About Us

Mission

We draw on the wisdom of faith lineages, especially the Catholic tradition, to animate a community of investors working to align their finances with the values and principles of Catholic Social Teaching. We do this through shared formation, encounters with the suffering poor and the earth, and collaboration with one another.

Our Story

Inspired by the Economy of Francesco movement launched by Pope Francis in 2019, the Francesco Collaborative emerged from a series of gatherings convened by Felipe Witchger and Elizabeth Garlow at the intersection of finance, spirituality, and Catholic Social Teaching. In the spring of 2021, a group of US-based Catholic asset stewards came together to wrestle with an important question: 

What would bold action in impact investing look like if we use Catholic Social Teaching as our starting point? 

“I am writing to invite…[those] interested in a different kind of economy: one that brings life not death, one that is inclusive and not exclusive, humane and not dehumanizing, one that cares for the environment and does not despoil it…[to]  enter into a ‘covenant’ to change today’s economy and to give a soul to the economy of tomorrow.”

-Pope Francis, 2020 – Letter Sent by the Holy Father for the Event “Economy of Francesco”

Through a series of funding circles, the group shifted millions to Catholic Social Teaching-embodied impact investments by the fall of 2021. The Livable Future Investing workshop was born. 

Now, ten cohorts of the Livable Future Investing workshop later, our team curates a community of 200+ asset stewards interested in better integrating their faith values with their investment practices.