"Impact" Investing - NYTimes.com We were delighted to see "Plan to Finance Philanthropy Shows the Power of a Simple Question" (DealBook, Nov. 12), which put a face - Lindsay Beck's - on the growing excitement over innovative finance and philanthropy. There are trillions of dollars" worth of social and environmental challenges that exist in the world, and philanthropy only has billions to spend. Yet if we unlock even a small percentage of capital from the private markets, we would have trillions more. This new way of doing business extends beyond just the mainstreaming of "impact investing." The needs of business blend the lines even further, as businesses look to philanthropic models to keep their value chains sustainable and their customers and employees healthy and secure. As companies expand globally - especially into the developing world - it will no longer be profitable to exist without taking the community and the work force in which they work into consideration. Ms. Beck and Goldman Sachs are two examples of how market-based approaches will revolutionize how we solve problems, together, in the 21st century. While there is still work to be done to mainstream innovative finance mechanisms, your article is an indication that we are that much closer. JUDITH RODIN President, Rockefeller Foundation New York, Nov. 14, 2013