People with Purpose: Investing in making an impact

What was the path that led you to become CEO of Impact Investing Australia?

I had always wanted to build a career in social change.

After beginning my career in management consulting, I felt the need to change direction and went off to do an MBA at the London School of Economics.

Over the past 15 years, I have led non-profits focused on social change, first as co-founder of the progressive think tank Per Capita and then as CEO of the Public Education Foundation.

When the board of Impact Investing Australia (IIA) asked me to help with some strategy development, I was intrigued and at the end of that process, the Board asked if I would like to come on board as CEO.

What is impact investing?

Impact investing is investment made with the intention to generate positive, measurable social and environmental impact alongside a financial return.

If the world is to meet the UN Sustainable Development Goals, we need to fill an annual funding need of around $6 trillion. We are falling far short of this, and it can only be achieved by crowding in vast amounts of capital to impactful ventures.

What role does Impact Investing Australia play?

IIA is the national peak body dedicated to building the impact investment market here.

We work with people across the investment spectrum to increase the flow of capital to impact - with for-purpose enterprises, family offices, trusts and foundations and institutional investors.

We also advocate on behalf of the sector for policy and regulatory settings that enable more impact investment to occur.

What is the Social Enterprise Development Initiative (SEDI) and how will it make a difference?

The Social Enterprise Development Initiative is a Commonwealth government-funded program designed to build the capacity of social enterprises.

IIA is running the $6 million grants component of the SEDI program, which offers grants of up to $120,000 to help social enterprises build capacity to scale their impact.

This might support business planning, communications and marketing, or preparation for a capital raise - anything that allows the enterprise to better serve Australians experiencing disadvantage.

What is the biggest hurdle preventing the growth of impact investing in Australia?

The biggest hurdle facing impact investing is the absence of a deep middle market that allows mid-sized enterprises access to impact capital and provides a pipeline of deal opportunities for larger investors.

Ideally this middle market would provide more “blended finance” – capital stacks that combine catalytic concessional funding with risk-adjusted market rate investment.