We give away part of our carry to nonprofits. I want every asset manager in the country to do the same. Starting with our 2 latest funds we launched at Aligned Climate Capital, we donate 3% of our carry to nonprofits working in clean energy access. Companies like GRID Alternatives, Let's Share The Sun Foundation, or the Honnold Foundation - organizations doing work that markets simply can't reach. Here's why that matters. Markets are good at deploying capital where returns exist, but not so much at serving communities with no purchasing power: renters, low-income households, communities that have absorbed decades of fossil fuel pollution and will never be positioned to participate in a rooftop solar program. Nonprofits fill that gap. They always have. What's changed is that the asset managers benefiting most from the energy transition now have the resources to fund them meaningfully. A 3% carry allocation costs relatively little at the fund level. Across the industry, it would add up to something significant. We started this with our second venture fund and carried it into our latest infrastructure fund. We recognize that the transition we're profiting from has to work for everyone - or it's not really a transition at all. My ask to other GPs and fund managers is to make this a norm, not a differentiator. The firms that helped build the clean energy economy should be the ones helping make sure its benefits reach the people who need them most.
AJ Perkins
1mo
Amazing. Way to lead. Keep up the great work Peter Davidson
Peter Davidson that's fantastic, what an amazing way to do systems impact work.
Stewart Craine
1mo
Great to see and hear! But can I challenge you to aim even higher? My calcs suggest that if cleantech allocated just 0.1% of their investment portfolio to energy access for the poorest 1 billion, that's enough to get 100% access to electricity to everyone on the planet. Unlike giving something away to charity, a lot of this would actually come back, and probably be profitable. Some might be lost, but who cares, you were going to give to charity anyway. Make that 0.1% the norm - 0.1% x $2 trillion cleantech investment globally is $2 billion per year, enough for 2-20 million households at $100-1000 per household (probably 100-1000W each). It won't move the needle on your returns, but it will on your PR and on ending energy poverty within our lifetimes. Which the US President seems hell bent on making worse, not better, so let's show what can be done with a bit more than a drop in the bucket that won't actually be anywhere near enough to get the job done. Get the job done, and be proud of it. Tell me why you can't, let's explore the reasons - there's plenty of US-based companies like SunKing, don't have invest directly in emerging markets, and they have an excellent chance to IPO, are already doing over $100 million revenue.
Tanya Khotin
1mo
Great but isn’t the answer in the underlying policy choices that continue to exacerbate income inequality and the extent to which polluters are even allowed to harm unprotected communities? For example, Delilah Rothenberg recently shared an article that PE caused consolidation in the fire truck industry such that municipalities could barely afford to buy equipment. As a PE investor, wouldn’t working to reduce the harm caused by the PE industry in everything from healthcare and pharmacy service to fire truck consolidation be a good use of time and resources? Nonprofits serve a super important role but can also enable governments shirking responsibility.
Robert Gudea
1mo
Is there a way for community frontline justice groups to get connected with you? Aside from the desperate need for funding, my non profit lost so much after election, how do you make sure the work your funding meets the needs of communities that may not fit cleanly into the foundation model?
Clark Smidt
1mo
Broadcasting will add to your mission. www.broadcastideas.com
Yaron Vilosny
1mo
Peter, this is real leadership. The energy transition cannot just reward the capital stack and leave the most burdened communities behind. Making a portion of carry flow back into clean-energy access should become standard practice across the industry. At Terra Energy, this is exactly how I think about infrastructure: if we are building the future of power, resilience, and mobility, that future has to include the people who have paid the highest price from pollution and the least benefit from investment. Strong move.
Thank you, Peter Davidson, for this leadership. As someone working on energy access for low-income communities and social infrastructure (schools, health centers) in Central Africa, I see daily how markets alone cannot reach those who need it most. Nonprofits and community-based organizations are indeed essential partners. Your 3% carry commitment is a concrete model that others should follow. Not just as charity, but as recognition that the energy transition is only truly successful when it benefits everyone. Thank you for setting this example.
This is inspired leadership Peter Davidson Chandra Farley Robert Bullard