Investing in Impact | Impact Investing

Investing in Impact interviews impact investors, General Partners, and VC's from around the world on their individual journeys and to connect impact entrepreneurs with insight into funding, scalability, and insights to inspire more impact companies around the world.

Latest episodes

Jan 18, 2022 • 35min

Creating a Non-Predatory FinTech Startup for Underserved Communities in America - Rodney Williams // Co-Founder of SoLo Funds

This content is for informational and entertainment purposes only, you should not construe any such information or other material as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.----------------------------------------🔥 40 Social Entrepreneurs to Watch for in 2022 🔥 - See the list hereIn this episode I speak with Rodney Williams, Co-founder of SoLo Funds, on building a non-predatory FinTech startup for underserved communities in America.Rodney has been recognized with numerous awards, including Ad Age’s 40 Under 40 in 2012; the Ernst & Young EDGE Award in 2013; Cannes Gold Lion award in 2015; Tech Entrepreneur of the Year by Black Enterprise, 2016; NAACP Inspiring Innovation list 2017; 25 Inspiring Entrepreneurs Under 40 by Entrepreneur Magazine 2016; Entrepreneur of the Year in Connected World Communications in the Ohio Valley Region by EY in 2017; Ebony’s Power 100 in 2018 and CNBC Disruptor 50 List in 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2019.Rodney attended West Virginia University, where he earned his BBA in finance, his BA in economics, and his MS in integrated marketing communications.Rodney also holds an MBA in finance & supply chain management from Howard University. He is a member of the 2019 Class of Henry Crown Fellows within the Aspen Global Leadership Network at the Aspen Institute.SoLo Funds is a mobile lending exchange that connects lenders and borrowers for the purpose of providing more affordable access to loans under $1,000. SoLo was created to disintermediate the predatory payday lending system. Today, SoLo is one of the fastest growing fintech companies in the country.SoLo’s story starts the way every SoLo request begins: with someone needing a hand. Co-founders Travis Holoway & Rodney Williams were noticing that family members, friends, and roommates were asking for financial help here and there, and they understood why. There weren’t any fair, reputable options for small, short-term loans.They decided to create one by harnessing the power of community. SoLo was formed in 2018 to create a viable, non-predatory option for moments when life happens. SoLo tap's into the power of community and generosity to form an online safety net that is mutually beneficial to all of its members.Travis and Rodney know that SoLo is needed because they needed it. Our loved ones needed it. And they know that SoLo makes a difference because nearly 80% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck.Today, SoLo is driven to new heights, but grounded in the same hope and mission: to build a community that enables financial autonomy for all. ----------------------------------------Thrive in the Impact Economy.Join 20k+. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter for the latest news, exclusive interviews, and curated products that drive the Impact Economy. Our mission is to highlight and celebrate the founders, creators, investors, and conscious brands shaping the future of conscious business and philanthropy.To learn more, please visit causeartist.com

Jan 10, 2022 • 32min

Creating, Investing, and Building the Next Generation of Entrepreneurs Seeking to Build With Purpose - Lindsay Siegel // Head of Impact at Company Ventures

This content is for informational and entertainment purposes only, you should not construe any such information or other material as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.----------------------------------------In episode 37 of the Investing in Impact podcast, I speak with Lindsay Siegel, Head of Impact at Company Ventures, on creating, investing, and building a community of entrepreneurs seeking to build with purpose.Lindsay leads Company Impact, with a mission to shift the culture of tech for a more equitable and sustainable future. She supports founders in the community and beyond through training and coaching to help leaders build with intention, operationalizing their values and commitment to equity and inclusion, creating governance structures for data ethics, and establishing their accountability to all stakeholders. In addition, they offer workforce development efforts that ensure greater diversity in the tech sector.About Company VenturesCompany Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm in NYC that provides a foundation for entrepreneurs building with purpose. In addition to investing in pre-seed/seed companies, Company Ventures operates the Grand Central Tech Residency, an annual program purposefully built to support NYC’s premier founding teams. The program provides rent-free space in the 1M sq. ft. midtown NYC tech campus to 25 startups per year with no equity requirement. Since the program’s inception in 2014, 127 program companies have raised $1.9B from top VCs.Company Ventures operates by a give-first credo. For the better part of a decade, they have selected great founders building great companies the right way, providing each the ideal environment to build with no strings attached. These founders leverage the community to achieve a depth of perspective and a breadth of network access that no single seed-stage venture platform could provide on its own.Listen to more Causeartist podcasts here.We are powered by:Podcast Made with TransistorPodcast cover design Made with CanvaBuild amazing web platforms with Webflow ----------------------------------------Thrive in the Impact Economy.Join 20k+. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter for the latest news, exclusive interviews, and curated products that drive the Impact Economy. Our mission is to highlight and celebrate the founders, creators, investors, and conscious brands shaping the future of conscious business and philanthropy.To learn more, please visit causeartist.com

