Jake Ifshin is a Principal Family Office Advisor at Impact Investors, a volunteer financial literacy teacher at St. John’s College, and an advisor for Regenerative California. We spoke with Jake about his background in impact investing, his work with our Attainable Housing Initiative, what investing in a regenerative economy looks like, and more.
Can you tell us about your background and your work in impact investing?
I’m a Principal Family Office Advisor at Impact Investors, where I help families align their wealth with their values across generations. My background includes nonprofit leadership, owning and operating a small business, and consulting with impact-oriented businesses.
For me, impact investing starts with refusing to separate how we make money from what we say we care about. If we fund solutions through philanthropy but won’t examine whether our investments contribute to the same problems, that contradiction deserves honest examination.
As an investment advisor, I help families pursue their financial goals while considering how their investments affect the people, communities, and causes they care about. I’m always asking how we can do better with our money, seeking positive impact and considering potential harms while pursuing returns consistent with each client’s objectives, time horizon, and risk tolerance.
Right now, I’m actively collaborating on three of my firm’s priorities: navigating technology and security changes in ways that protect and benefit clients, creating space and structure for meaningful conversations and education about wealth within families, and exploring how regenerative real estate investments can support our clients’ impact and return goals.
RC has an ambitious mission to make California a regenerative economy. What draws you to this mission, and why did you get involved?
What drew me to regeneration is its promise to go beyond sustainability and resilience. Both are important, but regeneration asks a bigger question: how can we build systems that actively contribute to a thriving future, rather than simply maintaining what exists or becoming better at withstanding disruption?
That feels like a powerful framework for thinking about the economy. It encourages us to look at whether our investments, businesses, and institutions strengthen the communities and natural systems they depend on.
I was already passionate about regenerative agriculture and housing, so RC’s focus in those areas was a natural connection. Its mission brought those interests into a broader conversation about how economic activity can create lasting benefits. I was drawn to the opportunity to work with people approaching those questions from different perspectives and to explore where my experience with capital and investment could contribute.
As a lead contributor to the Attainable Housing Initiative sprint team focused on capital and investment, what did your team work on, and what did you learn?
Our work explored the role private capital can play in addressing the housing crisis, particularly in supporting missing-middle housing. An important takeaway for me was understanding both where private capital can be useful and where capital alone is not enough.
There are opportunities for private investment, but there are also places where policy shifts, regulatory changes, public capital, and broader systems change are needed to enable development. It isn’t simply a question of finding more money. It’s about understanding what kind of capital belongs where, what it can accomplish, and what other conditions need to change for it to be effective.
Housing technology and healthy homes and buildings are also important parts of that picture. We need to consider not just how housing is financed, but how it is built and how it affects residents and the environment.
The experience left me inspired to explore how housing-related investments might fit clients’ financial objectives, values, and risk tolerance, and to help private wealth allocators understand the different roles they can play.
What does it look like to invest in a regenerative economy? What are the key challenges and opportunities?
To me, a regenerative economy creates positive effects across interconnected systems rather than producing a benefit in one place while pushing costs somewhere else.
Soil health is a good example. When evaluating agricultural investments, investors can consider soil stewardship alongside productivity and the land’s long-term economic value. Depending on the practices and local conditions, stewardship may also support carbon storage, water quality, food security, and healthier conditions for people and wildlife. These potential benefits can be difficult to measure and are not guaranteed. Agricultural investments carry environmental, operating, and market risks, including the potential for financial loss. For me, this illustrates the value of considering the interconnected systems around an investment while recognizing that neither financial returns nor positive environmental outcomes are assured.
I think we can apply that perspective to housing and other industries. What does an investment strengthen beyond its immediate financial return? What systems does it depend on, and does it help replenish them?
The challenge is that many of our habits and economic structures are built around extraction and externalizing costs. Rewiring those systems will take time. But as investors and citizens, we can look for places to put our capital, attention, and energy that support more regenerative outcomes. We don’t have to wait for the entire system to change before participating in that work.
How does your financial literacy teaching at St. John’s College connect with regenerative principles, and how do you think about its value for the next generation?
I see my volunteer teaching at St. John’s College as a regenerative investment in young people. I co-teach a nine-session financial literacy course each semester, helping students build knowledge and habits they can carry into their families, professions, and communities. We cover the basics of capitalism and how markets work, along with practical financial topics such as budgeting, using credit cards, and understanding stocks and bonds.
Students can question our economic system while learning to navigate it thoughtfully. I’m a student of the system, too, and want to encourage curiosity alongside the practical skills to support themselves and pursue what matters to them.
An anonymous donor provides a $500 match to help students begin investing for goals like graduate school or retirement. For me, the regenerative value is in building judgment and agency, as well as giving students a tangible start toward their future.
What advice would you give other communities looking to integrate regenerative practices into their economies?
I would encourage communities to revisit traditions and practices that may have been neglected but still offer ways to strengthen communities and ecosystems. The point isn’t to romanticize the past, but to learn from local knowledge and consider how it can support a more regenerative future. Examples include mutual aid, sharing resources and gifts, and traditional land management. In my own Jewish tradition, Shabbat and Shmita offer meaningful examples of setting aside time for people and the land, respectively, to rest. I see that commitment to rest and renewal as deeply relevant today.
I would encourage communities to invest in the future through education, especially in land stewardship and financial literacy, and to start young. Nature is our best teacher when it comes to understanding regenerative systems. Financial literacy offers another essential perspective: understanding how wealth works, how money moves, and how public and private markets shape the world can help people participate more thoughtfully as citizens and investors, contributing to a more equitable economy.
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Disclosure
This interview is provided for general educational and informational purposes only. It does not constitute personalized investment, legal, or tax advice, or a recommendation, offer, or solicitation to buy or sell any security or adopt any investment strategy. The views expressed reflect the interview date and may change. References to particular investments, organizations, or approaches are illustrative and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions. All investments involve risk, including the possible loss of principal. Pursuing social or environmental objectives does not guarantee financial returns or the achievement of intended impact.
Jake Ifshin received St. John’s College’s 2026 Annual Volunteer Award in recognition of his volunteer service. The award is not a rating of investment performance or investment advisory services and should not be interpreted as an endorsement of Impact Investors.