Sorenson Impact

10/29/2026

The American Forest Foundation (AFF), in partnership with the Nature Conservancy, developed the Family Forest Carbon Program (FFCP). The FFCP brings carbon market options to smaller property owners by aggregating more than 1,600 family-owned properties, representing more than 200,000 acres, into a single pool large enough to compete for corporate carbon dollars. 🌲

A new report from AFF and the Sorenson Impact Institute, “Beyond Carbon,” helps quantify the FFCP’s value across revenue pathways, including water, biodiversity, health, and landowner revenues, as well as recommendations and limitations.

In this article, AFF’s Nathan Truitt speaks with the Institute’s Janis Dubno about how the FFCP came together, what it has proven about small-scale participation in carbon markets, and how new frontiers—like biodiversity and water quality credits—could help financially incentivize more family forest owners to protect these richly beneficial landscapes.

A new report helps quantify the Family Forest Carbon Program's value across revenue pathways, including water, biodiversity, health, and landowner revenues.

10/28/2026

Our CEO, Katie Macc, will moderate the webinar “Funding the Future of Food: Innovative Capital for Regenerative Agriculture,” on November 5 at 2 p.m. CT, hosted by Bark Media. 🌱

can strengthen climate resilience, food security, human health, and local economies—but shifting how we grow food is only part of the equation. In this important conversation, leaders across regenerative agriculture, impact investing, lending, food systems, and philanthropy will explore how capital, policy, markets, and community-led solutions can help accelerate the transition to more resilient food systems.

💡 If you’re thinking about the future of food, regenerative agriculture, or how capital can help move solutions forward, this is a conversation worth joining. Register here: https://buff.ly/jW69exk

10/22/2026

📢 We’re seeking a part-time Impact Investing Associate to join our Salt Lake City-based impact investing and student training program! The Associate will be responsible for training students in our program and managing investment processes and operations.

Sound like a good fit for you or someone you know? Apply today or spread the word! https://buff.ly/tquMLCs

10/14/2026

It's the final day of ! If you are attending, join these sessions featuring members of the Sorenson Impact team:

💬 Making the Case for Equity PRIs: An Underutilized Tool to Catalyze Early-Stage Impact Innovation | Address barriers to equity program-related investments (PRI) adoption through practitioner perspectives on the impact, charitable alignment, and practical feasibility of equity PRIs. Attend the session to hear from Eliza Roady (Managing Director, Sorenson Impact Foundation), alongside Casey van der Stricht (Lumina Foundation), Tomer Inbar (Morgan Lewis), and Michael Brown (independent consultant).

💬 Financing Nature: Unlocking Capital for Health and Climate Resilience | Examine how investors, philanthropies, governments, utilities, and other beneficiaries can value the outcomes generated by natural infrastructure and structure financing around them. Attend the session moderated by Katie Macc (CEO, Sorenson Impact Institute) to hear from Janis Dubno (Managing Director of Impact Finance, Sorenson Impact Institute) and Gregg Verutes (Blue Forest).

💬 Navigating the Legal Landscape of Impact Capital | Gain a nuanced perspective on the shifting requirements and emerging operational hurdles essential for navigating this dynamic investment environment with clarity and purpose. Attend the session moderated by Allison Boxer (Managing Director, Impact Academics, Sorenson Impact Institute) to hear from Emmeline Liu (Calvert Impact), Tomer Inbar (Morgan Lewis), and Miranda Lindl O'Connell (Builders Vision).

📲 At SOCAP - Social Capital Markets? Find our team in the Brella event app to get in touch!

10/13/2026

continues today! If you are joining us in Chicago, don't miss these sessions featuring members of the Sorenson Impact team:

💬 The Road to Impact: Cliffs on the Horizon in a Maturing Market | Explore how mission-driven founders can lock in mission from origin, and what structural decisions actually hold under the pressures of growth and exit. Attend the session moderated by Katie Macc (CEO, Sorenson Impact Institute) to hear from Margot Brandenburg (Ford Foundation), Vikas Raj (ResilienceVC), Gordon Seabury (Toad&Co), and Michael Whelchel (Big Path Capital).

💬 Openly Gray: A First-of-Its-Kind Roadmap for Investing in the Longevity Economy | Leave with a common language, actionable tools, and new connections to accelerate capital toward solutions that improve outcomes for older adults. Attend the session to hear from Katie Macc (CEO, Sorenson Impact Institute), alongside Barbara Wheeler-Bride (Stanford Social Innovation Review), Peter Kaldes (Next50), and Preeti Bhattacharji (JPMorgan Chase & Co).

💬 Climate, Capital Flows, Renewable Energy, AI and Data Centers: What's the Signal in All the Noise? | Identify opportunities for asset managers, allocators, and wealth holders who continue to deploy climate capital. Attend the session moderated by Matthew Weatherley-White (Partner, Sorenson Impact Advisory) to hear from Brendan Bell (Aligned Climate Capital) and Omar Blayton (Sunwealth).

