In this episode, Joy sits down with Joanna Levitt Cea, Founder and Principal of Valiente Capital and lead of the Gender Funders CoLab report Moving Beyond Grant Capital: Meeting the Moment with Innovative Finance. Together, they unpack what it means to truly design finance for context - not just replicate existing models - and explore how fund design can become a tool for shifting power and advancing gender justice.

The conversation dives into the challenges of translation between finance and community knowledge, the pitfalls of “landscape mapping” without real co-design, and the importance of experimentation over perfection. Ultimately, Joy and Joanna invite listeners to imagine finance as an evolving language of possibility - one rooted in courage, care, and collaboration.

Episode Highlights

• 00:27 - Introduction
• 04:37 - Start with context, not track record
• 08:49 –Separating design from management
• 12:27 - The danger of hidden rules in design
• 16:34 - Translation: finance language and context
• 24:43 - Valiente’s brave translation work
• 31:15 - Move resources now: plurality and iteration

Relevant Links

• Criterion Institute website and LinkedIn
• Joy’s LinkedIn
• Joanna's LinkedIn

Part of the ImpactAlpha Podcast Network

https://impactalpha.com/podcasts