He grew up in Harare in Zimbabwe, and with grit and determination and a little bit of luck, he managed to get himself a scholarship to Yale in the US, and today, he’s helping manage one of Australia’s leading impact investment advisory firms.

His name is Simba Marekera he’s Chief Research Officer at Brightlight Impact Advisors, the firm helps investors understand how they can invest funds to earn risk adjusted returns, while also having a positive social and environmental impact.

Simba opened up about his upbringing and how he found his way to Sydney. He dealt with his fair share of tragedy, but what stayed with him was his parents’ example in building a business and in pushing their kids to get the education they themselves missed out on.

His background of seeing his father build a business against the odds, of helping those in need in an economy where there’s no social safety nets, it all helped shape him into the leading investment advisor that he is today. It was firsthand experience of social enterprise and of microfinance, just, without the modern terminology.

In past years Simba’s been a huge help to me as I was first learning about impact investing and in this discussion I’m again really grateful for the stories and insights that he shared.

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Or jump onto my website at www.johntreadgold.com where you'll find short articles from each episode wrapping-up the key concepts. Plus all the links and book recommendations!

Enjoy!