Impact Alpha Podcasts

Family offices target climate transition, foundations invest in AI for good, and a voluntary carbon credit brou-ha-ha

Host Brian Walsh takes up ImpactAlpha’s top stories with editor David Bank. Up this week: Family offices have the opportunity to invest in the climate transition: https://impactalpha.com/the-climate-transition-and-investment-opportunities-for-family-offices/ Three leading foundations make for-profit investments in an OpenAI competitor: https://impactalpha.com/with-stakes-in-anthropic-impact-investors-seek-a-seat-at-the-ai-table/ The brou-ha-ha over...

Franchising indoor farms to build a billion dollars in Black wealth

Loren Taylor and Zaru Systems want to build a billion dollars in Black wealth in the next eight years by franchising sustainable turnkey businesses. First up, modular vertical farms. Hear his conversation with David Bank on this week's Agents of...

Good economic news, the legacy of Participant Media, and a dispatch from the World Bank

Brian Walsh and ImpactAlpha editor David Bank take up the good news on the good economy, Participant Media’s lasting legacy and the signs of change at the World Bank. Plus: an exclusive early listen to the electrifying single, “I’m Your...

Building equitable food systems with reparative capital and community

On this week’s Agents of Impact Podcast, Sherrell Dorsey chats with Olivia Watkins of Black Farmer Fund. The fund aims to meet the modern needs of Black farmers and food entrepreneurs with affordable capital and technical assistance. --- Send in a...

Reconnecting communities, impact investing in Puerto Rico, and how business owners are exiting to employees

Brian and David explore the federal funds that are catalyzing capital to reconnect communities from the legacy of racial segregation, the huge impact investing opportunity in Puerto Rico, and the mechanisms that investors and business owners are using to exit...

Alison Taylor: The broken chain from transparency to accountability to corporate action

NYU Professor Alison Taylor joins David Bank to discuss the evolution of the role of business in society, and how regulation and disclosure affect impact. Alison's book: https://www.stern.nyu.edu/experience-stern/faculty-research/higher-ground-how-business-can-do-right-thing-turbulent-world Sign up for our free newsletters: https://impactalpha.com/browse/features/the-brief/impactalpha-open/ https://impactalpha.com/latam-newsletter-email/ Subscribe to ImpactAlpha today: https://impactalpha.com/subscribe/ --- Send in...

EPA (finally) announces who will distribute $20 billion fund, lessons from blended finance, and universal owners vote their proxy

Brian and David continue to unpack the EPA’s blockbuster $20 billion in government grants to mobilize commercial investment in climate solutions, learn lessons from dozens of blended finance transactions, and discuss how shareholders are voting to have companies mitigate economy-wide...

National green bank funding, basket bonds, and Brazil's burgeoning impact ecosystem

Brian Walsh and David Bank discuss the players likely to receive massive funding from the EPA to create a national green bank, how people are investing in Brazil’s impact economy, and how a $75 million ‘basket bond’ is catalyzing climate...

Building an inclusive economy through capital, community, and coaching with Lenore Champagne Beirne

Sherrell Dorsey speaks with Bright Ventures’ Lenore Champagne Beirne. about how she’s working to build an inclusive economy through capital, community, and coaching. Champagne Beirne founded Bright Ventures as a strategic advisory and executive coaching service prior to expanding to...

How Texas’s anti ESG campaign is costing it money, cookstoves and carbon markets, and Vanguard gets punked

David Bank joins Brian Walsh to discuss some of the top stories from ImpactAlpha this week. Stories mentioned on the podcast: Texas boots Blackrock: https://impactalpha.com/texas-boots-blackrock-saddling-texans-with-the-costs-of-its-campaign-against-esg/ Clean cooking: https://impactalpha.com/leveraging-the-carbon-markets-for-clean-cooking-climate-justice-and-social-impact/ Vanguard gets punked: https://impactalpha.com/elaborate-spoof-takes-aim-at-vanguards-retreat-from-climate-commitments/⁠ Agents of Impact Call 60: https://impactalpha.com/calls/ --- Send in a voice...

