By Marilín M. Llanes, OP
Director of the Portfolio Advisory Board and Office

January 14, 2025, Fort Pierce, Florida – In October 2024 two powerful hurricanes left widespread devastation in the southeastern United States. Communities in Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas, and beyond were walloped by the hurricanes within a two-week span, leaving lives disrupted and lost, homes destroyed, and critical infrastructure severely damaged.

In response to the serious needs arising from these cataclysmic storms, the Solar Energy Loan Fund (SELF) has been a beacon of hope, acting swiftly to deliver relief. 

St. Lucie, Florida, in the county where SELF is headquartered, was directly affected by Hurricane Milton, which caused considerable damage to the area. Historically, SELF has offered financial assistance to residents of hurricane disaster areas with great success and impact. SELF stepped up again for the residents who needed the most assistance. Partnering with SELF, the Adrian Dominican Sisters Portfolio Advisory Board (PAB) is part of these rebuilding efforts.  

On December 3, 2024, the PAB approved a Hurricane Recovery Loan for $100,000 with a very low interest to offer home repair loans of $10,000 to the most at-risk homeowners. With these loans, homeowners can make necessary repairs and replacements to ensure that their homes are safe and sanitary and do not continue to deteriorate further. 

SELF is the first nonprofit in the country dedicated exclusively to climate equity, storm resilience, and sustainability in under-resourced and underbanked communities. SELF began its journey in 2009 as a U.S. Department of Energy pilot program in St. Lucie County, Florida, and has since expanded operations to four states – Florida, Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina – focusing on projects in low- and moderate-income neighborhoods with a default rate of less than 2 percent. Since 2013, SELF has been a lending partner with the PAB. 

We stand in solidarity with SELF in their diligence in providing hurricane relief to residents by offering low-cost loans with grace periods that allow ample time to repair their homes. Truly, SELF is a green beacon of hope in these challenging times.  
 

Caption for above feature photo: These residents, like many others, receive service from the Solar Energy Loan Fund as they deal with devastation caused by hurricanes.
Photo Courtesy of the Solar Energy Loan Fund

By Cathi Kim
Senior Vice President, Inclusiv/Capital, Investments and Impact

September 12, 2024, New York, New York -- Inclusiv and the Adrian Dominican Sisters announced the Sisters’ investment in Cooperativa de Ahorro y Crédito Jesús Obrero (“Jesús Obrero”), a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) cooperativca advancing the economic well-being of communities in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico.

Puerto Rican cooperativas have been at the forefront of Hurricane Maria recovery efforts and initiatives to revitalize local economies across the Island. Jesús Obrero’s mission and impact focus on the economic, social, and environmental well-being of under-resourced communities and the cooperative sector. 

Jesús Obrero has developed one of the leading green lending models, providing critical infrastructure on the island by financing the installation of hundreds of solar systems for households and small businesses and supporting the creation of community micro-grids.

The Adrian Dominican Sisters Portfolio Advisory Board is the first investor to replicate the model created by Inclusiv and Deutsche Bank Americas Foundation to invest in cooperativas and their recovery and resiliency initiatives in Puerto Rico. This partnership demonstrates the strength of the Puerto Rican cooperative sector and field building efforts led by Inclusiv. This investment represents the latest impact initiative added to the 42-year partnership between Inclusiv and Adrian Dominican Sisters. 
Read more about Inclusiv’s partnership with Adrian Dominican Sisters in the 2023 Inclusiv Annual Report.

“The Adrian Dominican Sisters have been catalytic partners to the community development credit union movement, demonstrating what is possible when we lead with purpose and put communities first,” said Cathie Mahon, President and CEO of Inclusiv. “Inclusiv is grateful for the Sisters’ dedication and foresight that provided the critical capital necessary for the growth of the CDFI sector. We are delighted to expand our partnership on anti-poverty and wealth-building initiatives to include the climate resiliency and economic revitalization efforts led by cooperativas in Puerto Rico.” 

