Investing for Social Impact Professionals
Align your money with your values. Save & invest your money for impact & returns. Build a planet positive portfolio.
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Course overview
Money is of no use on a dead or dying planet.
Many Impact Professionals avoid engaging with how they save & invest money. This is a huge mistake.
Your money choices have a large impact on the planet & your financial future.
Avoid "greenwashing" reduce costly fees, increase your returns & build a portfolio for impact.
Explore the pros/cons of do it yourself investing, AI Tools, and Financial Advising Platforms.
Who is this course for
01
You have money to save & invest for impact and returns.
02
You want to ensure you aren't paying excessively high fees for often bad products.
03
You want to spot greenwashing and leverage your money for impact.
What you’ll get out of this course
Stop Avoiding Money - Engage for Impact
Explore why it is essential for you to become money literate & the range of options to place your money that works for you, people and the planet.
Don't be a part of Greenwashing
Be prepared to spot & avoid greenwashing. While there are no 100% perfect money options, ensure your money choices aren't actively destroying the planet & harming people.
Build the confidence to make financial decisions advancing positive change in the world.
Get the Tools & Resources
Explore a range of investing resources, communities, podcasts, financial advising tools (including robo-advisors) to make you even smarter about money & impact.
We will also dive into the pros and cons of AI tools for investing.
Reduce Fees & Increase Your Returns
Learn how completely unnecessary fees hurt your returns.
Many "green" investing options unfortunately charge high fees for no extra benefit.
Be informed to make smart sustainable + low cost money choices and likely save hundreds or thousands of dollars a year.
Build The Right Portfolio for You
Build an actionable plan to align your money with your personal and impact goals.
Decide how often to check on your your money + and make decisions based on your long-term goals.
Avoid common mistakes such as timing the market, rapid trading or emotional money decisions.
Allocate Your Time More Wisely
Do you want to set it and forget it or be active investor?
Get the tools and guidance to build the right sustainable options for you.
One Year Membership in the PCDN Career Campus
Be part of one of the world's leading platforms connecting changemakers to impact career opps, upskilling, finance for good and more.
Plus, we have weekly drop in office hours, monthly workshops and much more.
What’s included
Live sessions
Learn directly from Dr. Craig Zelizer in a real-time, interactive format.
Lifetime access
Go back to course content and recordings whenever you need to.
Community of peers
Stay accountable and share insights with like-minded professionals.
Certificate of completion
Share your new skills with your employer or on LinkedIn.
Maven Guarantee
This course is backed by the Maven Guarantee. Students are eligible for a full refund up until the halfway point of the course.
Course syllabus
8 live sessions • 5 lessons • 6 projects
Week 1
Why talking about and taking action on your financial and investment decisions is key
What is your approach to money now and relationship to social impact
Start mapping out some options of how to start parking and saving your money
Explore how much do you need to start investing
Dive into tools to screen investments and be as net positive as possible.
ESG and SRI Investing and Beyond
- 📄
Why Talk about Money
- ✍️
Virtual Investing Portfolio
Submit by May 22
May
15
Session 1
Money, Impact and You
We will dive right into money and impact careers including:
Week 2
Mattress-Fridge
Banks
Bonds
Stocks
ETFs
Mutual Funds
Community Bonds
Community Financial Development Institutions
angel investing
real estate
crowdlending
crypto and other options.
- 📄
Where to Consider Parking, Saving & Investing Your Money
- ✍️
Mapping Potential Returns
Submit by May 28
May
22
Session 2
May
23
Optional: Office Hours
Investing for Impact and Returns
What are the range of options for investing your money either as an individual or via retirement plans.
Dive into Traditional Options including
Alternative Investments
Map the potential risks/returns of each option, how they can fit into a portfolio or not, minimum required to start in each area, where and how to buy and equally imp
Week 3
- 📄
Your Goals + Investing Style + Appropriate Level of Risk/Potential REturn
- ✍️
Your desired level of diversification
Submit by Jun 7
May
29
Session 3
Diversification for Impact - Eggs will Break
All investing carries risk and why diversifying is key and finding the right balance for your goals.
How to approach allocating money on a continuum from conservative to potentially high growth + potential risks and opportunities in each approach.
Why nothing is certain in the market, but some things are more likely to generate returns.
Easy to hard ways to diversify (most people prefer easy).
Week 4
Why does it cost to invest and when are fees fair, excessive, and how to assess what is right for you.
We will dig into fees for all types of investing options including of course impact focused as well as personal and retirement investing
We will also explore what are the fees for when you want to a do it yourself approach to investing, compared to funds, compared to robo-advisor, compared to paid financial advisors.
- 📄
Understanding Fees
- ✍️
What are you losing/gaining currently with fees?
Submit by Jun 5 - ✍️
AI and Investing
Submit by Jun 5
Jun
5
Session 4
Jun
6
Optional: Optional Office Hours
Fees Definitely Aren't Your Friend Most of the Time
And of course one thing we will highlight is Tax implications.
Week 5
- 📄
Find the Right Portfolio for You Now and In the Future
- ✍️
A long-term portfolio
Submit by Jun 13
Jun
12
Session 5
Jun
13
Optional: Optional Office Hours
Investing is for the Long-Term not a Sprint
Working together and individually build a portfolio to start using your money for impact in the short and long-term.
Decide if DIY, robo-advisors and/or professionals are the right choice for you and how to find ethical and affordable options.
Learn how invest/track your money as well as how often to rebalance.
What students are saying
Changemaker, Angel Investor, Professor, Founder with 30+ Years Experience in the Social Impact Sector
Dr. Craig Zelizer
Dr. Craig Zelizer
Founder/CEO, PCDN.Global, Adjunct Professor, Georgetown University
Dr. Craig Zelizer is the Founder of http://PCDN.global, which connects a global community of changemakers to the tools, opportunities and inspiration to build careers of impact and scale change.
He has strong tri-sectoral experience in social entrepreneurship, higher education and the nonprofit sector.
He is a very active angel investor for social impact, investing in over 100 startups around the world working in sustainability, fintech, future of work and future of transport.
He serves as a scout for Carbon Collective, Enduring Planet, a Deal Partner for Ganas Ventures and a Mentor for Seedscout.
From 2006 to 2016 he served as a professor in the Conflict Resolution program at Georgetown University (where he still serves as an Adjunct Faculty teaching a class on social entrepreneurship).
He has led trainings, workshops and consultancies in over 25 countries organizations including with USAID, Rotary International, Partners Global, University for Peace, University of San Diego and many others. He has coached over 200 social impact professionals to help them upskill, land their next career opp and for many explore their relationship to money.
Craig is a recognized leader in the social sector field. He has received several awards including George Mason’s School of Conflict Analysis and Resolution’s alumni of the year award and an alumni career achievement award from Central European University.
Dr. Zelizer spent two years in Hungary as Fulbright Scholar and was a Boren Fellow in Bosnia. He has published widely on innovation in higher education, international development and peacebuilding.
Course schedule
3-4 hours per week
Wednesday
11 am to 1 pm EST
Cohort sessions (a total of five)
Feb 28- March 27
Money & Impact Projects
2 hours per week
Plan to set aside up to 2 hours a week to work on your own, review course materials and start mapping out your investing goals. In addition to dedicate to build an actionable portfolio for impact.
Open Office Hours (optional)
March 7, 14 & 28
12 pm - 1pm est
Learning is better with cohorts
Active hands-on learning
This course builds on live workshops and hands-on projects
Interactive and project-based
You’ll be interacting with other learners through breakout rooms and project teams
Learn with a cohort of peers
Join a community of like-minded people who want to learn and grow alongside you