In an ideal world, we would all invest in businesses, funds, projects, or people in our own backyards. But the marketplace of local investment opportunities in the United States is immature—and worse worldwide. That’s why I diversify my own portfolio by investing in the New Hampshire Community Loan Fund and the Vermont Community Loan Fund, even though I live in the desert in southern California. We should try to support local businesses and local economies somewhere, even if it’s not realistic in our own communities.
If you’re struggling to find a good local investment opportunity, look at opportunities in faraway communities in countries like Kenya and Bangladesh. As this week’s guest interviewee, Marilyn Waite, points out, if you are concerned about climate change, you might prioritize investing in countries where 75% of greenhouse gases now originate—and where even more will be generated in the very near future. Waite is the founder and executive director of Capital for Sustainability (C4S), which is using strategic philanthropy to open up investment opportunities in the Global South and mobilize more capital to flow into them. Even such simple acts as putting capital in small credit unions in the Caribbean can leverage 10-15 times more climate investment for every dollar you put in.
If you want great funds and businesses closer to home to invest in, please scroll through our listings of offerings and funds below the interview.
- Michael H. Shuman, Publisher
Publication of The Main Street Journal depends on your support. If we can reach 600 subscribers by the end of this year, we can continue delivering The Main Street Journal in 2027. (Below is a chart of our progress toward this goal.) If you like what you’re reading, please consider becoming a paid subscriber today. Paid subscribers can attend our monthly “Mondays with Michael” and receive a free consult on their projects.
INTERVIEW WITH MARILYN WAITE
MS: Marilyn, thanks for talking with us today. Tell us about your organization, Capital for Sustainability (C4S). What exactly does it do?
MW: C4S raises and then deploys philanthropic capital across low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), also known as the Global South, to demonstrate market viable climate finance products and drive systemic change in the financial system. We work across the supply chain of private finance, from risk-tolerant venture capital and patient capital to more risk-averse lending from banks, credit unions, and other depository institutions. Financial systems are ecosystems, and to deliver sufficient financial capital to climate solutions in any given country, each component must work in a unified way.
Think, for example, about a new climate solutions company. That company must be able to attract early-stage capital, growth capital, and ultimately mature capital. The types of investors and lenders are different at every stage, but all types of investors are needed for the ecosystem to work and for that climate solution to scale and have its positive impact. C4S therefore intervenes by providing grant capital to organizations working to improve the ecosystem by developing new policies and by providing incentives to attract private climate finance at each stage. C4S also places its grant capital into climate finance investment products to demonstrate what’s feasible.
The high-level aim of C4S is to double private climate finance for LMICs within five years, moving from the current $43 billion to around $100 billion.
MS: Why is a philanthropic intermediary needed to drive climate investing in the Global South? Given the huge drops in the costs of solar equipment and batteries over the last decade, why can’t the market do it on its own?
MW: We believe strategic philanthropy is needed to overcome inertia in the marketplace—to help make things happen faster and to scale. C4S is addressing a core bottleneck in climate action: private capital is not moving to climate solutions in LMICs at anything close to the scale required. While estimates vary, there is a general consensus that at least $4 trillion in annual investments are needed to solve the climate crisis; this is roughly 4% of the world’s annual GDP. So not a lot of money. While the world currently invests about $2 trillion each year in climate solutions (that includes both public and private dollars), only 15% is mobilized for LMICs (excluding China), and only 3% for Africa.
Unfortunately, LMICs account for 75 percent of greenhouse gas emissions, and perhaps more importantly, most future emissions growth. There is a real risk of locking in polluting infrastructure in the Global South if climate finance remains absent.
About 80% of climate finance for LMICs comes in the form of public finance. The absence of private finance in particular is problematic for two foundational reasons: one, Global South governments have limited fiscal space, and two, increasingly high debt-to-GDP ratios further constrain public budgets.
MS: So why isn’t private investment flowing into these countries?
MW: Some may point to the real risks that come with investing in the Global South. I’d counter that investors are pretty skilled at managing risk, especially through diversification. The real impediment is that investors in the Global North lack exposure to enough climate investments in the Global South to diversify. That’s where we can help.
When I think about systems change, I like to use the framework established by Kania, Kramer, and Senge, where transformative change happens and is sustained in three layers: The explicit layer is policies, practices, and resource flows. Underlying these, though, are two other layers. There’s an implicit layer of one’s mental model. And there’s a semi-explicit layer of power dynamics, relationships, and connections. It’s this last layer, the networking and connections, that’s the biggest barrier to investing in the Global South.
Just to round out the challenges, let’s name the other barriers: currency volatility, policy uncertainty, limited data, smaller deal sizes, and fewer trusted intermediaries. Access barriers also matter: many energy investment platforms and portfolios in the Global North have no connection to opportunities in the Global South. On the ground, local financial institutions often lack the concessional funding and technical capacity to design and price differentiated climate lending products for households and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
MS: So you are focused on systems change. How does C4S approach this challenge?
