2024 Year in Review
By Tee Thomas
What. A. Year. 2024 marked my first year as CEO of Quantified Ventures and a milestone for the company of 10 years of breaking through barriers to drive impact for people and planet.
As the year comes to a close, I like to pause to reflect on our achievements. It can be hard in the midst of the day-to-day grind to see how the tough calls and the tiny wins add up to bigger success.
That said, on a daily basis I appreciate the phenomenal ways in which every QVer shows up, with their head and their heart fully committed to solving issues with communities and partners. I am proud of the team for our shared accomplishments and our commitment to building a culture of continuous improvement and growth.
It’s also important to say thank you to each of you reading this for your contributions big and small to this work and the change we seek to create. I am proud to be part of such a talented, supportive, and inspiring team and network of partners. We can continue to achieve incredible things – individually and together – when we commit to big ideas, calculated risks, hard work, financial innovation, and to one another’s success.
As I reflect back on the year that was, there are many highlights. What started as a Top 10 list would simply not be constrained to 10 highlights. So, let’s go with a baker’s dozen of highlights for 2024. These accomplishments certainly do not cover the full gamut of our work during the past year, but they are emblematic of the passion, expertise, and collaborative spirit that define QV.
Building a Multi-Billion Dollar Project Pipeline for Environmental Infrastructure Investment
QV recognized that the U.S. EPA’s $20 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund grants present a once-in-a-generation opportunity for the environmental sector. However, there was no champion shouting about the opportunity for a portion of this investment to flow to environmental infrastructure and nature-based solutions. QV stepped into the void by organizing a request for information (RFI) for environmental infrastructure projects that could receive support from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund and aligned capital providers. QV received 120+ RFI submissions from around the country, with total project costs of more than $7.5B and nearly $4.5B in financing need. A subset of 21 projects – amounting to a $1B investment opportunity – rose to the top during our rigorous diligence and evaluation process. QV will continue working with this subset of project proponents into 2025.
Advancing and Innovating Medicaid in California
Providing Access and Transforming Health (PATH) is a California initiative to build up the capacity and infrastructure of on-the-ground partners, such as community-based organizations (CBOs), hospitals, county agencies, and tribes, to successfully participate in the Medi-Cal delivery system as the state implements Enhanced Care Management, Community Supports, and Justice Involved services. QV worked closely with a number of California organizations in 2024, including:
Supporting 7 CBOs across California in sustainably aligning their operations to support CalAIM programs. This included building service delivery capacity, developing financial sustainability plans, creating optimized program models, and identifying new revenue and funding sources to ensure continued program success.
Partnering to develop, implement, and fund an innovative housing model for older adults in San Francisco that addresses the needs of an aging population by combining recuperative care services with a stable pathway to long-term housing.
Partnering with 3 Medicaid Managed Care Plans across the state to maximize effectiveness of CalAIM and proactively build sustainable partnerships with local CBOs.
Accelerating Investment in Nature-Based Solutions Across Sentinel Landscapes
Our team worked with 3 Sentinel Landscapes – Fort Huachuca (AZ), Camp Bullis (TX), and Joint Base Lewis McChord (WA) – to accelerate the speed and scale of investment in environmental infrastructure projects adjacent to military installations. QV’s work resulted in over $100 million in additional funding requests/proposals for projects in these regions, working with local communities and partners.
New Substance Use Disorder Treatment Facility for Pregnant and Parenting Mothers in New Orleans
QV played a critical role in working with Volunteers of America Southeast Louisiana to secure financing for building renovations that will enable the launch of the only substance use disorder treatment program in New Orleans where children are able to live with their mothers during treatment. We helped VOA SELA build an innovative capital stack that brings together multiple lenders, grantors, and financing mechanisms, including new market tax credits, state historic tax credits, and value-based contracts to enable loan repayments. QV is excited to advance this work with other Volunteers of America affiliates and with our partnership with ReHealth Collaborative, which is on the cusp of hiring its inaugural president. It is gratifying to see this transaction bring to fruition some of the elements of a revolving loan fund concept that our Susan Donovan wrote about in Health Affairs earlier in the year.
Advancing Water Infrastructure Finance Through Technical Assistance to EPA Environmental Finance Centers
QV continues to leverage our expertise in Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds (SRFs) to build awareness of public finance opportunities among state and local agencies, utility operators, and other water stakeholders. Our work as a technical assistance provider to EPA Environmental Finance Centers has helped deploy practical water infrastructure financing resources across 20 states and 27 communities. With the Environmental Finance Center Network, we recently launched SRF Ask Me Anything virtual sessions, to expand knowledge and enhance ability of those involved with water infrastructure to navigate the SRFs.
