Meet Daniel Pryfogle, Cofounder and CEO of Sympara, which helps communities reimagine underutilized religious properties for social impact. Daniel has been at the forefront of a movement of sacred/civic placemaking that re-envisions sacred spaces as civic spaces, transforming the tangible real property of religious institutions into assets for the broader communities where those institutions sit. With deep grounding in spiritual discernment, Daniel helps faith communities look outward, engaging with the people and organizations beyond their doors, to see and seize opportunity to help their neighborhoods and cities thrive.

Meet the incomparable Rosa Lee Harden, Episcopal priest out of the deep south who created what has become the go-to convening in the impact investing field - SOCAP (Social Capital Markets) - and now is turning her energy to launching Faith + Finance, a new event in the same vein, but this time with theology.

Social innovation requires us to 1) believe there is a constructive way to change seemingly intractable problems, 2) rethink problems and opportunities, sometimes flipping accepted wisdom on its head, and 3) apply concepts or frameworks from different disciplines to spot potential new solutions. Which is why we love this article from Forbes about what Deborah Frieze is doing in impact investing in Boston.

LinkedIn recently published 50 Big Ideas for 2019: What to watch in the year ahead. The list is full of interesting predictions regarding the economy, workforce, tech, leadership, and a couple on social movements. Underlying many of the predictions are issues of values, ethics, and inclusion. As society seeks better solutions to the challenges that confront us - climate change, the potential effects of artificial intelligence, inequality, political polarization, shifting workforce trends, and more - what role will faith communities and institutions play? And what would these predictions look like if offered by faith leaders rather than business leaders? We’re going to find out in the coming weeks by seeking the input of our network. We’ll report back on what we hear, but in the meantime, here are a few recent faith trends that we expect will continue to grow in 2019.

Impact investing, the practice of leveraging private capital for social and environmental gains by making investments that produce social and environmental returns in addition to financial returns, has gained significant steam in the last several years. It has also begun to make inroads into the investment and mission strategies of faith-based institutions and investors.