sector solutions to issues of inequality, we work with a range of dynamic social entrepreneurs and organizers to employ creative approaches that fuel innovation and drive social change. Our approach ensures that investment capital is cycled repeatedly for impact and we prioritize strategies for unlocking additional capital. By doing more leg work, taking on more risk, and investing early, we have leveraged millions more from other investors.
We determined early on that all capital allocations should be aligned with our values - from operations to investments to grants. This decision remains central to our mission today.
Make Money Flow
Unlocking new markets for social and environmental change
In the early days of impact investing, Propel pioneered creative fund structures with first-time fund managers to spur innovation and attract additional capital to launch this nascent values-driven ecosystem. Endeavor Catalyst and other path-breaking funds we bet on have gone on to raise over $947 million in subsequent funding and paved the way for a significant increase in capital allocated for impact. Nearly all of these funds were managed or co-led by women, helping to change the face of investment management. Our Propel Opportunity initiative also provided catalytic capital for deep impact partners, such as Root Capital, an agricultural lender reaching nearly 7 million rural farmers and their families living on the frontlines of climate change.
Through these and other investments -- financing for women entrepreneurs in Guatemala, quality employment for veterans here in the U.S., and training and jobs programs for youth in Southeast Asia and Africa -- we’ve worked with our partners to pilot new ways of deploying capital with an impact-forward lens, together advancing impact investing and socially responsible business as critical solutions for our future.
Endeavor Catalyst
Launched in 2013 by Endeavor, a nonprofit building ecosystems for high-impact entrepreneurship globally, Endeavor Catalyst invests in Endeavor entrepreneurs through a rules-based co-investment process. Proceeds from Endeavor Catalyst provide returns to investors while also directing critical earned income to Endeavor’s nonprofit business and mentoring programs. Propel helped provide initial capital and thought partnership to beta test this powerful concept through Catalyst Fund I and, in 2017, participated in Fund II.
Endeavor now operates in 41 markets and serves a network of over 2,000 entrepreneurs who collectively have generated over 4 million jobs and $28 billion in revenue through their companies. Endeavor Catalyst has made over 260 investments through 2022.
Root Capital
Since 1999, Root Capital has lent $1.4 billion to over 725 agricultural enterprises reaching nearly 1.5 million farm families, mostly living in communities suffering from poverty and/or environmental degradation.
Propel began a partnership Root Capital in 2008 at a critical inflection point in the organization’s history and reconfigured our engagement several times in the subsequent decade to meet their evolving needs and allow them to pull much larger pools of capital along. Initially providing low-interest debt as Root Capital was developing its lending model, we later co-created a new kind of equity-like subordinated debt with a 10-year $3 million note. With Propel as the lead investor, the organization was able to raise additional subordinated debt and then leverage that to secure $44.5 million in senior debt. This capital facilitated new lending to agricultural enterprises in excess of $52 million, benefiting farmers from the highlands of Ecuador to women-run coffee cooperatives in the Democratic Republic of Congo. More recently, Propel converted our subordinated debt to equity, providing the most flexible capital for the organization to anchor lending for years to come.
Get in Early
Opening doors for people with great ideas and great potential
Whether investing in early stage companies or in our democracy -- we start early, look for unexpected solutions, and remain flexible and persistent while helping fuel our partners’ growth.
After nearly 10 years of investing in fund managers and innovative social enterprises, we launched Propel Ventures to increase the flow of capital to early-stage impact-driven companies and talented entrepreneurs from historically underinvested communities. Over 70% of our portfolio companies are led by first time founders, and 50% are led by women, 45% by a person of color, and 15% by an LGBTQIA+ person. All of our partners are building new solutions for a better future, from teaching empathy at scale to designing campaigns and messages that reach the new American majority.
A—B Partners
A—B Partners is a digital storytelling studio that creates new narratives about people, power and social change to transform our politics and the economy. As the communications partner for some of the country’s leading social change organizations, A—B has turned siloed issues into movements that are centered on equity, shaping how the public and policymakers think about social justice, economic inequality, immigration, climate change, and more.