Second Chance Movement Builds Momentum
QV’s work in Maryland and California supported justice involved populations in community engagement and employment. In Baltimore, we worked with Turnaround Tuesday to develop a 10-year vision and corresponding strategic 2-year action plan to build and scale a second chance job readiness program and support community, including decision frameworks, financial modeling, and sustainability planning. In California, QV engaged in and facilitated conversations between Medicaid Managed Care Plans and Correctional Facilities in 15 counties to support implementation of CalAIM Justice Involved components.
Exemplary Forestry Investment Fund Acquires First Property
Earlier in 2024, Exemplary Forestry Management and its partners New England Forestry Foundation, Maine Mountain Collaborative, and Quantified Ventures launched an investment fund with the acquisition of the 3,000-acre Scammon Ridge Headwaters in Maine. This was the first property acquisition for the Exemplary Forestry Investment Fund, an impact-first investment vehicle that will blend $90MM of public, private, and philanthropic capital to acquire and manage 100,000+ acres of Maine forests for improved environmental and financial outcomes. QV and project collaborators received the New England Forestry Foundation’s Forest Champion Award for the group’s work on the fund.
QV Earns WBENC Certification; Vermont Office Opens
QV is now a certified woman-owned business! With CEO Tee Thomas at the helm, QV received certification from the Women's Business Enterprise National Council. On top of this recognition, the growth of our team presented the opportunity to open an office in Montpelier, VT, in late 2024. We’re thrilled to have another home base – in addition to our Washington, DC, office – to provide our team members with a space to collaborate with one another and with partners.
Infrastructure Funding for Manufactured Home Communities
QV helped seed the Cooperative Development Institute's Water Infrastructure Support Program (WISP) and trained its staff in early 2024 to help provide free technical and managerial support to connect eligible manufactured home communities (MHCs) across New England with available funding sources. MHCs are an essential source of affordable housing but often have aging infrastructure at the end of its useful lifespan and major investment is needed to sustain these communities. In the past 18 months, WISP has helped 57 manufactured home communities raise $30MM in funding for their infrastructure projects.
25+ Conference Speaking Engagements
From Climate Week NYC to the Federal Reserve Board of New York, from the California Recuperative Care Symposium to Colorado Water Congress, our team has crisscrossed the country to share our expertise and relevant case studies on the conference circuit. We bring fresh ideas, real-world solutions, and ideas to catalyze change to virtual and in-person gatherings focused on climate, health, human services, nature, and resilience.
Building the Green Bank Project Pipeline for Equitable Water and Nature-Based Climate Solutions
QV partnered with the Coalition for Green Capital, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Walton Family Foundation, and PRE Collective on a number of initiatives to build the pipeline of scalable environmental infrastructure and nature-based projects with measurable greenhouse gas reduction benefits, including sustainable agriculture, green stormwater infrastructure, water infrastructure, and watershed restoration. These projects build the foundation for efforts to further capitalize equitable environmental infrastructure projects nationwide. Our local green bank collaborators in 2024 include: The Clean Energy Fund of Texas, the Collective Clean Energy Fund (formerly Colorado Clean Energy Fund), Connecticut Green Bank, DC Green Bank, Finance New Orleans, Groundswell Capital - based in Arizona, The Hawai’i Green Infrastructure Authority, Illinois Finance Authority, Missouri Green Banc, and SELF (Solar Energy Loan Fund) - based in Florida.
New Medical Respite Programs Launch
QV worked to bring 2 new medical respite programs to life this year – one in California and one in Maryland. These two programs join existing programs in Michigan and the District of Columbia on the list of medical respite programs that QV has helped to launch. Our team has now catalyzed programs that cumulatively will serve several hundred individuals experiencing homelessness annually, providing services and support to clients on their path to stable housing.
Team Growth
QV added 4 new team members this year – Maggie Tipton, Ana Koerner, Mike Crowley, and Bob Fitch – who bring diverse expertise to enhance our finance, operations, partner engagement, and client delivery. And I’m thrilled that 8 QVers earned promotions in 2024 – Abby Singer, Annabel Cryan, Chester Czuj, Kamya Sanjay, Mike Crowley, Rebecca Gerr, Reed Benoit, and Susan Donovan. This growth from within reflects the outstanding contributions of these QVers, and their development as leaders, colleagues, and drivers of our mission.
Quantified Ventures’ achievements during the past year set the stage for another big year in 2025.
I share with you the same message I shared with the QV team – I hope you can use the holidays to rest, recharge, reconnect with yourselves and with loved ones, and reflect on your reasons for doing this important work.
Happy holidays and we look forward to hitting the ground running in January 2025!