OUR STORY

The current approach to social investment is unbalanced

Evidence shows that people and organisations from Black and Ethnic Minoritised backgrounds:

  • are less likely to receive investment

  • are less trusting of the sector

  • are impacted by a lack of intermediary support

  • have less access to inclusive funding products

Over ¾ of Black and Ethnic Minoritised-led charities and social enterprises believe they have been rejected funding because of their ethnicity or race. From the 1,000 Black and Ethnic Minoritised organisations that we have surveyed, 55% would not trust and approach social investors.

Pathway Fund exists to address these issues.

Indeed, aware of this urgent need and spurred-on by the Adebowale Commission’s report on improving the social investment sector - which recommended that an entity like Pathway, be created - our founding partners Black Global Trust, The Social Investment Consultancy and Voice4Change England – led by Stephen Bediako OBE, Bonnie Chiu and Kunle Oluade MBE respectively – created Pathway Fund.

We are a pioneering new impact investment wholesaler committed to advancing opportunities for Black and Ethnic Minoritised social enterprises and their communities across the UK.

We ensure that social investment is directed to the Black and Ethnically Minoritised social enterprises - and their communities - that can turbo-charge our economy. Because it has been found by the Adebowale Commission that those organisations and those communities need to see a greater amount of social investment directed to them, than is currently the case, Pathway Fund has been able to deliver programmes that deploy social investment, through the lens of racial equity, ensuring that Black and Ethnically Minoritised-led organisations are provided the opportunity to materially contribute to inclusive growth, across the UK.

Those organisations are doing great things - driving the just transition, providing employment opportunities for young people, developing tomorrow’s leaders. But they need to be supported by social investment.

As a Black and Ethnic Minoritised-led wholesaler with extensive experience in impact investing, equitable financing, and philanthropy, we believe that the social investment sector, which provides much-needed finance, can be a powerful force to redress wealth inequalities, in every community, across the UK.

How are we working to drive racial equity through social investment?

We are working in the following ways, to drive racial equity, using social investment:

  • As a funder and investor, we provide fit-for-purpose financial solutions through our grants, program related investments and endowment, while crowding in additional capital and partners to build financial power within communities;

  • As a visionary, we lead thought in the sector and are establishing a clear direction for the Black and Ethnic Minoritised ecosystem, while bridging the gap between finance and racial justice discourse;

  • We see ourselves as having a ‘knowledge building’ role, which focuses on research and evidence gathering to deepen understanding of racial equity investing in the UK, developing and sharing best practices that can influence other funders without attempting to own the movement ourselves.

  • We also act as a convenor and influencer, working as a crucial bridge in the sector, breaking down silos, and uniting various actors in the space, that are all, crucially, working towards building wealth in undervalued Black and Ethnic Minority communities.