Our History

Activest’s work started in 2015, following Michael Brown’s death in Ferguson, Missouri. They began their research on the racial- justice implications of the credit rating agencies’ downgrading of Ferguson’s bonds. They found that the city wouldn’t be able to pay for the mounting class-action lawsuits and also cover its existing operating costs and debt service due to the police department’s violent military-style response to protestors and, the ensuring reforms required by the Department of Justice’s consent decree with the Ferguson police, while covering its existing operating costs and debt service. They knew there were other Fergusons out there, and that the market could be wielded as a tool to uncover those cities and hold them accountable. This insight became the thesis that grew into Activest.

Who We Are

Activest is an investment research and analytics firm led by social scientists, policy analysts, and public finance practitioners.