We believe in empowering local actors and innovators through active funding and advisory support.

Impact Investing

To achieve sustainable change, we believe in the ethos of impact investing which encourages investors to consider both social and financial returns

Since the dawn of the industrial revolution the world has been split into three core sectors – public, private, and non-profit. However, a fourth sector focused on purpose as well as profit has emerged driven by philanthropists and investors looking to create social and environmental impact through market-based solutions. Impact investing has fast become a significant component in the global focus on a world beyond aid.

To reach the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals philanthropic actors can play a role in catalyzing private sector investment into innovative solutions to social and environmental problems. As an active funder, IDP Foundation believes in the power of the fourth sector in engineering sustainable change through impact investing.

The IDP Foundation made its first impact investment in 2013 and within just five short years we proudly achieved a 95% mission-aligned portfolio. This was achieved in large part to our unrelenting commitment and diligence to analyzing and measuring the impact of the funds in which we invest. We continue to collect and analyze metrics to better understand the outcomes and achievements of our investments as they relate to environmental, social, and governance. Sustainability Accounting Standards Boards and Morgan Stanley Capital International criteria allow us to gauge how efficient our impact is. Our financial consultants, Graystone Consulting, help us keep a meticulous eye on how we invest. They use quarterly reporting to make sure we understand, develop, and improve our way of investing with a social focus.

Our investment goals are aligned to the United Nations implemented the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and we proactively gather data from individual fund impact reports and fund managers to create a profile that systematically measures each impact fund according to the SDGs.

Our funding approach

To be as catalytic as possible we fund via grants, program related investments and mission related investments

We support all forms of advancing human knowledge, whether it be furthering education in Africa or engaging with other innovators. We view our grants and investments as catalytic seed stage funding and want to see our contributions leverage further resources. We look for the future scalability, replication, and sustainability of every program, innovation, and research project we fund. We do this by paying attention and taking the time to carefully review all of our grant and investment opportunities.

Motivated by a recognition of the crucial role of impact investing in social and environmental change, IDP Foundation also engages in Program Related Investments (PRIs), created under the US Tax Reform Act of 1969 (Section 4944). PRIs can be made by a charitable foundation as part of their grantmaking under the requisite that the investment furthers its charitable mission. Making returns on the investment is permitted provided it complies with the Internal Revenue Service’s rules. PRIs can take the form of loans, loan guarantees, lines of credit, linked deposits, or equity investments.

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PRI Benefits

Program Related Investments (PRIs) are a highly useful addition to a pure grant to advance philanthropic activities as they allow funders to engage in high risk yet catalytic, early-stage investments that have the potential for large-scale social impact. High risk investments have previously been prohibited under the Prudent Investor Rule and therefore couldn’t be made of grant funds. If the PRI fails, it can be written off as a grant that counts towards the foundation’s mandatory annual disbursement of philanthropic funds if the organization qualifies. In IDPF experience, in order for a young enterprise to establish credibility and grow, they would often prefer an investment rather than a grant. This is one of the great advantages of being able to utilize a PRI.

Ako Adjei Park – Accra, Ghana (PRI recipient)

“IDPF provided PRIs at crucial times to support our mission to build Osu Ako Adjei area as the city’s innovation district and the nerve center for Accra’s entrepreneurs & bold thinkers.”

Will Senyo Co-Founder & CEO of Impact Hub Accra

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Our grant making and investments are aligned with all 17 of the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals

IDP Foundation’s funding and investment strategies are focused on building a better tomorrow through sustainable programming and catalytic research. While we are highly active within the education space, we have long history of supporting innovative medical research.

Funding approach for Education (SDG 4) Funding approach for Medical Research

Our PRI recipients

We believe that our ability to support potentially impactful social enterprises with investment solutions such as PRIs is an important way to spur sustainable solutions to complex issues.

Africa Foresight Group

In 2024, the IDP Foundation provided a PRI investment to Africa Foresight Group (“AFG”). AFG is a talent technology company in Africa that focuses on developing innovative products and services to accelerate private sector development on the continent. AFG aims to build African people and companies into global champions through technology and networks. The company is known for three brands: African Hidden Champions, which is the top scaling platform for African mid-sized businesses to grow into global companies; Peralta, a managed marketplace for placing top talent with businesses across the continent; and AHEAD, a training community of top empowered young African professionals, including the diaspora.

