Yale Impact Investing Conference 2024

Manisha K. Ali, CAIA, CAP is the Head of Responsible Investing at BNY Mellon Advisors. Manisha brings 19+ years of industry experience and an expertise in Responsible Investing. She has authored various publications and is a frequent speaker at educational client events and industry conferences on ESG/Impact/Responsible Investing. She also volunteered with a non-profit organization in Cambodia, negotiating and implementing social finance solutions with microfinance institutions.

Prior to BNY Mellon, Manisha was the Portfolio Specialist for Neuberger Berman’s U.S. Sustainable Equity strategy and worked closely with institutional, intermediary, and individual investors. Before that, Manisha was an Associate Director at Russell Investments, where she worked on investment strategy and OCIO solutions for institutional non-profit investors, including asset allocation, governance, investment policy development and thought leadership. She was also a key member of Russell Investments’ Global Sustainability Council, driving initiatives to enhance the firm’s capabilities in ESG investing.

Manisha began her career at Deutsche Bank in Singapore, working across 14 countries in the Asia Pacific in business management, product development and institutional sales. Manisha has earned an MBA from Columbia University as well as both Undergraduate and Master’s Degrees in Computer Science from the National University of Singapore. She has been awarded the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) and Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy (CAP) designations. Manisha is also a member of the Advisory Committee on Socially Responsible Investing at Columbia University.

Tiffany Joy Basse is the co-founder and Managing Director of the OM Fund that adheres to three core impact investing principles: Profits, People, and Planet. OM Fund channels investments into conscious startups that are committed to improving lives, restoring the environment, and maintaining a viable business model. 

Diversity is one of the cornerstone’s of Tiffany’s investment strategy. Every OM Fund investment has a female co-founder and one of the startups focuses on Diversity and Inclusion in the workforce (Storybolt). As a 20 year advisory board member to Astia (women focused venture fund) and advisor to over 100 tech entrepreneurs, Tiffany has learned diverse teams outperform homogeneous ones.

Previously Tiffany was the founder and CEO of Fintech company MsMoney.com. She hired and led a team of 100 to create women’s financial empowerment tools, education, and services. She partnered with giants like Citibank and Wells Fargo reaching 10 million customers. Tiffany was a live TV guest on financial topics, hosted a radio show on money, and was featured in Forbes, Fortune, WSJ, and on CNN.

With a recent focus on fintech innovations in the Metaverse economy and AR/VR design at Wharton and MIT, and expertise in AI technologies, Tiffany embodies the innovative spirit influencing Business 3.0. She is poised to share her vast experience and forward-thinking strategies at the Yale Impact Investing Conference on why diversity is important.

Jutta Brew delivers optimized Investment analytics and Strategies to some of the world’s wealthiest Foundations, Endowments, Family Offices, and Ultra-High Net Worth Individuals.
 

She currently holds the position of VP at Citi Private Bank where she serves as a Regional Lead in the Global Investment Lab Team. After spending her early career at Goldman Sachs in London, she joined Citi in 2015 as a Portfolio Analyst. Jutta graduated Summa Cum Laude with a degree in Computing and Information Management from Loughborough University in the UK and is currently completing an Executive MBA at Yale.
 

With over a decade of banking experience across Europe and North America, she has carved out a natural path to becoming an Angel Investor. As a firm believer that capital flows towards what people believe in and understand, she is committed to building cultural bridges and amplifying positive societal impact through capital, mentorship, and access to networks.
 

Entrepreneur since age 22. After several initiatives, Mario co-founded and was the CEO of Grupo Trigo, a holding company that owns close to 700 restaurants across Brazil and comprises different brands. He has invested in more than 20 startups and scaled up companies playing a role as either a mentor or a board member for those companies. He is also a partner and a board member of Invest Favela, a venture philanthropy holding that invests in entrepreneurship in favelas and territories with limited opportunities. Mario became an Endeavor Entrepreneur in 2003.

Judith A. Chevalier is the William S. Beinecke Professor of Finance and Economics and Faculty Director for the Program on Social Enterprise, Innovation, and Impact at the Yale School of Management. Professor Chevalier’s research is in the areas of both finance and industrial organization.  Her research focuses on the impacts of new technologies on firms, individuals, and policy.  She has written extensively on the economics of the retail sector – both in ecommerce and brick and mortar, with a particular interest in consumer product reviews. She has written extensively on career choice, career concerns, incentives, job flexibility and gig work. She has also written a series of papers exploring the overlap between finance and industrial organization. Her COVID-19 work includes an early study of masking, a geospatial study of the movement of nursing home workers across facilities and the spread of the virus, and a study of retail vaccine availability. She is the chair of the American Economic Association’s Committee on the Status of Women in the Economics Profession, a former co-editor of the American Economic Review and of the Rand Journal of Economics and an elected fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Econometric Society. 

