When the Baltimore Community Foundation (BCF) launched Invest for More, the goal was clear: use the power of investment capital to expand opportunities, strengthen communities, and generate lasting impact across Baltimore. Over time, the program has continued to evolve, reflecting both growing confidence in its merits and a deepening commitment to using innovative methods to invest in people, places, and possibilities.
We sat down with Patti Baum, Chair of BCF’s Investment Committee and Impact Investment Subcommittee, and Johann DeCastro, Vice President of Finance and Operations, to talk about what’s changed, what’s working, and what’s ahead.
How has Invest for More grown in the last year?
Johann: Since last February, we’ve deployed an additional $3 million to stimulate the creation of affordable housing and committed $450,000 to education and local economic growth focused investments. Overall we’ve seen growth both in dollars committed and in the number of deals we’re supporting. That growth reflects not only increased capacity, but also increased confidence—in the strategy, in the partners we’re working with, and in the impact we’re seeing on the ground.
What are the most significant changes to the program over the past year?
Patti: When we first started, we felt most comfortable partnering with local intermediaries who could help us with due diligence. Over time, we’ve built internal expertise and begun making more direct loans and investments.
The biggest change since last year is that the Investment Committee, the Impact Subcommittee, and the BCF Board approved us to make equity investments.
Johann: Equity felt like the natural next step in our evolution—from loans through intermediaries to direct loans, and now to equity. We started by investing in a fund of funds called Propel III, which provides more diversification and less risk than a direct private equity investment. It allows us to participate in potential upside while maintaining appropriate safeguards. And importantly, any returns we earn are reinvested right back into the community.
Patti: Whether it’s equity or a loan, from an investment perspective, impact investing is mostly market neutral. It helps balance BCF’s overall portfolio while driving social, financial, and local impact. That’s a win on every level.
Have you refined the criteria for new impact investments?
Johann: We’re always refining our criteria to reflect current conditions and to ensure investments are scalable and equitable. Right now, we’re revisiting our benchmarks and our pricing, so that when organizations come to us, we feel confident that we are treating everyone fairly and reducing subjectivity in the process.
Patti: One specific refinement has been around interest rates. Early on, borrowers often proposed a rate and we tried to make it work. Now, we’re being more intentional about ensuring the return is commensurate with the risk—while still making sure the end user can afford repayment. The interest rate environment has changed, and we’re changing with it. It’s a balancing act.
So how does BCF balance risk and return in today’s economic climate?
Johann: This economy has challenged us to tighten our due diligence. What we hear from our partners across Baltimore and what we hear from the news is the importance of affordability. When we’re loaning money to businesses, we have to take into consideration whether they can realistically be profitable and offer affordable goods and services.
Patti: A great example is the Lexington Market Vendor Fund. Some people who wanted to run small businesses in the market stalls were relying on credit cards to finance their businesses and paying exorbitant interest rates. BCF providing loans at the much lower rate of 2.5% fundamentally changes their cost structure. We want to be repaid—but we also want borrowers to succeed.
Johann: At the core of all of this is the same idea: we are investing in people, we are investing in their dreams.
What sectors have remained central—and where have you expanded?
Patti: We continue to invest through CDFIs to support local entrepreneurs who lack access to traditional capital, and we’re still deeply committed to high-quality affordable housing. More recently, we’ve expanded into education and environmental investments.
Johann: For example in 2024, we made a $500,000 impact investment in Baltimore’s Promise to support their citywide work improving outcomes for youth and families. In summer 2025, we renewed a one-year loan to support their CareerBound program.
We’re also finalizing an investment in Bedtime in a Box, a company that scaled during COVID and delivers books and other bedtime essentials to Baltimore City schoolchildren.
Can you share recent examples that represent new strategies or outcomes?
Johann: Our partnership with the Climate Access Fund to install solar on the roof of Henderson-Hopkins School has had tangible benefits—neighbors in this program have seen their utility bills decline, and we’re already receiving returns on that investment.
It feels powerful to be able to deliver these benefits locally, despite the current decline in federal support for clean energy.
Patti: We also made a $1 million loan to support the creation of the Enolia Apartments near Morgan State University, providing high-quality housing for students at a local HBCU while also revitalizing the surrounding neighborhood.
Through our investments in organizations like the International Rescue Committee, ReBUILD Metro, and Healthy Neighborhoods, we’re supporting immigrants, remediating lead in homes, and advancing neighborhood revitalization. When we see success, we often reinvest—and bring co-investors along.
What outcomes are you most proud of from the past year?
Johann: What’s most exciting is seeing how impact cascades. Our investments in the Ignite Fund, for example, support entrepreneurs who create jobs and economic activity right in their own neighborhoods.
Patti: Jobs created, small minority-owned businesses supported, affordable homes preserved or built, and positive environmental outcomes—those are the measures that matter most to us.
How has donor engagement around impact investing evolved?
Patti: In addition to the 5% carveout of the BCF investment pool, we’ve raised more than $2 million in donor participation in impact investment deals. At our most recent State of BCF event, many donors asked how they could get involved. They trust our due diligence, and I expect co-investment to keep growing.
Other foundations—locally and nationally—are also reaching out to learn from our approach. That’s a good thing. We’re not going to solve Baltimore’s challenges alone.
Johann: We were also able to bring co-investors into our first equity investment, which speaks to growing confidence in the model.
Looking ahead, what excites you most about the next 12–24 months?
Johann: My hope is simple: get more capital into the Baltimore community, in a smart way. I want people to know BCF is a place where you can bring your ideas and your dreams—and find a funding partner.
Patti: There is great leverage in using the assets that we have in this pool to make a substantial difference to various communities, and BCF staff and the Strategic Grantmaking Committee really get it now. When they learn about community needs, they ask us, “is there an opportunity for impact investing to solve for this need?” I’m excited for this partnership to continue.
