Table Topics
Table Topic 1
Communicating Impact at Scale: From Data to Insights
Hosted by: Morgan Stanley Funmilayo Lediju, Vice President, Investing with Impact, Morgan Stanley Artemis Tiburcio, Director, Global Sustainable Finance, Morgan Stanley The sheer volume of impact metrics investors receive can be overwhelming, often making it challenging to extract meaningful insights, particularly across diverse portfolios. However, distilling this data may offer an opportunity to communicate impact at a greater and more effective scale, enabling better engagement with investors, clients, and other stakeholders. This session aims to bring together allocators, GPs, and other market participants to explore how existing tools and market practices can help identify meaningful insights from impact data. This session will examine the potential for universal core impact metrics across portfolios, opportunities for industry collaboration, and ways to balance differing investor priorities. Examples of Questions- How are allocators and GPs extracting meaningful insights from the impact metrics they receive currently?
- Is there an opportunity to aggregate existing impact metrics in an appropriate way? If so, what is the right level of aggregation of metrics?
- What may constrain us from identifying a core set of impact metrics?
- What roles should allocators, GPs, and other market participants play in identifying a streamlined set of core metrics for impact reporting?
- How do we balance differences in investor priorities/perspectives when undergoing this process?
- What resources and tools can we leverage to understand what GPs and portfolio companies are already collecting?
Table Topic 2
Leveraging Donor-Advised Funds for Impact Investing
Hosted by: Mission Investors Jennifer L. Trivelli, Senior Director, Communications & Marketing, Mission Investors Exchange Are you interested in helping clients meet their financial, charitable, and impact investing goals? Donor-advised funds (DAFs) are a popular choice for tax-efficient giving and can also be a valuable tool for impact investing if there are sufficient opportunities to direct and recycle capital across socially and environmentally responsible initiatives. According to the National Philanthropic Trust, DAF assets reached $228.9 billion in 2022, the second-highest value on record. For donors interested in impact investing, what strategies and best practices are being embraced by professional advisors, DAF sponsors, and asset managers? How are savvy sponsoring organizations increasing donor engagement with impact investing and turning to DAFs for additional mission-aligned capital? Together, DAFs and impact investing offer a powerful toolkit for those seeking to create meaningful change in the world while managing their financial resources effectively. Join your fellow 100 Women in Finance attendees for a facilitated discussion on DAFs and impact investing, and network with other executives active in this space.Table Topic 3
Impact investing – successes and lessons learned
Hosted by: AAAIM Johnny Wu, Board Member, Association of Asian American Investment Managers (AAAIM) Minoti Dhanaraj, Director, Responsible Investing, Pension Boards United Church of Christ (PBUCC) Eric Hsueh, Director, Investments, Veris Wealth Partners Ellen Chiu, Director, Senior Portfolio Strategist, WestFuller Advisors AAAIM is here to support 100 Women in Finance and the Impact Investing Conference. In this roundtable, hear from three seasoned LPs who have been investing for impact for many years. We are here to be helpful, transparent, and provide practical advice to GPs.Table Topic 4
Exploring Investment Opportunities in Affordable Housing
Hosted by: Hudson Valley Property Group, LLC Jason Bordainick, Co-Founder & Managing Member, Hudson Valley Property Group, LLC Join us for a roundtable discussion on investment opportunities in affordable housing, a niche but growing asset class. This session, hosted by Hudson Valley Property Group, an NYC-based affordable housing preservation company, will explore the unique opportunities and trends within this sector that has been called “recession-proof” and is rapidly gaining traction with institutional investors. Our focus will be on how thoughtful, sustainable investments can achieve a triple bottom line, having a positive social, environmental and financial impact. HVPG will discuss their experience navigating the complexity of government programs that incentivize private investment, exploring how these programs enable a better standard of living for residents and dependable returns for investors. We’ll also draw parallels with other real estate sectors, like student housing, to chart the trajectory of affordable housing as an asset class. This session is designed to help attendees understand how alternative assets like affordable housing can play a key role in a diversified portfolio, delivering stability, impact and long-term value.Table Topic 5
Opportunities of the Evolving U.S. Climate Finance Architecture
