About Us
Our mission is to catalyze and accelerate new models of impact in collaboration with communities, philanthropists, entrepreneurs, and investors.
Our History
Beginnings
The Sustainable Jobs Development Corporation was formed in 2001 to bolster the Sustainable Jobs Fund’s impact strategy by assisting entrepreneurial companies and increasing their access to capital in order to expand their positive economic development and environmental impacts. Anne Claire Broughton served as the founding Executive Director, and the organization raised grant funds from bank foundations and the EDA to provide technical assistance to early-stage impact companies, produce “Getting Ready for Equity” (GRE) workshops for inner-city entrepreneurs, and improve entry-level job quality and asset-building within the Fund’s portfolio. The organization also conducted annual impact assessments on the fund’s portfolio and its assistance work. As the Fund rebranded to SJF Ventures, the organization followed suit, becoming SJF Advisory Services.
Bridging Gaps
In the mid-2000s, SJF began convening events to bridge historic gaps between entrepreneurs, investors, economic development professionals, policymakers, and community leaders. In addition to GRE workshops, fruitful connections were made at Cleantech CEO Panels and CleanLinks networking events. Bonny Moellenbrock became the Executive Director of SJF Advisory Services in 2007, and we welcomed new supporters and partners including the Rockefeller and MacArthur Foundations, banks such as Bank of America and Citi, and regional groups including the Appalachian Regional Commission. In 2010 we rebranded to the SJF Institute and updated our mission to “connect, inspire, and accelerate sustainable entrepreneurs and the fields that support them.” We produced two SJF Summit on the New Green Economy conferences in Durham in 2010 and 2011, and began disseminating research and defining best practices related to sustainable businesses, employee engagement, and impact investing. This included the Green Jobs Awards, and reports such as Employees Matter: Maximizing Company Value through Employee Engagement.
Supporting the Field
In 2011, the SJF Institute merged with Investors Circle, the oldest and largest network of impact-driven angel investors. From 2011-2017, our support for entrepreneurs and early-stage impact investors grew through this network, while our best practice research and dissemination continued with Accelerating Impact Enterprises: How to Lock, Stock, and Anchor Impact Enterprises for Maximum Impact report in collaboration with the Center for the Advancement of Social Enterprise (CASE) at Duke. The organization was also instrumental in supporting the Social Enterprise Accelerator at Duke (SEAD), continuing to grow the field of impact investing and entrepreneurship.
Building Networks
In the years following our merger with Investors’ Circle, the Institute played more of a supporting role, providing smaller, charitable donations. Meanwhile, SJF considered new models and strategies for advancement of the field.
As the field continued to grow, we recognized the need for more intra-industry collaboration to discuss emergent best practices and shared challenges. There were several groups devoted to impact, but nothing specifically tailored to the needs of market-rate impact investors. Recognizing this gap, SJF co-founded Impact Capital Managers (ICM), a network that aims “to scale the private capital impact investing marketplace with integrity and authenticity.” ICM is now home to over 140 member funds, representing more than $70 billion in impact capital.
New Directions
In 2024, the SJF Ventures team again began to think about bridging gaps in the impact investing market. The venture model has limitations; recognizing those, we began to discuss how to accelerate impact, particularly to better meet the needs of low-income, underserved, and hard-to-reach populations. A year of conversations with our network led to the launch of the Wider Reach grant program in late summer 2025.
Meet the team
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Kelsey Jarrett
Director of Impact, SJF Ventures
Executive Director
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Anna Rumer
Senior Associate, Portfolio Acceleration, SJF Ventures
Program Director
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Cathy Clark
Faculty Director, CASE Initiative of Impact Investing, Duke University
Board Chair
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Tom Balderson
Partner, SustainVC and the Patient Capital Collaborative Funds
Board Member
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Dave Kirkpatrick
Managing Director, SJF Ventures
Board Member
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Bonny Moellenbrock
Principal, Millbrook Impact
Board Member
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Max Miller
Senior Analyst, Center for Effective Philanthropy
Board Member
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