Sue Dorsey joined iAlumbra as the Chief Operating Officer (COO) at the start of 2024. As the iAlumbra COO, Sue will be instrumental in advancing the operational and financial processes across the iAlumbra Collective.  

Sue has over 25 years of experience in nonprofit management, international development, finance, and impact investing.  Sue is excited to join the team at iAlumbra after almost eight years at the Gates Family Foundation as the Senior Vice President for Finance, Administration, and Impact Investing. Gates is a private family foundation working with partners and communities to build a more equitable, resilient, and sustainable Colorado for all. At Gates, Sue was responsible for overseeing the accounting, financial and investment management, and administrative functions for the Foundation which included human resources, information technology, governance, reporting, and compliance. In addition, Sue created and built out the impact investing program for the Foundation including program-related investments (PRIs) and mission-related investments (MRIs).

Prior to Gates, Sue served seven years as the Chief Financial Officer for Water for People, an international NGO working in Latin America, Asia, and Africa focused on sustainable solutions to global water and sanitation challenges. Prior to Water for People, Sue spent 12 years as the Executive Director of Friendship Bridge, a microfinance and education organization operating in Vietnam and Guatemala.  Sue was a Peace Corps volunteer in rural Costa Rica working in small business development with CARE International. She has an MBA from Yale University School of Management and a bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Vermont. Sue was an adjunct professor at the Josef Korbel School for International Studies at University of Denver from 2007 to 2016. Sue is married to a fellow Peace Corps volunteer and has three kids. Sue loves to travel and spend time outside running and skiing the trails and mountains of Colorado.

Paarul Dudeja is a Managing Partner at Working Capital Supply Chain Innovation Fund. WCIF is an early-stage global venture fund addressing inequity and building sustainability through supply chain transformation. Paarul leads investments in companies at the intersection of innovation, impact, and return generation. She has also supported education in underserved populations by co-founding Virohan, a rapidly scaling company providing technical skill training in the healthcare sector for low-income youth in India. Paarul has held diverse positions at both commercial and impact funds and the World Bank, working to combine financial returns with economic development and social change. Paarul holds an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Abby Marquand is a Managing Partner leading New Profit’s economic mobility work. In this role, she leads New Profit’s core portfolio investment and ecosystem building approaches in economic mobility– supporting pipeline development, investment selection, capacity-building and the learning that comes from the proximity to leaders shaping a more equitable economic future. She also provides strategic advising and support to individual portfolio organizations. Abby’s career spans fifteen years in the private, public, and non-profit sectors– with an interest and commitment to economic opportunity and empowerment throughout. She has held roles in corporate philanthropy, including at JPMorgan Chase and at Mastercard. Her passion for work focused on economic opportunity was cemented in the years she spent leading policy research and advocacy to advance basic labor protections for home care workers, and those spent within NYC government focused on aligning career pathway jobs to labor market demand within the City’s health care industry. The lessons learned across sectors and systems have shaped Abby’s perspective on the need for investment in solutions that center the expertise of the people most directly impacted and those that change the conditions that hold social problems in place. Abby holds a Master’s Degree in Public Health from Columbia University and a Bachelor’s Degree from Barnard College and currently resides outside of Boston with her husband and two daughters. 

Ms. McKenna serves as a managing principal and oversees LIM’s investment process. Barbara is a member of the portfolio management team and the strategy group primarily focused on broad market and longer duration fixed income strategies. Prior to joining LIM in 2005, Barbara was a director and senior portfolio manager at State Street Research (SSR). As director of corporate bond strategy, she was responsible for the development and implementation of corporate bond strategy across all fixed income mandates. Prior to joining SSR, Barbara was a director and portfolio manager at Standish, Ayer & Wood. She has also held portfolio management and investment banking positions at BayBank and Massachusetts Capital Resource Company, a private capital firm. Barbara has over 30 years of experience and earned a Master of Science and Bachelor of Science in Finance from Boston College. She is a CFA charterholder and a member of the CFA Institute and the CFA Society Boston. Barbara is also an independent trustee for American Beacon Funds and an investment committee advisor for the U.S. Tennis Association (USTA). She is a former member of the N.E. Financial Services CEO Roundtable and the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston’s External Diversity Advisory Council.           

