Commonwealth began impact investing in Indianapolis in 2017. This page features the COhatch expansion across the city as well as summary of our active investments, events and related projects.
Purposeful Design operates as a division of Sagamore with the twin mission of making high quality custom furniture while rebuilding the lives of their craftsmen who come from prison and homelessness. PD was awarded $4.5M from the Lilly Endowment as part of its innovative Enhancing Opportunity in Indianapolis grant program. Earlier this year, PD launched the Advance! School to to bridge the gap between local employers seeking to make a genuine difference and individuals striving for positive change in their lives.
Since 2011, Sagamore’s Scholarships for Education Choice has awarded $67 million to support 24,000 Indiana K-12 students who sought high quality education at private schools. The program offers a 50% tax credit to Indiana donors who desire to provide this educational opportunity for Indiana’s low- to middle-income families.
Commonwealth formed a partnership with Indiana native and Notre Dame football legend Jaylon Smith to operate the Minority Entrepreneurship Institute (MEI). Jaylon founded MEI to help close the wealth gap in America by making impact investments in companies owned by Black and Brown founders. Commonwealth advances related activity via its partnership with Innopower and the Oscar Charleston documentary.
Commonwealth’s think tank partner, Sagamore Institute, produces research and consulting services to advance innovative ideas, strengthen social enterprise and create leading measures to evaluate social impact.
Sagamore has served as Indiana’s think tank since 2004.
Sagamore hosted the IWU Lumen Institute for a conference featuring Heather Templeton Dill, John Perkins, Miroslav Volf and others.
Sagamore Institute’s magazine American Outlook published an issue that explores how Indianapolis used sports to grow its economy and build better neighborhoods.
Indianapolis hosted NBA All-Star Weekend in February 2024. Alongside the weekend’s activities, Sagamore and Innopower hosted a series of events to celebrate Indianapolis’ Black business talent and showcase our portfolio of solutions helping Black communities access economic opportunity through education, entrepreneurship and investment.
The Public Good Index (PGI) measures statewide and zip code-based benchmarks, including life expectancy, median income, child poverty rate, college education rate, and percentage of people living without health insurance or without vehicle access.
Commonwealth harnesses entrepreneurial talent to create more opportunities for everyone to flourish.
This website is for informational purposes only. You should not construe any information or other material as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice. Nothing contained in these materials constitutes a solicitation, recommendation, endorsement, or offer.
