Buen Vivir Fund

Buen Vivir Fund (english version) from What Took You So Long? on Vimeo.

The Buen Vivir Fund is the collective response of Thousand Currents and our partners to the need for a truly transformative approach to impact investing. Together, we are designing forms of investment that support grassroots economic initiatives to build wealth, community power, and wellbeing.

The Buen Vivir Fund seeks to promote financial models and practices that support communities’ holistic wellbeing, as opposed to focusing solely on maximizing individuals’ capital accumulation.

Rather than those with the money imposing terms, the Buen Vivir Fund investment model identifies lending practices developed by grassroots groups themselves that are already proving effective on the ground. Together, the Buen Vivir Fund members uplift and apply these practices to the level of a global investment fund.

Learn five ways the Buen Vivir Fund is unique in our infographic here.

Investment Project Profiles

The Buen Vivir Fund launched its first round of investment in early 2018 to support nine remarkable projects led by organizations across Latin America, North America, Southern Africa, and South Asia. The total investment includes $375,000 in loan capital, $152,500 in grant capital, and investments beyond numbers among Fund members and ally-advisers via advising, learning-exchange, and sharing of tools and practices.

The work of the nine projects spans a variety of sectors, including healthcare, housing, small business development for artisans and farmers, environmental and climate protection, and shifting practice in impact investment.

All of the projects are powered by the membership or close collaboration with the local community. Many of the organizations focus on preserving or restoring Indigenous sovereignty. Over half of the organizations work on addressing climate change or environmental protection. Additionally, more than half of the organizations focus on women’s rights and leadership.

Learn more about the Projects from the 1st cycle of investment of the Buen Vivir Fund:

• Mayan Medical Clinic (a project of AFEDES)
• Indigenous Fund for Development with Identity (a project of CIELO)
• A Helping Hand for the Ecology of Chiapas (a project of EduPaz)
• Community-led Drought Mitigation (a project of GRAVIS) (forthcoming)
• Rural Center for the Dissemination of Buen Vivir (a project of ISMUGUA)
• Corazón Verde (a project of Ñepi Behña)
• Be Invested Investor Cohort (a project of Regenerative Finance)
• Ubunye Technical Assistance & Support Service (a project of Ubunye)
• This Place I Call Home (a project of WWWA)

More About the Buen Vivir Fund

• 5 ways the Buen Vivir Fund is removing the fear from “business as usual”, by Joanna Levitt Cea, former Director of Buen Vivir Fund (Click here for infographic.)
• Higdon, Grace L. (2019) Linking Participation and Economic Advancement: Buen Vivir Fund Case Study, Brighton: Institute of Development Studies
• Begin to grow: What if investors did away with interest? by Cecilio Solis Librado of CIELO, a member of the Buen Vivir Fund founding circle
• A new perception of property, by Katherine Zavala about ISMUGUA’s Buen Vivir Fund project, the Rural Center for the Dissemination of Buen Vivir
• How to begin, by Doña Elvira Sanchez Toscano of ISMUGUA, a member of the Buen Vivir Fund founding circle
• 2,934 Hours: An investment fund for future generations requires something different from all of us, by Joanna Levitt Cea, former Director of Buen Vivir Fund
• When it came to money, grandmother knew best, by Gaithiri Siva, Director of Buen Vivir Fund
• What It Means to “Trust the Process” (and Why We Do It): A reflection from Ari Sahagún, a member of the Buen Vivir Fund founding circle
• A Master Class on Buen Vivir: Highlights from a master class on the concept of buen vivir, taught to the Thousand Currents team by María Estela Barco Huerta of DESMI, a member of the Buen Vivir Fund founding circle
• “Buen Vivir” Versus “Development”: Reflections by intern Savannah Hicks from her master’s research on buen vivir
• In Pursuit of Deeper Impact: A high-profile study on the future of social equity investing released at SOCAP 2016 and featuring the Buen Vivir Fund as a model case for investment that builds social equity

Listen and learn

• Buen Vivir, Right Living, a We Rise podcast featuring Buen Vivir Fund members and staff (also available on KPFA, iTunes, SoundCloud, and Spreaker)
• Podcast by Regenerative Finance: Discussion of  the co-design process of the Buen Vivir Fund launch in Mexico City
• Interview With Buen Vivir Fund [former] Director, Joanna Levitt Cea: Discussion on Radio Woodstock WDST’s “What’s Next With Peter Buffett” (starts at 28:30)
• A Playlist to Soundtrack My Journey to The Buen Vivir Fund: A playlist by Nina Robinson, Buen Vivir Finance Fellow 

Buen Vivir Fund Members

Whether grassroots organizations, foundations, family investment offices, or young investor collectives, all members of the Buen Vivir Fund are selected because they are leaders in practicing forms of investment that support people, communities, and the earth.

1. Women’s Association for the Development of Sacatepéquez (AFEDES)
2. CIELO (Federación Indígena Empresarial y Comunidades Locales de México)
3. DESMI (Social and Economic Development for Indigenous Mexicans)
4. An anonymous donor represented by Dietel & Partners
5. EduPaz
6. GRAVIS
7. ISMUGUA (Institute for Overcoming Urban Poverty)
8. Libra Foundation, with Candide Group
9. Ñepi Behña
10. NoVo Foundation
11. Regenerative Finance
12. Swift Foundation
13. Tan Giving
14. Ubunye Foundation
15. Wallace Global Fund
16. The Whitman Institute
17. Whole World Women Association
18. Women Awareness Center Nepal

Buen Vivir Fund Founding Advisors:

1. Joanna Levitt Cea, former Director of the Buen Vivir Fund
2. Bruce Campbell, Blue Dot Advocates
3. Carmen Rojas, The Workers Lab
4. Cynthia Jaggi, GatherWell and Living Economy Advisers
5. Fred Berkowitz and Sasha Rabsey
6. Joel Solomon, Renewal Funds
7. Jorge Santiago, author and expert on solidarity economy
8. Movement Generation
9. RSF Social Finance
10. Transform Finance
11. The Working World
12. Whitney Mayer, Hershey Company

Questions? Contact Gaithiri Siva, Director of the Buen Vivir Fund, at gaithiri (at) thousandcurrents (dot) org.