Dec 22, 2021 • 42min

Web3 x Crypto x DAOs: How it Can Scale Impact Investing - Kianga Daverington // Managing Partner at Acre of America and ACRE DAOs

This content is for informational and entertainment purposes only, you should not construe any such information or other material as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.----------------------------------------In episode 36 of the Investing in Impact podcast, I speak with Kianga Daverington, Managing Partner at Acre of America and ACRE DAOs, on using the application of distributed ledger technologies to scale impact investing.Kianga is the Managing Partner at Acre of America Partners LP, a Hudson Valley, New York impact investment firm focused on the application of distributed ledger technologies to solve problems for rural communities.ACREinvest is their new blockchain venture focused on creating compelling Web3 infrastructure, virtual network services and social incentives for DAOs and other peer-to-peer permissionless stakeholders. They recently launched ACRE DAOs, a Web3 portal for a decentralized impact investment club and its related community ERC20 token: ACRE Impact.The mission at ACREinvest is to regenerate the way capital markets work & for whom.Kianga's legal career began as a Corporate Associate at Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP in New York City after graduating from Spelman College and Yale Law School. In later in-house roles she supported the fixed-income derivatives, FX, derivatives prime brokerage and energy trading businesses at Goldman Sachs, and derivatives and physical commodities trading at Lehman Brothers.When Lehman collapsed in 2008, Kianga left Wall Street and founded a new media (internet and social media) communications business for the arts. Her work included a curatorial and experimental exhibitions program, Kianga Ellis Projects, featuring emerging artists who were commenting on technological change or using digital technology in their practice.After returning to the law in 2014, she founded a boutique derivatives and commodities trading law firm, Daverington PLLC, and began focusing full-time on the crypto assets and distributed ledger technology sector in 2017.Listen to more Causeartist podcasts here.We are powered by:Podcast Made with TransistorPodcast cover design Made with CanvaBuild amazing web platforms with Webflow ----------------------------------------Thrive in the Impact Economy.Join 20k+. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter for the latest news, exclusive interviews, and curated products that drive the Impact Economy. Our mission is to highlight and celebrate the founders, creators, investors, and conscious brands shaping the future of conscious business and philanthropy.To learn more, please visit causeartist.com

Dec 13, 2021 • 33min

The Future of Work Global Fund to Upskill Low-Income and Entry-Level Workers - Dr. Angela Jackson // Partner at New Profit Ventures

Dec 7, 2021 • 44min

Using the Power of Divesting and Investing to Create a Portfolio to Fit Your Values - Gideon Cohn and Monica Meng // Co-founders of Good Capital Investment Group

This content is for informational and entertainment purposes only, you should not construe any such information or other material as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.----------------------------------------If you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to subscribe, review, and share this podcast!In episode of the Investing in Impact podcast, I speak with Gideon Cohn and Monica Meng, Co-founders of Good Capital Investment Group, on using the power of divesting and investing to create a portfolio to fit your values.Gideon Cohn co-founded Good Capital Investment Group with the idea that clear, conscious investing can be profitable and accessible. While working as a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ at Highbridge Financial Group in New York, Gideon saw firsthand how invested money could match client values and social progress. Clients took pride in doing good with their hard earned money. After graduating cum laude from the University of New Hampshire and Boston University’s Certificate of Financial Planning program, Gideon obtained his CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ (CFP®) certification. He holds FINRA Series 7 and 63 securities registrations as an Investment Advisor Representative of Commonwealth Financial Network®.Gideon continuously strives to improve our world. He has led humanitarian trips in developing countries, volunteered as a mentor and participated on several committees of a local union. In his spare time, Gideon is a commercially rated pilot and in a previous life, flew cargo planes in Alaska.Monica Meng genuinely believes in doing well, by doing good. She began her career in finance in an analyst program at Citigroup. She worked in product management, sales, and operations on various teams including private equity services, fund services, and supplier finance. After leaving finance to pursue her passion in education, Monica became a preschool teacher in Manhattan before transitioning into education technology. She worked at various ed tech startups (Nomster Chef, ChitChat VR, Knovva Academy) in business development, marketing, and instructional design and as a UX researcher at Google. These experiences have led Monica to co-founding Good Capital where she works to promote socially responsible investing and financial empowerment for women.Monica has a BA from the University of Pennsylvania and an MA from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She has been featured on the Type A Podcast, How to save the world podcast, and as a workshop leader with Outwild.Good Capital Investment Group is a financial planning and sustainable investing firm striving to be the change we want to see in the world.Securities offered through Commonwealth Financial Network®, www.FINRA.org / www.SIPC.org. Good Capital Investment Group, 660 White Plains Road Suite 540, (914) 458-1284. This communication is strictly intended for individuals residing in the states of CA, CT, IN, MA, ME, MO, NC, NY, VA, VT. No offers may be made or accepted from any resident outside these states due to various state requirements and registration requirements regarding investment products and services. Review our Terms of Use: www.commonwealth.com/termsofuse.htmlListen to more Causeartist podcasts here.We are powered by:ImpactInvestor - Discover Impact Investors from around the world.Podcast Made with TransistorPodcast cover design Made with CanvaBuild amazing web platforms with Webflow ----------------------------------------Thrive in the Impact Economy.Join 20k+. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter for the latest news, exclusive interviews, and curated products that drive the Impact Economy. Our mission is to highlight and celebrate the founders, creators, investors, and conscious brands shaping the future of conscious business and philanthropy.To learn more, please visit causeartist.com

