HOW DID YOU GET INTO IMPACT INVESTING?
I believe a career is not measured by individual success but by contribution to society.
Accordingly, I have dedicated my career to driving global social impact across sectors, and now in my current role as the CEO of World Education Services (WES).
When I joined WES in 2019, we were in the fortunate position of having unrestricted reserves based on our social enterprise operating model. With the support of our Board of Trustees, we launched a philanthropic initiative with an initial capitalization of 30 million dollars.
We launched the work with a focus on grant-making. We then expanded to include impact investing aligned with our mission. We believe that impact investing can play a critical role in catalyzing and scaling efforts toward more inclusive economies for those we serve. As a leader excited by innovation and transformation, I am proud to support WES’ impact investing work and our incredible team.
CAN YOU SHARE AN EXAMPLE OF A SUCCESSFUL IMPACT INVESTMENT YOU HAVE MADE, AND HOW IT HAS CREATED POSITIVE CHANGE?
Our investee partners are driving crucial change across many sectors. One partner whose work I want to highlight is the Dearfield Fund for Black Wealth. This is a new place-based investment fund that seeks to reduce the racial wealth gap in Denver by accelerating local Black homeownership.
Dearfield provides significant down payment assistance in the form of shared equity to Black first-time homebuyers and offers wealth-building services to back these homeowners through a robust wrap-around program that provides pre-purchase, post-purchase, and wealth advisory supports. Since its creation two years ago, Dearfield has already deployed $5.7 million in down-payment assistance loans, and has helped 150 families with down-payment assistance. WES is proud to partner with Dearfield as it changes lives, transforms neighborhoods, and advances justice and equity for Black communities.
HOW DO YOU SEE PHILANTHROPIES AND IMPACT INVESTORS WORKING TOGETHER?
To truly create the change we want to see, we need to use all of the tools in the toolbox. At WES, we believe the change we are driving requires programmatic initiatives, policy and advocacy efforts, philanthropic grants, as well as impact investments. When we implement these tools collaboratively and comprehensively, our impact is amplified.
To that end, philanthropies and impact investors can be powerful partners in driving impact.
We can combine these funding models within our organizations; WES has blended grants with impact investments. JFF Ventures, for example, was initially a grantee partner of ours, and now they are an investee partner as well.
WHAT DO YOU THINK IS MISSING IN THE INDUSTRY?
When we talk about impact investing, we are often talking about the “what” (education, climate, health, etc.). Now we have started talking more about the “who” (who is the capital flowing to). But, as my colleague Smitha Das who leads our impact investing work has noted, we are not yet really talking about the “how.” There is so much for us to explore in terms of how we are partnering with these companies and organizations to create meaningful change.
DO YOU HAVE ANY RECOMMENDATIONS FOR IMPACT INVESTORS AND FUND MANAGERS STARTING THEIR IMPACT JOURNEY?
First and foremost, when starting an impact investment journey, you have to be clear about your why. That’s why WES began our work focusing on governance. We created an impact investment statement, and we worked closely with our Board of Trustees to make sure we were aligned with our mission and vision as an organization.
The next important step is to get started. We learn the most by doing. WES made several initial investments which helped us understand how and where we wanted to operate going forward. And we’re still learning today, after 23 impact investing partnerships over three years.
FINAL QUESTION: WHAT ARE THE MOST USED (AND ABUSED) CLICHÉS IN SUSTAINABILITY THAT BOTHER YOU?
Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) has become a catchall term that so many organizations are using. But there is so much ambiguity around whether this accurately represents what investors and companies are doing, and what different ESG alliances expect to achieve. Right now, there is no standard across industries and inconsistent application.
We need to be very clear about what is happening and what is not happening. And we need to build public awareness and support for this movement for sustainability.We need to get clearer about what ESG actually means, how it's measured, and what the standards are.