SEAF | Council for Inclusive Capitalism

Small Enterprise Assistance Funds (SEAF) is a global impact private equity manager focused on providing growth capital and operational support to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in emerging markets. Utilizing an ESG+ investment approach, SEAF selectively makes structured debt and equity investments in locally-owned enterprises with high growth potential to actively build resilience within SMEs themselves and more largely within their communities, focusing on climate, food security, and inclusion. SEAF is a global organization headquartered in Washington D.C., with 15 offices in Central and Eastern Europe, Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia, the Middle East, North Africa, and Sub-Saharan Africa. Over the past three decades, SEAF has managed more than 40 Funds and across 33 countries. SEAF’s on-the-ground presence in our countries of focus, coupled with our proactive and responsive business model, enables us to source opportunities and work closely with local entrepreneurs, providing the capital, hands-on operational support, knowledge, and networks they need. SEAF also supports ten Centers for Entrepreneurship and Development (CEED) worldwide to provide training, mentoring, and global access to professional networks and entrepreneur-run businesses.

Purpose

SEAF uses an ESG+ investment approach to provide growth capital and operational support to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in emerging markets that are underserved by traditional sources of capital. SEAF’s global reach and proactive business model enable entrepreneurs to accelerate their businesses’ growth and profitability while achieving meaningful and measurable impact. Our more than 32 years of experience have shown that impact investing and maximizing performance complement each other—we can do good and realize strong financial returns. We envision a sustainable and inclusive world where entrepreneurs everywhere have the capital, tools, and support they need to transform their businesses and increase the shared prosperity of their communities.

Paul Sheehan

CEO, SEAF

Find out more

We believe it is vital to state clearly to the world the set of our beliefs about Inclusive Capitalism. As such, we start with our Statement of Guiding Principles for Inclusive Capitalism. Knowing that words alone are not enough, each of us is making a series of commitments about how we will operate our institutions so that they help achieve Inclusive Capitalism. These commitments are forward-looking statements based on current goals, expectations and assumptions, which are not guarantees of future performance. For more information, please refer to our Terms of Use

Filter by commitments

View all

People

Planet

Principles of Governance

Prosperity

Summary

SEAF will invest $100MM over the next 5 years, which combined with capacity-building activities to create jobs will, in turn, work to create stable economies.

Activities & Initiatives

SEAF will advance support of SMEs in emerging and frontier markets through investments focused on areas of inclusion, climate resilience, and food security.

Measures & Targets

SEAF will invest $100MM over the next 5 years, which combined with capacity-building activities to create jobs will, in turn, work to create stable economies. SEAF currently supports 500 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in emerging and frontier markets and deepen that support through a targeted deployment of investment capital.

Summary

SEAF commits to integrating our Gender Equality Scorecard© and ESG standards into our impact score card by 2022.

Activities & Initiatives

This integration will make SMEs more equitable and resilient in the markets in which we operate.

Measures & Targets

SEAF will implement this commitment for all asset management activities within 1 year and going forward.

Summary

SEAF will promote equality by aiming to achieve our objective of equal pay for work of equal value by 2023.

Activities & Initiatives

This objective is to attain gender equality within SEAF globally.

Measures & Targets

SEAF intends implement this commitment across the organization within 2 years.

Summary

SEAF will expand our internal Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives across our global organization by 2023.

Activities & Initiatives

This expansion is to prevent our staff from experiencing any differences based on their gender, race, or disability.

Measures & Targets

These initiatives will be in place within 2 years.

Summary

SEAF is developing a new impact score card to measure the environmental and social impact of our portfolio companies by 2024.

Activities & Initiatives

SEAF’s scorecard will provide guidance by industry for improvements as appropriate by creating action plans to improve impact specific to each company.

Measures & Targets

SEAF will implement the scorecard across all current and new investee companies within 3 years and going forward.

Sign up your company

Recognizing it will take alignment of all our organizations to scale impact globally, we invite you to join the movement as a Steward of Inclusive Capitalism. Together, the collective action of Council members will contribute to a fairer, more inclusive and sustainable future for all people and our planet.