Nov 15, 2021 • 34min

How Private and Philanthropic Capital can be a Catalyst in Prevention and Recovery for Millions Dealing with Mental Health Issues - Alexander Holt // Founding Partner at Limitless Ventures

Nov 8, 2021 • 46min

Allocating Capital Into Regenerative Natural Resource Investments - Adrian Rodrigues // Co-Founder of Provenance Capital Group

This content is for informational and entertainment purposes only, you should not construe any such information or other material as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.----------------------------------------In episode 35 of the Investing in Impact podcast, I speak with Adrian Rodrigues, Co-Founder of Provenance Capital Group, on allocating capital into regenerative natural resource investments through blended capital structures.Adrian is a Co-Founder and a Managing Director of Provenance Capital Group where he helps develop blended capital structures that catalyze resilient biological systems and businesses. Before Provenance, Adrian co-founded the boutique consulting firm Hyphae Partners where he helped companies finance and build regenerative business models. Additionally, he worked at Patagonia within its Venture Capital arm Tin Shed Ventures, helping author a standard for Regenerative Organic Agriculture and exploring Regenerative Organic Land Funds. He is an experienced asset allocator, fundraiser, and business model innovator.Adrian spent six years at Morgan Stanley helping long time horizon investors manage their asset allocations and diligence investment opportunities across asset classes and sectors. He has also lectured on food innovation at the University of California Berkeley Haas School of Business and designed and taught an entrepreneurship intensive for farmers at the Stone Barns Center for Food & Agriculture.Adrian is a graduate of Berkeley Haas’ full-time MBA program. At Haas, Adrian was a Portfolio Manager of the Haas Socially Responsible Investment Fund and a Member of the Center for Responsible Business’ Student Advisory Board. He also serves as an inaugural advisor for the Investor Resource Council of J.E.D.I. Collaborative, which aims to frame the business case for embedding equity, justice, diversity and inclusion into our entire food ecosystem. He received a B.A. in English from Williams College, studied English literature at Exeter College, Oxford University, and holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.Also mentioned in the podcast:Soil Wealth Report - Croatan InstituteSponsors for Educational OpportunityManagement Leadership for Tomorrow (MLT)About Provenance Capital GroupPCG is a financial services firm focused on allocating capital into regenerative natural resource investments. We offer our clients deep expertise, superior guidance, bespoke access, and trusted partnership in the transition to an economy that is focused on people, planet, and profit.Listen to more Causeartist podcasts here.Check out the Impact Investor platform here - Discover Impact Investors from around the world.Partner with us - Learn moreWe are powered by:Podcast Made with TransistorPodcast cover design Made with CanvaBuild amazing web platforms with Webflow ----------------------------------------Thrive in the Impact Economy.Join 20k+. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter for the latest news, exclusive interviews, and curated products that drive the Impact Economy. Our mission is to highlight and celebrate the founders, creators, investors, and conscious brands shaping the future of conscious business and philanthropy.To learn more, please visit causeartist.com

Nov 2, 2021 • 45min

Using Innovative Impact Investing to Enhance Competitive Returns and Positive Social and Environmental Change - Liesel Pritzker Simmons & Ian Simmons // Founders of Blue Haven Initiative

