Since our founding 25 years ago, New Profit has co-created our practices and developed pattern recognition alongside the social entrepreneurs we fund and support. In 2018, we made an explicit commitment to evolving the composition of our portfolio in order to better reflect our beliefs around what was needed to fundamentally and equitably shift systems. We sought to invest in a more racially diverse group of leaders to interrupt inequitable capital flows in the system; to invest in organizations serving as systems change orchestrators in the ecosystem; and, in addition to our strong presence in K-12 education, we aimed to increase our portfolio of Economic Mobility and Democracy entrepreneurs.
As we began this work, we knew we could not achieve the change we sought by simply changing who we selected. We had to look deeply at ourselves, our own practices and beliefs, and update both the tools and approaches of our work. More importantly, we had to evolve our stance and mindsets. To that end, in 2020 we created what we call the “Impact Compass.”
The Impact Compass is the result of our own learning journey. We looked at lessons from our history to interrogate assumptions and expose vulnerabilities. Some of these lessons reaffirmed elements of New Profit’s model and approach, while others called for changes and evolution. We share our key learnings to mark where we are on our journey and invite feedback from our community
- Centering equity drives systems change
It has always been true that New Profit and our portfolio organizations seek to challenge, disrupt, and re-architect systems that are inherently biased and structurally unjust. The Impact Compass allowed us—required us—to name that truth and live by it: advancing equity drives all of our portfolio work. Equity is the reason we’re here. It isn’t a byproduct of our work. It is our work, in both process and in outcome. It isn’t a facet of the change we pursue. It is the fundamental system change we seek: to create a future where all can thrive in the lives of their choosing. - Proximity is powerful
New Profit has always supported talented, visionary social entrepreneurs focused on reshaping systems from within the communities they serve. Over time, we have come to call these changemakers “Proximate Leaders.” Proximity means being of or meaningfully guided by the communities you seek to support, and centering the wisdom, ideas, agendas, assets, and input of these communities. In short, proximity is a form of expertise—and it is not static. Proximity is a practice. The organizations best positioned to achieve long-term change are those that build this practice into how they work, gathering and acting on feedback, continuously learning, evolving, and adapting to what they learn. - Progress should be measured holistically
In the past, New Profit has often talked about “winners,” and our “definition of victory” has tended to highlight organizations that have achieved the greatest growth and scale. Defining winning as a clear, shared destination, or by any imposed rubric—such as “proof points” or direct scale models, or by a particular leadership structure or style—undermined our values of equity, systems change, and proximity. New Profit’s partners enter our portfolio at different starting points and pursue different ways and means of achieving impact. We recognize that our work is to help them reach their destinations, not ours. - Philanthropy must listen to those it seeks to support
New Profit has long worked to challenge and reverse damaging power imbalances. How we work with our portfolio organizations as true partners and how we show up as funders are important “outputs” that are built upon a learning relationship. We believe deep listening is core to creating enduring, honest, learning relationships. We must build mechanisms to hear directly from entrepreneurs and the communities they serve, and continuously adapt to what we hear and learn.