Affordable housing developer SoLa: Impact is a strategic imperative for business success

May 02, 2025 at 11:22 AM EDT

Leading with impact: a strategic imperative for business success

This post originally appeared on Medium.

In today’s economic and social landscape, it is more important than ever for leaders to focus on the holistic impact of their businesses. “Leading with impact” is no longer a niche concept — it is a fundamental strategy for long-term business success.

As chief impact officer at SoLa Impact with over a decade of experience in the impact space, I have learned and earnestly believe that “doing well” and “doing good” are not mutually exclusive; rather, they are intertwined and essential threads in the fabric of successful business practices and growth.

In organizations such as ours, social impact contributes to mitigating our society’s greatest challenges while greatly enhancing a company’s bottom-line. Yet far too many business leaders still hold the erroneous belief that one can have profits or a positive impact, but not both. To help solve the world’s most pressing challenges, it requires a mindset shift.

Over eight years ago, I joined SoLa Impact under the visionary leadership of founder and CEO Martin Muoto, who demonstrated the unwavering courage needed to disrupt the affordable housing industry. As the founder of SoLa Impact’s family of social impact private equity funds, Martin believes that firms with strong, impactful and real socially responsible portfolios consistently outperform their competitors.

Leading with impact in affordable housing: a strategic imperative for business success — Sherri Brown Francois (Los Angeles Rams photo)

SoLa Impact has centered this strategy as it has grown to become the largest private affordable housing developer in California. As chief impact officer and executive director of our affiliated nonprofit, The SoLa Foundation, I am committed to ensuring SoLa continues to prioritize positive impact on the communities we touch as it is vital to the success of the company.

The data speaks for itself — by providing no-cost supportive services and resources, SoLa helps our residents succeed. But our work extends past supporting just our residents. SoLa’s Model/Z Vocational School showcases how we are intertwined with the communities we build in, hiring directly from surrounding neighborhoods to contribute to the work we do.

And by building up and training the next generation of leaders in our communities through our tech centers and college scholarships program we are, in fact, fueling SoLa’s bottom line. This continues to demonstrate that helping our communities thrive is not only possible but essential.

This finding is confirmed by a recent McKinsey study, which found that when high-performing companies effectively incorporate Environmental Social Governance and Corporate Social Responsibility, their total shareholder returns grow by 7% more than the rest of the dataset that didn’t prioritize ESG.

At the end of 2024, The Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN) reported that the total impact assets under management have grown at a compound annual growth rate of 14% over the past five years. This signifies a shift in investment strategies, where impact is considered as a contributor to financial returns.

As more businesses begin to recognize the importance of social and environmental governance, for many, it still begs the question: How can we lead with impact effectively?

I’ve found the most effective recipe for success in the impact space is collaboration between private, public and philanthropic sectors. By working with mission-aligned organizations, SoLa has multiplied our reach and resources in our communities, ultimately driving more significant and long-lasting change.

And as we continue to grow and scale our business model, we aim to set the bar for what private development can look like nationwide to build and support strong communities.

For those of you who are business leaders or aspiring entrepreneurs and CEOs, I encourage you to ask yourself: “How can I integrate impact into our core strategies?” “Am I open to collaborating with diverse partners to drive meaningful change?”

Remember, leading with impact is a strategic advantage that can unlock new pathways for innovation and business growth. Companies that thrive embrace the dual mission of doing well by doing good. I am personally grateful to be able to lead with impact at SoLa and continue to redefine what success looks like in today’s business landscape.

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Affordable housing developer SoLa: Impact is a strategic imperative for business success

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