2012 – A Year of Firsts

2012 has been an extraordinary year for Third Sector Capital Partners and the field of Social Innovation Finance, one that will be remembered for its many firsts. Pay for Success and Social Impact Bonds have gained worldwide attention and are quickly taking root across the United States, with several tangible pilots under development.

We offer a huge thank you to every member of this growing community, each of whom has helped accelerate America’s transition to a performance-based social sector.

2012: A Year of Firsts

  • New York City launched the nation’s first Pay for Success pilot on Rikers Island.
  • Cuyahoga County, Ohio became first county in the nation to run a Pay for Success pilot procurement, with Third Sector as lead advisor.
  • Massachusetts became the first state in the nation to announce Pay for Success pilots: a juvenile justice project which features Third Sector as lead intermediary, and a chronic homelessness project with Third Sector as lead financial advisor in support of the intermediary.
  • At the Federal level, the Department of Justice granted its first Pay for Success Implementation Award of $750,000, won by Cuyahoga County in partnership with Third Sector.
  • The Department of Labor published its first Pay for Success solicitation, with $20 million of funding that has stimulated a great deal of activity nationwide.
  • Several other states, counties, and municipalities formally initiated their own Pay for Success explorations, including New York State; Fresno, California; Connecticut; Minnesota; New Jersey; Los Angeles County, California; and Santa Clara County, California to name just a few.

All of these firsts garnered significant national press coverage and prompted featured presentations in gatherings and conferences far and wide, including the White House.

This progress is attributable to the many individuals and organizations around the country who believe as ardently as we do that Pay for Success is an enormous opportunity to change the way government allocates and invests its resources – by focusing on results for communtities.

2013: Building on a Strong Foundation

Third Sector is striving to be America’s leading Pay for Success and Social Innovation Financing practitioner. We expect that both of the Massachusetts pilots will be well underway by year's end. We will continue to assist Cuyahoga County so that by late summer it can launch a Pay for Success pilot of its own. And we will continue to work on numerous other opportunities in partnership with governments, investors, and service providers as they work to develop a vibrant and scalable social innovation financing field in the United States.

On behalf of the Board, Partners and Staff of Third Sector Capital Partners,  onward to the New Year!

Massachusetts Social Innovation Financing Pilots

Lead Intermediary in First State-Level Pilot for Juvenile Justice:
Third Sector, in collaboration with New Profit Inc., was selected to serve as the intermediary in a Pay for Success project with evidence-based service provider Roca, Inc. that will reduce recidivism rates for over 900 young men.

Financial Advisor in First State-Level Pilot for Homelessness:
Third Sector was selected in partnership with the Massachusetts Housing and Shelter Alliance (lead intermediary), for a project that will create significant reductions in chronic homelessness. Other supporting partners include Corporation for Supportive Housing & United Way of Massachusetts Bay & Merrimack Valley.

Cuyahoga County Pay for Success

Lead Advisor in First County-Level Pay for Success Procurement:
Third Sector advised Cuyahoga County, Ohio in the development and launch of a formal Request for Responses to explore Pay for Success pilots in child welfare and youth/adolescent mental and behavioral health. Third Sector also assisted Cuyahoga in recently obtaining the nation’s only federal Pay for Success implementation grant, from the US Department of Justice.

Spreading Pay for Success

Third Sector initiated serious pay for success exploration in several other geographies, including: Santa Clara County, California, and Los Angeles County, California, both of which have passed formal resolutions at the County Board level. We are in discussions with several other locales as well, at various stages of development.

Experienced Partner Team

This year we were joined by three new Partners, Rick Edwards (former Head of Global Project Finance at J.P. Morgan Chase), John Grossman (former Undersecretary of Public Safety for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts) and, via promotion, Caroline Whistler (one of our Founders, with years of experience in the emerging field of Social Innovation Finance).

Thought Leader and Trail Blazer

Third Sector is emerging as a thought leader and trail blazer in the field of Social Innovation Finance. We appeared in many publications, including prominent pieces in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and the Boston Globe. We participated as speakers at multiple conferences including the White House Pay for Success Conference.