History

Tideline has an established track record as the preeminent consultant in impact investing.

Leadership
Experience

Thought
Leadership

Client
Projects

Client
Milestones

Company
Events

Field
Event

Tideline Pre-History

2000

2000 - DAF – SRI & Impact Investing

Kim Wright-Violich, founding CEO of Schwab Charitable, Charles Schwab & Co.’s donor-advised fund (DAF), grows it from start-up to second largest DAF in the US. In 2004, Schwab Charitable offers SRI funds and in 2008 it pioneers a microfinance fund, first impact investment on DAF platform
2007

2007 - Investment Bank Social Finance

Christina Leijonhufvud creates and launches JP Morgan’s Social Finance business, a first-of-its-kind investment banking unit that publishes research on impact investing, makes proprietary investments in impact funds, and structures and distributes innovative impact products to clients
2010

2010 - Market Building

Ben Thornley, as the director of Pacific Community Ventures’ (PCV) consulting practice, initiates a global research and convening effort focused on the role of public policy in catalyzing impact investment, underwritten by one of four $1+ million grants from the Rockefeller Foundation for impact investing field-building
2010

2010 - Institutional Validation

Seminal JP Morgan report co-authored by Christina Leijonhufvud provides the first and most cited institutional-quality evidence that impact investing will establish itself as an important investment movement
2013

2013 - Global Leadership

The White House invites Ben Thornley to make the first expert presentation to the G8 Social Impact Investment Taskforce, which becomes the Global Steering Group on Impact Investment (GSG)

Tideline History

2014

2014 -

Tideline, a new women owned business, launches as a specialist consultant for the impact investing industry
2014

2014 - Inaugural Institutional Clients

Tideline focuses on institutional market and secures first institutional foundation, Development Finance Institution, and insurance company clients
2014

2014 - Impact Lessons

Ben Thornley, together with Cathy Clark and Jed Emerson, co-authors and publishes “The Impact Investor: Lessons in Leadership and Strategy for Collaborative Capitalism” (Jossey-Bass)
2015

2015 - Foundation PRI and Growth of MRI

Ford Foundation hires Tideline to redesign its Program Related Investment (PRI) strategy with social justice lens, in the process identifying anchor market sectors for a $1 billion Mission Related Investment (MRI) commitment. Tideline returns to develop Ford’s impact management system
2015

2015 - Mainstream Managers Launch Impact Funds

Mainstream global asset managers begin to explore impact investing. Tideline advises TPG on first multi-billion dollar impact fund launch
2016

2016 - International Development & Impact Investing

Tideline sets the strategic direction for the Office of Private Capital and Microenterprise at USAID, later partnering with DAI to create the USAID INVEST platform
2016

2016 - Attracting Private Capital to Global Health

Tideline leads Gates Foundation’s investigation of innovative, institutional-scale structured investment solutions in global health
2016

2016 - Maturation and Segmentation

Tideline, in partnership with Cathy Clark (Duke University) and with the support of the Omidyar Network, establishes the need for segmentation in a rapidly growing impact investment market and coins the term “impact classes,” laying the groundwork for the launch of the Impact Management Project
2017

2017 -

Tideline completes 50 client assignments
2018

2018 - Expansion Across Asset Classes

Tideline partners with Franklin Real Asset Advisors to design the impact management system for the firm’s first dedicated impact strategy: the Europe-focused Social Infrastructure Fund
2018

2018 - Impact Management & Standard Setting

With the emergence of impact management as a distinct technical discipline, Tideline works with theUnited Nations Development Programme to conceive of the SDG Impact initiative for standard-setting
2018

2018 - Generating Alpha

Tideline, in partnership with Impact Capital Managers (ICM), publishes Alpha in Impact documenting companies outperforming financially, for reasons related to their impact
2019

2019 -

Tideline completes 100 client assignments
2019

2019 - Catalytic Capital

As the research backbone of the Catalytic Capital Consortium — an initiative of the MacArthur Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation, and Omidyar Network — Tideline publishes “Catalytic Capital: Unlocking More Investment and Impact
2019

2019 - Largest Wealth Platforms Incorporate Impact

Individual investor demand increases and wealth management platforms hire Tideline to help design impact client interfaces and content
2020

2020 - Impact Investing Practice Standards

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) and 60 founding signatories introduce the Operating Principles for Impact Management (OPIM)
2020

2020 - Inaugural Impact Verification Report

Tideline publishes “Making the Mark” report featuring the results and takeaways from the first 13 verifications of investor alignment with the Operating Principles
2020

2020 - Impact Verification Firm Launched

Tideline launches BlueMark, an independent impact verification service for investors and companies