Beyond the Binary:
Tracy Palandjian on Impact
Phil talks with longtime friend Tracy Palandjian, co-founder and CEO of Social Finance, about the space between traditional grantmaking and traditional investing, and why donors, foundations, and DAF holders aren’t limited to only one or the other. Tracy explains how Social Finance’s unusual structure, a nonprofit that is also a registered investment advisor, lets it stay impact-first while deploying capital across a spectrum of tools most philanthropists never consider.
Tracy walks through how this works in practice. For example, a revolving, interest-free loan fund helping low-income students become registered nurses, where repayment scales with a graduate’s income and no one is left in debt if the job doesn’t materialize. Tracy and Phil also dig into why so few foundations use program-related investments despite decades of the tax code allowing it, what it actually takes for a foundation to do this work well structurally, and how individual donors can put their investments to work. Tracy closes with a simple framework for donors sitting on new wealth: give a lot, give effectively, and where possible, give in a way that lets the money come back and do good again.
Guest Info:
Tracy Palandjian is CEO and co-founder of Social Finance, a national nonprofit and registered investment adviser. In 2011, Tracy co-founded Social Finance with Sir Ronald Cohen and David Blood to seed the Pay For Success field in the United States, sparking a national conversation about new funding models to tackle systemic challenges and drive measurable impact. Since then, Social Finance has mobilized over $500 million in investments designed to achieve improved outcomes across a range of issue areas, including economic mobility, health, and housing. In 2023, the organization launched the Social Finance Institute to advance the field through actionable research and educational outreach.
Prior to Social Finance, Tracy was a Managing Director for eleven years at The Parthenon Group, where she established and led the Nonprofit Practice to support foundations and NGOs to accomplish their missions in the U.S. and globally. Tracy also worked at Wellington Management Company and McKinsey & Company.
Tracy is a member of the Harvard Corporation and serves on the boards of The Barr Foundation and The Boston Foundation. She is an Independent Director of Affiliated Managers Group (NYSE: AMG). Previously, Tracy served as Board Chair of Facing History and Ourselves. She also served on the boards of The Surdna Foundation, RFK Human Rights, Milton Academy, and Mass General Brigham. She is a 2019 recipient of the Harvard Business School Alumni Achievement Award and a 2026 recipient of the Ellis Island Medal of Honor.
Credits:
Podcast Production: Cold Italian
Artwork: Jay Kustka
Resources:
Social Finance
The Social Finance Institute
ReNEW Fund: Reinvesting in Nursing Education and Workforce
New Jersey Pay It Forward Fund
Slow Philanthropy by Jeff Bradach
Unpacking the Impact in Impact Investing by Paul Brest