Our Vision
The original vocation of finance is inclusion.
— Sr. Alessandra Smerilli

Capital has a vocation.
We're reclaiming it.

Charism Capital is a global, impact-first investment fund rooted in the wisdom of Catholic Social Teaching and the many charisms — the spiritual gifts — that animate faith-based communities and life.

We are anchored by a community of Catholic sisters and open to all qualified, mission-aligned investors who believe that how we invest is not neutral. It carries moral significance and can express solidarity and care for our earth and one another.


Charism Capital is sponsored and stewarded by Charism, Inc., a 501(c)(3) organization focused on enacting global solidarity through integrated and impact-first capital rooted in Catholic Social Teaching.


Our Team

A community of practitioners

Led by individuals with deep expertise in community and impact investing — many of whom have led or currently lead investment programs for religious congregations.

Elizabeth Garlow

FOUNDER & CEO

One-line bio summary.

Bill Hatch

CFO & COO

CFA Charterholder and Yale graduate with a decade of capital strategy experience across cleantech venture, Jesuit institutions, and Catholic impact investing networks.

Andreas Eichin

CHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER

Two-decade private debt and development finance veteran whose career has centered on expanding capital access for underserved communities across emerging and frontier markets.

Petra Vujakovic

INVESTMENT ASSOCIATE

Impact investment analyst with experience at MicroVest, Oradian, and the Cabrini Sisters, drawn to faith-rooted investing for its refusal to wish away the tension between risk, return, and human dignity.

Manuel Costa

INVESTMENT ASSOCIATE

CDFI practitioner and fund design consultant who deployed $29M+ in small-business capital and carries a NGO-forged commitment to finance as a tool of solidarity, not extraction.


Our roots

A Legacy of Catholic Sisters

Catholic Sisters have been asking a question for a long time: with whom do we cast our lot?
— Sr. Carol Coston, OP

The answer has shaped everything — from the schools and hospitals Sisters built in overlooked communities, to the first shareholder resolutions challenging apartheid and labor abuses, to the savings they lent into the communities that conventional finance had walked away from.

In the face of a culture that measures success primarily in financial returns, Sisters insisted on something different: that how we invest is an expression of our mission, not merely an enabler of it.

Charism Capital exists to continue and broaden this legacy.


1975

A Brief Timeline

Fifty years of faithful capital


Adrian Dominicans establish Portfolio Advisory Board

1990s

Sisters drive growth of the CDFI movement

2025

Eleven congregations co-design Charism Capital in Chicago

2026

Charism Capital Fund I, L.P. launches

Our Approach

Catholic Social Teaching, put to work

We invest globally and primarily in fund intermediaries. Four convictions shape every allocation we make.

Conviction One

Impact is the mandate. Return is the constraint.

The financial return floor is defined by what investors need — putting the concept of enough into practice. Solidarity returns are not a failure mode.

Conviction Three

Accountability to those excluded.

The moral measure of any economic system is how it treats those on its peripheries. Their accountability is a first principle, not a market opportunity.

Conviction Two

Risk doesn't disappear. It moves.

We ask hard questions: who is bearing the risk of this investment on our behalf, and do they have the capacity and consent to bear it?

Conviction Four

Ownership, not just access.

We ask whether investments shift who owns and who governs. Access to capital's benefits is not the same as participation in capital itself.


Our Founders Circle

Catholic Social Teaching, put to work

We launched with a founding group of investors — including several congregations of Catholic Sisters — who believe impact-first investing is a clear way to live out their mission and minister to the world.

With gratitude to our founding donors

We are also grateful for the founding donors who supported the incubation and launch of this effort.


Join Our Community

An invitation to invest, together

We welcome all qualified investors to join our community through semi-annual subscriptions to the fund in January and July.

In addition to putting your capital to work around the world, we offer spaces for spiritual formation — drawing from Catholic Social Doctrine and the treasures of the many charisms represented from religious orders in our community.

This communal dimension — connecting our spiritual formation with our investing — is what we think makes Charism special.

Investor Qualifications

[Placeholder: define qualifications — e.g., "accredited investor" / "qualified purchaser" thresholds and any congregation-specific eligibility.]

Keep In Touch
Get In Touch

Begin a conversation.

We're preparing to launch in July 2026 and are currently in conversation with communities and organizations exploring mission-aligned investment options. If that sounds like you, please reach out.