Victoria is an active investor and advisor in the innovation economy and Chief Investment Officer of Astia, a global organization that levels the investment playing field for entrepreneurial teams with women leaders. She is also a Managing Partner of the Astia Fund, a $32M venture fund investing in early stage, high growth ventures that include women leaders. She sits on the boards of two of the Fund portfolio companies. Prior to the launch of the fund, Victoria managed Astia’s direct investment activity through an international LP base made up of family offices and high net worth women and men investing in women-led companies. Under Victoria’s curation, management and investment execution since 2013, the group went from two investments to over one hundred, with more than $33M invested by Astia investors alongside over $830M in syndicate and 21 exits. Victoria’s personal portfolio of investments includes over 20 female led companies.

Victoria brings an entrepreneurial background to her work at Astia, as the former founder of a social enterprise in the media space. For her work focused on empowering women and girls in media, Victoria was recognized as an “Action Figure” in Women’s Health Magazine (2007), received The Avon Hello Tomorrow Fund Award (2007), the Harlequin More than Words Award (2010) and was named one of "25 Visionaries Changing the World" in UTNE Reader magazine (2010). More recently, Victoria was featured in the book “The Intelligent Investor: Silicon Valley, Practical wisdom for investors and entrepreneurs from 50 leading Silicon Valley angels and venture capitalists” by Alison Davis and Matthew C. Le Merle.

Victoria holds a Masters in Public Administration from Columbia University, and a BA from Stanford University where she graduated Phi Beta Kappa with honors. Victoria is a member of Mastercard’s Women’s Business Advisory Council. She is an arts advocate, an avid skier and scuba diver, a former amateur pilot, and mother of two.

Thomas Peterson is a J.D. candidate at Yale Law School. Prior to law school, he worked in climate-related shareholder advocacy at the non-profit As You Sow and at Green Century Capital Management, where he led shareholder proposals engaging some of the world’s largest agribusinesses, retailers, oil and gas companies, and banks on issues related to climate change and biodiversity. His achievements include leading majority-supported shareholder proposals at companies like Costco and Home Depot. Thomas holds an A.B. from Harvard College and was a postgraduate Harvard Williams-Lodge Scholar at the Sorbonne Nouvelle. His comments on corporate action on climate and deforestation have appeared in the Wall Street Journal and Reuters and on CBS News.

Marguerite Pierce is the co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of She Matters, a digital health platform that aims to reduce maternal morbidity by integrating cultural competency and technology. The platform's cultural competence certification content emphasizes patient and provider safety, effective communication, and an in-depth understanding of the history of systemic racism in healthcare. 

With a solid background spanning over 15 years in operational and managerial roles within small business settings, Marguerite has refined her approach to developing sustainable strategies for ongoing process and personal improvement. Prior to She Matters, Marguerite served as Senior Director of Client Services for North America at Glass Lewis & Co., a leader in global corporate governance and proxy advisory services. She is also a Certified Professional Coach via the Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching.

Marguerite earned her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the New York Institute of Technology in 2005. She is expanding her knowledge and skillset as a member of Yale University’s MBA for Executives Program, Class of 2025, with a healthcare focus. Outside of her professional life, Marguerite enjoys singing karaoke, watching horror movies, and exploring diverse cultures through travel. She lives in Brooklyn, NY, with her husband, Dexter, and their daughter, Simone.

Margaret has worked in the innovation economy for the past 6 years. Prior to joining Endeavor, a mission-driven organization focused on supporting high-growth companies in emerging and underserved markets, Margaret started her career in corporate banking at Silicon Valley Bank. At SVB, Margaret spent 3.5 years working on venture debt transactions covering the Bank’s largest technology portfolio out of the Bay Area. 

As a Director at Endeavor Catalyst, Margaret leads all investments for the fund globally. Endeavor Catalyst is the innovative co-investment fund of Endeavor that has been recognized as one of the most active global venture investors in markets like Latin America and the Middle East. Since launching in 2012, Endeavor Catalyst has raised over $500M+ across four funds and made 300+ investments in 30+ different countries, including more than 50 companies now valued at $1B+, 

Margaret is based in Brooklyn, New York.

