Tim Noortman is an experienced impact investor with a passion for creating ‘emotional safe spaces’. In 2018, he founded Check-Inn, through which he helps people apply inner work in their daily lives after completing a coaching program or retreat. Tim is a founding father of PYM and Wire Group and lives in a residential community (eemgoed.nl) with 130 adults and 50 children on 7 hectares of urban farmland.

How did you get started with impact investing?

I had never learned how to talk about money, and I was actually looking for a way to discuss money with my partner. So, I sent an invitation from the WIRE group to my girlfriend, for a weekend with other wealthy families. There were no numbers or Excel sheets involved, and she got really excited about that! That was actually the beginning of my impact journey: breaking the taboo around money with her, with myself, with others. 

Is your family involved?

In many families, wealth is still held together, but in our case, the money had already been divided. So we each manage our own different investments. For me, it was about truly connecting with people, and that is possible in the impact world. Moreover, I also find it important how people behave in moments when investments are not going well. Can we still stay in touch with each other? With impact enterprises, this contact is much more present.

What does impact investing look like for you now?

When I started, I made a lot of experimental investments. Often controversial and idealistic. I wanted to experience the whole spectrum: projects with steward ownership, capped returns, loans to friends, open decision-making structures. Examples include the Wire Group funds, Meru Health, (Gooische broedplaats voor de nieuwe economie), the Torteltuin, De Nieuwe Meent, MadeBlue, and the Gooische Bierbrouwerij. As a traditional (INSEAD-trained) investor, it was challenging, but also incredibly educational. Among other things, it led me to find my purpose: creating emotional ‘safe spaces’.

How can a network like PYM help?

I love that organizations like PYM and Toniic are increasingly giving space to the ‘deeper work’; the underlying personal themes, such as our relationship with money, meaning, and family dynamics. This year, I connected Toniic with the spiritual teacher Thomas Hübl and we held sessions together on these topics. ‘Changing the world’ as an entry point for, but also an expression of, inner work. 

What is the role of AI in impact investing?

I have been part of an American AI network for two years now. What strikes me there is the focus on solutions and success. I miss that in the European impact world, where we focus too much on problems. For example: if AI wants to solve disease, Europe responds with concerns about overpopulation. In America, they see that as a challenge to solve when it actually arises. Of course, we are now in a transition period in which AI is being misused a lot, because it is in the hands of a small group. But in the long term, AI will solve many (impact) problems at lightning speed — from energy to climate. What excites me most is the idea of Personal AIs: technology that serves you as a human being — not companies (as is still the case now). Imagine: an AI that helps you scroll less, make deeper social connections, or reminds you to do inner work.

What advice would you give to beginning impact investors?

I would recommend that they practice with other impact investors how to deal with their fears around money, so that they can develop a healthy relationship with money. Within the impact community, and especially in the structures of PYM, there are so many people with a very good heart.  The more you open up to this community, the more you can meet people on a deeper level. This is not only very liberating, but also leads to special new friendships! 

Which investments inspire you today? 

The Guerilla Foundation, co-living projects, and my children’s small steward-owned school: Oosterwold School Sofia.