This content is for informational and entertainment purposes only, you should not construe any such information or other material as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.----------------------------------------If you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to subscribe, review, and share this podcast!In this episode of the Investing in Impact podcast, I speak with Liesel Pritzker Simmons & Ian Simmons, founders of Blue Haven Initiative, on using innovative impact investing to enhance competitive returns and positive social and environmental change.Liesel Pritzker Simmons is Co-Founder and Principal of Blue Haven Initiative, where she oversees, as an investment strategist, a portfolio focused on holdings that generate competitive financial returns and address social and environmental challenges. The portfolio spans asset classes, from traditional equities and direct investments to philanthropic programs.Liesel co-founded Blue Haven with her husband, Ian Simmons. Together, they systematically assessed their portfolios based on environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) criteria and financial performance. The restructured portfolios became the foundation of Blue Haven, one of the first family offices created with impact investing as its focus.Liesel is also Co-Founder of IDP Foundation, a private Chicago-based foundation focused on achieving universal primary education. There, she helped create the IDP Rising Schools Program, which leverages microfinance networks to empower nearly 450 low-cost private schools—established and managed by local entrepreneurs—in some of the least-developed regions of the world.Ian Simmons is Co-Founder and Principal of Blue Haven Initiative, where he oversees a portfolio focused on investments that generate competitive financial returns and address social and environmental challenges. This portfolio spans asset classes, including private and public equity, fixed income, direct investments, alternative investments and philanthropic programs.Committed to initiatives and corporations that advance investing and strengthen democracy, Ian is the President of the Foundation for Civic Leadership and Chair of the Youth Engagement Fund. Ian serves on the board of directors of the U.S. Impact Investing Alliance, Social Finance, Issue One, Organizing for Action, the National Advisory Board for Public Service at Harvard College, and Karibu Homes, an affordable-housing company in Kenya.Blue Haven Initiative IS One of the first family offices created with impact investing as its mission and focus, Blue Haven seeks market rates of financial return on its investments as well as maximum social and environmental impact. It applies a rigorous portfolio-management lens to for-profit and philanthropic capital with the goal of aligning financial performance and public benefit. With this approach, Blue Haven considers the nuanced ramifications of its investment choices while pursuing financial returns appropriate to each asset class or venture.When investing, Blue Haven seeks to put capital to work in highly productive ways: helping mission-driven projects and companies achieve scale, supporting entrepreneurs whose innovations spur change, and partnering with other investors to accelerate economic progress. Active in frontier markets and in the United States, its in-house team and their advisors are dedicated to sourcing direct investments, conducting due diligence and managing its portfolio over time. In addition to funding early-stage, innovative businesses that improve standards of living, create economic opportunity, and deliver products and services cleanly and efficiently to underserved communities, Blue Haven also invests in traditional asset classes through third-party investment managers.Listen to more Causeartist podcasts here.We are powered by:ImpactInvestor - Discover Impact Investors from around the world.Podcast Made with TransistorPodcast cover design Made with CanvaBuild amazing web platforms with Webflow ----------------------------------------Thrive in the Impact Economy.Join 20k+. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter for the latest news, exclusive interviews, and curated products that drive the Impact Economy. Our mission is to highlight and celebrate the founders, creators, investors, and conscious brands shaping the future of conscious business and philanthropy.To learn more, please visit causeartist.com

Oct 26, 2021 • 44min

Developing Artificial Intelligence to Improve the Efficiency and Sustainability of Critical Mineral Exploration - Josh Goldman, Ph.D. // Co-founder of KoBold Metals

