Open Road Alliance Funds Solutions To Roadblocks In Social Projects
Open Road Alliance Funds Solutions To Roadblocks In Social Projects
Open Road Alliance is perhaps unique in the philanthropic and impact investing world. The organization is a private philanthropic initiative that funds solutions to roadblocks in social projects.
Maya Winkelstein, executive director, and Caroline Bressan, director of social investments, explain that Open Road Alliance funds solutions to problems that pop up in otherwise fully-funded projects.
Given that almost every project involves unforeseen problems, learning more about Open Road Alliance seems like an important investment for nonprofit leaders and social entrepreneurs.
Interview with Maya Winkelstein, the Executive Director of Open Road Alliance.
The following is the pre-interview with Maya Winkelstein. Be sure to watch the recorded interview above.
We’ll be discussing gap financing for nonprofits and social enterprises.
Social organizations are the working poor of the business world. Their limited access to short-term working capital dilutes their potential impact, hindering their growth and long-term sustainability; with no safety net, one external shock can mean failure. Our loan fund, Open Road Ventures, is Open Road’s effort to start creating that safety net so that social enterprises have access to the resources they need to meet business and impact targets. with Maya Winkelstein.
How are you personally affected by Social organizations are the working poor of the business world. Their limited access to short-term working capital dilutes their potential impact, hindering their growth and long-term sustainability; with no safety net, one external shock can mean failure. Our loan fund, Open Road Ventures, is Open Road’s effort to start creating that safety net so that social enterprises have access to the resources they need to meet business and impact targets.
Words like “short-term working capital,” “below-market,” and “cash flow” may not feel consequential to the average person – but to a social entrepreneur, they can mean everything. Social entrepreneurs, just like profit-driven businesses, need access to financial tools to make their businesses work. However, unlike their counterparts, impact-driven businesses often lack access to traditional financing mechanisms. So why does this matter to you or me?
This issue matters because the problems that social entrepreneurs are working on are our problems. Whether its climate change, healthcare, education, or entrenched conflict, these entrepreneurs and their companies exist because we’ve decided that there are societal problems that need fixing and these organizations are doing the hard work to try and fix them. To make that decision and then fail to give them the adequate tools to implement their solutions affects us all. Every time one of these organizations is pushed off track – not because their intervention is flawed or their model is unsuccessful but because they don’t have access to a financial product that every other business does – we all lose in the long run.
What is your take on gap financing for nonprofits and social enterprises?
At Open Road, we believe that money is only a tool, never a solution. Capital has never solved a single social problem – and yet it is an indispensable tool to implementing solutions whether it’s an educational program for incarcerated youth or a clean energy company bringing solar power to rural farmers. But, it’s also not a one-size-fits-all tool.
At Open Road, we believe that the role of investors – especially impact investors – is to provide the financial tools that entrepreneurs need, and a critical tool that is in too short supply is short-term, bridge financing. So, that’s what we do.
Learn more: openroadalliance.org/learn-more/
More about Open Road Alliance:
Twitter: @OpenRoadTweets
Website: openroadalliance.org
Open Road Alliance is a private philanthropic initiative that serves the social sector by keeping impact on track in an unpredictable world.
Open Road was founded in 2012 by psychologist and philanthropist Dr. Laurie Michaels to address the need for contingency funds and the absence of risk management practices in philanthropy. We provide both short- and long-term solutions to unexpected challenges that arise during project implementation, so that impact and finite resources can be maximized across the social sector.
To meet immediate needs, we offer fast, flexible funding to nonprofits and social enterprises facing discrete, unexpected roadblocks during project implementation. We fund via two portfolios, Charitable Grants and Loans. Open Road Loans are below market-rate and disbursed via our loan fund, Open Road Ventures.
Open Road sees every grant and loan it makes as an investment for social impact. Our funding model is based on speed and financial leverage.
In addition to our investment portfolio, Open Road promotes the long-term, sector-wide adoption of better risk management practices. In collaboration with peers, we conduct research, develop tools, and generate data on approaches to financial and non-financial risk management. By disseminating learnings and advocating for the adoption of best practices, Open Road is working to make risk management as commonplace in philanthropy as monitoring and evaluation; ultimately, preserving finite resources and social impact in our sector.
Maya Winkelstein
Maya Winkelstein’s bio:
Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/mayawinks/
Maya Winkelstein is Executive Director of Open Road Alliance where she is responsible for the organization’s overall investment strategy and management of both Open Road Alliance and Open Road Ventures.
Winkelstein has worked with Open Road since the organization’s inception in 2012. Prior to her role as Executive Director, she worked as an Associate Director with the consulting firm williamsworks. Former clients also include Eastern Congo Initiative, Nike Foundation, PATH, Tostan, and TOMS Shoes. Prior to williamsworks, Winkelstein served in multiple roles in the non-profit and government sectors focusing on program development, fundraising strategy, and corporate partnerships.
Winkelstein writes and speaks frequently about Open Road’s work and its growing research expertise in ‘Risk Management in Philanthropy.’ She is a regular speaker at forums such as Council on Foundations, Grantmakers for Effective Organizations, Clinton Global Initiative, and The Philanthropy Workshop. Her work has also appeared in Stanford Social Innovation Review, Chronicle of Philanthropy, The Foundation Review and many other publications. In 2017, Maya was featured in Chronicle of Philanthropy’s ‘On the Rise’ series and Huffington Post’s ‘Women in Business.’ She is also a Board Member of Global Press Institute and a member of the Leadership Advisory Council for GrantAdvisors.org.
Winkelstein holds a B.A. from the University of Michigan; MSc from the London School of Economics; and Certificate in Corporate Finance from Georgetown University. She lives in Kansas with her husband and two young sons.
Interview with Caroline Bressan, the Director of Social Investments of Open Road Alliance.
Caroline Bressan
Caroline Bressan’s bio:
Twitter: @CaroBressan
Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/caroline-bressan-54023439/
Caroline Bressan is the Director of Social Investments of Open Road Alliance, which she joined in 2015.
Prior to Open Road, Caroline was an Investment Principal at D. Capital, the investment advisory wing of Dalberg. There she focused on D. Capital’s impact investment advisory offerings, building a pipeline of investment opportunities in Sub Saharan Africa, specifically in energy and agriculture. Caroline also worked on the design and structuring of innovative financing mechanisms, including impact bonds and social impact insurance.
Previously, Caroline was an Investment Officer at Calvert Foundation where she managed its $20 million portfolio mainly focused on Latin America. At Calvert Foundation, she originated and managed a pipeline of lending and investment deals focused on the sustainable trade, social enterprise, and financial inclusion sectors. In addition, Caroline designed and launched a revolving line of credit product, the first of its kind for Calvert Foundation and helped launch the international component of the Women Investing in Women Initiative (WIN-WIN). She also sat on the investment committee of the Haitian Emergency Liquidity Fund, created to provide funding to microfinance institutions in the aftermath of the 2009 earthquake. Caroline has previously worked in Bolivia with Pro Mujer designing a business education program for clients.
Caroline received her MBA from Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business and holds a Bachelor in Business Administration from the University of Michigan. She speaks English and Spanish.
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