AAACF Invests $2.5M+ in Washtenaw County to Shape an Equitable Washtenaw County

ANN ARBOR, Mich.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation (AAACF), Washtenaw County’s dedicated endowment, has invested $2 million of its assets in impact-generating opportunities alongside more than $500,000 from donors and partners in the community. AAACF is a local mission investor that seeks to shape an equitable Washtenaw County where access to economic opportunity (in the form of investment capital) is not constrained by race, concentrated wealth, or geography.

The Community Foundation believes that philanthropic capital can further the betterment of Washtenaw County through grants as well as investments. Impact investing unlocks additional capital beyond grants and scholarships. This in turn unlocks more opportunity to pursue and achieve lasting positive change on critical issues such as affordable housing and access to healthy food, and it can aid in growing and strengthening our local small business community.

Our impact investing vision is: With a focus on racial and social equity, all neighborhoods and communities in Washtenaw County have the same opportunity for generational human dignity with equitable access to our collective community wealth.

To date, AAACF has invested $2.5 million of its assets in impact-generating opportunities, including the following three partners, all working in Washtenaw County because of our investments:

• Fair Food Fund, fighting food deserts and feeding equity in Washtenaw County – fairfoodnetwork.org
• IFF Impact Connection, accelerating economic opportunity in Washtenaw County through mission lending – iff.org
• Michigan Women Forward, investing in women-owned businesses, empowering community in Washtenaw County – miwf.org

AAACF will invest more than $10 million in the next 5 years, as part of our commitment to making a deep and lasting impact in Washtenaw County. With the support of donors and partners, AAACF fast-tracked an additional $500,000+ this year for investments in our community. Partnerships like these are part of answering our community’s call to nourish a network that will become a foundation for an equitable local economic system. As we do so, AAACF will use our voice and platform to share stories of opportunity and progress, including research like the 2020 AAACF Washtenaw County Capital Research Report, the first of its kind to establish an independent & objective understanding of the local investment ecosystem.

Join AAACF in growing Washtenaw County together: aaacf.org/impact-investing

The Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation (AAACF) manages more than $200M in charitable assets and enriches the quality of life across Washtenaw County by distributing millions of dollars annually in grants, scholarships, and investments. AAACF prioritizes community through its core values of pursuing equity, earning trust, leveraging knowledge, and enhancing collaboration.