Read by thousands of impact pros daily
TGIF, Agents of Impact! 🗣 Dazed and determined. The torrent of executive orders and actions from the Trump White House this week was …
🇧🇷 Agents of Impact Call No. 68: Unlocking impact and climate alpha in Brazil. In May, thousands of visitors will descend on Parque Ibirapuera in São Paulo for the Feira Preta festival, the largest Black cultural and entrepreneurship event in Latin America. Founder Adriana Barbosa has over two decades grown Feira Preta, or Black Fair, into a platform that has helped plug more than 10,000 Black and Indigenous creative entrepreneurs into the Brazilian economy. Brazil’s Black community “is an economically active population,” says Barbosa, who will lay out the case for investments in Brazil’s African descendents on next week’s Agents of Impact Call.
🎧 This Week in Impact: Back to the future. Host Brian Walsh takes up ImpactAlpha’s top stories with editor David Bank. Up this week: How Trump's executive orders are affecting investments in climate, equity, AI and global development. Why some investors are optimistic about the extension of Opportunity Zones, the capital gains tax break for investments in low-income communities. And, an effort to bring more liquidity to private impact funds so they can attract more institutional investors.
Cecilia Conrad: Pulling the levers of change (video). As CEO of Lever for Change, Cecilia Conrad has issued open calls for solutions to challenges like maternal and child health, refugee resources and early childhood education. A current challenge may be among her toughest: Restoring trust in the core institutions of American society. “It's one space where there's very little partisan gap,” Conrad said, announcing the $10 million challenge with LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman last month (the deadline for submissions is Feb. 19). “And it's particularly concerning, because it is most prevalent among the youngest people.”
Blending finance for Southeast Asia's green transition funds. The 11 countries of Southeast Asia derive about three-quarters of their power supply from fossil fuels. The region receives the lowest share of global clean energy and infrastructure finance. A key obstacle: a lack of robust regulatory frameworks for private participation, according to the International Energy Agency, which estimates some $130 billion annually is needed for the region’s low-carbon transition. Development finance institutions, long criticized for being risk-averse and insufficiently catalytic, are “making progress in mobilizing private capital for renewable power projects,” the agency says. “International development finance and support is crucial.” This week: SUSI Partners, a Swiss energy transition investment firm, raised $139 million for its Asia Energy Transition Fund and for a co-investment vehicle with British International Investment and FMO, the Dutch development bank. SUSI had closed the fund in 2023 but reopened it for new investments last year. SUSI now has $259 million to invest in utility-scale and commercial and industrial renewable projects in Asia.
💼 See and share more than a dozen new impact jobs posted this week on ImpactAlpha’s Career Hub and view hundreds of more jobs in impact investing and sustainable finance. Have a job listing to post? Submit it here.
Find the alpha in impact.
As we enter an uncertain 2025, it can seem impossible to anticipate how the world of impact will change. The first Trump administration …
Building on our daily dealflow coverage, ImpactAlpha’s weekly Spotlights take a closer look at the deals and trends shaping the impact sector. With …
Underrepresented? Overlooked? More like, untapped. In her monthly Plugged In video podcasts, ImpactAlpha contributing editor Sherrell Dorsey has been engaging entrepreneurs, fund managers …
The ImpactAlpha Podcast Network is growing. In addition to nearly 50 episodes of This Week in Impact, our weekly news roundup, and more …
Infrastructure financing. Debt-for-nature swaps. Secondary markets. Gender bonds. Emerging market dealmaking in 2024 reflected exceptional creativity and persistence from fund managers, entrepreneurs and …
The chat is hopping whenever Agents of Impact gather for an ImpactAlpha call. Sure, we recruit thoughtful leaders and tease out takeaways from …
“We like to lean in and over the impact cliff, but only when we are sure that we are harnessed and roped in,” …
If you missed any of our look-aheads to 2025, you can find them all here. We had a hunch when we launched ImpactAlpha …
If you missed any of our look-aheads to 2025, you can find them all here. A new era requires new narratives. In dozens …
Strategies for navigating the ownership economy, wealth-creation and shared prosperity.
The country’s political mood may not reflect it, but the gaping chasm of income inequality in the US actually narrowed, ever so slightly, …
Host Brian Walsh takes up ImpactAlpha’s top stories with editor David Bank. Up this week: How lobbying and advocacy are being used by …
How can communities combat displacement and gentrification? By putting control and ownership of land and real estate in the hands of local residents, …
In our current environment, impact investors committed to racial equity and social justice need to clear a higher bar than “mutual benefit” or …
An inconvenient truth is limiting the impact of the rising numbers of business conversions to employee ownership: “There is often a trade-off between …
A few years ago, the mere notion that private equity firms would share any profits at all with workers at the companies they …
Twelve million businesses with $10 trillion in assets will change ownership over the next decade. Most of the owners of these businesses haven’t …
Some 45 million people in the US are “credit invisible,” lacking credit history with the major credit bureaus. Without a credit score, it’s …
Rapidly rising property values across the US work against lower-income families on at least two fronts. Higher prices mean higher rents. And the …
Impact investing in the emerging markets of Latin America, Asia and Africa.
The 11 countries of Southeast Asia derive about three-quarters of their power supply from fossil fuels. The region receives the lowest share of …
When Suzanne Biegel launched Heading for Change in 2023, her vision was clear: this was about more than moving capital for climate and …
Indonesia is one of the largest producers of seaweed, a key source of nutrition that also absorbs carbon and nitrogen from water. Dominated …
Impaqto Capital invests in impact companies in Colombia as well as in Latin America’s smaller investment markets like Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. The …
Heading for Change, the donor-advised fund launched by the late Suzanne Biegel, expanded its portfolio with five fund investments in Asia, Africa and …
The Awareness Company, or TACo, wants to make sustainability accessible and actionable for businesses. The South Africa-based startup’s internet-connected data collection and analysis …
Bogota-based FinMaq uses alternative credit-scoring to help informal, micro and small businesses borrow to acquire equipment to boost their livelihoods. FinMaq provides loans …
Canada-based LemFi was founded in 2021 to give the growing population of African immigrants quick and affordable ways to send money back home. …
Some 65% of African land is considered degraded. Climate-driven droughts and floods are exacerbating the impacts on local farmers and communities. Barka Fund, …
Build your impact career on ImpactAlpha
There is no denying that impact finance is one of the most sought after spaces in finance right now, but what does it …
Bold leaders. Taking action. Driving impact.
Agents of Impact who subscribe get access to what makes ImpactAlpha invaluable:
