"If Greater Philadelphia is serious about equitable growth and becoming a national 21st-century leader, it cannot afford to continue relegating support for minority entrepreneurship to the back seat," says The Enterprise Center's Della Clark.

"Investing in local businesses is inherently impact investing," says George Cook, the co-founder and CEO of Honeycomb Credit.

Regulatory adjustments could accelerate the creation of OZ funds that would attract capital to high-impact ventures in distressed places, says Margaret Berger Bradley in this guest post from ImpactPHL Perspectives.

Social impact gets falsely relegated to the sidelines of the global economy, setting it up for illegitimacy and optional buy-in, says Catherine Griffin in this guest post from ImpactPHL Perspectives.

Research generally produces critical insight, which can inform both companies and investors on how to identify key performance indicators, and then manage, optimize, and monitor their impact, say Sherryl Kuhlman and Maoz Brown in their guest column.

Michael Cosack and Jeremy Bach examine the reasons for the slow adoption of impact investing in this guest post from ImpactPHL Perspectives.

Pedro Ramos and Don Hinkle-Brown say its achievements "make it clear that donors and investors in our region are committed to increasing the vitality of our region through community investment."

Laura Kind McKenna: Foundations generally invest 5% for mission-first outcomes and 95% for finance-first outcomes ... changing this status-quo is not only philanthropy’s greatest 21st-century opportunity but our most critical obligation.

In their guest post, Drexel staffers point to the Community Lawyering Clinic and the Writers Room as initiatives that engage and serve the university's West Philadelphia neighborhood.