Mark Grovic on Higher Ed Now Podcast with, “Getting Philanthropic Returns”

New Markets’ General Partner Mark Grovic was recently featured on this popular podcast with the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, a national nonprofit organization for higher education. Hosted by Christine Ravold, they discuss issues in higher education and how investors are helping to improve the system.

While traditional philanthropists donate sums to aid a desired cause, a new wave of “venture philanthropists” are investing in organizations that are making positive changes, for a profit. Also featuring Jacqueline Pfeffer Merrill, executive director of the Fund for Academic Renewal, this podcast explores both the traditional philanthropist and investor perspective.

Mark describes the ideal venture prospective as an entity that is sustainable and can scale.

Typically these entities are software or technology enabled service companies that improve students’ ability to attain a degree or other meaningful credential. New Markets Venture Partners is investing to ensure that students are job-ready, and working to involve prospective employers in the process through project-based learning and credentialed pathways.

Regardless of the approach, both traditional and venture philanthropists are making large-scale, positive changes within the higher-education system. Listen to the podcast to learn more about how Mark and his fellow investors are profiting by ensuring that high school and college students are receiving the support and opportunities to maintain a strategic education, and continue on to a successful professional career.

Getting Philanthropic Returns

What do philanthropists and investors have in common? A lot more than you’d think. A new generation of “venture philanthropists” are looking for real results when it comes to supporting American higher education. To consider both sides of the investor/philanthropist mindset, Mark Grovic of New Markets Venture Partners and Jacqueline Pfeffer Merrill, executive director of the Fund for Academic Renewal, discuss how to consider specific issues in higher education that are ripe for innovative philanthropists to target for giving.