Avivar Capital is the product of the shared vision, values and efforts of its co-founders, Tina Castro and Lisa Richter. Our work together began in 2008 when Tina was hired by The California Endowment to design and launch TCE’s impact investing practice and Lisa was retained as an advisor to the effort through her firm, GPS Capital Partners.

Following Tina’s departure from TCE in 2014 to launch Avivar Capital, we began collaborating as advisors. This led to the 2015 merger of our firms under the name Avivar Capital. That year, Avivar became an SEC Registered Investment Advisor (RIA). This increased our focus on supporting clients in moving from idea to action on impact investing, while advancing our conviction that impact investing is a discipline with all the rigor of traditional investing, enhanced by social and environmental considerations including the priorities of the communities we serve.

As of December 31, 2020, Avivar had $451 million in non-discretionary assets under management from institutional investors ranging from small to among the nation’s largest foundations, banks, health systems, and families.

With over 60 years of collective impact investing experience, the Avivar team has designed, launched and managed impact investment portfolios and funds totaling more than $500 million in approximately 150 separate transactions from positions leading foundation, venture capital, bank, and Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) impact investing units.

While Avivar supports clients across impact themes, we have taken a national lead in several areas (see Spotlights page), including place-based impact investing (often through initiatives or funds seeking multiple, coordinated impacts within a city, state or region); health, healthy communities, healthy food access and sustainable food systems; education (early childhood through post-secondary); and small business (micro- and small business finance through venture capital and private equity).

In addition to serving individual clients, Avivar is committed to providing impact investing training and coaching fieldwide. Beginning with Lisa’s co-design of the Mission Investors Exchange Institute in 2006, we have trained over 350 institutional trustees and staff in the practice of impact investing. A woman-and minority-owned firm, we are committed through hiring, internships and partnerships to developing a diverse impact investing profession that reflects the communities it serves.

We are privileged to work with clients, communities and colleagues committed to investing for a better world. We look forward to continued and new partnerships to advance progress on the challenges and opportunities that remain before us.