David Berge is the CEO and Founder of the Underdog Foundation and the CEO and Founder of Underdog Ventures, LLC. He has special expertise in community investment, social venture investing and community lending. The Underdog Foundation and Underdog Ventures make direct investments, but more importantly advise intermediaries, entrepreneurs and asset owners in the impact investing and community investing spaces. In particular they help high net worth families increase their impact and help high impact venture funds, social enterprise funds, loan funds and community banks with capital and deal structure. Previously, Underdog Ventures created a fund supporting impact entrepreneurs gifting parts of their equity for charitable ownership and community benefit. Underdog Ventures was recognized as one of ten U.S. financial institutions providing especially strong benefits to the environment and one of the top five funds supporting social mission. He was formerly the Senior Vice President of Community Investment at Vancity, North America’s largest community development credit union with over 500,000 members and $21.7 billion in assets, where he oversaw $3.5 billion in loans and over $750 million in impact deals. Previously, David was the Director of Vermont National Bank’s Socially Responsible Banking Fund, which he grew from $38 million to $208 million U.S. in targeted deposits and impact loans. David also worked as the Senior Loan Officer at the Institute for Community Economics, a community loan fund lending to community land trusts, limited equity cooperatives, social enterprises and non-profits. David is a former board member and Chair of the Social Investment Forum, the trade association for institutions and professionals in the $17 trillion sustainable, responsible and impact investing industry in the United States. He is the former Chairman of the Social Investment Forum Foundation. He is a former board member and current member of the Social Venture Circle. David speaks frequently around North America on issues of social venture investing, unique deal structures, and community investment. His work has been highlighted on NPR’s Marketplace, CBS and NBC news, the New York Times, the Washington Post, Entrepreneur Magazine, Nations Business, Fast Company, the book, “Aiming Higher”, by David Bolier and a book titled, “Making a Life, Making a Living”, by Mark Albion.
Listed skills include Deal Structures, Social Venture And Social Entrepreneurship, Innovative Impact Philanthropy, Social Entrepreneurship, and 1 others.