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Key people at Red F.
REDF is an organization that provides capital, capacity-building, and community support to employment social enterprises. It offers structured programs, including an Accelerator and a Growth Portfolio, alongside an Impact Investing Fund, to help these businesses scale and effectively create job opportunities. The organization's approach centers on leveraging sustainable business models to address social challenges, specifically unemployment for individuals facing significant barriers to work, thereby fostering economic mobility.
The organization was founded in 1997 by George Roberts, co-founder of KKR, and Jed Emerson. Roberts, along with his wife Leanne, had previously established a family foundation in 1985, which focused on improving public education and combating poverty in the Bay Area. This foundational work inspired a more targeted economic development fund addressing homelessness, ultimately leading to the establishment of REDF with the insight that market-based social enterprises could offer a sustainable solution to employment for underserved populations.
REDF's primary customers are the employment social enterprises it supports, as well as the individuals these businesses employ who are working to overcome employment barriers. The organization's overarching vision is to foster an inclusive economy where all people have the necessary jobs and support to achieve their full potential. It aims to achieve a thriving society by enabling businesses to effectively reveal and reinforce the talent of people breaking through employment barriers, looking toward a future of widespread economic opportunity.
REDF (Roberts Enterprise Development Fund) is a pioneering venture philanthropy organization founded to invest in employment social enterprises (ESEs)—businesses that employ people overcoming barriers to work, such as homelessness, low-income status, justice system involvement, or unstable housing. Its mission is to create an economy that works for everyone by fueling ESE growth through grants, impact investments, capacity-building support, and flexible debt financing via its certified CDFI arm, REDF Impact Investing Fund (RIIF).[1][2][3][5]
REDF's investment philosophy applies venture capital principles to philanthropy, emphasizing long-term support (2–13+ years), social return on investment (SROI) measurement (e.g., $2.23 SROI per dollar invested), and holistic assistance including strategic consulting, networking, and outcome tracking. Key sectors include job creation in revenue-generating enterprises like nonprofits and for-profits that reinvest earnings into supportive employment. Since 1997, REDF has backed 363 ESEs across 42 states and DC, generating $3.1B+ in cumulative revenue and employing 157K+ people, with 6x employment growth and 2x revenue growth in recent portfolios. It significantly impacts the startup ecosystem by proving the scalability of impact-driven businesses, unlocking public capital, and advancing racial equity through investments in BIPOC-led and lived-experience-led enterprises.[1][2][3][4][5][7]
REDF traces its roots to the mid-1990s in the San Francisco Bay Area, when the social enterprise field was emerging as a market-based solution to poverty. Inspired by studies on innovative employment models, Jed Emerson (from the Roberts family foundation) launched REDF in 1997 as the country's first venture philanthropy fund dedicated to social enterprises, initially supporting 14 Bay Area businesses. It evolved from family foundation roots, pioneering tools like SROI measurement (now global standard) and publishing the first book on social enterprise practice.[2][5]
Key leaders include early presidents like Melinda Tuan and Kristen Burns, who guided its independence as a nonprofit, and current President & CEO Maria Kim (appointed 2021), a social enterprise veteran from portfolio member Cara Collective. Pivotal moments: Mid-1997 recognition as a "venture philanthropy" via Harvard Business Review; 2017 launch of impact lending; 2019 formalization of RIIF; and 2021–2025 strategy focusing on equity, job quality, and public sector partnerships. From a $3.6M 2002 budget, it has grown into the largest U.S. ESE consultancy.[1][2][4][5]
REDF rides the impact investing and social enterprise trend, scaling ESEs amid rising demand for inclusive economies post-COVID, racial justice movements, and workforce gaps. Timing aligns with maturing fields needing growth capital—RIIF addresses credit gaps for "overlooked" businesses, proving their creditworthiness (e.g., $12M repayments) to attract traditional lenders.[3][4]
Market forces favoring REDF include public sector shifts (e.g., LA:RISE partnerships), philanthropy focus on equity, and evidence-based impact (SROI methodology influences global standards). It shapes the ecosystem by catalyzing 360+ enterprises nationwide, fostering job quality for 157K+ underserved workers, and innovating tools like stakeholder-inclusive lending, influencing broader venture philanthropy and CDFI models.[1][2][5][6]
REDF is poised to expand its national footprint, deepen public-philanthropy collaborations, and scale RIIF amid growing evidence of ESE viability—potentially deploying tens of millions more in flexible capital while prioritizing equity-led growth. Trends like AI-driven job matching, remote work inclusivity, and policy pushes for economic mobility will amplify its model, evolving its influence from pioneer to ecosystem orchestrator. As the original venture philanthropy for social good, REDF continues revealing talent in an economy built for everyone.[1][3][5]
Key people at Red F.
