Paradigm Partners is a Denver, Colorado-based holding company investment advisory service firm. It was founded by Doug Phelps, president of the Public Interest Network, and is a member of the network.

Paradigm Partners is the owner of Green Century Capital Management, a left-leaning investment management firm whose board of trustees includes Doug Phelps.¹ According to filings from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, “Green Century Capital Management is owned by Paradigm Partners, a California general partnership, the partners of which are all not-for-profit advocacy organizations”:

The organizations which founded and own Green Century Capital Management are: California Public Interest Research Group (CALPIRG), Citizen Lobby of New Jersey (NJPIRG), Colorado Public Interest Research Group (COPIRG), ConnPIRG Citizen Lobby, Fund for the Public Interest, Massachusetts Public Interest Research Group (MASSPIRG), MOPIRG Citizen Organization, PIRGIM Public Interest Lobby, and Washington State Public Interest Research Group (WASHPIRG). Green Century is the only mutual fund company founded and owned by environmental non-profits, making it a pioneer in impact investing.

Funding

Fund for the Public Interest

Also see Fund for the Public Interest (Nonprofit)

Fund for the Public Interest, another Public Interest Network organization whose board of directors includes Phelps, invested $1,511,575 in 2015 in Paradigm Partners, according to the group’s 2015 tax return.² In 2004, it invested $45,101 in the company.³ In 2007, it reported a loss of $86,583 on “equity in loss of Paradigm Partners” and investments of $740,969 in the company.⁴

Massachusetts Public Interest Research Group (MASSPIRG), another Public Interest Network member headquartered at the same Boston address as Fund for the Public Interest, also invested $5,579,447 in Paradigm Partners in 2015.⁵

The U.S. Public Interest Research Group Education Fund reported $9,680 in 2015 security investments in Paradigm Partners.⁶

1. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Green Century Funds: Form N-1A Registration Statement.November 27, 2013. Accessed October 8, 2018. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/877232/000119312513456041/d613564d485bpos.htm.
2. Fund for the Public Interest. IRS Form 990, 2015. Schedule D. Part 7.
3. Fund for the Public Interest. IRS Form 990, 2004. Part 1, Line 7.
4. Fund for the Public Interest. IRS Form 990, 2007. Statement 1.
5. Massachusetts Public Interest Research Group. IRS Form 990, 2015. Schedule D. Part 7.
6. U.S. Public Interest Research Group Education Fund. IRS Form 990, 2015. Schedule D. Part 7.