Social impact goals
The Harriet Collington Foundation, at the heart of Collington Capital, has been established to further the legacy of Olivia’s great grandmother Harriet Collington, her sister Catherine Arnott, and successive generations of remarkable Collington women who were pioneers in their respective fields. The work was begun over 125 years ago and continues today through the work of Harriet’s great grand-daughter Olivia Catherine Collington Dickson.
Each generation of Collington women has found a way, in a manner appropriate to the time, to use their skills and experience for the benefit of wider society. Today those social impacts are captured in the five impact goals most critical to addressing social inequality: poverty alleviation, better health, inclusive education, women’s empowerment and economic development.
Our inspiration
The foundation is inspired by the work of Olivia’s great grandmother, Harriet Collington, who was actively engaged in social work associated with her husband’s medical practice and was one of the first generation of women to be appointed a Justice of the Peace.
Along with her sister, Catherine Arnott, one of the first women to qualify as a doctor, Harriet was a well-known and active member of the early 20th century movement for women’s economic, social and political empowerment.
Harriet’s daughter-in-law Dorothy Collington was awarded an MBE for her social work in Coventry during and after the second world war and her grand-daughter Catherine Collington was a school mistress dedicated to advancing the social mobility of girls through education. This lineage of Collington women continues with Olivia who has had a long and illustrious career in financial services.
Read the foundation brochure
How the foundation works
The Harriet Collington Foundation is a not-for-profit company facilitating the development and funding of blended finance impact investment propositions.
It works with aligned and ambitious partners towards a vision of philanthropic funding catalysing flows of new impact investment to transform the delivery of social impact at scale in the United Kingdom and internationally.
The foundation’s medium-term goal is to mobilise US$150mn of catalytic philanthropic funding over five years. It will achieve this by using funding from donors and grantors to:
- Support research, engagement and advocacy that helps philanthropic funders catalyse impact investment into impact-led enterprises
- Develop blended finance solutions aligned with the goals of philanthropic funders, leveraging grant funding to deliver social impact at scale
- Provide grant funding to support blended finance investment propositions that attract impact capital and help impact-led organisations grow sustainably
The foundation aims to strengthen the adviser community in the impact investment ecosystem and advance blended finance in mainstream markets so that impact-led enterprises are well served and enabled to scale their impact and accelerate progress toward key social impact goals: poverty alleviation, better health, inclusive education, women’s empowerment and economic development. The foundation also addresses the inter-dependent threat of the climate crisis with an additional focus on climate solutions which build the resilience of the most vulnerable.
The Harriet Collington Foundation is supported by the partners of Collington Capital Partners LLP with whom it shares a commercial interest in Collington Capital Limited, a regulated impact investment bank which structures impact investment vehicles and raises impact investment capital. The Harriet Collington Foundation leads Collington Capital’s work with philanthropic funders on impact solutions.
