Amplified Impact MDF²
FUTURE
of CITIES
Working together to build systems that turn countless funds, institutions, leaders, and communities into one unstoppable force.
Today disruption is sweeping across the globe at an unimaginable velocity, creating a defining moment for culture, civic life, and impact.
Between the rise of AI, cultural upheaval, the breakdown of federal funding, and the fragmentation of traditional philanthropy, we face a firestorm of forces demanding a different approach to building thriving cities. Our cities will be the flashpoint.
"The future is not a point. It's a field."01/ The Problem
Cities are the complex environments where these tectonic shifts land first and hit hardest, which is exactly why they hold the greatest opportunity. We can build the future of urban space on purpose: what it is for, how it connects, and the ecosystems it creates.
Philanthropic capital is sitting; capable leaders are building investable ideas. Catalytic grants, recoverable grants, Program-Related Investments (PRIs), donor-advised funds, public and private capital, and strategic services often operate separately despite pursuing complementary outcomes. This fragmentation can limit speed, reduce leverage, duplicate effort, and leave promising Leaders without the full continuum of support required to achieve systems-level impact.
"A 5% floor treated as a ceiling is a governance choice, not a constraint. The gap between what the moment demands and what the structure permits is where legitimacy is being spent."AI Velocity
Capability is compounding faster than the institutions meant to distribute it.
Generative AI reached roughly the workplace level that personal computers took a generation to reach. 61.8% of US adults aged 18–64 use it, and 45.2% use it at work. No other technology has moved daily life at this rate. Institutions are lagging behind because they were built for a slower diffusion curve.
Defederalization
Massive downstream transfer of obligation to local governments with no room to absorb it.
Roughly $1 trillion in federal Medicaid reductions, $186 billion in SNAP, and $283 billion in additional uncompensated care. The operative mechanism is now unpredictability as much as reduction.
Culture Shifts
Social and civic appetite has retreated and relocated to a small tribal radius.
A collective withdrawal from shared institutions and shared information altogether. Average confidence across major American institutions has sat below 30% for five consecutive years. Seven in ten Americans say they are unwilling to trust people with different values, backgrounds, or information sources.
Traditional Philanthropy Gap
Asked to move at the speed of a crisis with the metabolism of an endowment.
Philanthropy's problem is arithmetic and clock speed. The median independent-foundation payout has been pinned at exactly 5% for five straight years; the legal floor has become the ceiling. While 73% of nonprofits report rising demand, and 39% ran a deficit.
02 / The Opportunity
Turning idle, fragmented capital into coordinated capital, aligning funders, leaders, and resources around a shared place-based strategy that multiplies impact.
A shared place-based strategy can connect these resources without asking participating institutions to surrender their governance or grantmaking authority. Coordinating capital with research, narrative, partnership development, communications, capacity support, and measurement creates a stronger pathway from community insight to implementation, and makes each contribution more valuable than it would be alone.
POSSIBILITIES
What if the extraordinary assets already shaping our cities: capital, people, places, culture, technology, influence, and ideas could work together to build what comes next?
Future of Cities makes it easy and engaging for foundations, DAFs, new wealth, athletes and creators, purpose-driven companies, investors, and community leaders to combine their assets around opportunities no one could achieve alone. The return is Mission ROI: everything we can unlock beyond the original dollar: the leverage we bring to each investment and the impact we can maximize together. A grant unlocks catalytic investment, and builds momentum for the next impact opportunities.
An insight becomes a story that attracts new donors. A DAF joins institutional capital to acquire and reimagine a community asset. Creative strategy strengthens an execution partner. An athlete or creator turns influence into participation. A company adds talent, technology, and matching capital. Content carries what works to new audiences and attracts the next wave of resources. Different assets. One coordinated opportunity. Greater impact, together.
IMAGINE
Imagine empty and underutilized buildings brought back to life, curated with and for community as homes for entrepreneurs, culture, creativity, jobs, and what comes next. Imagine unlikely partners: foundations, DAF holders, athletes, creators, companies, investors, and community leaders coming together to unlock tens or hundreds of millions of dollars for their city through one streamlined opportunity.
Imagine idle DAF assets funding real-time insights, original content, and the next generation of community leaders, entrepreneurs, and builders, while engaging a new generation of wealth in what it means to give.
This is what coordination can unlock: more than pooled capital, a network effect where money, people, places, influence, creative strategy, and collective action work together to strengthen what exists, seed what’s next, and amplify what works.
03/ The Solution
Amplified Impact MDF²
Innovative Solutions Meet Collaborative Capital, amplified by a new coordination layer that aligns and activates stakeholders through insights, narrative, and design to shared impact opportunities.
