Global Impact Investing Network
Professional services
UnclaimedThe Global Impact Investing Network is a nonprofit organization that develops infrastructure, standards, research, and professional networks for the global impact-investing market.
Last updated August 26, 2026
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Overview
The Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN) is a United States-based nonprofit organization focused on expanding and professionalizing impact investing worldwide. Impact investing refers to investments intended to generate measurable social or environmental benefits alongside financial returns. The GIIN works primarily as market infrastructure rather than as an investment manager: it convenes investors, publishes research, develops measurement resources, and supports common operating standards. The organization originated in a series of meetings of the Rockefeller Impact Investing Collaborative held at the Rockefeller Foundation's Bellagio Center in 2007 and 2008. Those meetings brought together philanthropists, institutional investors, entrepreneurs, and financial specialists interested in using private capital to address social and environmental challenges. Antony Bugg-Levine, then a Rockefeller Foundation program director, helped convene the discussions. The Rockefeller Foundation subsequently established the GIIN as an independent nonprofit with its own leadership and staff, while also supporting the development of the Impact Reporting and Investment Standards, commonly known as IRIS. The GIIN was co-founded by Amit Bouri and Antony Bugg-Levine in 2009 and was publicly introduced on September 25 of that year at the Clinton Global Initiative in New York. Its initial launch received financial commitments from the Rockefeller Foundation, J.P. Morgan, and the United States Agency for International Development. Amit Bouri became managing director in 2009, and Luther M. Ragin Jr. became chief executive officer in 2011. Bouri returned to the organization's top leadership as chief executive officer and president in 2015. Sapna Shah became president in 2024, while Bouri continued as CEO. The GIIN's work includes market research on the size, participants, performance, and development of impact investing; conferences and member convenings; and tools designed to make impact measurement more consistent. Its membership includes asset managers, development-finance and sovereign institutions, family offices, pension funds, insurers, foundations, and other financial organizations. The organization reported 421 members as of June 2025, although membership composition and totals can change over time. One of the GIIN's central activities is stewardship of IRIS+, a public impact-measurement system. IRIS began as a catalog of indicators and performance metrics for assessing the financial, operational, social, and environmental performance of impact investments. It was developed with support from Acumen and B Lab in 2008 and launched alongside the GIIN in 2009. In 2019, the GIIN introduced IRIS+, a revised and expanded system that incorporated established metric sets and links to frameworks such as the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The system is intended to help investors plan, measure, and communicate impact using more comparable data. The GIIN also hosts the secretariat for the Operating Principles for Impact Management, commonly called the Impact Principles. These principles were developed in 2019 by the International Finance Corporation and an initial group of impact investors as a framework for integrating impact considerations into investment processes. Signatories are expected to publish annual disclosures describing how they apply the principles. The International Finance Corporation transferred hosting of the secretariat to the GIIN in 2022. Through these initiatives, the GIIN serves as a standards and coordination platform for a market that includes both commercial and mission-oriented capital.
History
The GIIN developed from Rockefeller Foundation-sponsored discussions about impact investing held at the Bellagio Center in 2007 and 2008. The meetings were organized around the idea that investors, philanthropists, entrepreneurs, and financial institutions could collaborate to direct capital toward social and environmental problem-solving while retaining a financial-investment orientation. Antony Bugg-Levine, then a Rockefeller Foundation program director, was among the principal conveners. The Rockefeller Foundation formalized the initiative by establishing the Global Impact Investing Network as an independent nonprofit and by supporting the creation of common measurement infrastructure. Amit Bouri and Antony Bugg-Levine co-founded the organization in 2009. The GIIN was publicly unveiled on September 25, 2009, at the Clinton Global Initiative in New York, with financial support commitments from the Rockefeller Foundation, J.P. Morgan, and USAID. Bouri initially served as managing director. Luther M. Ragin Jr. became CEO in 2011, and Bouri succeeded him as CEO and president in 2015. A major early focus was the Impact Reporting and Investment Standards, or IRIS. Developed with support from Acumen and B Lab, IRIS provided a catalog of indicators intended to help impact investors report financial, operational, social, and environmental performance in a more consistent manner. The system was launched alongside the GIIN in 2009 and became part of the organization's broader effort to establish shared language and comparable data for a developing investment field. In 2019, the GIIN introduced IRIS+, a substantially updated version of the measurement system. IRIS+ integrated existing metric sets and connected impact measurement to widely used frameworks, including the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The GIIN presents IRIS+ as a public-good resource that investors can use to select relevant indicators, plan measurement approaches, and communicate results. The GIIN has also expanded its role as a convener and market-research institution. It organizes conferences and member meetings for impact-investing professionals and publishes analysis concerning market size, investor characteristics, performance, and impact-measurement and management practices. Its membership spans asset-management firms, sovereign wealth funds, family offices, pension funds, insurers, foundations, and other financial organizations. The network reported 421 member organizations as of June 2025. Another major development was the creation of the Operating Principles for Impact Management, known as the Impact Principles. The framework was developed in 2019 by the International Finance Corporation and an initial group of 60 impact investors reportedly managing approximately $350 billion in impact-investing assets. Signatories disclose how the principles are incorporated into their investment practices, and their disclosures are made publicly available after review. In 2022, the IFC transferred the secretariat's hosting function to the GIIN. By March 2025, 186 organizations in 40 countries were reported as signatories. Joohee Rand serves as director of the secretariat. The GIIN remains a nonprofit intermediary rather than a conventional asset manager or consumer-facing brand. Its influence comes from convening market participants, producing research, and maintaining standards and tools that seek to improve the credibility, comparability, and scalability of impact investing.
