Greg Lernihan Email & Phone Number

Greater Chicago Area

At His Fund, we seek to invest in mission-driven and God-honoring entrepreneurs working to generate a positive and measurable spiritual and social impact, alongside a financial return. Deuteronomy 8:18 humbly reminds us that the ability to create earthly riches is a gift from God. “Remember the LORD your God, for it is He who gives you the ability to produce wealth.” We believe we are called as God’s stewards to manage capital resources acting on His behalf. With great discernment and prayer, His Fund strategically invests to generate employment opportunities for those in poverty, while also addressing the world’s greatest social concerns.

Vennfi is your personal charitable giving fund, powered by Charityvest. Charityvest is a financial technology platform to catalyze more generosity. Give to any charity, from one account, with zero fees. It's simple, secure, and free: 100% of your donation goes to the charities you care about. We believe giving is good for the world—adding meaning to the lives of donors, and deploying resources to help solve problems around the world. And done intentionally, it can create more of this good than giving that is purely reactionary. Your personal charitable giving fund is like your own personal foundation for you or your family. When you make contributions to your fund, you get an instant tax deduction. Then, you decide where to make charitable grants over time, to virtually any charity in the US. We have 1.7M charities.

Orlando, Florida Area

Elevation Financial Group, LLC is a private equity real estate investment company committed to providing safe, clean and affordable housing to its residents, delivering superior financial returns to its investors, and making a positive impact in the communities it serves. Elevation is committed to being a force for activist philanthropy, bringing the same standard of excellence to giving that it does to creating value for its shareholders. Through its business, philanthropic and public advocacy, Elevation aspires to be a champion for entrepreneurship, affordable housing and educational opportunity for low-income and first-generation students.http://www.elevationfinancialgroup.com

INDLU partners with land owners in South Africa in order to help them build residential property rental businesses. INDLU supports these land owners with access to capital, systems and management and support services. Backyard rooms are one of the largest housing sub-sectors in South Africa and make a significant contribution to provision of rental housing to households whose needs are not addressed by government subsidy programs or the private market. Largely without any government intervention/support, the sector successfully provides accommodation to households wishing to rent but who cannot afford formal rental accommodation available. 25% of all South Africans now rent and informal rental markets create accommodation opportunities for almost two thirds of all households not able to access formal accommodation. Backyard rooms are also one of the fastest growing sectors. Between 2007 and 2011, backyard rooms absorbed two thirds of new households, twice as many as those absorbed into informal settlements.

East Africa

Most of the world cannot access affordable insurance - insurance is a product for the rich. 90% of people in Africa have no safety net if they get sick. Turaco is changing that. Turaco's is in the business of redemption. The insurance business has the beauty of meeting people at their most vulnerable moments, come alongside them and walk them to a place of wholeness and security. The Turaco Founders motivation for being in this business comes from his Christian faith. The team strives to live ou Jesus's call to love our neighbor as ourselves, even when our neighbor lives on the other side of the world. myturao.com

Talanton - Our funds invest in growth-stage enterprises with $250K to $10M in revenue in sectors that provide jobs for those living in poverty. We look for excellent, Missional management teams motivated by visions that go beyond outsized financial returns. We focus on developing world countries, especially Sub-Saharan Africa, and places where we have both staff and on-the-ground partners able to monitor the work. You can donate directly to Talanton’s Stewards Fund, which will allow your donation to permanently recycle and support missional enterprises. You can also invest charitable dollars through a unique donor advised fund, with a new donation to our partner New Horizons Foundation, or by using your existing donor advised fund. https://talantonllc.com

Akola is creating the most socially impactful brand in the world! They have created hundreds of jobs for women in Uganda and Dallas by producing social impact jewelry collections. With products designed for high end clients that shop at Neiman Marcus to value conscious buyers who shop at the worlds largest retailer, Walmart Akola has the jewelry solution.https://akolaproject.org

Ethiopia

Verdant Frontiers design and builds industrial scale businesses in Africa. Aid lays the foundation, but isn't enough. There is a gap between laying foundations for survival and health needs and actually building the structures that create lasting impact. Million of people are still using outdated methods of production, leading to food security issues and pricing volatility which creates an unhealthy dependence on foreign aid. Large scale businesses create jobs that enable individuals and their families to thrive. The pump money into local economies, empower people to earn personal wealth and in turn invest in education, healthcare and standard of living improvements, creating a virtuoso circle of economic development. Verdant Frontiers invests the early stage capital in African businesses. We bring entrepreneurial expertise and globally competitive technology. We design and build the business from the ground up, creating new jobs and setting the course for economic prosperity. Our investment criteria includes large-scale businesses that are missing from the local economy, in sectors that drive job creation, with an opportunity for efficiencies at scale that produce high return on investment. We're creating the Berkshire Hathaway of Africa by starting 2-3 businesses per year in markets with opportunities for scale.

