2018 Conference Report: Third Vatican Conference on Impact Investing

On July 8–10, 2018, the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development and Catholic Relief Services (CRS) hosted the Third Vatican Conference on Impact Investing (VIIC2018). VIIC2018 is the latest in a biennial series of conferences that serve as a vital, long-term, global platform around Pope Francis’ vision of “placing the economy at the service of peoples.” The conference was co-sponsored by the Omidyar Network and Caritas Internationalis.

VIIC2018 welcomed 160 participants, including leaders representing large investment firms, social enterprises, investment advisory firms, government, institutional and family foundations, and the Catholic Church. The primary objective was to move more money into the impact investing sector with an emphasis on targeting the most poor and vulnerable. The conference generated dynamic discussion and momentum with more than 50 people and organizations pledging almost $1 billion in new impact investment to be raised or deployed over the next several years. More than 100 additional pledges were made to conduct due diligence, mentor social enterprises, strengthen the ecosystem, and more. CRS will be tracking commitments and sharing out progress. This report highlights some of these commitments and the sessions presented at the conference. For more information, please see the conference website at http://www.viiconference.org/.