The Heartland Network was founded by the Steel Valley Authority (SVA), Steelworkers and AFL-CIO in 1995 to explore and promote capital strategies to rebuild America.  Over two decades, Heartland has established itself as a leader in labor’s capital strategies, community development and impact investing through its research and actions.  With it’s new Responsible Investor Handbook, published by Greenleaf Publishing and commissioned by the AFL-CIO (our third book), Heartland has established its national leadership in the workers’ capital field.  We have a very unique mission and vision.

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Our Mission: To mobilize responsible investments by capital stewards/institutional investors in the real economy, achieving competitive financial returns and positive ESG impact.

 

Our Vision: To help workers secure better retirement benefits by sustainably investing in the real economy, securing good jobs, and ultimately rebuilding and strengthening our communities.

 

Heartland advocates for the adoption and growth of responsible investments, particularly responsible Economic Impact Investments (EII), before pension funds and the institutional investment community at large.  EII are investments that:

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     • Demonstrate competitive investment returns over the long term;

     • Yield over-sized, positive economic impacts in a city or region or industry; and

     • Integrate Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG) criteria into investment decisions.

 

Heartland-affiliated sponsors, along with other responsible funds, have invested profitably for decades in the Pittsburgh region and Commonwealth, and in cities across the US and around the globe, creating or saving hundreds of thousands of union and community jobs; building hundreds of thousands of new housing units; opening new jobs and career ladders for minority residents, including pre-apprenticeship programs, and creating new shared ownership paths for working people and citizens; and blazing new trails in corporate governance.

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