The Hack: A Regenerative Capital Convening

Our Hack will function as a systems convening and rapid-prototyping lab—a “think + do” tank uniting the key stakeholders who steward trillions in philanthropic and private wealth.

Participants could include:
Bridgespan, Fidelity Charitable, National Philanthropic Trust (NPT), CCS Fundraising, Campbell & Company, Marts & Lundy, Graham-Pelton, Westfall Gold, J.P. Morgan Private Bank, Goldman Sachs Private Wealth, UBS, Morgan Stanley, Northern Trust, Bessemer Trust, and Beatrice Advisors.

Over two days, we will:

- Map barriers preventing DAF deployment into regenerative community investment.
- Prototype cooperative resourcing structures (e.g., pooled “DAF-to-Community” capital stacks blending grants, recoverable loans, and equity).
- Design incentive frameworks that align fiduciary duty, SDG impact, and client legacy goals.
- Create governance and data-sharing models to build trust between intermediaries and wealth advisors.

The outcome: a blueprint for new financial vehicles and cooperative capital models that intermediaries like Project Wellspring, CDFIs, and minority fund managers can implement immediately.

Why This Approach Is Innovative

Traditional philanthropy disperses capital transactionally; Wellspring’s Hack reframes it as a regenerative ecosystem design process.

- Redemptive Ownership: Community members gain co-ownership stakes in assets financed by DAF capital.
- Regenerative Finance: Each dollar is structured to circulate — not exit — the communities it touches.
- Collaborative Prototyping: Wealth advisors, foundations, and intermediaries co-create the financial tools that lower risk and expand participation.
- Blended Capital Infrastructure: Models will be tested that combine catalytic DAF tranches, recoverable grants, and private-equity co-investment to accelerate wealth-building aligned with SDG metrics.

Theory of Change (Model) and Intended Impact

If DAF capital is re-engineered through regenerative, co-owned investment structures,
then it can flow into intermediaries that finance inclusive enterprises,
thereby converting dormant wealth into community assets and measurable SDG outcomes.

Implementation and Scale

- Phase 1 (2026): Host the Hack Convening (Atlanta / DC) → prototype instruments → publish design brief.
- Phase 2 (2026-27): Pilot two vehicles through Project Wellspring’s platform and aligned intermediaries.
- Phase 3 (2027-35): Scale nationally via regional “Impact Collectives,” enabling local adaptation and DAF participation through policy and institutional adoption.

This approach creates a repeatable model for regenerative capital convenings — scalable across sectors (health, food, housing, climate) and geographies.

Team and Network (see attached bios)

Rachel Wilson – ESG-certified impact strategist, fund-ops expert in blended capital and measurement.
Brooke Daniels – Tech-driven VC leader (ex-Salesforce Ventures), ecosystem architect.
Dia Simms – Founder, Pronghorn / corporateI investor bridging culture and capital.
Qiana Patterson – Managing Partner, Nayah Family Office Venture Studio; inclusive innovation strategist.

*Supported by partners including Living Cities, Southern Communities Initiative, AA Alliance CDFIs and Pronghorn.

Measurement, Accountability, and Regenerative Stewardship

Impact will be tracked using five-dimension and SDG-aligned metrics, measuring both financial flow and regenerative yield (how much value stays and grows locally).

Each prototype fund will report:

- % DAF capital activated,
- ownership units created,
- community equity retained,
- and social value generated (jobs, SMEs, housing, environmental resilience).

A community verification loop ensures the principle of redemptive accountability—that wealth built through this process restores rather than extracts.

Long-Term Vision

By 2035, Project Wellspring’s convening model will have inspired a national regenerative capital network, channeling $10–15 B of DAF wealth into inclusive economic engines.

These networks will institutionalize redemptive ownership, where wealth is measured not only by return on capital but by return to community—a living example of how regenerative finance can heal the wealth divide and renew the moral imagination of capital itself.

Idle Billions to Wellsprings: Turning Dormant Dollars into Regenerative Capital Systems

Idle Billions to Wellsprings: Turning Dormant Dollars into Regenerative Capital Systems