We’re on a mission. To build an economy that works. For everyone. And we know that the way to get there is to back social entrepreneurs making that vision a reality every day in their communities. Entrepreneurs like Carl Phinney. “There has to be something better. There have to be…

By: Maria Kim, President & CEO “I have other gifts.” That’s what I used to say on exam day at Booth, where I went to business school more than a decade ago. I made the choice to get my MBA in the second chapter of my career, because I had…

By Maria Kim, President & CEO In my first job out of college, I moved up fairly quickly — even becoming a VP at around 23. (That perhaps sounds more exciting than it was. In financial services, I recall these titles being passed out like candy, but at the time…

By: Pablo Gaxiola The full meaning of what we experience as kids doesn’t hit us until later in life. Hardened by the age of 12, I was left to fend for myself and change who I was so I could survive on the street. As a product of the Juvenile…

By: Maria Kim, President & CEO I’ve been thinking a lot about chances lately. That one simple word can mean so many things. Luck. Opportunity. Even a gamble. And that got me to thinking: how lucky would I be if the odds were stacked against me? As advocates and evangelists…

By: Maria Kim, President On the eve of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, I sit in the imbalance of two truths: deep admiration for how Dr. King changed the world with his life and deep admonition for how that world has failed to live up to that change. Years ago…

By: Maria Kim, President Milestones have been on my mind lately. Likely because I’m hitting one this year: 50 years young. Or because REDF is hitting one too: 25 years strong. Or maybe because I just cleared the milestone of my first four months on the job. …

Let’s Honor the Salt of the Earth By: Carla Javits, CEO “Salt of the earth” is a phrase that comes from one of the most famous public lectures of all time. In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus used it to describe his followers — fishermen, laborers, and other regular…