MW: We deploy grant capital to reduce the structural barriers that prevent private climate finance from flowing to and within LMICs at scale. Among the things that we fund are:
Research and communications at think tanks and universities on mechanisms that incentivize private climate finance, such as macroprudential rule reform and investor tax incentives;
Diasporic and investor organizations that can organize cross-border climate investment, leveraging the $800 billion annual remittance market;
Credit unions and community banks that develop and offer climate-specific lending and savings products at affordable rates; and
Venture studios in LMICs focused on climate deep tech and climate fintech.
While these grants do not generate a financial return, they create visible evidence of what climate finance models can achieve and inform the systemic changes needed to scale them.
MS: Can you give us one or two examples of grants that have unlocked private climate finance?
MW: One of the most straightforward ways of unlocking private climate finance is through local depository financial institutions. For every dollar that a bank or credit union has in deposits, it can generally leverage that in multiples of 10 or 15 times. Let me give you two examples of supporting the credit union system by C4S leadership below.
In the Caribbean, Inclusiv, a US credit union network that includes Puerto Rico, and the Caribbean Confederation of Credit Unions (CCCU), a credit union network that spans 14 countries and territories, joined forces to build a green lending program. To date, 43 credit unions, serving an estimated 500,000 members and managing $1.3 billion in loans, have enrolled in a rigorous multi-week green lending training program. Conservative projections are that this program will originate $22 million in new green loans reaching 2,500 households by 2028, primarily for solar-plus-battery and climate-resilient roofing. Most participating credit unions had no prior green lending experience.
Another example is an effort supporting Kenyan credit unions (known as Savings and Credit Cooperative Organizations, or SACCOs). This example also points to the potential power of diasporas. Overseas Kenyans, now estimated at 4 million people, provided $5 billion in remittances to the Kenyan economy in 2025. Imagine what would happen if the wider Pan-African diaspora, estimated at 350 million people, were mobilized for climate finance? We helped provide five SACCOs—K-Unity, KUDS, Unaitas, Stima, and Qona—with the capacity to develop both climate loans and climate depository products. The program, still ongoing, has reached over 8,000 diaspora members collectively holding KES 2.5 billion ($19.4 million) in deposits within weeks, and market research across three continents identified $75-300 million in annual market potential for climate-linked savings products.
C4S maintains a strong partnership with the World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU), the global apex organization of global credit unions, representing 411 million credit union members across 104 countries. WOCCU has been a hands-on implementing partner across C4S’s credit union work.
MS: You also have a market demonstration program. How exactly does that work?
MW: The market demonstration pillar of the C4S strategy deploys concessional capital through a charitable vehicle. Many foundations choose to support this kind of strategy through a Program Related Investment (PRI), though many foundations also choose to support it through normal grants. This grant capital is allocated across climate solutions listed equities, fixed income (green bonds), project finance, and other financial instruments in LMICs. By placing capital directly into LMIC climate investment products, C4S demonstrates to investors that these markets offer viable, financial return-generating opportunities. Any financial returns are reused to further the charitable purpose of C4S.
MS: So, some of our readers are climate investors. Where might they find some opportunities to invest in the Global South?
MW: Your investors can find all kinds of opportunities, from opening savings accounts at sustainable banks and credit unions in the Global South to investing in green, social, and sustainability-linked bonds. Carbon Collective has put together an open-access database, which lists the publicly listed climate equities available across Africa, Asia, and the Americas. There are also a number of ETFs and mutual funds that provide exposure to such stocks. Climate-themed savings accounts range from EcoFedha Climate Savings Account by the Kenya USA Diaspora SACCO (KUDS) to Bangladesh Finance’s Green Deposit product. A number of platforms have enabled both investments into climate SMEs in the Global South (such as Lendahand) and renewable energy project finance in the Global South (such as Red Girasol in Mexico, Energea for both Africa and the Americas, and Energise Africa).
Many opportunities are not widely available online, and their invisibility is something C4S is seeking to solve for. For example, Old Mutual, a Pan-African investment, insurance, and banking group, operates a Zimbabwe Renewable Energy Fund; this fund has grown to $45 million and seeks to reach $100 million, and the fund is open to both retail and institutional checks. But you probably wouldn’t know about it if I didn’t mention it.
MS: I’m curious about your own personal journey. What was the professional path that led you to C4S?
After studying both civil and environmental engineering and engineering for sustainable development, I entered the workforce doing what I was trained to do: I worked on large infrastructure projects. My first engineering job was working to improve operations and manufacturing productivity at a nuclear fuel recycling plant in France. Eventually, I would find my way to corporate research, development, and innovation and to topics such as the energy-water nexus, renewable energy, and the challenges around financing a low-carbon future. In 2018, I landed a job to create and manage the climate and clean energy finance portfolio at the William and Fora Hewlett Foundation, where I focused on capital domiciled in the US, the EU, and China. Through my 8-year term at the Foundation, I further realized that the money behind climate action was not sufficiently focused on the Global South, and that the movement needed a vehicle to shift not only its own resources, but also the broader resources of private wealth.
MS: Okay, final question. About you. Where do you live now, and have you figured out some ways you can personally invest in your community?
