This summer, I interned with Invest Appalachia (IA) – a start-up impact investment fund that seeks to direct philanthropic and investment capital into Central Appalachia. The fund is planning on investing in four different “sectors”: community health, clean energy, creative placemaking, and food and agriculture. As an intern, I was responsible for working on their impact metrics project which involved devising a list of measureable social and environmental impacts along with accompanying metrics that could be used to capture these impacts. Throughout the internship, I learned how important it is to be deliberate and intentional in devising social impact, as it holds impact investing funds and social enterprises accountable to their mission.

I worked under Stephanie Randolph, founding board member of IA and one of the instructors for the Impact Investing in Appalachia J-Term. She provided me with tremendous support as I navigated such unfamiliar terrain. By the end of the internship, I developed a social impact framework where I, along with the help of many other Invest Appalachia members, identified the metrics along with specific impacts that we wanted to see in each of the sectors. Having identified the sector-specific impacts, we also established a list of portfolio/cross-sector goals (ex: increasing access to capital for marginalized populations across all sectors). By identifying our impacts and all coming to a consensus on our specific goals, we could move forward to the next, more technical process of impact measurement.

Being put on this project was very intimidating at first. I didn’t know much about the world of impact metrics going into the internship, and so there was a steep learning curve for the first couple of weeks. I tried to approach impact measurement as I would approach any unfamiliar topic in my academic courses: by researching, taking notes, and ultimately, walking away with a strong grasp of the ins and outs of the process. It didn’t end up working that way. Instead, I came to realize that there is still a lot of ambiguity around how to measure social and environmental impact, even among the most prominent and nationally-recognized impact investment funds. This experience opened my eyes to how messy the real-world of social entrepreneurship can be, especially in the relatively new field of impact investing, and how it does not always fit into the nice, neat mold that we learn inside the classroom.

I am incredibly grateful to have had the opportunity to intern for such an amazing fund. It was inspiring to work alongside a group of people who had such a strong, deep connection to their rural communities. Even though I only met the Invest Appalachia team virtually, their commitment to improving the lives of Central Appalachians was evident. I am leaving this internship with a stronger appreciation for impact investing and using it as a tool for social and economic empowerment.