Aura knows that impact work isn’t easy, but by paying attention to the little wins and leaning into the process, she believes this kind of work can be nurturing and sustainable for everyone involved.
For Aura Silva, her career path started at home. Growing up in a household that prioritized solidarity and care of others, she knew that her future would be rooted in these values. She just wasn’t sure how these values would translate into a career.
Now an Outcomes Finance Associate at Raven Indigenous Outcomes Funds (Raven Outcomes)—a partner of the Nature Investment Hub—she has the opportunity to live out her own core values at work every day through the outcomes-based finance work she does with Indigenous communities.
We talked with Aura about her innate curiosity to explore how issues are interconnected, the ripple effects that outcomes-based projects have within communities, and how working as a school teacher sets you up with soft skills that are useful in pretty much any career setting! Our conversation has been edited for clarity and length.
I think as people living in Canada, we have an obligation to take an active role in the journey of reconciliation. I consider myself very lucky at Raven that we’re often reminded of this through the work that we do, and through our interactions with community partners—I see this in my work almost every day.
Aura Silva (pictured right)
Raven Outcomes is an Indigenous financial intermediary that supports community-led projects in Indigenous communities across Turtle Island.
We do this using something called outcomes-based finance, working mostly in the areas of climate and health. In other words, the health of Mother Earth and the health of people.
Our work is usually inbound, in that we don’t try to convince communities that they need to work with us. Instead, we work with communities that reach out to us, who typically find out about our work through word of mouth.
For example, a community may reach out with an idea for a potential project. Maybe the project is centered around a challenge they want to tackle or an opportunity they want to take advantage of—more often than not, it is a combination of both.
We then work with communities to articulate a vision–alongside their priorities and expectations–and structure a project with tangible outcomes that we then work towards financially quantifying. We also build something called an impact statement where we capture the intentionality behind these projects.
And while we are doing all this work with community, we are also having conversations with different levels of government who are interested in the achievement of the outcomes on the project. Then we negotiate a purchase agreement with them where they commit to purchasing outcomes that are to be achieved throughout the lifespan of the project.
When a project wraps up, we have a third party that verifies the outcomes of the project and then the government is able to come in and buy those outcomes–that’s how we are able to recoup the private investment that we provide that enables projects to happen.
At this time in history, I think the type of work that Raven supports is very important. We support modern articulations of what it means to be Indigenous and have Indigenous sovereignty and self-determination through tangible projects.
So, what does this really look like? If we are working on a climate-related project, this could look like working with a Nation to improve housing resilience from an energy efficiency perspective, but also from a health perspective—improving the living conditions and improving the quality of residences, for example. And alongside these benefits, we could also work towards other complementary areas such as training, employment, job creation, and capacity- building.
Not only do these projects benefit the communities where they are based, they are also beneficial on a collective level too.
As people living in Canada, we have an obligation to take an active role in the journey of reconciliation. I consider myself very lucky at Raven that we’re often reminded of this through the work that we do, and through our interactions with community partners—I see this in my work almost every day.
I went to a small liberal arts college in the U.S. called College of the Atlantic. It’s a unique school in that everyone graduates with the same degree—a Bachelor of Arts in Human Ecology.
Without realizing it at the time, the classes I took as part of this degree provided a very strong foundational background to the work that I do now. From economic theory to climate policy and justice, to completing a thesis on the exploration of the Paris Climate Agreement through a post-colonial theory lens–it really prepared me for this role.
In between my undergrad and now, I was an elementary school teacher. And while this doesn’t immediately seem related to my current work, it really taught me a lot about myself and I learned valuable soft skills.
After four years as a teacher, I came back to Canada to pursue my MBA in sustainable innovation at the University of Victoria, which is located on the traditional territory of the Lək̓ʷəŋən and W̱SÁNEĆ Peoples. It was a small program, with great professors and I was able to explore specific areas of interest like working with local First Nations in Victoria—including the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations.
