Agents of Impact | September 19, 2019

Letter from ImpactAlpha: Growing team and growing impact

David Bank
ImpactAlpha Editor

David Bank

  • Journalists Amy Cortese and Imogen Rose-Smith join ImpactAlpha.
  • Todd Johnson joins as a director and Brian Walsh as a senior advisor.
  • Andrew Wong comes on as finance director.

Greetings, Agents of Impact! 

This just in: The tide is turning toward impact investing and sustainable finance. As ImpactAlpha readers know, the recent corporate embrace of “stakeholder capitalism” was just the latest signal. Whether you’re a CEO or a student, an impact investing pioneer or a career-switcher, it’s time to raise your game.

At ImpactAlpha, we’re raising our game as well. As you know, we took a leap 18 months ago with the launch of our subscription service. The response to The Brief, in particular, has been phenomenal. I’m proud to say we have achieved what many media ventures can only wish for: a sustainable business model. With more readers, we are improving our products for everybody. There’s so much to cover and so much to do.

And so, I’m happy to announce that two stellar journalists are joining ImpactAlpha’s team. You may already have noticed new senior editor Amy Cortese’s byline, including on this week’s strong story on Iroquois Valley Farms’ use of a direct public offering to make impact investments more accessible to everyday investors.

Amy brings to ImpactAlpha a wealth of knowledge about grassroots investing as author of the book, “Locavesting” and creator of the popular media site of the same name. She has covered a range of business and social issues for The New York Times, Business Week, Crain’s and other publications. She’ll particularly focus on “New Revivalists” and other place-based and community investing in the arts, food, real estate, small business and more.   

“From local startups to global funds, ImpactAlpha is charting a momentous shift in business and finance,” Cortese says. “I could not be more excited to join the team.” 

Imogen Rose-Smith is expanding her role at ImpactAlpha as a contributing editor. Imogen was a  longtime senior writer for Institutional Investor and most recently an investment fellow with the University of California. She is a regular on ImpactAlpha’s Returns on Investment podcast, where she provides a skeptical counterpoint to my sometimes irrational exuberance. Imogen and Amy join ImpactAlpha’s already strong team of journalists, including editorial director Dennis Price and dealflow editor Jessica Pothering.

ImpactAlpha is also strengthening our tech, business and governance capacities. In the next few weeks, we’ll roll out improvements that should streamline the sometimes-clunky (we know!) user experience. We’re delighted to welcome Andrew Wong as our finance director,  working with co-founder and director of operations Zuleyma Bebell. We’ll soon be onboarding a new director of growth to drive those scalable, recurring subscription revenues. 

Joining ImpactAlpha’s board of directors is Todd Johnson, one of the most respected social enterprise attorneys in the country and now CEO of the impact reporting, transparency and data analytics platform, iPar. As a partner at Jones Day, Todd founded the law firm’s presence in Silicon Valley and its renewable energy and sustainability practice.

“I’ve been one of the biggest fans of ImpactAlpha from its earliest days,” says Johnson. “I’m honored to join David Bank and his team of exceptional journalists as a member of the Board of Directors.”

Brian Walsh, head of impact for the New York fintech firm Liquidnet, remains a senior advisor to the company, as well as an investor through the Liquidnet for Good Fund. Podcast listeners know Brian as Returns on Investment’s sober host, keeping peace (or stirring trouble) between #TeamImogen and #TeamDavid.

We’re off and running on a busy fall, including “Agents of Impact” events in New York, Amsterdam and San Francisco. As the tide turns towards impact, you can count on ImpactAlpha for “investment news for a sustainable edge.” Now that all your friends and colleagues are talking about impact, please let them know, “You gotta be reading ImpactAlpha.”

Thank you again for all your good work.

David Bank

Editor and CEO 

P.S. Please do tell those friends and colleagues we have a special discount for new ImpactAlpha subscribers. The first month is just $10. Give them the code – you guessed it – ImpactAlpha