We formed UI Charitable Advisors to be a major player in solving the world’s social and environmental problems. Our initial focus was the UI DAF.
Due to our involvement founding multiple social ventures (Unitus, BYU Ballard Social Impact Center, University Venture Fund, MicroBenefits China, EcoScraps, and the University Impact Fund), we knew two things:
- Incredible positive changes are occurring around the world driven by social entrepreneurs.
- College students are an untapped source of ingenuity and skills who want to drive this change.
Fast Forward To 2023
UI Charitable Advisors is an advisory firm that helps investment advisors empower their clients to give more impactfully.
Since our founding, we have worked with students on almost every continent. We’ve hired 107 of them. In our latest quarter we held mini-trainings for 234 students, a two-week bootcamp for 22, and placed 11 students in social impact internships.
We See Philanthropy Through A Strategic Impact Lens
We work to help our philanthropists to recognize the value of focusing on achieving great outcomes in the lives of others through their philanthropic giving and impact investing.
Impact investing is investing into an organization with the intention of generating positive financial and impact returns. Impact investments can target a range of returns, based on the investors’ financial and impact goals. They are made in both emerging and developed markets.
When you make an impact investment from your UI DAF, the financial returns are recycled back into your DAF account for future giving.
Impact investing is at the crossroads between traditional investing and philanthropy.
Learn About Our Areas of Impact
Hunger and Poverty
Together we can improve the standard of living for the impoverished and increase access to food and clean water.
The Environment
With your help, we can combat climate change, conserve and sustainably use the oceans, and protect ecosystems.
Education and The Arts
We can help ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.
Health and Science
Together we can utilize health and science innovations to improve the global standard of living for all.
Women and Underrepresented Groups
We can help achieve gender equality and empower all minorities.
Local Communities
As partners, we can promote economic growth in local and foreign communities, by helping make them inclusive, safe, and resilient.
You Empower the Next Generation of Leaders
UI Charitable Advisors is a hands-on venture capital opportunity for undergraduate and graduate students who are interested in learning about impact investing, and social entrepreneurship.
University Impact Students Have Come From
Thembi Zulu
At University Impact I was able to apply myself in an environment that encouraged learning and growth. Immersing myself in the impact investing space gave me a better understanding of the fundamentals of the field and the potential role that it can play in shaping emerging economies. I believe that my experience at UI left me more equipped to change my part of the world.
Steven Shakiba
I have learned so much in the short time I’ve been here, from financial analysis and industry research to critical thinking and presentation skills. The culture at University Impact is one of collaboration, teamwork, and passion for what we do, which made the experience working here all the better. I now feel better prepared to pursue a career in a variety of disciplines.
Rohan Jain
My summer at University Impact was both more productive and more enjoyable than I could possibly have hoped. The formal and informal learning opportunities University Impact provides and the freedom the fund offers associates to tailor their work to their interests and expertise is second to none. The fund feels like a family both inside and outside the office (which made settling into Utah easy) and the people are some of the best I’ve ever met.
Michelle Zhang
At the tail end of my experience at University Impact, I started to focus on impact investing through the lens of gender equality—where the greatest need is and how we as a fund could support gender equality efforts. This is an issue close to my heart, so it meant a great deal to me that we could spend time doing in-depth research and have our findings shape the way University Impact approaches investing.
Ritvik Bodducherla
Working at University Impact has opened my eyes to how I view new companies and the potential they have to affect the communities around them. Spending a summer dissecting how companies can impact individuals around the world with ingenious solutions that attack the root of the problems instead of the symptoms helped me understand what truly brings revolutionary progress to those who need it most.
Marianna Giordano
Working in the impact investing space has broadened and completely transformed my perspective in terms of how I see the world and how I view my own potential. On a more personal level, my eyes have been opened to professional opportunities that I had never before considered. University Impact has provided me with an incredible space to learn the necessary skills to evaluate the financial and social returns of a start-up company.
Interested in creating your UI DAF today?