After I graduated I started thinking about what would come next, and impact investing became an area of interest. It spoke to the type of change and impact that we should all be working towards, while also making use of the economic and political systems that currently exist.
Taking a role at Raven felt like a great fit. It’s such a supportive team that’s doing important work. The work I have the chance to do here is really emotionally and intellectually nurturing too.
I think as people living in Canada, we have an obligation to take an active role in the journey of reconciliation. I consider myself very lucky at Raven that we’re often reminded of this through the work that we do, and through our interactions with community partners—I see this in my work almost every day.
Aura Silva (pictured right)
For me, it boils down to looking at a smaller scale to see positive change. For example, if you are working with a community member to build up their project management skills, and six months into working with them they tell you they are so much more confident in their work, that’s a win.
Aura Silva (pictured right)
I grew up in a household that prioritized solidarity and care of others—this really came from my mom. What I learned from her transferred into what I studied and then eventually led me to where I am now.
Even though my path hasn’t been the most straightforward, I think I have always had the mentality of looking under the hood and finding the intersection points in every context—it’s what eventually put me on this path.
When I started becoming interested in climate change, I quickly became curious about how it intersects with other things—colonial, financial, societal, political pressures. All of these pressures are a result of the other systems that we’ve inherited and that we are a part of but become magnified through the lens of climate change.
I would say the same is true when working in Indigenous-centered spaces. Working in certain spaces magnifies societal challenges and allows you to see a lot of issues more clearly. And when you can see things more clearly, these spaces become great places for change to begin and spread into other areas.
One of the things that really stood out to me during that workshop was the diversity of the stakeholders that were there. You have intermediaries, service providers, investors, government representatives, academia. It was a reflection of the importance of this type of gatherings and spaces as we tend to work in silos as a society. There are lots of lessons to be shared across thematic spaces—such as housing, climate, and nature—and approaching the issues in isolation isn’t helpful. They are all connected.
Another thing I loved about the workshop was just the pure innovative thinking outside the box approach to doing things. When you think about nature and conservation, it’s easy to default to the low hanging fruit—things like carbon offsets, biodiversity credits, or other market-based instruments. What really came through this workshop with the participation of organizations like Carolinian Canada and Coast Funds was that there is this hunger for more innovative and accountable tools to actually advance and decolonize nature investments.
The workshop wasn’t just valuable while it was happening, relationships were forged there that are now developing after the event is over.
I think there are people in the larger ecosystem that still need convincing as to why it’s important to invest in nature today and not tomorrow. Having a space where knowledge can be exchanged between different actors coming into the space—where we can collectively learn from what’s working and explore how those approaches can be improved or adapted to different contexts and landscapes—is really important.
I often see similar work replicated in different spaces when we would actually be learning more from each other. So this kind of resource pooling and connection-building is really important.
In the non-profit and impact sector we tend to work from a scarcity mindset rather than an abundance mindset. We are all so busy and don’t have enough financial, time, or human resources, so to actually show up and participate in a shared space, to have these conversations that we would not otherwise have, takes our collective impact to a new level.
When I take part in a community visit, I’m able to see the impact of our work first hand.
Recently I was able to visit a community where we have a housing resiliency project that is about to wrap up. We were able to walk though people’s homes that were retrofitted with heat pumps, new doors, cooling units, new windows, better insulation and talk to residents about how these updates are impacting them—it’s actually life-changing.
A project like this not only has quantitative impacts like energy efficiency, it also has associated societal impacts. An Elder interviewed as part of another project talked about how their grandchildren come over to visit more often because their house is cooler now in hot weather—the impact goes beyond the improved housing and trickles out into social benefits too.
One of the biggest barriers we come up against in this sector is lack of funding on the outcomes purchasing side—in particular, we’re trying to fund initiatives that are priced incorrectly.
