I learned through Robin Wall Kimmerer’s book, Braiding Sweetgrass, about the Three Sisters: beans, squash, corn, and the magic they create together. Kimmerer explains how each of these serves the other, that the byproducts of one plant nourish the others to create a mutually beneficial environment that makes each plant stronger.
Capital allocators like me make recommendations on where money is most needed and will make the most positive impact. Network weavers connect entrepreneurs, capital allocators, and the resources they need to thrive.
All of this is braided together by BVCIs “philosophy of Buen Vivir, an Indigenous ethic of balance, reciprocity, community, and care for future generations.” There was a call to action for each of the BVCI three sisters:
- DeLia and co-facilitators invited nonprofits and social entrepreneurs to find ways of being financially self-sufficient, beyond grants and the whims of philanthropists, including sources like US Aid. One attendee offered the powerful example of how Muslim mosques practice this by operating grocery stores and child care centers to create revenue, rather than relying solely on donations.
- Network weavers were reminded that creating an inclusive space requires repair for past harms done. When funders wield more power than service/healing providers, the discrepancy between the stated goal of collaboration and the processes of “power-over” become the norm. For innovation and creativity to flourish, the space for collaboration must be defined by a sense of psychological safety, where all voices are equally heard and valued.
- Facilitators invited capital allocators were invited to see capital as a tool or energy force we use to facilitate something else, not as a goal in itself. Alicia’s main advice: “Give people money and get out of the way.”
Meeting my counterparts in Mexico inspired me to root into my purpose. It was also a delight to meet (and speak Spanglish with) my Latine and Chicane elders from across the space, including non-profit leaders focused on Afro-Latinas, Venture Capitalists for social entrepreneurs, and fundraisers helping transform charity into community weaving. Overall, I left BVCI feeling inspired and ready to look for more ways to bring investments into Latin America.
Continuing the conversation at Foro Latinoamericano de Inversiones de Impacto
My time at BVCI offered a valuable grounding for the Foro Latinoamericano de Inversiones de Impacto (FLII) two weeks later. For the past 16 years, FLII has been bringing together social entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, investors, government funders, and accelerator programs.
My main takeaway from FLII: the impact investment space is well developed and mature in LatAm. While many of the focus areas are similar to what we have in the US, four significant differences stand out.
First, while U.S. impact investing offers concessionary returns, LatAm expects market rate — often 12%+ given high regional inflation. This is especially true for groups funding entrepreneurial ventures.
Second, there’s the regulatory maze. Regulatory requirements for each country are different and often more burdensome than what we are used to in the U.S. For example, in Mexico, because of money laundering concerns and political corruption, non-profits and social enterprises often have to spend enormous amounts of time and energy navigating stringent compliance requirements. For example, for an organization to receive charitable donations, they must clear many regulatory hurdles as well as the requirement that only 5% of funding go to administrative support. In practice this means more compliance work yet fewer employees to navigate it. As a result, we’ve seen the emergence of non-profits whose sole function is to manage the administrative burden for other non-profits.
The third and perhaps most counterintuitive difference is that bringing enterprises into the formal market in LatAm can have unintended consequences. Unlike in the U.S., the economy in LatAm is largely informal. When an informal organization begins to receive financial support from a venture capital, investor, or another formal organization, the organization is required to source only from formal organizations. Let’s say an organic marmalade business receives investments to purchase machinery. As a consequence of the formal investment, that business might then be required to purchase raw materials from large multinationals like Walmart instead of from a local farm.
“Give people money and get out of the way.”
Alicia DeLia, Buen Vivir Capital Institute
The final and most meaningful difference is cultural. With LatAm as the region with the highest rate of femicides in the world, throughout FLII there was a strong call to invest in women-led enterprises to give more women financial autonomy. In one instance a founder shared that when a woman signs up for their workforce development program, they automatically accept her, whereas men are required to go through a qualification process. Unfortunately, I also heard tragic stories of women being ostracized from their communities after becoming financially independent from abusive husbands through entrepreneurship. Financial autonomy can come at a social cost, which makes cultural strategy an essential element of investment in women-led enterprises.
Each tension I encountered — between formal and informal economies, financial autonomy and community belonging, market-rate returns and genuine impact — reminded me of what happens when you try to grow one sister without the others. What I witnessed across both BVCI and FLII was a potent reminder that there are visionary people in our field who are working through those tensions and toward a delicate symbiosis: social entrepreneurs testing new roots, network weavers providing the structure for others to climb, capital allocators nurturing the soil. The Three Sisters don’t just grow together — they grow each other.
In LatAm, where women are building financial autonomy in the face of femicide, where informal economies carry whole communities, and where regulatory terrain can crush what it claims to support, the invitation remains what Alicia offered: give people money and get out of the way. Trust the ecosystem. FLII and Buen Vivir showed me that the system is already in motion, and that impact investing in LatAm is ready for the right kind of partnerships. The Three Sisters have always known how to feed each other. We just have to stop pulling up the plants to check if they’re growing.