ImpactAlpha Podcasts

Host Brian Walsh takes up ImpactAlpha’s top stories with editors David Bank and Amy Cortese. Up this week: At Neighborhood Economics in Chicago, entrepreneurship through acquisition and other promising ideas are filling out the playbook for shared prosperity; How ExxonMobil's new voting program for retail investors aims to change the balance of power in corporate governance. And, how reinsurer GreenieRE is bringing the concept of surety bonds to help scale climate tech investments.Story links:“Expanding ‘entrepreneurship through acquisition’ for inclusive wealth creation in the US and Canada,”“Investors who refuse to take a loyalty oath to ExxonMobil should decline to join its ‘retail voting program,’” by As You Sow’s Andrew Behar“GreenieRe sees ‘impact insurance’ surety bonds as the key to scaling climate tech,” by Amy Cortese

British International Investment CEO Leslie Maasdorp joins David Bank to share how the UK’s development finance institution is charting it's next five years, with a focus on climate finance, de-risking investments in emerging markets and innovative approaches that can crowd in private capital at scale.

Host Brian Walsh takes up ImpactAlpha’s top stories with Amy Cortese and Dennis Price. Up this week: How investors at Climate Week NYC shook off the Trump doldrums (. And how, from Singapore to London, even fund managers that shun the label are driving alpha with impact (12:45).Story links:“At Climate Week NYC, investors look to shake off the doldrums and start deploying capital again,” by Amy Cortese.“Even for GPs that shun the label, ‘impact’ drives portfolio performance,” by Dennis Price.

As climate action shifts east and south, some would-be Climate Week attendees are staying away due to visa hassles, fears of invasive immigration procedures and risk of detention. The rollback of US climate policy likewise has global effects as the Trump administration strongarms nations into buying US gas and weakening climate policies and upends global trade with mercurial tariffs. “The Europeans are not buying it,” Carbon Tracker’s Mark Campanale told Amy Cortese on the latest Agents of Impact podcast. 

Host Brian Walsh takes up ImpactAlpha’s top stories with editor David Bank. Up this week: Foundation leaders “unite in advance” of expected attacks in the supercharged political environment; how the carbon credit platform Rubicon Carbon is using diversification and ratings to strengthen the market for voluntary carbon credits (07:20); and the bumpy road to the sustainable future as charted by Generation Investment Management’s annual Sustainability Trends Report (15:05). Bonus: a preview of next week’s Agents of Impact interview with Carbon Tracker’s Mark Companele.Story links:“⁠Foundation leaders ‘unite in advance’ of expected attacks on spending and speaking⁠,” by David Bank.“Rubicon’s ‘all of the above’ plan to diversify and rate the market for carbon credits,” by Erik Stein.“Ten slides that chart the bumpy road to the sustainable future,” by Amy Cortese.

Host Brian Walsh takes up ImpactAlpha’s top stories with editor David Bank. Up this week: The All Aboard Coalition's effort to mobilize $300 million for venture capital co-investments in first of a kind climate-tech projects; the role of fashion brands in supporting regenerative cotton in Peru (06:55); and why decentralized physical infrastructure networks, or DePINs, are a promising model for sustainable community services (11:00).Story links:“All Aboard Coalition mobilizes co-investments in climate tech as federal funding falters,” by Amy Cortese“Fashion brands step into the aid gap to back regenerative cotton in Peru’s Amazon,” by Erik Stein“A new model for digital infrastructure: Decentralized and community owned,” by Crypto Council for Innovation's Renee Pinto da Silva BartonMusic by Isaac Silk and DELOSound

Jacqueline Novogratz joins David Bank to discuss Acumen's evolution over 24 years, focusing on three key areas: patient capital, scale, and systemic change.

Host Brian Walsh takes up ImpactAlpha’s top stories with editor David Bank. Up this week: ​​ How green lenders are scrambling to salvage investable deals as a federal appeals court maintains a Trump freeze on billions of dollars from the greenhouse gas reduction fund. Employee ownership takes a big leap forward as a company with 100,000 employees sells a 30% equity stake to an employee ownership trust (07:15). And, a look at fusion nuclear energy, a sector receiving the attention and billions of dollars of investments from family offices among other very patient investors (14:15).Story links:“⁠In-home caregivers get a stake in Consumer Direct Care Network as bigger companies discover employee ownership trusts⁠,” by Roodgally Senatus“Green lenders scramble to salvage deals as appeals court OKs freeze on accounts,” by David Bank and Amy Cortese“As fusion energy advances, so does its capital stack,” by Amy Cortese.

Host Brian Walsh takes up ImpactAlpha’s top stories with editors and journalists from our team. Up this week: Jessica Pothering discusses a new financing tool from Roots of Impact, Simple Agreement for Future Impact. Eric Stein joins from Medellín to talk about impact investing trends he's been seeing during recent travels across Latin America (8:30). And, Jessica shares how a medical oxygen company in East Africa managed to secure financing after the DFC reneged (16:40)."Forget SAFEs. Impact investors are incentivizing growth and impact with SAFIs," by Jessica Pothering and Erik Stein. “Peruvian impact investors are mobilizing capital for inclusive growth in the Amazon,” by Erik Stein"Kenya's Hewatele lands $10.5 million to produce medical oxygen locally, " by Lucy Ngige

Host Brian Walsh takes up ImpactAlpha’s top stories with ImpactAlpha editors and journalists. Up this week: Amy Cortese discusses the “billionaire buyers club” of wealthy donors buying up tons of carbon just to lock it away. Roodgally Senatus dishes on the big changes underway at Turner MIINT (7:45). And, dealflow editor Jessica Pothering runs down the impact deals and fundraises catching her eye this week (12:38).Story links:“⁠Billionaire Buyers Club: Wealthy donors are buying tons of carbon just to lock it away⁠,” by Amy Cortese“⁠Impact Capital Managers takes the helm of Turner MIINT to advance the next generation of impact investors⁠,” by Roodgally Senatus."⁠Grupo Gaia is bringing a Big Ag financing tool to Brazil’s smallholder farmers⁠," by Gilberto Lima.