This content is for informational and entertainment purposes only, you should not construe any such information or other material as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.----------------------------------------In this episode, I speak with Josh Goldman, Ph.D., Co-founder of KoBold Metals, on the future of efficient and sustainable mineral exploration and how EV batteries can create a circular economy for mobility.KoBold Metals is developing artificial intelligence to improve the efficacy, efficiency, and sustainability of critical mineral exploration and development. KoBolds principal investors are Breakthrough Energy Ventures, a climate technology fund overseen by Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, and other global business leaders and Andreessen Horowitz, the premier Silicon Valley venture capital fund.The mineral exploration company uses machine learning and other scientific computing techniques to increase the ethical supply of critical materials (i.e., Ni, Co, Cu, Li, Pt, and Pd) needed to build electric vehicles and personal electronics.The sustainable and efficient development of new mines will be needed if electric vehicles are to become widespread, but before new ore deposits can be mined, they must be found.KoBold is the first full-stack exploration company that combines the world’s top mineral explorers with an outstanding team of data scientists and software engineers to bring a comprehensive skill set to bear on exploration.Josh earned his Ph.D. in physics from Harvard University for experiments in atomic physics that demonstrated how trapped electrons could be used to make quantum computers. He also holds master’s degrees in history of science from Imperial College London and applied mathematics from Cambridge University, where he was a Marshall Scholar, and a B.A. in physics from Cornell.Josh was an advisor to top executives at oil & gas, electric power, and energy equipment and services firms with the Houston office of McKinsey & Company. Josh was at the forefront of McKinsey’s deployment of advanced analytics, leading operational transformations that delivered 10%+ performance improvements in power and oil & gas equipment engineering design and sourcing and power plant operations. His work on strategy and corporate finance ranged from E&P business unit growth strategy, to electric power utility disintermediation strategy, to acquisition target scans and due diligence.As principal of Phase Change Resources, Josh led business development, sourcing investment opportunities and leading commercial underwriting and valuation of all PCR transactions. He also wrote PCR’s proprietary forecasting and valuation software and led PCR’s big-data digital prospecting efforts.Listen to more Causeartist podcasts here.Check out:ImpactInvestor.io - Discover impact investors from around the world.Podcast Made with TransistorPodcast cover design Made with CanvaBuild amazing web platforms with Webflow ----------------------------------------Thrive in the Impact Economy.Join 20k+. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter for the latest news, exclusive interviews, and curated products that drive the Impact Economy. Our mission is to highlight and celebrate the founders, creators, investors, and conscious brands shaping the future of conscious business and philanthropy.To learn more, please visit causeartist.com

Oct 21, 2021 • 32min

Building the Berkshire Hathaway Model of Impact Investing - Craig Jonas Ph.D. // CEO & Founder of CoPeace Holdings

This content is for informational and entertainment purposes only, you should not construe any such information or other material as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.----------------------------------------If you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to subscribe, review, and share this podcast!In this episode of the Investing in Impact podcast, I speak with Craig Jonas Ph.D., CEO and Founder of CoPeace on using the holding company model to create a long term impact investing approach.Dr. Craig Jonas is a lifelong entrepreneur with success across business, academic, and athletic industries. Craig has over 30 years of experience in management with a passion for team-building and drawing individuals with big ideas together.Craig founded CoPeace in 2018 after serving as COO of Basketball Travelers and BTI Events, an elite sports event management and media conglomerate, for over 20 years. In his role, Craig supervised international sporting events and tours worldwide. He served as the head or deputy head of the American delegation for the Summer and Winter World University Games from 2007-17.Craig has always had a passion for bringing true impact to global sport, supporting the idea that sports can bring cultures and people closer together. He was one of the first American coaches to travel to South Africa post-apartheid to host basketball clinics for local youth. Craig also represented the United States at the International Olympic Academy in Greece after earning national basketball “Coach of the Year'' honors.Previously, Craig served as vice president for business development for the broadcast media technology firm, Sportvision, best known for bringing revolutionary visual enhancements to live sports broadcasts, including American football’s yellow first-down line and baseball’s strike zone. Prior to Sportvision, Craig served as the executive vice president of Coach’s Edge and helped initiate its $100- million merger with Sportvision.Craig earned his doctorate in conflict management from the University of Kansas, where he also taught leadership, marketing, and management courses to undergraduate and masters students. As an undergraduate student, Craig attended Carleton College in Minnesota, and went on to complete his graduate degree at Colorado State University. Craig is a father of two sons. He lives with his wife, Seanna, and dog, Fergus, in Colorado.About CoPeace:CoPeace is a first-of-its-kind holding company in the impact investing space. We are building a portfolio of carefully-screened, for-profit companies which are achieving measurable social and/or environmental impact, while providing competitive returns to investors.A unique CoPeace feature is that a direct investment in the company, and its holdings, is accessible to the average investor, not just wealthy accredited investors. CoPeace is a Certified B Corp and also registered as a Public Benefit Corporation (PBC). As a Certified B Corp and PBC, CoPeace meets the highest verified standards of social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability and is one of only 400 companies worldwide with both B Corp and PBC designation.Listen to more Causeartist podcasts here.We are powered by:ImpactInvestor - Discover Impact Investors from around the world.Podcast Made with TransistorPodcast cover design Made with CanvaBuild amazing web platforms with Webflow ----------------------------------------Thrive in the Impact Economy.Join 20k+. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter for the latest news, exclusive interviews, and curated products that drive the Impact Economy. Our mission is to highlight and celebrate the founders, creators, investors, and conscious brands shaping the future of conscious business and philanthropy.To learn more, please visit causeartist.com

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