We’re designing a new operating system for this reality that will rewire capital, relationships, and other resources to be purpose-built for leaders to innovate in communities and build the future of cities.
These pillars connect place-based needs with opportunities for community ownership, human development, cultural vitality, and durable economic value:
01
Systems & Solutions
Sustainable systems and smart solutions are the cornerstone of the future of cities. These are the backbone of ensuring cities evolve for the continued benefit of communities and neighborhoods.
02
Space & Infrastructure
Purposefully designed space and the supporting infrastructure are the canvas which city life blooms. Cracking the calcification of space and redesigning for todays society & culture is the foundation on which everything else will rest.
03
Education & Youth Development
Future focused education & youth development are critical for supporting the continued growth and adoption of FoC initiatives and concepts.
04
Work & Entrepreneurship
Business is the substrate of city existence, how people work and what businesses they build are the central coalescing forces for density that becomes a thriving city.
05
Culture & Community
Culture and expression become the ultimate output in the city of the future. Communities wrapped around culture rich experience are the high watermark for meaning, fulfillment and thriving.
06
Wellness & Health
Whole-person wellness and access to care are the baseline to forging cities to be hubs for people and communities thrive.
03 / How It Works
The seven elements are the Amplified Impact Model
A clear operating architecture for taking an emerging signal and transforming it into coordinated action and amplified impact. The flywheel is what happens when the model works. Deployment creates learning; learning creates stories and evidence; amplification attracts new attention, partners, and capital; those interactions generate new signals and insights; and the next cycle becomes smarter and stronger.
01 / INSIGHTS
See what is changing, why it matters, and what people need.
02 / NARRATIVE
Create the shared story that makes the opportunity understandable, meaningful and actionable.
03 / DESIGN
Turn the opportunity into an intuitive, compelling experience people want to participate and engage.
04 / PROMOTION
Bring the opportunity to the right audiences through relationships, platforms, content, and experiences.
05 / AGGREGATION
Bring different forms of capital, influence, and relationships together around a shared thesis.
06 / DEPLOYMENT + LEARNING
Put resources to work while continuously measuring, listening, and improving.
07 / AMPLIFICATION
Turn impact, evidence, stories, and participation into greater awareness, capital, influence, and future action.
The flywheel is what happens when the model works. Deployment creates learning; learning creates stories and evidence; amplification attracts new attention, partners, and capital; those interactions generate new signals and insights; and the next cycle becomes smarter and stronger.
Capital Design
A Differentiated Path.
Multi-donor funds allow multiple donors and institutions to align resources around a common purpose, typically through a shared vehicle or coordinated grantmaking structure.
Partners may participate through a dedicated fund, existing DAFs or foundations, aligned co-investments, or matching commitments while retaining their fiduciary responsibilities, investment policies, and grantmaking authority.
For Oakland, CII’s existing DAF at ImpactAssets will serve as the first anchor DAF. AWT will explore establishing a dedicated DAF with Assets Under Movement (AUM), San Francisco Foundation (SFF), East Bay Community Foundation, or another aligned sponsor.
Additional DAFs, foundations, corporate and brand partners, public agencies, and individual philanthropists will be invited to participate in a shared Oakland investment thesis through pooled or coordinated capital.
The MDF will support a continuum of capital responsive to the needs of Solution Leaders and strategic opportunities, including:
Catalytic grants
Recoverable grants carrying 0–2% interest
Program-Related Investments
Paired Strategic Services (TA)
Public-private matching opportunities
Corporate and brand-partnerships funding
Capital may be paired with strategic services - including: ethnographic research, insights, creative and narrative strategy, communications, partnership development, convening, capacity support, content distribution, and impact measurement.
Operating Architecture
Blended, flexible capital is how we create leverage that accelerates innovation, growth, collaboration, and systems change.
Charter.
AWT and the founding partners will establish the MDF’s purpose, eligibility standards, investment themes, decision rights, conflicts policy, reporting requirements, and relationship between pooled and coordinated capital.
Advisory Council.
A cross-sector Advisory Council will provide strategic guidance, local and national relationships, investment perspective, visibility, and institutional learning. Membership is to be confirmed.
Governance.
Each participating funder will retain its legal and fiduciary authority. A shared governance framework will document recommendations, approvals, responsibilities, risk management, and escalation procedures. AWT will lead operating coordination, subject to the fiduciary requirements of participating institutions and the strategic oversight of each MDF Advisory Council.
Revolving Impact.
