Social Finance, Inc.

This case begins in February 2019 as Tracy Palandjian, co-founder and CEO of Social Finance Inc., prepares for a board meeting that will determine the future strategy of the social enterprise. Social Finance is a non-profit in the impact investment space founded in 2011 to “mobilize capital to drive social progress.” The case provides details of the early years of Social Finance’s work in the United States which primarily focussed on social impact bonds (SIBs)—contingent payment contracts between governments, socially oriented service providers and private investors. The case discusses the work Social Finance conducted to pass landmark “pay-for-success” legislation in 2018. In 2019 one key strategic question emerges: Should Social Finance double-down on growing their core business and developing pay-for-success financial products or should they dedicate more resources to innovation and field building?