Finding hidden impact and overlooked risks in municipal bonds

Featuring Activest's Homero Radway, HIP Investor’s Paul Herman, Kestrel’s Monica Reid, Matt Posner of Court Street Group and Lincoln Institute’s RJ McGrail. Check out the call recap: https://impactalpha.com/the-arbitrage-opportunity-in-high-impact-municipal-bonds-video/ Or watch the replay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQPh3XC9X1g Imogen's latest Institutional Shift column: https://impactalpha.com/dont-take-jeffrey-ubbens-shutdown-of-inclusive-capital-for-more-than-hes-worth/ --- Send in a voice...

A tale of two COPs with Marilyn Waite and Dawn Lippert

Amy Cortese speaks with both Marilyn Waite of the Climate Finance Fund and Dawn Lippert of Elemental Excelerator about their experiences this week in the green and blue zones of COP28. Plus, Monique Aiken has the headlines.   --- Send in a...

All eyes on Dubai as COP 28 begins with Stephan Nicoleau

ImpactAlpha’s Amy Cortese speaks with Full Cycle’s Stephan Nicoleau at the start of COP 28 to hear what he’s expecting - and hoping for - at the global climate summit in Dubai. Plus, host Brian Walsh has the headlines. ---...

Steering pension funds toward impact with Tara Mei Smith and Marcela Pinilla

Friends of ImpactAlpha Eric Horvath and Lucas Turner-Owens share an excerpt from their new podcast Impact(ed). They speak with Tara Mei Smith (Office of NYC Comptroller) and Marcela Pinilla (Zevin Asset Management) about creating change from the inside at pension...

Lessons from the Wilmington coup of 1898 with Cedric Harrison

November 10th is the 125th anniversary of the only successful coup d’etat in U.S. history, which took place in Wilmington, North Carolina in 1898. White supremacists targeted Wilmington for it's multiracial democracy and prosperity. ]ImpactAlpha’s David Bank went to Wilmington...

Maria Hollan of Timke Ventures shares her journey to impact investing

ImpactAlpha’s Dennis Price catches up with María Hollan, a second-generation steward of her family’s assets at Timke Ventures in Mexico City. Hollan was in Medellín at the GLI Forum Latam looking for opportunities to invest across asset classes with a...

What the mainstreaming of impact investing means for smaller impact fund managers

David Bank catches up with Courageous Capital Advisors’ Laurie Spengler to talk about what the mainstreaming of impact investing means for smaller impact fund managers closer to the problems and community-based solutions. Plus, host Brian Walsh has the headlines.  --- Send...

Repurposing churches with Graham Singh, and a big ImpactAlpha announcement

David chats with Graham Singh of the Trinity Centres Foundation, and chats with Monique about ImpactAlpha's recent fundraise. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHd3U3IOar-4cPkJqx9eZYw --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/impact-alpha/message

There's a new impact lens in town

Unicef USA's Cristina Shapiro joins David Bank to introduce child-lens investing, a framework for considering investment harms and benefits to children, who have ‘til now been left out of investment decision-making. Plus, host Brian Walsh has the headlines. --- Send in...

How Veris is rethinking due diligence to advance gender and racial justice

Roraj Pradhananga and Jane Swan of Veris Wealth Partners join host Monique Aiken to discuss how the wealth manager is investing in diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging. Plus, the headlines. Read the report: https://www.veriswp.com/deib-investing-report/ --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/impact-alpha/message

Finding the 'worker-ownership edge.'

Host Brian Walsh shares highlights from this week’s agents of impact call, “The employee-ownership edge,” which explored the range of opportunities for investing in the conversion of companies to worker ownership. Plus, the headlines. RSVP for next week's LinkedIn Live with...

What is 'wealth supremacy,' how does it drive crises, and what can be done about it?

David Bank is joined by Marjorie Kelly of The Democracy Collaborative to explore the ways that impact investors both help and hinder systemic change. Her new book, “Wealth Supremacy: How the Extractive Economy and the Biased Rules of Capitalism Drive...

