You're invited to the Investor Summit

December 1–3 · Duke Divinity School · Durham, NC

The Investor Track of our Catholic Social Teaching (CST) and Investing Summit gathers 30 to 50 people who steward capital or advise those who do: family offices, foundations, endowments, advisors and fund managers.

You leave with a plan for investing in line with your values and the case you will make to the person who has to say yes before your capital can move differently. In the breakout sessions, you work on the plan and the case with peers who want you to succeed, and you hear from people who have changed how their own organizations invest.

A look back at Summit 2025 at Georgetown University.

WHO DO YOU NEED TO CONVINCE

Work on the conversation you most need to win

Here is what you work on and take home, depending on who you need to convince.

If the person to convince is your family You know you need to talk with your advisors and your family, and to structure a policy for values-aligned investing. You work on both and leave with talking points and peers on a similar journey. Matt Ahearn of the Ahearn Family Foundation and True North Venture Partners is putting family office capital directly behind employee ownership. He and Lindsay Zizumbo of the Sorenson Impact Foundation speak in two ninety-minute working sessions for family offices on moving money into employee ownership.

If the person to convince is your board or committee You work on example policies from large institutions that keep an endowment mission-aligned. You leave with examples to point to with your board and tools to map internal decisions. Nicholas Banovetz told the chair of the investment committee at his interview for the Better Way Foundation that he did not know what impact investing was, and the chair told him that was the right answer. About 40 percent of the foundation's assets are now in impact investments.

If the person to convince is your clients You work on how to message your investing approach to attract values-aligned clients. You leave with peers and introductions to potential clients. George Ashton of Candide Group, an RIA multifamily office, told last year's Summit, "Moving minds comes before moving change."

This year's theme: Reviving Courage

A working title, still evolving. The arc moves in three parts.

Down, into the lineage and grounding of Catholic sisters' history as pioneers of alternative economic institutions and active-ownership investing.

Up, into the inspiring vision of what becomes possible through collaboration.

In, to a moment of reacquainting with our inner purpose and why any of this matters.

In the same spirit as our flagship workshop's own commissioning ritual, we plan to build together something special during our shared time together. 

Pledges and commitments often come easily for participants. Follow-through is the harder discipline.

Courage is what closes that gap.

What you'll explore

• Governance — IPS changes, board task forces, MRI programs, the 12 steps of CST embodiment
• Theology & Frameworks — theology of investing, ecumenical charisms, Pope Leo XIV's Magnifica Humanitas
• Asset Classes & Strategy — private credit, fixed income, municipal bonds; Emerging strategies: church real estate, housing, insurance, climate and energy
• Activating Capital — DAFs, capital formation, field-building for low- and moderate-income families
• Ecosystem, Narrative & Power — narrative strategy, AI, dioceses, SEC and policy

Together, we'll ask

How do we deploy capital into private funds that boldly embody Catholic values What will it take to move from isolated efforts to a shared movement? How can we move beyond screens into bold, coordinated action?

What three days here actually looks like

Tuesday, December 1 Registration and lunch open at 11:00. At 1:00 we gather as a community for spiritual grounding and remarks from community leaders. Breakout sessions follow, then dinner and discussion.

Wednesday, December 2 Morning prayer, then Community & Vision, with in-depth small group discussions. Breakout sessions run in the morning and again late in the afternoon. In between, Shift & Share table rotations put you in conversation with community leaders so you can connect with people facing the same challenges and opportunities. The day closes with Integration & Reflections and dinner in small groups around Durham.

Thursday, December 3 Morning prayer and remarks from community leaders, then Open Spaces, where the people in the room lead the conversations. We close with a commissioning and a bag lunch. An optional immersion at The Industrial Commons in Morganton, NC follows on December 3 and 4. [Details and sign up]

You share the plenaries and morning prayer with our Field Building Track, so you are in the same room as the people building livable futures who are looking for relationships and capital. You'll find your people here.

[DOWNLOAD THE FULL AGENDA]

What's included

Three days of programming built around this track specifically, all meals, morning prayer and liturgy, and a seat at the closing commissioning. No add-on fees once you're registered, apart from the optional immersion.

Now in its third year

We held the first CST & Investing Summit in 2024 in Chicago at Loyola University, then in 2025 in Washington DC with Georgetown University. This year, Duke.

Confirmed speakers include

Jim Sorenson, Sorenson Impact Group

Sr. Sue Ernster, President, Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration

Matt Ahearn, Ahearn Family Foundation

Lindsay Zizumbo, Executive Director, Sorenson Impact Foundation

Kate Walsh, Director of Training, The Global Impact Investing Network

Nicholas Banovetz, Executive Director, Better Way Foundation

Kate Barron-Alicante, Director of Impact, Abacus Wealth Partners

Carolyn LaRocco, President, LCP Institutional

Heather Beatty, HCB Capital Advisors

John Holdsclaw IV, President & CEO Rochdale Capital

Margot Kane, CIO, Spring Point Partners

Simon Kent Fung, Podcast Creator & Host, Dear Alana

Anand Dholakia, Program Director, J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott Foundation

Mike Silvestri, Vice President, Impact Investments Social Finance

Alison Lingane, Founder, Ownership Capital Lab.

Katrina Aitken-Laird, Founder & CEO, Refrontier Foundation

Melanie Rieback, Co-Founder & CEO, Radically Open Security

Enith Williams, Founder & Executive Director, Reparations Finance Lab

Michael Rauenhorst, Co-Founder & Managing Partner, Social Investment Managers & Advisors

Felix Navarrete, AI Platonist, Theological Engineer, Kairos Lux Works

Kelley Shepherd, Director of Investments, The Leon Levine Foundation

David Harlley, CEO, ThirdWay Capital

Jimmy Wright, Co-Founder & President, Launch Capital Partners

More to come.

What past attendees have said

"Invaluable... even though I have years of experience in investment management."

                                    — Tom Marthaler, Retired, Neuberger Berman

"This work is a historical task in the life of the Church and Humankind."

                                    — Fr. Lord Winner, CMF, General Mission Procurator, Claretian Missionaries

"I attended three conferences back-to-back, including SoCap. This conference, although it was the final one, was the most energizing and the most grounded in action."

                                   — Mike Silvestri, Vice President, Social Finance

What it costs

Registration is $2,500 starting October 1. Register before September 30 and it's $2,000. Register before September 12 and it's $1,800, the lowest it will be.

Attendance does not imply endorsement of any offering.

One of the closest hotels is the Washington Duke Inn. More details about lodging forthcoming soon.

Questions? Email cameron@francescocollaborative.org, or reply directly to whoever sent you this link.

Where to stay

We have group rates held at two hotels close to Duke Divinity School. Both rates cover December 1 to 3.

• AC Hotel Durham: $149 per night, about 0.5 miles from Duke Chapel. [Book your room]
• Residence Inn by Marriott Durham McPherson/Duke University Medical Center Area: $149 per night, about 1.6 miles from Duke Chapel. [Book your room]

Staying on for the Investor Immersion in Morganton? Fairfield by Marriott Inn & Suites Morganton Historic Downtown has a $139 per night rate for December 3 to 4. Book by November 4. [Book your room]

Questions before you register?

Join us live on November 13 at 10:30am ET to ask about the program and who is attending.

Save your seat for the Q&A