2014 FIR Summary

Over the past fourteen years, the Financial Innovations Roundtable (FIR), located at the Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire, has worked with a range of community development and other types of financial institutions, government agencies, foundations, and trade associations to address and solve problems related to access to capital. The FIR does this by tapping the expertise of thought leaders from the institutional investment, banking, philanthropic, and community development industries. In 2014, after a long and productive relationship with the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, the FIR moved to Washington, D.C., in a new partnership with the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. The FIR also created a formal Advisory Board after years of informal advice from industry leaders. (See Appendix.)

The 2014 Financial Innovations Roundtable focused on new practices and new opportunities for health-related community investment. What are the most promising ideas? What type of capital and products are needed? How can we promote policies and practices to grow the field? The event was not for health-first Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) working primarily with health-first funders to deliver health-first outcomes. Rather, it tapped those CDFIs, funders, and health partners that are looking holistically at communities and realize that health is both an input and an outcome of other aspects of community development, including housing, transportation, jobs, and education.

As background, many funders have recently begun to focus on health care delivery to marginalized communities as a developmental goal. Community investments in this sector include investment in health care clinics, healthier housing, and other service provisions to underserved communities under its broader umbrella. Despite this recent activity, health and health outcomes have generally not been organizing principles for community investment. Two recent trends that suggest the sector is ripe for development are: (1) New federal programs and legislation have expanded the demand and increased the public funding available for health care in underserved communities, particularly through federally qualified community health clinics; and (2) Community investors have begun to argue that achieving positive health outcomes is an appropriate goal, as it captures a holistic measure of positive social benefits from targeted investing.

As a result, health-related community investment is emerging and has the potential to bring in new sources of capital.