When the founder of A—B Partners, Andre Banks, shared his vision for a new kind of digital storytelling studio, owned and run by the people systematically excluded from the professional communications industry, Propel became one of his first clients. The following year, we were A—B Partners’ first investor and worked closely with the team as they grew to 30+ employees and more than 7x revenue in less than 2 years. In 2020, with active support from Propel, A—B launched Win Black / Pa’lante, a national campaign to fight disinformation among Black and Latinx voters and increase voter turnout in key battleground states.
Mobilize
Mobilize helps mission-driven organizations manage events and recruit volunteers to organize, engage, and move people towards change through a tech driven user-friendly platform. Founded in 2017 to help convert the energy after the 2016 election into volunteer action, Mobilize quickly became the default volunteer management platform used by Democratic campaigns and leading progressive organizations.
Propel was an early investor in Mobilize, recognizing that the company’s ability to provide sophisticated digital tools for organizers that also allow them to control and own their organization's data (unlike other platforms like Facebook) has game-changing potential to advance progressive mobilization. In 2020, Mobilize was acquired by EveryAction and is now considered a vital organizing tool for non-profits, movement organizations, and campaigns across the country.
Mursion
Mursion is a virtual reality software solution using a blend of AI and human interaction to expand human capacity for empathy and understanding. Through focused simulations of interpersonal skills, including active listening, de-escalation of social conflict, constructive feedback, and respecting diverse cultures, Mursion provides impactful experiential learning that can change behavior and build skills critical for the workplace and beyond.
Propel was among the first investors in Mursion as the company expanded from its roots as a tool for teacher training. Today, Mursion delivers its immersive simulations to a growing number of healthcare providers, Fortune 500 companies, and leading DE&I practitioners, in addition to preparing the next generation of educators.
Change Justice
Tackling a legal system rife with racial inequities
In 2013, we launched Propel Justice, believing that mass incarceration and the discriminatory practices woven throughout the criminal legal system are a devastating reflection of racial and economic injustice in our country. Witnessing the grave realities of this system through prior work, we believed that strengthening political and public will to take action was essential for systemic change.
Propel lent critical early support to Color of Change and others to elect progressive District Attorneys; for the campaign to close Rikers Island in New York City; and to help create The Bail Project, a national bail fund to prevent people from being incarcerated because they are poor. The Bail Project, now a $40+ million fund, has bailed out more than 24,000 people, shining a spotlight on the injustices of the current system. We have seen historic wins for progressive District Attorneys across the country, including in Philadelphia, St. Louis, Chicago, and Durham, NC, as well as a greater understanding of the role of this key office.
Recognizing that systemic change takes time, Propel also invested in support for people impacted by the current system. At the Vera Institute, which has emerged as a driving force in reimagining the criminal legal system, Propel provided flexible, multi-year support during a crucial transition, helping to catapult the organization into its current key leadership role. Another early partner, the Center for Court Innovation, has pioneered community courts and restorative justice solutions, demonstrating alternative strategies for keeping communities safe. Our work has also included expanding access to college in prison through the creation of the Center for Prison Education at Wesleyan, where we helped secure a full Bachelor’s degree program for students who are incarcerated; restoration of federal Pell Grant funding for college students in prison; and support for Vera’s Restoring Promise initiative to transform how young adults are treated in adult prison. In 2019, we launched our Propel Justice Fellowship to support formerly incarcerated students to continue their college education when they come home, connect to expanded networks and resources, and inform our thinking on these critical issues. Our inaugural Justice Fellow James Jeter helped launch the Full Citizens Coalition.
In the nearly 10 years since we began working in this space, we’ve seen significant change but nowhere near enough to achieve the fundamental, sweeping justice we need. Through our Propel Democracy portfolio we continue to advocate for a new generation of elected leaders committed to ending mass incarceration.
Feed Democracy
Building progressive power in the U.S.