- 2024
Sapna Shah becomes president
[1]Sapna Shah was named president, with Amit Bouri continuing as CEO.
- 2022
GIIN takes over Impact Principles secretariat hosting
[1]The IFC transferred hosting of the Impact Principles secretariat to the GIIN.
- 2019
IRIS+ released
[1]The GIIN launched IRIS+, an updated impact-measurement and management resource integrating established metrics and sustainability frameworks.
- 2019
Impact Principles developed
[1]The IFC and an initial group of impact investors created the Operating Principles for Impact Management.
- 2015
Amit Bouri returns as CEO and president
[1]Amit Bouri succeeded Luther M. Ragin Jr. as chief executive officer and president.
- 2011
Luther M. Ragin Jr. becomes CEO
[1]Luther M. Ragin Jr. was appointed chief executive officer.
- 2009
GIIN established and publicly launched
[1]Amit Bouri and Antony Bugg-Levine co-founded the GIIN, which was publicly unveiled at the Clinton Global Initiative in New York.
- 2008
IRIS development begins
[1]The Impact Reporting and Investment Standards were developed with support from Acumen and B Lab as a common catalog of impact-investing indicators.
- 2007
First Rockefeller Impact Investing Collaborative meeting
[1]Early impact investors, philanthropists, and financial experts met at the Rockefeller Foundation's Bellagio Center to discuss collaborative approaches to impact investing.
Products and positioning
A global nonprofit market-infrastructure and standards organization for impact investing, positioned between investors, philanthropies, development institutions, and other financial-market participants.
Impact measurement and management system · 2019
IRIS+
IRIS+ is the GIIN's public impact-measurement system for investors. It provides structured indicators and guidance for selecting, tracking, and communicating social, environmental, operational, and financial performance data. The 2019 version brought together earlier metric sets and linked measurement choices to frameworks such as the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Investment-management principles · 2019
Operating Principles for Impact Management
The Impact Principles provide a framework for embedding impact considerations throughout an investment process. Signatories describe their implementation through annual public disclosures, creating a transparency mechanism for investors that claim to manage for measurable social or environmental outcomes.
Professional network · 2009
GIIN Membership
GIIN membership connects organizations involved in impact investing, including asset managers, sovereign institutions, family offices, pension funds, insurers, foundations, and other financial participants. Members receive access to networking, convenings, research, and market-development initiatives.
Brand decisions
2022
GIIN assumes Impact Principles secretariat hostingStrategyBackground
The Operating Principles for Impact Management required an institutional home to administer the framework and its disclosure process.
Action taken
The International Finance Corporation transferred hosting of the secretariat to the GIIN.
Aftermath
The GIIN strengthened its role as a central standards and accountability platform for impact investors.
2019
Launch of IRIS+Product launchBackground
The GIIN sought to make impact measurement more usable and comparable as impact investing expanded across asset classes and investor types.
Action taken
It released IRIS+, an updated system that incorporated existing metric sets and connected impact indicators with broader sustainability frameworks.
Aftermath
IRIS+ became one of the GIIN's principal public resources for impact-investment planning and reporting.
Sources2 sources
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