Erika Seth Davies is the CEO of Rhia Ventures, which aims to transform the U.S. market for sexual, reproductive, and maternal health into a vibrant and equitable one through its impact investing, ecosystem building, corporate engagement, and narrative change work. She is a seasoned leader with more than 20 years of experience in development and fundraising, program design, collaboration and partnership management, and racial equity advocacy. Erika is the Founder of The Racial Equity Asset Lab (The REAL), a venture that centers racial equity in impact investing and works to shift capital to address the persistent racial wealth gap. She previously served as Vice President of External Affairs at ABFE (Association of Black Foundation Executives) where she designed the SMART Investing Initiative, a field-wide effort to encourage foundations to incorporate a racial equity lens in endowment management practices through increased access for racially diverse- and women-owned investment management firms.  

Erika was a Social Entrepreneur in Residence with Common Future and a former Fellow, Equitable Access to Capital Markets in the Fair Finance portfolio of the Beeck Center for Social Impact + Innovation at Georgetown University. She was a member of the inaugural class of the ABFE Connecting Leaders Fellowship program, a recipient of the NYU Wagner School of Public Service IGNITE Fellowship for Women of Color in the Social Sector, and a member of the class of 2017 for Executive Leadership Institute of CFLeads.

Erika was previously the Associate Director of Philanthropy at McDonogh School and served as the Chief of Staff of the Baltimore Community Foundation. She enjoys volunteering and serves as a member of the board of Impact Hub Baltimore.

Additional positions and activities include serving on the McDonogh School Board, the T. Rowe Price Charitable Board, Glenmede’s Sustainable and Impact Investing Advisory Council, the Investment Committee for the Nathan Cummings Foundation, the Impact Investing Committee of the Max M. and Marjorie S. Fisher Foundation, and the Repower Investment Advisory Committee.

Her most significant role is that of mother to Ethan and Evelyn.

Priya has spent 16 years working across the finance, policy and venture sectors in the US, UK and Indian markets.  She is an early investor in India’s climate tech venture ecosystem, and she is also a Director on Sustainability Mafia, one of India’s largest climate founder coalitions.  She is actively involved as a mentor, advisor and thought leader with several think tanks, university labs, accelerator programs and foundations on climate tech innovation, a Board Member on the University of Cambridge’s Alumni Advisory Council and an advisor to Brown University’s Young India Leadership Council and Women’s Launchpad program.

Before Theia Ventures, she built as part of the founding team, the Indian Fund arm of Yunus Social Business (YSB), a global impact venture debt fund founded by Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus. Prior to YSB, Priya spearheaded strategy, capital raising and special projects at a clean-tech, venture-backed, growth-stage company, Simpa Networks. She began her career at Bloomberg LP in New York and later at Asia House in London, and has led several independent consulting projects at impact start-ups and investment firms, such as Acumen and British International Investment.

She holds an MBA from Cambridge Judge Business School and a BA in History from Brown University, where she is closely affiliated with alumni initiatives on gender diversity, international scholarships and climate-focused entrepreneurship.

Lauren Singer has been founding, scaling, and operating businesses in climate since 2012. She has consulted on NYC Local Law 84 and Local Law 87 implementation, laid the foundation for EV adoption and policy in New York City under Mayor Bloomberg, and was Sustainability Manager at the NYC Department of Environmental Protection, implementing a sustainability framework on $4B of capital infrastructure projects. She is a repeat founder, building Trash is for Tossers, The Simply Co., and a venture-backed climate tech startup, Package Free Shop, where she now serves as Chairperson of the Board.

Lauren has been consulting for and advising businesses on sustainability since 2014 and has served as a scout for venture funds looking to invest in climate. She is a board member of the Lower East Side Ecology Center, advising on composting strategies for New York City. Lauren has commented on and testified in support of legislation that later passed into law, including a law that will make up to 10,000 private parking spots EV-ready, the straw ban, and the “Skip the Stuff” law.

Lauren is a climate thought leader, with more than 600,000 followers across social media platforms. She has given a widely circulated TEDx talk on Zero Waste with over 4M views. She was named a Forbes 30 under 30 in social entrepreneurship, a Business Insider “woman to watch”, one of InStyle’s “50 Badass Women Changing the World”, and a Well and Good “2020 Changemaker”. Her work has been featured by the NYTimes, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, The New Yorker, Business Insider, CNN, and more.