Impact Foundation Invests charitable capital to create economic, social and spiritual transformation. We exist to bring Kingdom Impact Investing to donors desiring to change the world through business while also earning a return on their charitable capital. Forbes has named Impact Investing the #1 trend in philanthropy for the last two years.Charitable giving - while critically important - will not alone solve the world’s most entrenched social issues. Books like When Helping Hurts and Toxic Charity provide a compelling case that handouts alone cannot fix the underlying social issues that contribute to poverty, fatherlessness. Businesses that seek profit plus social, environmental, and kingdom impact has the power to do more than charity alone. https://impactfoundation.org

East Garfield Park

Located in East Garfield Park, Garfield Produce Company is an indoor vertical farm and a licensed wholesale food establishment in the City of Chicago. The company was formed with the social mission of serving the neighborhood by building sustainable wealth and creating employment in Chicago’s impoverished areas, while growing some of the highest quality produce in the city. In order to better serve our community, we have strategically partnered with Breakthrough Urban Ministries, which has served the East Garfield Park neighborhood for the past 16 years through its homeless shelters, food pantry, children’s outreach programs, and community center. Our goal is to join in Breakthrough’s mission by providing jobs for our community.Benefit Chicago is also an investor in Garfield Park.https://www.garfieldproduce.com

Honduras

Zompopero Hydroelectric Company is a firm dedicated to the engineering andconstruction of small hydropower stations (1 MW to 20 MW). HS-Zompopero is a daily regulated, 30-foot high gravity dam, with a closed coupled power station. It has a maximum generation capacity of 14 MW. The site is located in Honduras and will bring power, jobs, social and spiritual impact to the local community.The project is currently in its pre-construction phase, with construction scheduled to begin in January 2017, lasting approximately two years.The spiritual plan includes working with churches to improve their existing physical infrastructure aswell as their presence in the community. We are also partnering with Heart to Honduras toprovide youth camps for the kids living close to our projects. We will also continue to supporta seminary that has recently graduated 27 students and has planted 13 new churchesin the last year.It is anticipated that 200 workers will be employed during construction at an annual wageof $4,800 up from their current wages of $800 per year. After construction there will be 20permanent new jobs created to operate the project on a long term basis. The social capital plan will include investing $300,000 of monies from Zompopero Energy along with a matching grant from other NGO’s of $300,000 that will allow us to meet several major needs for two villages that are next to the project.

OWP Pharmaceuticals delivers quality branded generic epilepsy medications that are replicable and fairly priced. Our strategic focus is to support neurologists and patients in the U.S. with beneficial products and to use the majority of profits to provide resources for those living with epilepsy in under-resourced areas of the world. We do this by partnering with the ROW Foundation to improve the diagnosis and treatment available to these under-resourced patients and their families. This symbiotic relationship enables us to better serve the entire epilepsy community. One World. One Standard.http://owppharma.com

Greater Chicago Area

Provided capital to Chicago Hope Homes that acquires foreclosed homes in the south and west side of Chicago, rehabs them and gives the profits them to their school. Chicago Hope Academy is a coed non-denominational college and life preparatory high school dedicated to nurturing and challenging the whole person – body, mind, and spirit – to the glory of God. Chicago Hope Academy offers: A college preparatory curriculum that balances physical, mental, and spiritual development. Gifted teachers who encourage and mentor students. Athletics that teach the value of teamwork, discipline, sacrifice, sportsmanship, and perseverance. Opportunity for students to appreciate and practice the arts. A school that impacts the student, family, and surrounding community for Christ.A school that teaches and exemplifies a servant attitude.http://chicagohopeacademy.org

The JOYN story starts with an adventure to a Ugandan orphanage. In 1998, Melody and Dave Murray traveled to Uganda as newlyweds with a shared passion to change the lives of people in poverty. The Murray's learned in order to bring real hope and lasting change to impoverished places, you have to bring opportunity giving people a chance and the dignity to pull themselves out of poverty. They discovered talented artisans in Rajpur India who made beautiful textile products, but lacked availability to markets. JOYN is determined to start a sustainable business and employ as many people as they possibly could.JOYN is a socially-conscious fashion brand producing women’s handbags that are 100-percent handmade. JOYN bags aren’t mass-produced. People make them. Each bag is unique. No factories, no automation, because the more hands that it takes to make the products, the more jobs we are able to create. As JOYN becomes a world-class handbag company, we are seeing joy and justice extended to our community in India, along with a slice of the 1.6 billion dollar global handbag marketplace.https://www.joynbags.com

United States

Our fund focuses on early growth-stage companies with $1-10 million in revenue. We look for companies with exceptional growth potential in expanding markets. In addition to a clear path to profitability and exit, we are most interested in a proven management team that is running the company according to strong ethical values.

