Blog
PCV’s Event is on the Front Page of Today’s Chronicle Business Section!
From today’s Chronicle: Job growth of 9 percent is a rare feat in these times, but that’s the contribution a San Francisco business nonprofit helped bring to the local economy last year – and it could be on track to do as well or better this year. “We haven’t compiled this year’s numbers yet, so […]
Jul 08, 2015 – PCV News •
Got Health Insurance?
In March of last year, after much cajoling and arm-twisting, the president signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act into law. OK, so, what now? One intention of the legislation is to expand health coverage to millions of Americans via the small businesses that employ so many of them. You might wonder if there’s […]
Jul 08, 2015 – Impact Consulting •
PCV Advised Company Parties That Cook’s 12 Tips on ‘The Recipe For Business Success’
Twelve years ago, I left my corporate job to fulfill my lifelong dream of attending professional cooking school. Now I run Parties That Cook, a mobile culinary events company that stages hands-on cooking parties and corporate team-building events in four cities. We grew to a staff of over 100 by following this recipe for business […]
Jul 08, 2015 – Small Business Advising And Mentoring • Small Business Clients And Success Stories •
PCV Inverviews Tides Foundation Founder
Check out this video of PCV’s own Ben Thornley as he interviews Tides Foundation and new member of the Equilibrium Capital Group team, Drummond Pike:
Jul 08, 2015 – Impact Consulting •
PCV at Smart Valley Places
Two weeks ago, I was asked to attend the San Joaquin Valley Smart Valley Places Kickoff Convention in Fresno, CA on behalf of our Executive Director, Beth, who was fresh off of her plane back from Bellagio. Fresno, you say? In the summer?! Yes, it was 105 degrees with no breeze, but I am so […]
Jul 08, 2015 – PCV News •
PCV Takes to the International Stage… In Bellagio!
A few weeks back, PCV had its debut on the international stage. With funding from The Rockefeller Foundation, PCV’s InSight team hosted a meeting of about 30 policymakers, advocates, and researchers from ten countries – from USA and Canada to Ghana, India and South Africa, quite a bunch! – to talk about the ways that […]
Jul 08, 2015 – Impact Consulting • PCV News •
A Little Advice on Advising
I recently came across an article in the Boston Business Journal about how few entrepreneurs 1) seek out advice from experienced business people or 2) don’t make good use of the advice they may have received. It seems like what this author is writing about is very relevant to our small business advising network! The […]
Jul 08, 2015 – Small Business Advising And Mentoring • Small Business Resources •
A New Matching Loan Program Open To Our Entrepreneurs
Our partner Kiva Zip is teaming up with LISC to provide more loans and expand financial opportunities to the small businesses in our network! This partnership means that small business borrowers endorsed by PCV will only have to raise half of the total loan amount from the crowd on the Kiva Zip website. LISC will […]
Apr 15, 2015 – Small Business Advising And Mentoring • Small Business Resources •
Five Takeaways: The G8 and Social Impact Investing
by Ben Thornley, Director, InSight at Pacific Community Ventures The UK government planted the Union Jack squarely at the center of social impact investing at the dedicated G8 meeting June 6 – hosted by Prime Minister David Cameron in concert with Cabinet visionary Nick Hurd, Minister for Civil Society, and Sir Ronald Cohen, who in […]
Nov 12, 2013 – Impact Consulting • Impact Investing •
Impact Investing 2.0 — What $3 Billion Tells Us About the Next $300 Billion
Co-authored with Ben Thornley of Pacific Community Ventures and Jed Emerson of Impact Assets Earlier this month in the Stanford Social Innovation Review (SSIR), Paul Brest and Kelly Born wrote a very thoughtful piece about the difficulty of achieving real impact alongside financial returns for impact investors. Their thesis was so provocative that over 18 […]
Sep 05, 2013 – Impact Consulting • Impact Investing •
A Big Idea for Job Creation
The California Organized Insurance Network (COIN) CDFI Tax Credit program (the Program), administered by the California Department of Insurance, has a track record of creating jobs in some of California’s most underserved communities. Drawing on a well-designed policy framework, an efficient and dedicated team of public officials responsible for COIN, and an effective statewide infrastructure […]
May 17, 2013 – Blog and News • Good Jobs • Impact Investing •
The New Era of Public Innovation: Part One
post by Ben Thornley The Schwab Foundation Social Innovation Summit, held last week in Lima, Peru, was a breakthrough moment. As the first international, ministerial-level convening focused on the role of government in enabling and growing social enterprise, it ushered in a new era of public innovation. There is broad agreement, in Latin America and […]