For example, we’re working to build an intervention for type 2 diabetes in Northern Manitoba right now. The cost of the project to improve self-management of type 2 diabetes was artificially inflated by the contextual under-provision of services.
In other words, to have access to a nurse, high-quality food, and self-tracking devices has a certain cost. But when you look at this in the context of where you are rolling out the program, there may not be fundamental infrastructure there to enable access to these things. So, then you need to add the price of a building where this work can happen. This is a big factor when working in remote communities where you not only have to pay for the programs or outcomes you are introducing, you need to catch up on years of underinvestment in and under-provision of services which has contributed to the current challenge.
It’s really hard to find sufficient funding for this kind of work, because historically there has been a lack of investment in remote and Indigenous communities in Canada.
So, how we are potentially trying to solve this is by stacking funding and trying to bring together multiple outcomes purchasers—like all levels of government, philanthropic capital, etc.– through different buckets of capital. Each purchaser can take on a different piece of the project. Or, in other words, purchase an outcome of interest to them.
Sometimes people get frustrated with impact work because the big goals we are working towards are so massive—it can be hard to see tangible progress being made if you are only looking at that big goal on the horizon.
For me, it boils down to looking at a smaller scale to see positive change. For example, if you are working with a community member to build up their project management skills, and six months into working with them they tell you they are so much more confident in their work, that’s a win.
It’s also important to reflect on my own learning and see how far I’ve come as a result of working on these types of projects. When we mature and learn, this translates into our ecosystem and the people that surround us.
For me, it boils down to looking at a smaller scale to see positive change. For example, if you are working with a community member to build up their project management skills, and six months into working with them they tell you they are so much more confident in their work, that’s a win.
Aura Silva (pictured right)
A lot of times terms and definitions can be confusing. For example, there is a massive difference between ESG investing and impact investing. There can be a lot of greenswashing and impact washing in the space and it’s important to know what terms actually mean.
When it comes to impact investing, a lot of people see it as “less than” traditional investing, or even ESG investing, which is not the case.
If you look at impact investing from a purely financial perspective, they perform at or above market rates.
Another thing to consider is, the main reason why market rates or market-based returns exist is because we have historically ignored negative externalities. And when you actually account for all of the value that’s created through impact investments, not only are the investments performing at market rate, they go way beyond that.
Say, if you don’t have good housing on a First Nations reserve, this could lead to people having respiratory issues for example. Then, the cost of healthcare for these health issues is going to be paid for by our health care system. So while you might not see the costs right away, you will down the line. This is where outcomes-based finance does a good job at being proactive and identifying these opportunities from a holistic perspective.
While school is a great place to develop critical thinking skills and some of the foundational, technical, practical skills that you need, I think I have actually learned the most through doing.
In an academic context, this can happen through co-ops, internships, research assistant positions–really anything you can get your hands on from a more practical approach.
And while grades are important, I think if you can dedicate some of the time you would spend studying to get involved in more tangible projects, I would say that’s a valuable thing to do.
I’m not recommending people fail their classes! But making sure you have those supplemental experiences in addition to good grades is really important.
The other piece of advice I would give is to lean into the process. It can be nerve-wracking to try and identify the paths you need to take to get to a certain career, but in my experience, being less rigid is beneficial. I think you still need to have accountability and responsibility, but it’s good to have an open mind and know that each experience you have, whether or not it is directly related to what you want to do, prepares you for what’s next.
Impact work isn’t easy. It can take a toll on your energy levels and emotional well-being, but if you are passionate and paying attention to those little wins—not just the huge long term goals—this work can actually be quite nurturing and sustainable.
I love driving in the car with the window down listening to music. Lately, I’ve been playing the new Bad Bunny album on repeat. The album is in Spanish, but I would encourage people to listen to it—you can find translations–and what he’s doing now with his lyrics and composition is really great.
He’s creating songs that are both catchy and meaningful —he’s using this album to talk about gentrification in Puerto Rico and many other important social topics!
