As part of a $250,000 CoBank grant, the Kansas Health Foundation led a group of Kansas organizations on a co-learning experience to SOCAP, a global conference for founders, funders, nonprofits and more to come together to help drive meaningful impact in their communities.

The Kansas delegation—identified at the conference by our “ruby red” shoes (a throwback to Dorothy’s slippers in the Wizard of Oz)—included our staff as well as representatives from:

• Network Kansas
• McPherson County Community Foundation
• Kansas Department of Commerce
• Kansas Association of Community Foundations 
• The Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska and Grey Snow Management Solutions
• The Innovation Center
• Hutchinson Community Foundation
• The City of Hutchinson and Startup Hutch

These organizations are working with or focused on serving rural communities in Kansas with populations of 50,000 or fewer.

Consultant Travis Green, Project Director at the Community Investment Project, also joined us to help facilitate learning and relationship building.

“SOCAP was a great way to meet with new people and organizations that I had not yet had the opportunity to get to know. I really appreciated connecting with Taylor Overton and Christopher White at the Kansas Department of Commerce about Host City Economic Mobility Bonds. I think there’s a role that community foundations can play in an opportunity like that.” – Christy Tustin, Executive Director, Kansas Association of Community Foundations

“I found the conference to be highly valuable, particularly through the one-on-one conversations I had with other participants.” – Michelle Huddle, CEO, McPherson County Community Foundation

Learning together at SOCAP built camaraderie among our attendees. Existing relationships between organizations were strengthened. New relationships were built that didn’t exist before. This informal bonding is the foundation on which the statewide ecosystem we want to develop can be built.

Key Takeaways for Kansas

One of the main takeaways we brought back from SOCAP was that we’re heading in the right direction when it comes to impact investing and our goals for developing a statewide ecosystem, and there are working models we can learn from. 

For example, we connected with Impact PHL, an impact investment ecosystem in Philadelphia, and they’re doing the work at a city level that we want to do at the state level. 

What really stood out to me was how impressed other attendees were with our group. At a global conference filled with people from major cities and speakers from national foundations, it could have been easy for us to feel out of place, but we were right where we needed to be.

“On the second day of the conference, Alejo asked me to meet with the Sorenson Impact Institute, and I thought we were going to meet with a representative. But we met with Jim Sorenson! He was impressed with our infrastructure because we can deploy capital fairly quickly. He said, ‘Next time we need to bring in people from Kansas to talk about state-based impact investing.” – Jeff Usher, Senior Advisor, Kansas Health Foundation

“I left feeling really excited about where Kansas is at. We’re ahead of others or on pace with others who are surrounded by way more resources than we are. I mean, why not Kansas?” – Imagene Harris, Vice President of Impact Investment Services, NetWork Kansas 

Kansas is already doing innovative work, and others are seeing the momentum in Kansas. We just need the courage to stay on this path. 

Innovative Ideas That Stood Out

SOCAP was full of reminders of the many different ways capital can be deployed and examples of creative strategies people are using to keep their communities strong.

“A panelist commented on the current state of impact investing. They said that: 1) it’s here to stay, 2) it’s still a young practice and 3) that there is room for creativity. I am intrigued by that comment that there is room for creativity. I would love to brainstorm with others who could help identify those creative opportunities for impact investments, especially those that Kansas community foundations could participate in or partner with another organization.” – Christy Tustin, Executive Director, Kansas Association of Community Foundations

“I attended a session focused on unlocking the untapped potential of donor-advised funds. On average, these funds grant only about 5% of their assets each year. I plan to work with our Board to explore how we can transform the 95% of currently idle funds into catalytic capital that actively drives impact.” – Michelle Huddle, CEO, McPherson County Community Foundation

One conversation that stuck with me was with a faith leader from Indiana who talks to churches about becoming economic engines. He said that churches are often the largest, long-term landholders after city governments. What would it look like for a church to be a low-income housing provider? What would it look like for a church to open a grocery store? It was a fascinating example of how creative people are getting with impact investing.

“The beauty of impact investing is that even if a project seems unlikely to fit within your own community, there are always elements that can be adapted and applied locally.” – Michelle Huddle, CEO, McPherson County Community Foundation

I also sat in on a session about what many are calling the “silver wave,” which will probably look more like a “silver tsunami” in Kansas. Many business owners are preparing to retire, so there’s an opportunity for impact investing to support the sale and transition of these businesses to keep them locally owned to continue to support their communities.

Michelle said it best: “While traditional grants are invaluable and certainly have their place, contributions to an impact investing fund can generate impact continuously. As loans are repaid and redeployed, the same dollars keep creating positive change again and again.”

That’s what we’re building for Kansas.