The MDF will prioritize structures through which recoverable grants and PRIs return capital to the fund, replenishing its assets for future deployment and increasing its potential for cumulative impact. The platform will also accommodate recoverable grants and PRIs that return capital directly to participating DAFs and foundations over agreed five- to ten-year terms.
Summit Steering Committee.
A working Steering Committee will drive Summit planning, partnerships, sponsorship, communications, milestones, and local execution.
Logistics.
The applicable DAF sponsor or financial institution will oversee custody, diligence, grant and investment agreements, disbursement, tax reporting, and regulatory compliance. AWT will manage the shared pipeline, partner cadence, decision calendar, dashboards, communications, and overall coordination.
05/ How We Get There
This isn’t about creating another fund. It’s about building the systems that empower countless funds, institutions, leaders, and communities to work better together.
Q3 2026
Formation
Align CII, AWT, and Fiveten; confirm the investment thesis and charter; select the DAF and fiduciary pathway; form the Advisory Council and Steering Committee; identify initial opportunities; and develop sponsor and partner materials.
Q4 2026
Build
Convene planning partners; secure anchor commitments and sponsors; complete initial diligence and capital design; recruit speakers and participants; develop the brand, content, and Summit programming; and confirm launch logistics.
Q1 2027
Launch
Convene the Oakland Frontier Summit; announce the MDF, founding partners, Advisory Council, and initial commitments; present the first opportunity portfolio; and activate matching capital and year-round programming.
Initial Cities & Ready-to-Fund Opportunity Pipeline
Oakland is ready to Launch the Future.
The Town has all the model ingredients to be a proving ground for the future of urban space and human connection. Oakland is a rare mix of culturally rich, geographically prime, and civic activation, making it well-positioned, holding infinite Future of Cities potential.
Adaptive Commons
OAKLAND, CA
Philadelphia is ready to Grow the Future.
Philadelphia's deep neighborhood roots and institutional strength can power the next generation of inclusive urban life. Philadelphia's legacy of innovation, neighborhood identity, anchor institutions, and civic leadership positions the city to grow an inclusive, community-owned Future of Cities.
Kensington Corridor Trust
PHILADELPHIA, PA
Inglewood is primed for the Seeds of the Future.
Inglewood stands at a pivotal moment where unprecedented investment can become lasting, community-centered progress. Inglewood's cultural influence, rapid investment, strategic location, and strong community identity create fertile ground for shaping a connected and locally rooted Future of Cities.
Market Street
INGLEWOOD, CA
In Development
06/ How To Get Involved
We’re seeking partners to participate through a dedicated fund, existing DAFs or foundations, aligned co-investments, or matching commitments while retaining their fiduciary responsibilities, investment policies, and grantmaking authority.
Additional DAFs, foundations, corporate and brand partners, public agencies, and individual philanthropists will be invited to participate in a shared Oakland investment thesis through pooled or coordinated capital.
Community Impact Investments
Impact Partner & Anchor Funder
CII serves as an anchor funder and founding impact partner, contributing funder relationships, the solution leader and strategic-opportunity pipeline, place-based diligence, implementation insight, and portfolio stewardship.
Fiveten Agency
Insights & Narrative Design
Emerging from Fiveten’s ethnographic insights and early narrative work with CII in Oakland, the Future of Cities Lens asks four questions: What is changing? What is possible? Who must work together? What can we build now?
Always Win Together
Coordination Infrastructure
AWT translates the Future of Cities vision into an operating model through fund design, partner alignment, capital coordination, governance, deployment strategy, paired value services, learning, and replication across cities.
Prospective strategic partners to be confirmed: DAF Commons, Bridgespan, Harness, XChange, and other aligned organizations.
Partnership is the Path
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Leads the Amplified Impact MDF² charter, capital architecture, partner cadence, deployment strategy, strategic services, learning, and replication.
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Leads the insights and ethnographic research, narrative strategy, brand, content, marketing, and IRL experiences for Amplified Impact MDF².
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Serves as Amplified Impact MDF² anchor champion and founding impact partner, leading funder relationships, place-based diligence, deal pipeline, opportunity development, and portfolio stewardship.
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Administer assets, institutional diligence, compliance, approvals, disbursement, and reporting for Amplified Impact MDF².
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Contribute strategic guidance, relationships, portfolio perspective, visibility, and execution support.
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Creates a rich and dynamic group of relationships to move resources, talent, and awareness, while operating as an intelligence guidance layer.
Our network represents 100+ relationships, organizations, advisors, funders, creators, athletes, public partners, and community leaders participating in our collective ecosystem.
If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.AFRICAN PROVERB
FUTURE
Amplified Impact MDF²
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