Sister Marilín M. Llanes, OP, Director of the Adrian Dominican Sisters’ Portfolio Advisory Office, said, “We rejoice with our new partnership with Cooperativa de Ahorro y Crédito Jesús Obrero thanks to Inclusiv for facilitating the connection. A great hope in common we share is to be pathways bringing about economic opportunities for the struggling but resilient communities in Puerto Rico.” 

Aurelio Arroyo González, Executive President of Cooperativa Jesús Obrero, said the investment “allows us to continue expanding the footprint of cooperative solidarity work in our communities.” He added that since its founding in 1959, the Cooperativa has focused on developing financial products and services that strengthen members' ability to improve their conditions and quality of life and, more recently, to enhance their capacity to face the challenges brought by climate change. “This investment represents a boost to the history of community engagement of our institution, and we receive it with the commitment to continue creating opportunities for our members, communities, and the cooperative ecosystem of Puerto Rico,” he said. 

Inclusiv’s work to increase investment in cooperativas is just beginning. Thanks to trailblazing investors like the Adrian Dominican Sisters and Deutsche Bank Americas Foundation, more institutional investors are exploring opportunities to support cooperativas by working with Inclusiv to invest and place deposits in these vital institutions. The first mainland investor deposits in cooperativas are coming soon and Inclusiv looks forward to continuing to grow its capital offerings for the cooperativa sector.
 

The mining of metals results in significant changes in the environment. Mines can be as large as two miles wide by two miles long and ¾ mile deep, bringing about a significant change in the landscape. In addition, the mining process requires a great amount of water to separate minerals from the ore, leaving behind a large amount of waste rock with the consistency of sand. This material, referred to as “tailings,” is placed in a pond. The pond can be close to 1,000 feet wide and left for many years after a mine closes.

On January 25, 2019, in Brumadinho, Brazil, a tailings dam created by the mining company Vale collapsed, spilling 12 million cubic meters (more than 3.1 billion gallons) of tailings waste down the valley and causing the death of more than 270 people (see video of the collapse below, from the Wall Street Journal website).

Immediately, socially responsible investors met to determine a best step forward. They decided that some investors would engage Vale about the particular tailings dam breach. At the same time, the investors addressed the issue of the many mining companies that do not have good practice surrounding these dams.

The Church of England Pensions Board and Swedish National Pension Fund developed a sign-on letter asking mining companies to disclose details of their storage facilities. The Adrian Dominican Sisters’ Portfolio Advisory Board (PAB) joined these investors – representing more than $13.5 trillion in combined assets under management – to ask 726 of the largest publicly traded mining companies to disclose their tailings facilities. A review of the information submitted from the first group of dams shows some instability in 10% of the dams. This could lead to further disasters.

Photos of the Brumadinho mining disaster by Ibama on Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)

 

These investors, together with the UN environmental program, the International Council of Metals and Mining, and the UN Principles for Responsible Investment, formed a Global Tailings Review which will include communities on the ground to determine the best way forward toward a standard that will improve the management of these facilities. The draft standard is currently out for review by academics, communities, investors, and the public at large.

These steps cannot change the tragedy that occurred in January, nor the other 11 incidents that have occurred since 2010, but the investors hope to be a voice for change, calling for accountability going forward. These efforts aim to develop a better understanding of the social and environmental risks around tailings management and ensure that systems are in place to prevent future disasters and increase mining safety standards worldwide.

September 2, 2016 -  A well-known asset management specialist will be the featured speaker in a presentation hosted by the Portfolio Advisory Board.

Geeta Aiyer, CFA, founder and President of Boston Common Asset Management, will talk about "The Climate Finance Landscape — Mitigating the Impact of Climate Change" at 1:15 pm. September 8 at the Weber Retreat and Conference Center.

Aiyer uses her extensive experience in finance to fuel leadership and innovation in the areas of environmental sustainability and social justice.

More details about Aiyer and the upcoming talk are available here.