Hosted by: America Is In All Elizabeth Lien, Sr Director, Federal Climate Policy and Subnational Programs As climate risks intensify and the need for sustainable solutions grows, the U.S. climate finance architecture is evolving rapidly. Newly capitalized green banks and Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) are beginning to focus more on climate action, opening new avenues for climate-aligned investments. The Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF), has emerged as a game-changer in this space, providing critical resources to capitalize green banks and expand the role of CDFIs in climate action. This session will include an overview of this changing climate finance ecosystem and discuss how financial entities are emerging or their roles shifting in driving climate finance within the U.S. market. Join this discussion to explore how these developments are influencing investor behavior and discuss what is missing in the current climate finance framework – including policies and mechanisms that could attract more private capital into climate-aligned investments. Participants will be encouraged to share their perspectives on the gaps and opportunities within this evolving landscape and share insights on potential policy changes that could unlock further investment opportunities for more robust climate action. We aim to identify together potential enhancements to the climate finance architecture that would encourage broader investment and support the transition to a net-zero economy. Examples of Questions- What are the most significant gaps in the current U.S. climate finance architecture that prevent large-scale investments in climate solutions? What are some strategies to address these gaps?
- What gaps exist to support newer technologies?
- From your perspective, what additional policies are needed to better align the U.S. financial markets with climate goals?
Table Topic 6
Paths to Partner: Reflections and Insights on Career Growth in Impact Investing
Hosted by: Impact Capital Managers Marieke Spence, Executive Director, Impact Capital Managers Eliya Imtiaz, Analyst, Impact Capital Managers As the field of impact investing is both nascent and growing, there remains ambiguity about how best to elevate talent as a partner or senior leader, and simultaneously how to advance your own career trajectory as an emerging leader. Different funds have different norms and conventions regarding feedback, career pathing for their teams, and performance management. Amidst these varying processes, what are the best practices that have emerged to uplift talent from a senior/supervisory level? Additionally, for aspiring leaders in impact investing, what general trends in career advancement have proven successful? This session will highlight successful practices on the fund level to support emerging talent, such as levelling guides and consistent feedback touchpoints, as well as the personal experiences of professionals who have charted growth in the field. We invite participants to come equipped with questions and reflections on what works well or where there’s room for further clarity and support regarding career advancement of impact professionals. All participants will receive a complimentary copy of ICM’s recently published Path to Partner report, written in collaboration with its Talent and Diversity Working Group and Emerging Leaders Committee.Table Topic 7
Accessing Global Carbon Markets
Hosted by: Kepos Capital
Andrew Miller – Head of Business Development, Kepos Capital
Isabelle Myers – Carbon Product Specialist, Kepos Capital
In this session we’ll dive into how carbon allowance markets are structured and how investors might approach them. Carbon allowance markets present a compelling investment opportunity. Each cap-and-trade market is designed with decreasing supply, which typically results in increasing prices. At Kepos, we believe that allocating to a diversified portfolio of carbon allowances built by an active manager with the experience and ability to use a full suite of instruments and portfolio construction and alpha-generating techniques is the best path to attractive risk-adjusted returns.
Table Topic 8
Seizing opportunities in sustainable investing amid an evolving market
Hosted by: Goldman Sachs Chex Yu, Sustainability and Climate Research and Innovation Lead The pace of sustainable investing has slowed in the last two years since 2020/2021 peak. Why the slowdown? Performance concerns, regulatory scrutiny, political scrutiny, and lack of standardization are among some of the underlying factors. How do investors still find opportunities amid this evolving market? This session will explore lessons from the first wave of sustainable investing – what went right and what went wrong? How do we capture opportunities in both public and private markets, e.g. are there sub-asset classes, thematics where we see high conviction ideas?Table Topic 9
Lessons for gender impact and returns in the Global South
Hosted by: Next Billion Capital Partners
Kentaro Toyoda, Next Billion Capital Partners
Ruzgar Barisik, Managing Partner, Next Billion Capital Partners
What are real-life examples of tension between impact and returns? What business models deliver impact at scale along with alpha? No two portfolio investments are the same, how to think about intra-portfolio diversification.