Following the 2016 election, we moved quickly to launch Propel Democracy, an $8 million initiative to spark investment in innovative strategies for building progressive power. Leveraging our prior experience supporting social entrepreneurs and change makers, we funded experimentation and risk-taking, believing that creativity and new energy propelled by the 2016 election would have the potential to lead a generational transformation in American democracy.
Through Propel Democracy, we prioritize investment in communities that are historically underrepresented in positions of political power and leadership, including people of color and working-class people. And we’ve seen results --- winning in unlikely places, turning Virginia blue and advancing significant policy wins, building progressive power in Arizona, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, and Texas, while competing in places like Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, regaining control of the House of Representatives, and electing progressive District Attorneys and other officials up and down the ballot.
Many of the organizations we supported early are now fundamental to our democracy, including, Color of Change PAC, and Equis building political power among Black and Latinx communities; Movement Voter Project, Way to Win, and Sister District now unlocking millions of dollars for grassroots organizations and campaigns; and others building progressive political infrastructure such as MoveOn, NextGen America and state-based power building organizations.
Together with other funders we engage and advise, we have mobilized millions of additional dollars to continue to secure wins at the ballot box and in peoples’ lives in 2020 and beyond. This investment has and will continue to produce more robust, progressive policies and institutions working for the benefit of all Americans.
Way to Win
In early 2017, Sarah joined a small group of progressive donors and organizers to imagine a new kind of political giving. This effort, led by a multi-racial group of women founders and with financial and operational support from Propel and others, became Way to Win, a home base for progressive donors and organizers seeking a strategic approach to winning elections and building lasting power in the states. Since its founding Way to Win has grown to become a formidable funding network, moving over $125 million in the 2020 cycle alone.
Way to Win directs resources to state-based power building organizations, particularly in the south and southwest, including early support in Georgia to generate historic turnout in 2018; to Black Voters Matter in Alabama in 2018 and now throughout the South; to restore voting rights to 1.4m people through Amendment 4 in Florida; and to LUCHA and others leading the effort to turn Arizona blue.
The Way to Win community is investing deeply in state-based organizing, particularly in groups led by people of color. By supporting these trusted community messengers who work year-round across election cycles to deliver results for communities and win at the ballot box, Way to Win is helping to fundamentally reshape the trajectory of leadership and the lived experience of millions in this country.
Color of Change
Color of Change is the nation’s largest online racial justice organization, working to create a more human and less hostile world for Black people in America. Propel first supported the Color of Change PAC as part of our initial cohort of Propel Democracy partners in 2017.
In 2018, Color of Change PAC scaled up its electoral and voter mobilization efforts, including electing progressive district attorneys and spurring Black voter engagement across the country. Color of Change PAC is continuing this effort in 2020, working with Black voters in key states to support aligned candidates up and down the ballot, as well as joining with Planned Parenthood, leading progressive unions, and others to build progressive power.
In the first half of 2020, in the wake of COVID-19 and the Movement for Black Lives, Color of Change’s membership increased 4x to 7+ million members now taking action to elect progressive leaders, to hold Facebook accountable for its role spreading hate groups and voter disinformation, and to advocate at the Federal level to increase relief funding for Black businesses, among other strategies to build power and safety for Black people.
Sister District
Founded by a group of women who came together after the 2016 election, Sister District supports a diverse slate of state legislative candidates -- intentionally seeking to endorse women and people of color -- who connect with voters on local issues, drive turnout up and down the ballot, and will help end partisan gerrymandering. Propel began working with Sister District’s founding team in 2017, providing initial funding and active counsel as they launched the organization.
At the heart of Sister District’s model is the robust volunteer infrastructure that endures from one election to the next. Instead of organizing around the boom-and-bust cycle of campaigns, Sister District organizes its volunteers into local, year-round teams that it pairs with endorsed candidates each election cycle. The result is a network of 40,000+ trained, knowledgeable volunteers around the country who can mobilize at any moment.
