What is the Emory Impact Investing Group?

Emory Impact Investing Group (EIIG) promotes social impact in the local Atlanta community through targeted short-term debt investments to microentrepreneurs. We also pair our entrepreneurs with designated student consulting teams to help grow their businesses. We provide an educational experience for our members by engaging them in all aspects of the lending process (fundraising, sourcing, investment analysis, due diligence, selection, and loan monitoring) as well as the opportunity to facilitate the growth of small businesses.

Closing the Microbusiness Gap

According to research recently conducted by Emory University, there is little difference in the number of large businesses between low- and high- poverty residential neighborhoods; however, there is a substantial gap in the number of microbusinesses (with four or fewer employees) per capita in high-poverty neighborhoods. EIIG believes that investing in such microbusinesses generates income for entrepreneurs and their families while simultaneously building neighborhood vitality. 

Why Your Support Matters to EIIG

In conjunction with Emory University’s Social Enterprise @ Goizueta and the Start:ME Accelerator Program, EIIG is working to expand the amount of capital available to promising microentrepreneurs starting or growing ventures in local Atlanta neighborhoods. In May of 2015, we selected our first entrepreneur, Nicole Massiah. Nicole runs a local bakery called Krumbz, and her bakery is dedicated to providing desserts that are “extraordinary in taste and looks.” Our investment is for capital expenditure to allow Krumbz to increase production of baked goods.

EIIG is a student-lead initiative that is sponsored by Social Enterprise @ Goizueta. All charitable donations to EIIG through Social Enterprise @ Goizueta are considered charitable contributions to Emory University and are tax-deductible to the extent provided by law. 

EIIG cannot continue to grow without your support. There are more promising entrepreneurs than funds to support them right now. With this in mind, your donations can be put to use quickly helping entrepreneurs accomplish their dreams and provide for their families. A small sample of the businesses that we have been in contact with include the following:

• A night-childcare business in Clarkston that allows parents to work night shifts while providing a place for their children to eat dinner, get a good night of sleep, and engage in constructive activities
• A law firm focused on providing a wide variety of legal services for immigrants and refugees in the Atlanta area at a discounted rate
• A commercial cleaning company that uses all organic products and only employs recent immigrants and refugees

This is just the surface of the vast potential that Atlanta holds for new microbusinesses. Your support will allow us to suitably and flexibly meet the needs of this rising entrepreneurial class.