Technology-enabled companies are changing what is possible around the world: delivering positive impact to the next billion and outsize returns to PE investors.
The Global South presents a unique landscape where gender disparities are often even more pronounced than in developed markets. The next billion women remain underserved in healthcare, financial services, essential goods, transport, in almost all aspects of their lives as consumers or business leaders. Investing in women is not only a moral imperative but also a smart business strategy.
Local companies are taking the lead in serving the needs of local populations, be they women, households or other SMEs. Supported by PE capital they are delivering impact and returns at scale.
Table Topic 10
Justice in Action: Driving Change Through Litigation Finance
Hosted by: Corbin Capital Partners Cesar Bello, Partner, Research and Portfolio Management, Corbin Capital Partners Litigation finance is an emerging asset class in the U.S. that is generally underbanked and misunderstood, in part because the “collateral” is often difficult to value. This panel will explore the powerful intersection of capital and justice, how funding legal cases can drive social, environmental, and economic change.Table Topic 11
Fostering a Culture of Inclusion & Belonging: Achieving Measurable and Sustainable Impact
Hosted by: Inspiring Diversity LLC Betty Ng, CEO of Inspiring Diversity, LLC We each have a role in fostering inclusion and belonging. As culture is the sum of the individuals, it is critical to dive into how we each think, act, and interact with respect to our consciously inclusive behaviors. In this session, we will discuss TAIQ (Think Act Interact Quotient) and other approaches to achieving measurable and sustainable impact with respect to inclusion and belonging.Table Topic 12
Making a Difference, Marketing a Difference
Hosted by: Peregrine Communications
Hannah Beard – Vice President, Peregrine Communications
Helena Leslie – Account Supervisor, Peregrine Communications
The spotlight on the sustainability sector continues, highlighting both opportunities and challenges. In this session, we’ll explore the critical role that marketing and communications play in shaping the impact investing landscape. We’ll dive into best practices, offering actionable insights on how to effectively leverage these tools to drive your unique business development efforts. Peregrine Communications, a leading financial services communications firm, brings specialized expertise in impact investing, working closely with both managers and key industry players.
Table Topic 13
Building an Ethical, Sustainable, and Safe AI for All
Hosted by: Institutional Allocators for Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (IADEI) Bhakti Mirchandani, Managing Director, Responsible Investing at Trinity Church Wall Street and Co-Founder and Steering Committee Member of Institutional Allocators for Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (IADEI) While AI offers numerous benefits, it’s essential to ensure its development and use are safe and ethical. Achieving this requires diverse perspectives and amplifying female voices in AI is crucial for several reasons. Whether you’re curious or committed to these issues, join the discussion and shape the future!Table Topic 14
The Empowerment Edge: Leading Inclusive, High-Performing Teams
Hosted by: The Investment Diversity Exchange (TIDE)
Kimberlee Cornett, Director of Impact Investments, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Carolina Siles, Partner, Head of Investor Relations, Lucid Management and Capital Partners, TIDE Ambassador
Jessica Carlson, Associate, Investor Relations, Lucid Management and Capital Partners, TIDE Ambassador
In today’s fast-paced and evolving financial landscape, leadership isn’t just about managing—it’s about empowering. Building diverse, multigenerational teams that drive both innovation and impact is essential for creating lasting success. In this roundtable, we’ll explore how inclusive leadership practices can unlock the full potential of every team member, from junior talent to senior leadership.
Together, we’ll dive into how leaders can create cultures where trust, creativity, and performance thrive. By fostering environments where everyone’s voice is heard, organizations not only drive better business outcomes but also foster resilience and adaptability in the face of constant change. We’ll also tackle key strategies for empowering women and underrepresented minorities, examining the powerful role diverse perspectives play in driving breakthrough innovation and sustainable impact.
This isn’t just about leadership—it’s about redefining it for a more inclusive future.
Discussion Points:
- What role does leadership play in building empowered teams?
- How can organizations implement inclusive practices that ensure diversity of thought and experience?
- Actionable steps for leaders to empower every team member.