Andrew “Andy” Posner is a left-of-center activist and nonprofit executive who is the founder and CEO of the Capital Good Fund, a left-of-center lending organization that provides microloans, banking services, and financial planning to low-income individuals while also promoting environmentalist projects.

Posner launched Capital Good Fund while completing his master’s degree at Brown University and much of his and his organization’s work remains centered in Rhode Island. Posner has also published a variety of poems and frequently writes articles promoting left-of-center positions regarding wind-reliant energy, electric vehicles, and abortion access. In 2022 he published an “Open Letter to Elon Musk” in the Chronicle of Philanthropy, urging Musk to turn Twitter into a government-funded nonprofit entity similar to National Public Radio (NPR). ^{1 2 3}

Early Career and Education

Andy Posner grew up in California and attended California State University where he majored in Spanish. During college he developed an interest in poverty and environmentalism and moved to Rhode Island to enroll in an Environmental Studies Master’s program at Brown University. ⁴

While completing his masters, Posner grew interested in financing arrangements for solar energy as well as the work of Muhammad Yunus, a Nobel Peace Prize Winner who has been called the “father of microfinance.” ⁵

In 2009, Posner founded the Capital Good Fund with the goal of providing financial services at lower interest rates than existing short-term lenders. Posner started the organization at age 23 with no financial management experience; and in his words, he “had never really had a job before.” The fund has since grown to have provided over $11 million in financing since its founding as of 2022. ⁶

Policy Stances

Posner has endorsed many left-of-center to far-left public policy proposals and has called for the enactment of an “aggressive” carbon tax, elimination of all fossil fuel subsidies, and “drastic and radical action” on climate issues. Posner has stated, “Climate change is the existential threat to humanity that keeps me up at night and haunts me during the day.” ⁷

Posner also supports the adoption of electric vehicles and wrote a blog post boasting about having driven his Tesla from the east coast to California when he moved there in 2021. In the same post he described the attempt to recall California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) as “crazy.” ⁸

Posner’s far-left stances on environmental issues have led him to oppose U.S. banks financing conventional energy companies, and he supports divestment from fossil fuels. He has criticized many mainstream financial institutions that he also admits contribute to his Capital Good Fund. He noted in one writing that he had switched his personal banking from Bank of America to left-of-center labor union-affiliated Amalgamated Bank and has called for individuals to “close their account with a dirty bank and open one with a clean bank.” ⁹

Among the banks specifically listed by Posner in his call to boycott “dirty” banks was JP Morgan Chase, a funder of the Capital Good Fund. ¹⁰

Open Letter to Elon Musk

In November 2022, Andy Posner wrote an article in the Chronicle of Philanthropy titled “An Open Letter to Elon Musk: For the Sake of the Public Good, Turn Twitter Into a Nonprofit.” In the article he accused Musk of “rendering Twitter unprofitable” and called on Musk to turn Twitter into a nonprofit. Possible scenarios cited by Posner included turning the platform into a government-controlled nonprofit similar to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which provides support to National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). Posner also cited Patagonia’s restructuring into an environment-centered nonprofit controlled by a board of directors as another recommendation for Musk and Twitter. ¹¹

1. “About Andy.” AndyPosner.org. Accessed December 15, 2022. https://www.andyposner.org/about-andy/
2. “Andy Posner.” LinkedIn Profile. Accessed December 15, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-posner-10a0447/
3. Posner, Andy. “An Open Letter to Elon Musk: For the Sake of the Public Good, Turn Twitter Into a Nonprofit.” The Chronicle of Philanthropy. November 30, 2022. Accessed December 15, 2022. https://www.philanthropy.com/article/an-open-letter-to-elon-musk-for-the-sake-of-the-public-good-turn-twitter-into-a-nonprofit
4. Weiner, Yitzi. “Social Impact Heroes: How Andy Posner of the Capital Good Fund is using small loans to combat the predatory lending industry.” Medium. Match 29, 2020. Accessed December 15, 2022. https://medium.com/authority-magazine/social-impact-heroes-how-andy-posner-of-the-capital-good-fund-is-using-small-loans-to-combat-the-a644d94179b4
5. Weiner, Yitzi. “Social Impact Heroes: How Andy Posner of the Capital Good Fund is using small loans to combat the predatory lending industry.” Medium. Match 29, 2020. Accessed December 15, 2022. https://medium.com/authority-magazine/social-impact-heroes-how-andy-posner-of-the-capital-good-fund-is-using-small-loans-to-combat-the-a644d94179b4
6. Weiner, Yitzi. “Social Impact Heroes: How Andy Posner of the Capital Good Fund is using small loans to combat the predatory lending industry.” Medium. Match 29, 2020. Accessed December 15, 2022. https://medium.com/authority-magazine/social-impact-heroes-how-andy-posner-of-the-capital-good-fund-is-using-small-loans-to-combat-the-a644d94179b4
7. Weiner, Yitzi. “Social Impact Heroes: How Andy Posner of the Capital Good Fund is using small loans to combat the predatory lending industry.” Medium. Match 29, 2020. Accessed December 15, 2022. https://medium.com/authority-magazine/social-impact-heroes-how-andy-posner-of-the-capital-good-fund-is-using-small-loans-to-combat-the-a644d94179b4
8. Posner, Andy. “California Dreamin.’” AndyPosner.org. Accessed December 15, 2022. https://www.andyposner.org/?mailpoet_router&endpoint=view_in_browser&action=view&data=WzI4LCJlMWY5ZDY0ZGZjZjkiLDAsIiIsODAsMV0
9. Posner, Andy. “We’re in a Climate Emergency, Part 1: Banking on Change.” AndyPosner.org. Accessed December 15, 2022. https://www.andyposner.org/?mailpoet_router&endpoint=view_in_browser&action=view&data=WzIyLCI2ZmUxZTUwOWIxZTUiLDAsIiIsNzIsMV0
10. Posner, Andy. “We’re in a Climate Emergency, Part 1: Banking on Change.” AndyPosner.org. Accessed December 15, 2022. https://www.andyposner.org/?mailpoet_router&endpoint=view_in_browser&action=view&data=WzIyLCI2ZmUxZTUwOWIxZTUiLDAsIiIsNzIsMV0
11. Posner, Andy. “An Open Letter to Elon Musk: For the Sake of the Public Good, Turn Twitter Into a Nonprofit.” The Chronicle of Philanthropy. November 30, 2022. Accessed December 15, 2022. https://www.philanthropy.com/article/an-open-letter-to-elon-musk-for-the-sake-of-the-public-good-turn-twitter-into-a-nonprofit