Our Philosophy
At AJL Foundation, we recognize that all capital has impact—there is no neutral—and that prudent stewardship of our endowment is essential to fulfilling our charitable mission. We manage our endowment with a long-term perspective, recognizing that strong communities, a resilient economy, and a healthy environment support both lasting impact and long-term financial performance.
Guided by our Investment Policy Statement, we take a total-portfolio approach that seeks to align our capital with our mission wherever practical. We view the management of material systemic risks and active stewardship as essential to our fiduciary responsibility, helping advance more equitable, resilient communities.
- Mission: To invest in the people, programs and movements that benefit Colorado's youth and families.
- Impact Objective: Meet the Foundation’s grantmaking needs without undermining the systems that the Foundation’s grant partners work to strengthen, by evaluating opportunities that avoid harm, benefit stakeholders, and contribute to solutions.
- Financial Objective: CPI + 5% per year
AJL’s Q1 2026 impact and financial performance results are in. Read on to find out how we did followed by how we invest and evaluate for impact.
As of 3/31/2026, AJL’s portfolio was at $16,066,585. AJL was funded in 2011 with $10,845,128 and has distributed $9,218,699 in grants since inception.
Here’s how our portfolio is invested for impact:
Philanthropic Investments are grants where social needs outweigh any consideration for financial return. AJL will distribute $876,000 (5%) as non-recoverable grants to nonprofit organizations that serve families and youth in education, human services and healthcare. Visit this page to learn more about AJL's participatory grantmaking process and this page to meet our grantmaking committees, grant partners and annual artistic reflections.
Impact First Investments emphasize the optimization of social and/or environmental needs (ie: PRI or MRI) which may result in financial tradeoff. As of 3/31/2026, $642,210 (3%) of AJL’s portfolio is committed to PRIs. Our goal is to deploy up to 10% of our portfolio, or approximately $1,500,000 in PRIs and MRIs. Visit this page to learn more about AJL’s current direct investments.
Cash Impact: AJL currently holds $1,134,524 (7%) in cash and banks with Native American Bank, an institution that uses the cash to drive economic justice in underserved communities. AJL also implemented StoneCastle/Fiserv for cash management which allocates cash across a network of community banks, low-income designated credit unions, minority depository institutions, and community development financial institutions. Visit this page to learn more about these investments.
Fixed Income: AJL has $2,578,375 (15%) allocated to fixed income investments that integrate system-level considerations through allocation to green, social, and sustainability-linked bonds that finance system-strengthening infrastructure. These investments include: Nuveen Core Impact Bond Fund, CRA Qualified Investment, and Calvert Short Duration Fixed Income.
Private Investments: AJL has $851,191 (5%) allocated to private investments integrating systems-level considerations, ESG factors, diverse manager programs, and systemic risk reporting. These investments include: CoInvest, Lafayette Square and Variant Impact Fund.
Place-based Public Equities: AJL has $253,620 (2%) invested in public companies headquartered in Colorado as part of the CO Shareholder Engagement Campaign with As You Sow. Read the case study about this place-based shareholder engagement initiative here: Harnessing Shareholder Power in Colorado: A Place-Based Model for Philanthropic, Investor and Corporate Accountability.
Public Equities: AJL has $10,042,960 (62%) allocated to public equities that integrate systems-level considerations such as climate change and economic equality through thematic strategies, values-aligned screening, active engagement and proxy voting. In early 2026, AJL transitioned our public equity investments from Vanguard’s direct indexing platform to the Ethic direct indexing platform. This change allows us to be more active shareholders, aligning our proxy voting with Ethic’s sustainability guidelines and enabling us to file and co-file shareholder resolutions that encourage companies to improve their environmental, social, and governance practices. Read more about this change here.
Exclusionary screening includes screening out companies whose business activities may negatively affect opportunities or life outcomes based on race, ethnicity, caste, nationality, or country of origin. AJL also excludes companies whose business activities contribute materially to climate change, including companies involved in the fossil fuel supply chain, where those activities create financial and reputational risks related to climate change. In addition, AJL excludes companies that generate significant revenues from adult entertainment, alcohol, firearms, gambling, tobacco, and nuclear weapons.
Diversity and Finance: AJL’s core values include diversity and inclusion and it is our intention to invest alongside those values. AJL has made it a priority to include in its evaluation criteria of investment managers the diversity of the investment team and/or management not only because it makes financial sense (diverse teams add value) but also to drive change within the investment industry. As of 3/31/26, more than half (75%) of the investment manager’s portfolio management teams have gender and/or racial diversity.
System-Level Measurement and Reporting
AJL’s measurement and reporting framework includes the percentage of the Portfolio allocated to the explicit systems-strengthening strategies in each asset class.
HOW WE EVALUATE FOR IMPACT
The Impact Management Project (IMP) helps investors classify the impact performance of an investment or a portfolio of investments. Underlying investments are classified by the EFFECT of the investment on stakeholders (people and/or planet) and the CONTRIBUTION of the investor’s decisions to achieve that effect.
The EFFECT of an investment on stakeholders is classified into three categories: avoid harm, benefit stakeholders, and contribute to solutions. The investor’s choice of investment strategy is considered a CONTRIBUTION to the effect. There are four investment strategies: signal that impact matters, engage actively, grow, new and underserved markets, and provide flexible capital. These strategies can be used in combination.
AJL Foundation’s financial advisor, Syntrinsic Investment Counsel, uses IMP’s methodology as a component of the impact score for AJL Foundation. The EFFECT of an investment on stakeholders PLUS the investor's choice of investment strategy, CONTRIBUTION, to achieve that effect on stakeholders equals a PORTFOLIO IMPACT score. In addition, we also score each underlying investment based on the client’s diversity criteria. The PORTFOLIO IMPACT score plus the DIVERSITY score equals the TOTAL IMPACT SCORE.
View AJL Foundation's holdings here.
Any questions, thoughts or feedback can be directed to Co-Executive Director Kristi Petrie at kpetrie@ajlfoundation.org. Please don’t hesitate to reach out!
