Social Finance TIG Week: Kicking off Social Finance Week at AEA 365 by Morgan Buras-Finlay

Date: Sunday, May 31, 2026

Hello!  I am Morgan Buras-Finlay, Founder and Principal at Raya Cooper Impact Consulting, and thrilled to kick off this year’s Social Finance TIG’s AEA365 blog week. 

The Social Finance TIG, formerly known as the Social Impact Measurement TIG, is a space for AEA members to share, learn and explore how organizations and initiatives produce, measure and manage social and financial returns.  We have three main goals:

1. To foster connection and knowledge sharing among the evaluation sector and market actors interested in both social and financial return on investment
2. Develop and/or adapt evaluation tools and approaches for innovative finance and market-based models
3. Strengthen the ability of individuals and organizations to assess and evaluate social impact in this rapidly emerging area.

We see ourselves as bridge-builders, connecting the evaluation community with the corporate philanthropy, impact investing and social entrepreneurship sectors.

In this year’s AEA365 week, we showcase real life examples of how we are doing just that – bridging industries, building communities and shaping emerging practices. 

Here’s a sneak peek of what’s coming this week

• Courtney Bolinson articulates why Impact Measurement & Management (IMM) urgently needs stronger alignment with evaluation principles, and that Evaluators have a responsibility to make that happen…if we choose to show up. 
• Vivian Agbegha shows how the Social Finance TIG’s office hours provides a needed space for Evaluation and IMM practitioners to come together in low-stakes knowledge exchange. 
• Veronica Olazabal provides a report-back and insights from the the recent IMM practitioner convening hosted by Impact Frontiers and the Global Impact Investing Network
• Marta Arranz shares about the Climate Impact Investing IMM Playbook created by Climate SMILE, which tackles important topics of Adaptation & Resilience, the Just Transition, Systemic Change in climate investing.
• Emery and Taylor share their approach to evaluating the effectiveness of Entrepreneur Support Organizations to offer a more complete picture of impact that honors both individual progress and collective resilience
• Nina Sabarre, Kathleen Doll and Courtney Bolinson, close out the week by sharing how to adapt the tools of Learning & Evaluation to support Impact Investing

We hope you stay tuned and learn more about the exciting world of Social Finance!

• Social Finance TIG Webinars

• Read more about (and JOIN!) the Social Finance TIG here

The American Evaluation Association is hosting Social Finance TIG Week with our colleagues in the Social Finance Topical Interest Group. The contributions all this week to AEA365 come from our Social Finance TIG members. Do you have questions, concerns, kudos, or content to extend this AEA365 contribution? Please add them in the comments section for this post on the AEA365 webpage so that we may enrich our community of practice. Would you like to submit an AEA365 Tip? Please send a note of interest to AEA365@eval.org. AEA365 is sponsored by the American Evaluation Association and provides a Tip-a-Day by and for evaluators. The views and opinions expressed on the AEA365 blog are solely those of the original authors and other contributors. These views and opinions do not necessarily represent those of the American Evaluation Association, and/or any/all contributors to this site.