Ako Adjei Park – Accra, Ghana

Ako Adjei Park and its forward-facing brand, Impact Hub Accra, works to advance a future for a new generation of leaders across 3 key communities: technology, creative economy, and social impact. Starting in 2023, the hub’s 3-year growth strategy (#FastForward2025) is built around 3 big components: Rapid Real Estate Expansion, Programs/Venture Building and Convening/Events. IDP Foundation has supported them debt investments since 2019

Edovo – Chicago, IL

One enterprise that we support with a PRI is Edovo, a Chicago-based technology company that is innovating, developing, and creating progress through learning. Edovo is committed to building better lives for incarcerated individuals by bringing quality education, communication, and rehabilitation to millions of incarcerated people in the U.S. They have developed a tablet-based learning program preloaded with educational content that prepares inmates for a successful re-entry into the community. Content includes GED-preparation, behavioral therapy, and life skills training. Tablets are connected to a secure WIFI network and are formatted to only access the learning content. Our debt and equity investments in Edovo enables us to build on our mission while also providing valuable capital for a socially impactful venture

Moringa Connect – Ghana

While working with farming communities in rural Ghana, co-founders Kwami and Emily were inspired by super-crop known locally as ‘the miracle tree,’ ‘the never-die tree,’ or just – moringa. Aid organizations had spread these moringa trees throughout rural communities in Ghana, explaining that the leaves and seeds were valuable and nutritious. Without connections to a market, however, the fast-growing moringa tree became a nuisance in farmers’ backyards and the seeds from the tree left to rot or fed to the animals. Kwami and Emily set about creating a supply chain to connect farmers to conscious consumers and introduce the world to moringa. IDP Foundation supports Moringa Connect so that their vertically integrated supply chain can continue to serve over 5,000 small farming families throughout Ghana. They have planted over 2 million moringa trees and help rural families break the cycle of poverty, multiplying incomes by 10x. IDPF has supported Moringa Connect with debt investment since 2021

Premier Credit Limited - Kenya

In 2022 IDP Foundation launched the Ongoza Program with Premier Credit and Dignitas. With a debt PRI we support Premier Credit, a credit-only microfinancier established in 2013, which serves over 211,000 active clients across Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, DRC, and South Africa. As part of the

Ongoza Program, this partnership aims to improve access to finance for education entrepreneurs in Kenya, through the creation of a special concessionary loan product for Kenyan low-fee private school (LFPS) owners who would not normally qualify. This blended finance model uses philanthropic capital to unlock private capital and bring more financing to low-fee private schools and is targeted to impact more than 100,000 children from low-income communities across Kenya.

Sinapi Aba Savings and Loans - Ghana

IDP Foundation has supported Sinapi Aba Savings and Loans (SASL), a financial microfinance institution based in Ghana, with PRIs for over a decade. It provides holistic financial solutions in Business, Housing, Agricultural, and Education through a range of innovative products and services. In 2008, IDP Foundation, in partnership with Sinapi Aba Trust, established the Rising Schools Program in response to market demand from low-income families seeking affordable, quality education for their children. This partnership aims to improve access to quality education and raise the profile of low-fee private schools (LFPS) in Ghana. As part of the program, SASL offers special concessionary loans to LFPS proprietors in Ghana who would otherwise not qualify, as well as financial and school management training to strengthen and improve the school’s sustainability. Since 2013, the IDPF has provided debt investments to further the expansion of the Rising Schools Program.

The People’s Poet LLC – Chicago, IL

In 2014 IDP Foundation became a member investor of The People’s Poet LLC, who drove the creation of the first feature documentary to tell the full story of the incomparable Maya Angelou. The filmmakers Bob Hercules and Rita Coburn Whack had unprecedented access to trace Dr. Angelou’s amazing journey, spotlighting the untold elements of her life with never-before-seen footage as part of the PBS American Masters Series. Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise features interviews with Dr. Angelou, her friends and family, including Clinton, Oprah Winfrey, Common, Alfre Woodard, Cicely Tyson, Quincy Jones, Hillary Clinton, Louis Gossett, Jr., John Singleton, Diahann Carroll, Valerie Simpson, Random House editor Bob Loomis and Dr. Angelou’s son, Guy Johnson. IDPF supported this project in the hopes that this inspirational film would be widely shown in high schools across the US.

Other IDPF+ Grantees

Harambeans are a network of highly educated young African entrepreneurs who use their talents to build high impact social and business ventures across the African continent. Harambeans are diverse, competitive, and impactful in ways that inspire others and produce meaningful growth. In 2017, IDP Foundation became one of the founding partners of Harambeans, committed to developing the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Africa and creating economic vitality and job creation across the region.

Shedd Aquarium has been recognized by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s Species Survival Commission (IUCN SSC) as a Center for Species Survival — one of just 11 Centers on the planet. Shedd is using applied conservation science to inform assessments and safeguard freshwater species and environments in key biodiversity hotspots. As supporters of Shedd’s Learning & Community programs and dedicated advocates for educational advancement in Chicago and beyond, the IDP Foundation uniquely understands Shedd’s 92-year legacy of welcoming millions of school children to experience the astonishing diversity of the aquatic world, up close and personal.

The Museum of Science and Industry (MSI) is the the largest science center in the Western Hemisphere. From field trips to teacher resources, MSI provides learning experiences both inside and outside the classroom—because improving science education is critical. IDPF supports the broad impact that MSI Education Programs have on the community. MSI makes science learning engaging, accessible, and fun for thousands of students, teachers, and families.