Investor

Sustainable Endowments Institute

United States of America

The Sustainable Endowment Institute (SEI) is a special project of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors. Founded in 2005, the Cambridge-based nonprofit pioneers research, education and outreach to advance resilient institutional responses to the climate crisis. Focusing on sustainable use of endowment and operations assets, SEI promotes innovative impact investing by nonprofit and public institutions. The Institute is leading the Billion Dollar Green Challenge in the United States and Canada, as well as the Leaders in Energy Efficiency Financing (LEEF) Network in New England. These initiatives are creating collaborative frameworks empowering institutions to use green revolving funds to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and boost their bottom lines. SEI's facilitation of green revolving funds is transforming energy efficiency improvements from being perceived as expenses to recognition that they can serve as high-return investments. A suite of tools for participating institutions includes GRITS, a new web platform for sharing energy, financial and carbon data. Along with climate and cost benefits, SEI's work is fostering campus and community engagement, developing local jobs and creating opportunities for student leadership and experiential learning. The Institute's current work builds on their groundbreaking College Sustainability Report Card first issued in 2007. This trend-setting annual survey—evaluating more than 300 leading colleges—spurred stakeholders to learn from, and outperform, peer institutions in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Another earlier breakthrough was joining with the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) to produce the Minority-Serving Institutions Green Report.

Type: Accelerator/Incubator

Geography: Canada

Impact: Access to Energy