Since 2016, Sister District’s volunteer teams have raised over $2.1 million in small donations directly to candidates, often serving as the largest source of campaign dollars and providing crucial early funding to fledgling campaigns. Sister District’s work is directly tied to historic wins in states across the country, including helping to turn Virginia, Colorado, and Washington into Democratic trifecta states. And in Virginia, these wins led the state to restore the voting rights of 173,000 Virginians, expand health coverage for 400,000 people, and secure access to abortion, among other progressive victories. Virginia now serves as a national model for what is possible when a state is flipped blue.
Bet on People
Unleashing talent and game-changing ideas
Since the beginning we have prioritized deep, trusted relationships with the extraordinary leaders and teams behind the organizations we fund. As we do with our venture and political investments, we take risks on people who may not have access to capital and networks, but have drive, ideas, and a strong sense of purpose to create positive change.
Through Propel Talent, we extend this approach to young people beginning their careers and formerly incarcerated students, providing direct and financial support to help build the next generation of social impact talent.
SHOFCO
Jeremy and Sarah met Kennedy Odede when he was a student at Wesleyan University working to build Shining Hope for Communities (SHOFCO). Kennedy grew up in Kibera, Africa’s largest slum with 2.5 million people living in a space smaller than Central Park, and started SHOFCO as a teenager to transform urban slums with a locally-led, community-driven approach. It was clear early on that SHOFCO was a powerful idea and we leaned in to support Kennedy’s vision, scaling our participation as SHOFCO has grown. In 2018, SHOFCO became the youngest organization ever to receive the Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize, the world's largest annual humanitarian award presented to non-profits that have made extraordinary contributions toward alleviating human suffering.
In March of 2020, during the advent of COVID in Kenya, SHOFCO mobilized an unparalleled community-led rapid response to prevent the spread. Through the SHOFCO Urban Network (SUN), they reached 1.5 million community members in the first three months with screening, household distribution of supplies, and clean water, and in partnership with GiveDirectly, disbursed nearly $1.2 million to thousands of families.
SHOFCO’s COVID response has shown the power of the SUN organizing platform and its ability to quickly and effectively reach the farthest corners of Nairobi slums, and has established SHOFCO as a go-to partner for government, corporate, and NGOs seeking to work effectively in urban slum communities. Over the next five years, SHOFCO aims to demonstrate this blueprint at scale, becoming a nationwide network that impacts 5 million slum dwellers and tips the scales towards long-term, systemic change.
Propel Fellowships
At Propel we have a deep commitment to investing in future social impact leaders and extending our financial and social network to others as they learn and enter the field.Believing that those impacted by inequity are best suited to create positive change, we prioritize future leaders of color, immigrants, first-generation college students, people who are formerly incarcerated, and LGBTQ individuals.
In 2018, we launched the Propel Democracy Fellowship in partnership with the City University of New York to develop early career skills and provide learning opportunities for first-generation college students. Fellows work closely with our team over the summer, often returning during the school year and staying connected as they explore new opportunities. Read blogs from our Propel Democracy Fellows at Propel’s Medium to learn more about our 2020 Fellows’ work and ideas.
In 2019, in partnership with an anonymous donor, we launched our Propel Justice Fellowship with the goal of supporting formerly incarcerated students to continue their college education when they come home, connect to expanded networks and resources, and inform our thinking on these critical issues. The Fellowship followed Sarah’s extensive work with the Center for Prison Education at Wesleyan University and our interest in providing ongoing support for students in the program post-release. Our inaugural fellow, James Jeter, a former CPE student, is now enrolled at Trinity College designing his own undergraduate degree focused on politics, literature, and activism.
Through Propel Talent we also have longstanding partnerships with several institutions serving young people, including the Patricelli Center for Social Entrepreneurship at Wesleyan University and Coro New York Leadership Center. Through these partnerships we mentor and advise future leaders, designing curriculum and immersive learning experiences to expand their knowledge of the issues Propel seeks to address.