CENTER FOR BUSINESS
AS AN AGENT OF WORLD BENEFIT

Understanding the need for a match between the brownfields market and large-scale investment capital, Brownfields Capital has discovered an innovative way to link ecological flourishing with profitability. Brownfields Capital is a finance/investment management firm that plays the role of intermediary to bring these two themes together. This is done through their innovative financial instrument called ‘Brownfields Value Contract (BVC)’ which provides owners or prospective owners of environmentally challenged land with a fully financed capital structure and business plan, while simultaneously creating opportunity for investors to put their money in an innovative debt instrument.

Hemisphere Development's innovation is an unusual approach to real estate investment: They invest in the worst, most damaged properties imaginable, the ones most investors avoid like dirty laundry. Their approach not only helps to green the environment, it is also profitable. The impact of their work reaches from urban Cleveland to rural Ohio.

Russia, long known as a culture whose people - rich and poor - revere the arts in all its many forms, has also developed a reputation as an emergent economy that is solely driven by immediate profit, if not greed. Since the government provides no tax relief or other incentives for philanthropy, the story of Interros is more noteworthy. Interros has stepped beyond simply giving to providing sustainable development in the area of art, culture and education by supporting long-term social programs in education and culture.

Chase Home Finance hasn't just paid lip service to diversity; they have invested billions to make it a business necessity. How? Executives realized that reaching into underserved, lower income communities would not only open up a new market. It would also require employees who represented the minority members within those communities. The result: An initial $500 billion investment that is both reshaping community redevelopment efforts across North America, and also changing the company's diversity profile.

KeyBank has opened a Financial Education Center in an LMI (low- to moderate income) neighborhood in Cleveland. The center offers classes in topics of interest and importance to a population that is often unable and/or unwilling to engage in traditional banking services. This endeavor has been created to educate and empower individuals and, over time, increase business.

Luther Tyson and Jack Corbett developed the first investment fund that enables people to invest in companies that uphold high ethical standards of social responsibility. By giving investors such a choice, the two essentially reevaluated and transformed the role of investors in society.

Because strict religious practices prohibit Muslims from participating or investing in certain types of businesses or financial products that are incompatible with Islamic law, Saturna Capital Corporation created a fund designed to meet the needs of Muslim investors.

Shorebank uses for-profit commercial banking to focus on inner-city urban development. It now has over $1.5 billion in assets with broad impact on inner-city communities, with $1.7 billion invested cumulatively in priority communities, which are selected communities with less incomes and housing values than the regional or state average.

Swiss Re is internationally recognized for taking a public stand on global warming. This year it has been named to the list of top 20 most sustainable business stocks by SustainableBusiness.com. Swiss Re's latest initiative to raise public awareness about sustainability came in the form of an inspiring TV documentary entitled 'The Great Warming'. Supported by Swiss Re and narrated by Alanis Morissette and Keanu Reeves, the documentary was a three-part series which explored not only the underlying science of climate change but the solutions that will lead to a truly sustainable future. 'The Great Warming' aired on TVB Pearl in March 2005. Swiss Re fosters broad awareness of climate risks. It supports effective measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and provides new (re)insurance and financing solutions in this field. The company shares its know-how through its publications and engages in discussions on emerging issues with various stakeholders at the Swiss Re Centre for Global Dialogue in Rüschlikon.

A number of major financial institutions have come together to adopt a framework for determining, assessing and managing environmental and social issues in project financing. These global voluntary regulatory guidelines, the “Equator Principles” (EPs), are revolutionizing the way large projects are financed. Banks that adopt the EPs apply them globally to project financing in all industry sectors including mining, oil and gas, and forestry, and they make loans only to those projects whose sponsors aim to be socially responsible and environmentally sound.

Women's World Banking's vision is to expand low-income women's economic participation by giving them greater access to financial information and markets. In doing so they are enabling women to not only keep their families fed but also engage in the community and develop a political voice that could bring about great change worldwide.