Lauren holds a BA in Environmental Studies and Politics from NYU and is a candidate for her Masters in Sustainability Management from Columbia University.

De’Havia has a passion and makes an effort to help increase diverse representation in venture capital as she actively supports underrepresented founders and investors. 

She has helped invest into 60+ underrepresented founders in her venture capital career. She has mentored 200+ founders through organizations like Microsoft for Startups, Google for Startups, Techstars, etc. She has also helped impact 100+ investors ranging from student investors to check writers through leadership roles with non-profit organizations such as HBCUvc, BLCK VC, and All Raise.

Ola has an extensive background as a technology leader, executive and founder across multiple industries including - medical devices, e-commerce, private equity, mobility and digital assets. He has held roles at organizations ranging from startups to fortune 500 corporations.

He is currently on the team at Astia as he executes a transition from engineering roles to impact investing.

Carmen is an ESG Strategist on the investment team at Longfellow Investment Management (LIM) in Boston. He leads the firm's ESG research process, including analysis of companies, industries, and regulatory/market trends. He also works closely with clients seeking to align portfolios with their social or mission-related values.

In addition, Carmen coordinates LIM's Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access initiatives, seeking to educate employees on these topics and advocate for industry and community progress. He currently holds the CFA Certificate in ESG Investing.

Carmen previously spent 5 years as a research analyst at Eaton Vance. He graduated from Wesleyan University and lives with his wife, Sadie, and two dogs in Warwick, RI.

Brian Foos is Managing Partner of Virgo Strategic, an advisory firm that supports technology startups navigating the transition from early stage to growth with support for strategic planning, operational transformations, and financings/exits. Prior to his entrepreneurial leap, he was COO & CFO at pymetrics (sold to Harver) with a decade of operating and transaction experience leading strategy, corporate development, finance, legal, and HR. He led Financial Planning & Analysis at AppNexus (sold to AT&T), and held M&A and finance roles at GE Capital. 

Leann currently serves as Senior Vice President of the Depositary Receipts Group at Globe Tax Services, LLC. in New York, NY. She oversees a global operations group and has over a decade of experience in financial services. While pursuing an MBA at Yale’s SOM she has developed a strong interest in Impact Investing especially on a global scale.

Leann holds a B.S. from Northeastern University in International Business. When not working and studying Leann can be found traveling and exploring with her dog, Bader. 

Dr. Monique Rainford, MD, CEO and Co-founder of Enrich Health is a board certified obstetrician and gynecologist,.  She is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard Medical School where she has been recognized for her outstanding academic performance having been awarded the John Russwarm Award for Academic excellence and the Robert H. Ebert Award in Primary Care Medicine from each University respectively. She completed her residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Georgetown University Medical Center. She is a Diplomate of the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology and a Fellow of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.   She owned and operated a private practice for ten years. She has served as the Center Medical Director for the Baltimore Medical System locations on the campus of St. Agnes Hospital and the Chief of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Yale Health. She currently serves as an Assistant Professor of Clinical Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences at Yale University School on Medical in addition to women’s health consulting through her company WWELL INC. She will complete her MBA from Yale University in 2024.

She was a columnist for the Daily Gleaner, Jamaica’s largest daily newspaper and has been a relationship columnist for the South Florida Times. She has also published in the Journal of Reproductive Medicine and Menopause. She has had numerous public speaking appearances discussing the health disparities experienced by African American and other Black women in America and topics related to general women’s health and wellness. Her writing has appeared in multiple publications including the Hartford Courant, the Baltimore Sun, Afro, elephant journal, Medscape and Kevin MD.  She has appeared in the media on multiple occasions both internationally and nationally including MTP Reports, NBC News Now, CBS Baltimore, ABC 2 Baltimore, Fox 5 DC and WTNH News 8.  She is a speaker for the Lifestyle Medicine Speakers Bureau and was a speaker at TEDxWilmington.

Dr. Rainford is the published author, her third book, "Pregnant While Black: Advancing Justice for Maternal Health in America" was published in April 2023. 

Dan Rauchwerk is a Senior Marketing Operations Manager with 13 years of experience building and optimizing global cross-channel marketing strategies. A commitment to protecting the environment through more sustainable business practices led him to Yale School of Management, where he is currently an Executive MBA candidate focusing his studies on Sustainability. He is passionate about reforming agricultural practices and food distribution systems to be more environmentally responsible while also ensuring equitable access to healthy food.