RSF Social Finance recently selected Flexible Capital Fund (Flex Fund) President Janice St Onge of Stowe, VT, as one of 24 professionals for its Integrated Capital Institute, an intensive program designed to provide connections and strategies practitioners need to help values-drive philanthropies and investors deploy capital for lasting social and environmental benefit.
Through the program, St Onge will learn to apply RSF’s integrated capital approach: the coordinated use of diverse forms of capital (including loans, loan guarantees, investments and grants), network connections, and advisory services to support enterprises that are solving complex social and environmental problems. Launched in 2017, the fellowship is the first program for financial practitioners who want to focus on integrated capital.
“I hope to bring back to Vermont a network of people who are fundamentally rethinking the purpose of wealth and investing,” said St Onge. “It is my hope that we can take action to use capital wisely to create a more just, fair and sustainable world.”
Launched in 2011, the Flex Fund is a Vermont-based and mission-focused investment fund that provides risk capital to help businesses in Vermont’s food system, forestry and clean energy sectors grow. As the only licensed lender in Vermont to provide royalty financing, the Flex Fund invests in Vermont companies that strengthen or fill a gap in their supply chain. The Flex Fund is a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) lender, which provides advisory and development resources to help portfolio companies grow.
St Onge is also a member of the Vermont and Northern New England (NNE) Women’s Investors Networks, and serves on the Clean Energy Development Fund Board and advisory board for the Small Business Development Center.
Learn more about the Flex Fund by visiting flexiblecapitalfund.com. flexiblecapitalfund.com ~ facebook.com/FlexFund/ ~ linkedin.com/company/flexible-capital-fund/