Nicaragua

Supply Hope is focused on creating opportunities for woman with children living on less than $2 dollars per day by helping woman earn a reliable income through micro-franchises. Not only are their entrepreneurs disadvantaged woman, but their customers who purchase their food are also earning less than $2 per day. Supply Hope trains and equips families living in poverty in Nicaragua to operate micro-franchises that will provide them with a livelihood. Plans include expansion throughout Latin America. When addressing poverty, we recognize the need for sustainable solutions that build capacity and empower people to improve their lives and futures. Our desire is to see children’s needs met by their own families, ending dependency and providing hope and dignity.http://www.supplyhope.org

India, Indonesia, Mexico

Creation Investments Capital Management, LLC is a leading alternative investment management company with a focus on private equity investments in Microfinance Institutions, Small-and-Medium Enterprise lenders, Emerging Market Banks, and other Bottom of the Pyramid Financial Services Providers. Creation Investments seeks to offer investors a double bottom line, maximizing financial and social returns on investments. We do so by being focused on for-profit investments that directly benefit those living in poverty, compassionate in how we treat people, balanced in how we make decisions, and responsible in operating our businesses. We desire to promote healthy stewardship of the world’s resources and authentic generosity among those with whom we do business.

United States

ThinkCERCA is an online platform designed to empower teachers to personalize literacy instruction across disciplines. ThinkCERCA helps whole school teams differentiate for engaging learning in classrooms of diverse learners. The CERCA Framework provides a common language for students, teachers, parents, and administrators to drive sustainable growth in student achievement.ThinkCERCA was recognized as a "game-changing educational software" by Bill Gates.

Greater Chicago Area

Edovo's mission is to provide meaningful access to education and self-improvement tools that can unlock the potential of every person affected by incarceration. Edovo is a social enterprise focused on reducing recidivism among jail inmates by using tablet technology as a medium for positive change. Edovo uses high-quality, tailored digital content and intuitive education platform to inform, enable, and inspire inmates to engage positively with their communities upon release and to avoid returning.

Impact Engine is a venture capital and private equity firm investing in companies driving positive impact in economic empowerment, education, environmental sustainability, and health.

This course is designed to get high school students excited about becoming true entrepreneurs. Students create and fully develop their own product or service. Real-world entrepreneurs and business experts serve as coaches and mentors guiding student teams through the process of creating a company from scratch. Students present at Demo Day to actual investors in a Shark Tank environment. Through a non profit, this program is now being implemented in hundreds of schools throughout the US.

Greater Chicago Area

Center for Companies That Care is a 501(c)(3) non- profit. By channeling the power of Chicagoland businesses to address tenacious social issues facing our communies today, we improve the lives of individuals, families and communies and ensure social sustainabil- ity. Our programs focus on Education, Workforce Development and Literacy.

Convergint is a global systems integrator focused on delivering results for customers through unparalleled service excellence. Convergint works alongside a global network of partners and manufacturers to design, install, and service security, fire alarm, life safety, audio-visual, and building automation solutions for enterprise customers.. Convergint employs over 9,000 colleagues globally with locations throughout North & South America, Asia Pacific, Australia and Europe. Convergint Technologies is the 2nd largest electronic security integrator in the world.

San Francisco Bay Area

Founded in 1999, Legacy aggregates over $1.5 billion from over 500 investors who intend that all returns, both principal and gains, will be used for their individual philanthropic interests. Thus Legacy investors leverage venture returns to make an even more significant impact for good in the world.Legacy Venture manages a series of fund-of-funds. We invest in a select group of premier venture capital firms who in turn invest in companies that have included Facebook, LendingClub, Fitbit, YouTube, Skype, Xiaomi, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Airbnb. These venture firms are often highly sought after and in many cases are not accessible to new investors. Legacy has gained access to these venture funds by virtue of its philanthropic mission and its well-connected management team.

Boston

Founded in 2008 with a vision to provide high performance values-based investments** for individuals, financial advisers, and institutions, Eventide has become a leader in faith-based and socially responsible investing. The goal of Eventide Mutual Funds is to maintain market outperformance by investing in companies that we believe excel at creating value, operate with integrity, and profit from ethical and sustainable activities.

Philippines

The exchange of wealth around the world is vast. It is often the unequal distribution of this wealth that leads to extreme poverty. We decided to tap into business as a vehicle for change. We created a business that would change the future for the poor. We started with the poorest of the poor in rural Philippines. We prayed about what kind of business we could start that would be the engine for change. We asked questions among the locals and found they had a great asset - coconuts! So, we use simple coconuts with dozens of health benefits to transform communities.This kind of community transformation will be seen in so many different ways. We chose our location based on the needs of the community. It's rural and hard access. The drinking water is not clean and the unemployment rate is high. But that's why we are there. We are bringing education, clean water, jobs and - most importantly - hope.It's not going to stop here. We have structured our plan to make it reproducible. We are going to build more and more plants all over the world. There are plenty of coconuts to harvest out there! And it won't be confined to coconuts. We want to go to communities and ask them what they have. Then we will build our business based on our values and their resources. We have a big dream for the future. Dignity is going to change the world.

Siemens AG is $100 billion dollar worldwide leader in the electrical/electronic field. Siemens Building Technologies is a leader in sophisticated building solutions for all technical aspects of managing a facility or campus.