The Power of Cooperatives in Real Estate and Impact Investing with Kachuwa

About this episode

The episode explores how cooperatives can redefine entrepreneurship and impact investing for societal good while maintaining financial returns.

What does it take to redefine entrepreneurship for both impact and profit, and can owning less of a company mean achieving more? In this episode of The Angel Next Door Podcast, listeners are invited to consider how traditional business structures and investment models can be transformed for greater societal good without sacrificing returns. Blake Jones joins Marcia Dawood as today's guest—a self-described accidental entrepreneur who transitioned from engineering in the oil and gas sector to pioneering employee ownership through Namaste Solar. His journey includes international work in renewable energy, founding a successful solar cooperative, and now leading the innovative Kachuwa Impact Fund, which democratizes impact investing via a cooperative model boasting over 300 members and nearly 100 diversified assets. The episode takes a deep dive into how Blake Jones and the Kachuwa Impact Fund structure investments to balance financial returns with meaningful impact. Offering an accessible, diversified portfolio that pays annual dividends, the fund supports employee ownership conversions, affordable housing, and more—all governed democratically. If you’ve ever wondered how to invest…

People in this episode

Host: Marcia Dawood

Guest: Blake Jones

Topics covered

• cooperatives
• impact investing
• entrepreneurship
• employee ownership
• real estate
• financial returns
• societal good

Keywords

• cooperatives
• impact investing
• employee ownership
• financial returns
• affordable housing
• democratic governance
• renewable energy
• solar cooperative

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Namaste Solar, Kachuwa Impact Fund, Kachuwa

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