New York State has launched its first ever state-led Social Impact Bond (SIB), and Social Finance, a nonprofit organization that presented at AISP’s November 2013 conference, played a key role in its inception. In this deal, many organizations and agencies, including Social Finance, The State of New York, The Center for Employment Opportunities, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, The Robin Hood Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation, and Chesapeake Research Associates, came together to form a landmark partnership. The result is a $13.5 million equity capital raise – the largest of its kind. Equally important, this SIB offering is the first to be facilitated by a leading wealth management platform and made available to qualified private and institutional investors. Social Finance shares that more than 40 investors have already become involved in this pay-for-success initiative.
The overall objective of this SIB is to expand comprehensive re-entry employment to 2,000 formerly incarcerated individuals in both NYC and Rochester, NY. This program is also preventative, and will take measures to increase workforce re-entry levels among participants and reduce recidivism rates for newly released individuals. The common goal of this project is to increase employment and improve public safety in New York State. This landmark partnership already embodies steps toward progress and collaboration between public, private, and nonprofit sectors.
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