Stories & Voices
Italian Cuisine Served Up With a Twist of Good
August 2nd, 2017

This past week, the Sunday New York Times travel section featured a glowing review of Anna, a relatively new restaurant in Jerusalem. Not where you’d expect a taste of UJA, but …

Aside from raving about the gnocchi, the reporter points out that the restaurant has a “noble mission,” working together with a nonprofit to train and employ at-risk Israeli youth. The back story: Through UJA-Federation’s impact investment in Dualis, a social investment fund, we’re helping to sustain Anna and other companies that merge business goals with a commitment to social good.

What’s Impact Investing?
Impact investing is an innovative approach to philanthropy, where we invest in businesses that have a social purpose as part of their core mission. These businesses help to employ or in some way support: youth at risk, the elderly, the chronically unemployed, and adults with disabilities.

Impact investments have a “double bottom line” — a financial return on investment (ROI) and a measurable social return on investment (SROI). These investments have inherent sustainability: as long as the business is functioning, the social purpose at the heart of its mission is being achieved. That means that as the business prospers, the enterprise becomes self-sufficient and no longer reliant on grant dollars, even as the social good continues.

It’s all part of how we’re bringing innovative approaches to serve our community –including supporting businesses like Anna that have a social purpose as part of their core mission. What could be more delicious?