Looking ahead to Climate Week NYC

Host Brian Walsh chats with Amy Cortese to set the stage for the UN General Assembly and Climate Week NYC. Plus, the headlines.  Amy sketched the landscape in “Protesters and investors to pressure global leaders at Climate Week NYC.” Here...

Revamped SOCAP seeks radical ideas and scaled solutions

David Bank catches up with Robert Munson, President of SOCAP and Managing director at the Sorenson Impact Center, who is putting together next month’s gathering in San Francisco. Plus, host Brian Walsh has the headlines. Get your tickets today: Oct....

Democratizing gender lens investing in Latin America

Catalyzing capital to Indigenous communities

Host Brian Walsh shares some of the insights from this week's Agents of Impact Call, which focused on how resourceful entrepreneurs are tapping community lenders, private investors, philanthropic funds and public dollars to launch Native-led businesses, create jobs and provide...

Responding to legal attacks on racial justice strategies

Paris Prince of the Intentional Endowments Network joins host Monique Aiken to talk about how impact investors are responding to legal attacks on affirmative action and racial wealth-building strategies.  Sign the Fearless Fund petition: https://share.communityx.com/posts/3297045f-af18-4411-9fa2-82afddc6685a/ For more on all of these stories,...

Cash flows to ensure the water flows in Latin America

David Bank speaks with Hugo Contreras, who helped lead The Nature Conservancy’s efforts in Latin America to value, conserve and enhance our most irreplaceable resource, in the next conversation in our series from the Salzburg Global Seminar, sponsored by the...

Insuring farmers against crop failures and climate change

David Bank chats with Acre Africa’s Niza Banda in the next conversation from the recent “Connecting capital to communities” gathering at the Salzburg Global Seminar, sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Host Brian Walsh has the headlines. For the full...

Putting Africa’s pension funds to work for Africa’s social infrastructure

David Bank chats with Musa Mabesa, head of South Africa’s Government Employees Pension Fund, in the latest conversation from the “Connecting capital to communities” gathering at the Salzburg Global Seminar, sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Host Monique Aiken...

Affordable housing for Mozambique’s informal economy

David Bank chats with Empowa’s Glen Jordan in the next conversation from the recent “Connecting Capital to Communities” gathering at the Salzburg Global Seminar, sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Host Brian Walsh has the headlines.  “When there's no formality,...

Connecting Indian farmers to global markets

David Bank chats with FarMart’s Samridhi Singh in the next conversation in our series from the recent Salzburg Global Seminar on “Connecting Capital to Communities,” sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Host Monique Aiken has the headlines. --- Send...

A century old model for affordable social housing with Michaela Kauer

David Bank catches up with Michaela Kauer of the city of Vienna to talk about that city’s model of social, affordable housing. Plus, host Brian Walsh has the headlines. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/impact-alpha/message

Moving capital at scale to elevate communities of color with Valerie Red-Horse Mohl

Despite all efforts at diversity, equity and inclusion, little has meaningfully changed about how, where and to whom capital flows. Known Holdings is out to break the logjam once and for all. “Our goal is to shift capital through all...

Institutional investors turn to climate

Contributing editor Imogen Rose-Smith joins host Brian Walsh to discuss why, despite the recent ESG backlash, institutional impact investors are doubling down on climate investing. Plus the headlines. RSVP for The Call: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/643783843807 --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/impact-alpha/message

The ownership beat, ESG on the chopping block, and new tools for system-level investing

David Bank joins host Monique Aiken to talk about the ownership economy, ESG backlash and system-level investing. Plus the headlines. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/impact-alpha/message

Capricorn Investment Group makes the outsourcing case to foundations and families seeking impact alpha

“If you speak to folks here at Capricorn, they'll tell you, ‘Great, we've built all this intellectual property around sustainability and integrating this into the investment process,’” Capricorn’s Kunle Apampa tells David Bank on the latest Agents of Impact podcast....

