Candide Group Spring 2024 Newsletter | Some of our team members this April post-viewing the solar eclipse! | |
2024 has already been a year of tremendous growth for Candide Group, with the launch of our Afterglow Climate Justice Fund, the evolution of our Olamina community debt vehicle, and the continued commitment of our community of foundations and families seeking to make money a tool for social justice.
As we look to the future and seek to further expand our impact, we want to be an even more leader-full organization. It’s therefore our pleasure to announce that George Ashton will be joining Candide Group as our CEO, effective June 1st. Working alongside Founding Partners Morgan Simon and Aner Ben-Ami, George’s role will be to sharpen our strategic direction and further the ways we seek to support our mission, internal team, and external partners. Learn more about George below!
| Help Us Welcome Our New CEO! |  | |
George Ashton joins our team with substantial experience in the impact investing field, an entrepreneurial spirit, and most importantly to us, a deep commitment to social equity and environmental justice.
Most recently, George served as both President of LISC Fund Management and Managing Director of LISC Strategic Investments, where he helped build a Registered Investment Advisory practice ultimately managing 11 funds with over $840M in assets. These funds are working to create quality jobs, fuel small businesses, particularly in communities of color, improve housing, and overall seek to make communities more equitable.
Previously, George served as Co-founder and President of Sol System, a Washington, D.C.-based renewable energy investment firm. He worked on innovative funds and financial structures there, deploying more than $1 billion in tax equity, cash equity and debt into renewable energy projects. Prior to that, he spent seven years at Fannie Mae, where he managed over $50B in housing-related transactions in partnership with banks nationally.
George’s 20+ year career balancing both entrepreneurial and investment roles very much fit the moment as Candide seeks to build the organizational strength to match the challenges of our generation. Please feel free to reach out to him at george@candidegroup.com to welcome him to the family!
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Join our team as Director of Operations!
We're seeking a Director of Operations to play a pivotal role in our remote work environment, reporting directly to the CEO. Responsibilities include managing general administration, human resources, financial processes, and technology systems.
Key Qualifications:
Proven track record in team leadership and scale management.
5-10 years of HR and financial management experience.
Tech-savvy with expertise in HR, project management, and IT tools.
Strong commitment to promoting justice, equity, diversity and inclusion.
Experience in impact investing is a plus.
Location: Preferably Bay Area-based, but open to other locations nationwide.
Hours, Compensation, and Benefits: This is a full-time exempt position with a salary range of $130,000.00 - $150,000.00, plus medical, dental, and vision insurance, an employer-contributed 401 (K), and 15 days of PTO with two additional weeks off in July and December.
To Apply: Send your cover letter and resume to hiring@candidegroup.com with “Director of Operations Application” in the subject line by May 17, 2024.
| Recent Investments By Candide Clients | | |
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Aclima*
Aclima is a purpose-driven technology company dedicated to catalyzing bold climate action that protects public health, reduces emissions, and advances environmental justice.
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Everytable*
Everytable seeks to empower entrepreneurs from marginalized communities by providing a clear and supported path to business ownership. Serving as a model approach to franchising, a system largely devoid of diversity and representation by people of color and women, the program provides critical access to capital for qualifying graduates plus in-depth, hands-on training to empower and prepare minority entrepreneurs to operate Everytable restaurants in their own communities.
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Employee Opportunity Catalyst Fund*
The national Employee Ownership Catalyst Fund supports businesses throughout the US that want to transition to employee ownership and need capital to finance the transition and transaction.
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Firebrand PBC*
Born and raised in the East Bay, Firebrand is committed to serving the community both as an employer and as a local artisan bakery. Firebrand is committed to hiring formerly incarcerated and homeless people. The investment was designed to include workers in profit sharing alongside investors and to transfer partial ownership of the company into a Purpose Trust to ensure long-term mission preservation.
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* denotes a follow-on investment
The investments discussed herein have been included based on the following methodology: all investments Candide Group has facilitated on behalf of our clients since the publishing of our last all-network newsletter and investments with recent public news events. For a complete list of all investments, please click the “list of past specific recommendations for the last 12 months” link above. | |
From Our Community to Yours | | |
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by Founding Partner Morgan Simon for Forbes.com
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Stay tuned for updates, including our forthcoming 2023 Impact Report, news about Olamina Fund and Afterglow Climate Justice Fund, and so much more! | |
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View our list of past specific recommendations for the last 12 months. For more information about Candide, please see our Form ADV, Part 2A.
Disclosure: The information contained in this document is intended for educational and information purposes only and should not be considered investment tax or legal advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any particular security. Please consult with your tax and legal advisors regarding your particular circumstances.Certain statements contained herein may constitute projections, forecasts, and other forward-looking statements, which do not reflect actual results and are based primarily upon a hypothetical set of assumptions applied to certain historical financial information. Certain information has been provided by third-party sources, and, although believed to be reliable, it has not been independently verified, and its accuracy or completeness cannot be guaranteed.Any opinions, projections, forecasts, and forward-looking statements presented herein are valid as of the date of this document and are subject to change. The views and opinions are those of the author as of the date of publication and are subject to change at any time. This material represents an assessment of the market environment at a specific point in time and is not intended to be a forecast of future events, or a guarantee of future results. Candide Group is under no obligation to update this information after the date of this publication. Past performance is not indicative of future results; no representation is being made that any investment will or is likely to achieve profits or losses like those achieved in the past, or that significant losses will be avoided. An investor should consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses of any financial product carefully before investing. Investing involves various risks, including loss of principal. Charts and graphs provided herein are for illustrative purposes only. For more information about Candide, please see our Form ADV, Part 2A.
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Rider 1: On May 1, 2024, the Afterglow Climate Justice Fund was recognized on the Transformative Finance 25 List for 2024, published by Collective Action for Just Finance provided as of May 1. Inclusion on the list should not be deemed an endorsement and is not indicative of a fund manager's performance. The Transformative 25 Committee selects a list of funds, banks and initiatives that are demonstrating the power of integrated capital strategies to reimagine and recreate a financial system that works for people and the planet. For more information on the selection process, visit: https://iciaptos.com/the-transformative-25/. | | | | |