MW: I live in Issy-les-Moulineaux, France, and yes, I have found ways to personally invest. There are crowdinvesting and lending platforms such as Lita, Lendosphere, Lumo, and Enerfip. Terre de Liens is especially innovative regarding all that is local, in that people can choose on a map what farms they want to support via a tax-advantaged savings account; Terre de Liens supports land acquisition for organic farm conversion. On the banking side, I’m a supporter of Green Got and La Nef, both of whom are listed on the Bank for Good resource list.
I have also supported the development of personal climate finance workshops through a local organization called Ecolau. They are using the French version of Activate Your Money (Activez Votre Argent) to help members of the community align their household savings and investments with sustainability, including climate action. Their local hub is called La Fabrique d’Issy, where they converted an old post office into a local community center that offers everything from foreign language conversations (like English and Spanish) to knitting classes, making your own eco-friendly household items like soap, a kids’ corner for storytelling, board games, a mini library, and a garment exchange. They also host a small café because we enjoy sipping tea and coffee over here.
NEW INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES
Below is our list of recently posted investment opportunities across the United States. Please note that our listing of these opportunities does not constitute an endorsement. Remember that all investments carry risk. Click on the hyperlinks and read the details carefully before investing.
Use the map below to help you find an investment opportunity near you. Each issue, we’ll highlight about a half dozen active campaigns.
COMPREHENSIVE LISTINGS
Click the images below to view our comprehensive list of investment opportunities, organized by theme or region.
NEW OPPORTUNITIES
INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES BY KEY THEMES
✔️ Energy 💡
✔️ Food & Farming 🌱
✔️ Housing 🏡
INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES BY REGION
✔️ Great Lakes
✔️ Mid-Atlantic
✔️ Midwest
✔️ New England
✔️ Rocky Mountains
✔️ South
✔️ Southwest
✔️ West
FUNDS OPEN TO GRASSROOTS INVESTORS
The following is our first draft of funds that invest in local businesses and are open to non-accredited investors. Please help us add to this list!
MSJ & PARTNER EVENTS
TEA National Conference & ESOP Advocacy Day - In-Person Event (Washington, DC): May 5 - 8
Introduction to Employee Ownership Trusts for Ownership Transition and Succession - Virtual Event: May 7, at 12 pm ET
Mondays With Michael - Virtual Event: May 11, at 3 pm ET
Unlocking Community Capital: Lowcountry Local First’s Invest Local Initiative - Virtual Event: May 14, at 1 pm ET
Michigan Good Business Summit - In-Person Event (Detroit, MI): June 25
JOBS BOARD
Boston Impact Initiative: Director of Development and Investor Relations, Impact Investing Associate, and Impact Investing Intern
Equal Exchange: Marketing & Web Team Generalist
Equity Trust: Executive Director
BECOME A MAIN STREET CHAMPION
Whatever your interest or ambition, we invite you to “go public” to help others in your region find you, scheme with you, and start a local investment movement in your community. We aim to identify dozens, then hundreds, then thousands of Main Street Champions like you in every corner of the globe. Together, we can move our hard-earned savings from Wall Street to Main Street, putting them to work in our own communities. Fill out the intake survey below to join this growing cohort!
About The Main Street Journal
The Main Street Journal aims to catalyze the movement of $50 trillion from Wall Street to Main Street, facilitating economic development and economic justice. It’s sponsored by the National Coalition for Community Capital. We welcome feedback on all aspects, from our design to our content. Please send your ideas to Jen Risley at jen@main-street-journal.com.
If you would like to support our work, please use the button below. Thank you!
Our Team:
Michael Shuman – MSJ Publisher
Paul Spinrad - Decent Tuesdays Writer & Editor
Jen Risley - MSJ Editor
Wendy Wasserman - Strategic Advisor
PARTNERS
Abrams+Angell | American Independent Business Alliance | Candide Group | Capital for Change | Capital Institute | Community-Vision Solutions | Cordata Capital | Council Fire | Crowdfund Better | Crowdfund Capital Advisors | Democracy Collaborative | Eleanor LeCain | Exit to Community Collective | Fair Food Network | Garlic and Roses | Impact Finance Center | ImpactPHL | Initiative for Local Capital | Institute for Local Self-Reliance | The Kassan Group | Longfellow Health Clubs | Mission Driven Finance | National Coalition for Community Capital | Natural Investments | Neighborhood Associates | Neighborhood Economics | New Majority Capital | Next Egg | Nonprofit Quarterly | Ownership America | Ownership Capital Lab | Ownership Matters | Partnership for Southern Equity | PathLight Law | Project Equity | Project for Public Spaces | Prospera Partners | Raise Green | Revalue | Rising Tide Capital | Schumacher Center for a New Economics | Shelterforce | Slow Money | SOCAP | Sun Valley Institute for Resilience | The Super Crowd Inc. | Sustainable Business Network of MA | Transform Finance | Uwharrie Bank | Village Well | Zebras Unite
We welcome any nonprofit or for-profit entity committed to local investment as a partner. If your organization is interested, please contact Jen Risley at jen@main-street-journal.com.