Why employee ownership is the next big thing in impact, and America, with Jack Moriarty

Jack Moriarty of Ownership America chats with ImpactAlpha’s David Bank about employee ownership and new legislation to help investors back companies that are turning workers into owners. Host Brian Walsh has the headlines. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/impact-alpha/message

Funding African tech entrepreneurs with Eunice Ajim

Eunice Ajim, founding partner Ajim Capital speaks with David Bank about her personal journey to launch the fund and her mission to support tech entrepreneurs in her native Cameroon and across Africa. Host Monique Aiken has the headlines. For more on Ajim...

The long and winding road to responsible private equity with Tensie Whelan

Host Brian Walsh is joined by NYU’s Tensie Whelan to hear why more and more private equity firms are starting to embrace impact as a path to outperformance. Tensie's article in ImpactAlpha: https://impactalpha.com/more-private-equity-firms-embrace-impact-as-a-path-to-outperformance/ --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/impact-alpha/message

Finding alpha in racial justice and the challenges women face raising a first fund with Himalaya Rao

The BFM (Black Founders Matter) Fund’s Himalaya Rao speaks with David Bank about the alpha case for racial justice investing and the challenges faced by a woman manager when raising her first fund. Our earlier VC Include interviews: https://impactalpha.com/toussaint-bailey-uplifting-capital-bringing-the-quietly-bothered-into-impact-investing-podcast/ https://impactalpha.com/bahiyah-yasmeen-robinson-on-includes-three-drivers-of-inclusion-alpha-podcast/ --- Send in a...

Neighborhood Economics with Kevin Jones

As the Neighborhood Economics conference wraps up in Jackson, Miss., Kevin Jones speaks with David Bank about startup capital for sole proprietors, Black churches as engines of economic development and how unusual strangers can become unlikely allies. Plus, host Brian...

Jacob Haar: Helping emerging market lenders 'leapfrog' the U.S.

The Co-Founder & Managing Partner of Community Investment Management joins David Bank for this Agents of Impact podcast. For a decade, Community Investment Management, an institutional impact investment fund has provided capital to technology-enabled, or "fintech" lenders to small businesses....

U.S. Financial regulations and over 40 years of Earth Days with Dianne Dillon-Ridgley

For Earth Day, Dianne Dillon-Ridgley joins host Monique Aiken to reflect on her four decades working in finance and on environmental and human rights issues. Dillon-Ridgley is the chair of the board of the Intentional Endowments Network, and has served...

Going beyond 'net-zero' in the public markets with Ariane Mahler

"Net zero is not going to get us anywhere,” Ariane Mahler of Veridien Global Investors tells David Bank on this week's podcast. “You need negative emissions, not just net zero.” Veridien’s forthcoming exchange-traded fund (ticker: CLIA) will include names in...

Training the next generation of impact investors with Adwoa Asare

The Turner Miint’s Adwoa Asare joins co-hosts Monique Aiken and Brian Walsh to talk about training the next generation of impact investors – and the winners of this year’s competition. Plus the headlines. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/impact-alpha/message

In spite of itself, Texas takes on mantle of climate leader

From Austin, ImpactAlpha’s Dennis Price joins host Brian Walsh to discuss Texas’s surprising role as the U.S.’s leader in clean energy – and how the oil-pumping state might still wrest defeat from the jaws of victory. Plus, the headlines. Check up...

How bank failures and interest rate hikes have changed the dynamics of impact investing.

Host Monique Aiken has the headlines and Atlas Impact Partners’ Robert Brown and ImpactAlpha contributing editor Imogen Rose-Smith join David Bank to parse how bank failures and interest rate hikes have changed the dynamics of impact investing – perhaps forever....

Ben McAdams: Marrying public real estate and private capital

As mayor of Salt Lake County a decade ago, Ben McAdams was frustrated that there wasn’t $500,000 in a $1.3 billion annual budget for a promising early childhood education program (instead he helped craft one of the country’s first social...

Scaling purpose built impact with Priya Parrish

Impact Engine’s Priya Parrish joins David Bank to explain why purpose built investment firms end up with better impact outcomes than purpose driven firms. Plus, host Brian Walsh has the headlines. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/impact-alpha/message