Program Overview

Overview

The Certificate in Impact and Sustainable Investing is a four-course online program that provides foundational and practical expertise in impact investing for equity and sustainability. The program is designed for finance professionals, philanthropy professionals, government agency employees, community economic development practitioners, social entrepreneurs, and community organizers who want to understand the role impact investment can play in their business growth and community development.

Program Outcomes

The certificate curriculum provides foundational knowledge and practical applications in sustainability and impact investing with a core focus on:

• ESG and Impact: Understand how to analyze the multitude of data points coming out of ESG ratings to ensure investments are aligned with values.
• Capital Gaps: Transform communities and sectors through accelerating and increasing impact-first investments aligned with sustainability, social and racial equity.
• Impact Measurement: Approach investment decisions with a rigorous and critical lens to efficiently evaluate based on sustainability and equity perspectives.
• Community Capital: Experience practical and real-world applications of scalable strategies through evaluation of case studies, hands-on projects, and detailed, financial development of new models for immediate deployment.

Application Requirements

• Application Fee
• Resume/CV
• Personal Statement
• Official TOEFL, IELTS, or Duolingo English Test, if applicable
• Transcripts
• One Letter of Recommendation

Tuition and Financial Aid

Limited research and teaching assistantship stipends may be available to qualified, enrolled certificate students. Note: This program is not eligible for federal loans or Tufts tuition scholarships.

Required Courses

The following four courses are required to complete the certificate:

• UEP 0185: Impact Investing for Catalytic Impact: Filling Capital Gaps
• UEP 0186: Community-Based Investing – Systems & Practice
• UEP 0184: Fundamentals of ESG & Impact Investing
• UEP 0187: Blended Return: Impact Investing Measurement Tools and Processes

Faculty

Jeffrey Rosen

Jason and Chloe Epstein Term Professor of the Practice, Urban & Environmental Policy & Planning

• Research/Areas of Interest: Catalytic Capital Community Investing Sustainable Finance Impact Measures Impact Investing for Racial Equity

Julian Agyeman

Professor of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning and Fletcher Professor of Rhetoric and Debate

• Research/Areas of Interest: Sustainability policy and planning; environmental and food justice; intercultural cities

Douglas Gollin

Jason P. and Chloe Epstein Professor, Economics

• Research/Areas of Interest: Economic Development and Growth

Penn Loh

Teaching Professor, Urban & Environmental Policy & Planning

• Research/Areas of Interest: Solidarity economy movements and economic democracy; Community land trusts; Popular education, social movements, community organizing; Community and climate resilience

Patrick Schena

Barton L. Rachlin, E59, A85P Professor, Economics

• Research/Areas of Interest: Finance and banking in East Asia

Related Programs

• Environmental Economics and Urban Planning (Master's)
• Economics (Master's)
• Sustainability (Master's)
• Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning (Master's)
• Public Policy (Master's)