If you're at SOCAP - Social Capital Markets, find our team in the Brella event app to get in touch!

10/09/2026

Members of the Sorenson Impact team are ready to share their expertise at , October 12 to 14, in Chicago! See a snapshot of the conversations they will participate in below:

The Road to Impact: Cliffs on the Horizon in a Maturing Market | Featuring our work alongside the Ford Foundation.
Openly Gray: A First-of-Its-Kind Roadmap for Investing in the Longevity Economy | Featuring Katie Macc, CEO, Sorenson Impact Institute.
Climate, Capital Flows, Renewable Energy, AI and Data Centers: What's the Signal in All the Noise? | Featuring Matthew Weatherley-White, Partner, Sorenson Impact Advisory.
Making the Case for Equity PRIs: An Underutilized Tool to Catalyze Early-Stage Impact Innovation | Featuring Eliza Roady, Managing Director, Sorenson Impact Foundation.
Financing Nature: Unlocking Capital for Health and Climate Resilience | Featuring Katie Macc and Janis Dubno, Managing Director, Impact Finance, Sorenson Impact Institute.
Navigating the Legal Landscape of Impact Capital | Featuring Allison Boxer, Managing Director of Impact Academics, Sorenson Impact Institute.

👋 Not yet registered for SOCAP - Social Capital Markets? Save $300 with code SorensonImpact26! A limited number of discounted tickets remain, so don't wait: https://buff.ly/e5Mkxtc

10/08/2026

As companies scale or transition ownership, the pressure to prioritize financial returns can intensify, placing their social and environmental missions at greater risk. We call this pattern the "impact cliff." 🏞️

In a new series of case studies to be released throughout 2026, the Sorenson Impact Institute, along with the Ford Foundation and the Sorenson Impact Foundation, will examine these challenges and explore solutions that can preserve mission integrity as the field faces this critical pivot point.

🔖 Read the first article in the series by Margot Brandenburg, Senior Program Officer at the Ford Foundation, and Katie Macc, CEO of the Sorenson Impact Institute: https://buff.ly/YmX8XFa

A growing wave of founders is approaching the impact cliff, moments when a company’s mission becomes most vulnerable as it scales or transitions ownership.

10/07/2026

In our latest newsletter, we share highlights from two powerful events the Institute recently hosted and look ahead to SOCAP26, taking place next week in Chicago.

"The message of the events we design is that the people who will create the outcomes we need are right here in this room, so let's get to work," says Robert Munson, Managing Director at the Institute and CEO and President of SOCAP Global. That message is most powerful when we convene in person. And let's face it, it's also more fun that way."

🔗 Read the newsletter: https://buff.ly/ulSNkWu And if you haven't yet registered for , take advantage of our special discount code. We hope to see you there!

10/02/2026

At the Sorenson Impact Natural Capital Summit, held during , leaders from Blue Forest, World Resources Institute, and Walton Family Foundation joined the Institute's Janis Dubno for a conversation on financing structures that are expanding how capital reaches water. 💡

They explored blended finance, conservation finance, pay-for-success models, water quality trading, and environmental credit markets, with particular attention to how philanthropic first-loss capital can de-risk deals and crowd private investment into water and Nature-based Solutions (NbS).

🌱 We are excited to continue the conversation at , October 12-14, in Chicago. If you will be there, mark your agenda for the session "Financing Nature: Unlocking Capital for Water, Health and Climate Resilience," taking place Oct. 14 at 2:00 p.m.

Not yet registered for the SOCAP26? Save $300 with code SorensonImpact26! A limited number of discounted tickets remain, so don't wait: https://buff.ly/Y2jIM0p

10/01/2026

The Institute was proud to team up with the Great Salt Lake Alliance and the Sorenson Impact Foundation to host the inaugural Utah Blue Industry Summit, which convened more than 200 thought leaders shaping and investing in innovative solutions to Utah's water challenges and the Great Salt Lake. 🌊💡

The Summit brought together capital providers, corporate and industry leaders, entrepreneurs, policymakers, and scientists to coalesce around the urgent mobilization of capital toward innovative solutions for the lake. Attendees laid the foundational groundwork for partnerships, pipeline, and investments required to build a thriving water innovation ecosystem in Utah.

Here are just a few insights we heard during the Summit:

💬 "Utah hasn’t lacked concern for the Great Salt Lake. It has lacked capital moving at scale. The gap is capital; it is not hope.” — David Cu***ng, Founder, Great Salt Lake Alliance

💬 "We believe that alongside public capital and philanthropic capital, return-seeking capital has a real role to play in funding the innovations that will change the way that Utah uses and manages water for the long haul." — Katie Macc, CEO, Sorenson Impact Institute

💬 "The Great Salt Lake gives us an urgent reason to innovate, and the larger opportunity is to make Utah a place where the next generation of water solutions is built, tested, and scaled." — Hannah Freeze, Great Salt Lake Commissioner