SoLa Impact has raised over $250 million in its fourth fund and aims to scale up affordable and workforce housing development in California’s Black and brown communities. CalSTRS’ commitment through Belay Investment Group represents the first real estate investment by the CalSTRS Sustainable Investment and Stewardship Strategies Team. LOS ANGELES, March 1, 2022 SoLa Impact, a leading minority-led real estate fund focused on affordable and workforce housing in California’s Black and brown communities, today announced that the California State Teachers’…

On any given night in Greater Los Angeles some 66,436 people are homeless, a 16.1% increase in LA over 2019 according to the Los Angeles County Homeless Services Agency. South LA hosts the second highest number of any area in the county. And that was before the onslaught of COVID-19.  Cristy Godby was part of this homeless crisis. She was on the streets of LA before finding her way to the homeless services group HOPICS where she was finally able to…

During COVID-19, SoLa Impact and our non-profit affiliate, The I CAN Foundation prioritized closing the digital divide in South Los Angeles by working to increase access to technology and internet connectivity. In March 2020, SoLa polled tenants and found an enormous and urgent need: 42% of tenant youth lacked the tools to distance learn and 70% of tenants could not afford internet. South LA is already a tech desert. 20% of families lack adequate internet connectivity and students are 3X…

SoLa Impact recently began a new pilot building project in our ground-up affordable housing portfolio in South LA. Panelization, the construction of building sections in remote locations and transported to building sites for construction, allows Sola Impact to build on sites typically untenable for traditional construction operations. Taking on panelization has served as the “proof of concept” that modular construction can work for our projects, accelerating construction while cutting cost. By purchasing materials well ahead of construction, we were able…

SoLa Impact, a leading urban real estate fund, announced the launch of its $1 billion ‘Black Impact Fund,’ which will invest exclusively in Black and Brown communities in major urban markets. The fund will be comprised of a $500 million Opportunity Zone (OZ) Fund and a side-by-side, $500 million non-Opportunity Zone Fund. Martin Muoto, CEO of SoLa Impact and founder of the Black Impact Fund, stated, “After a decade of successfully investing in Los Angeles’ African-American and Latinx communities, we have learned a great deal about how to…

South LA high school sophomore Kenneth, age 15, has been interested in tech since middle school but hasn’t been able to find high quality tech education programs. “I love the ability to innovate in order to help the world and citizens. Anything can be possible with tech, as nothing is your limit.” It all comes down to a lack of access to tech in South LA. Kenneth is not alone. SoLa Impact found 87% of students at 13 large area…

I grew up in South LA, notoriously known as South Central. Despite the negative rep, I love this community. It’s my home and it taught me a lot about grit, perseverance and kindness. I left to pursue a PhD in Behavioral Neuroscience but decided to return after getting my masters because I knew I wouldn’t be personally or professionally fulfilled unless I was helping folks from my community have a chance at a better life. Serving as Social Impact Manager…