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E15 - Jessica Espinoza, CEO of 2X Global
51 Plays27 days ago
In this episode, Jessica Espinoza, CEO of 2X Global, shares how gender lens investing is transforming the financial system, from grassroots women entrepreneurs to global capital markets. Jessica shares the story behind the 2X Challenge, which has already mobilised $34+ billion in gender-smart investments, supporting women around the world. She explains how 2X Global is setting global standards and launching a certification, while also creating new tools like warehouse capital to back women fund managers, helping them demonstrate their investment strategy and track record. You’ll hear practical examples of how gender and climate action intersect, why investing in women leads to better outcomes for everyone, and how financial tools can be reimagined to unlock systemic change. This is a conversation about how women around the world are using finance to shift power, opportunity, and possibility.
Please review the episode, share your feedback, and subscribe to the podcast!
You can also:
- Visit our website: womenchangingfinance.org
- Follow Jessica on LinkedIn
To go further, here are some of the references mentioned during the episode:
- GenderSmart — https://www.gendersmartinvesting.org/
- The Rallying Cry — https://therallyingcry.org/
- Ashoka — https://www.ashoka.org/
- ImpactAlpha — https://impactalpha.com/
- Criterion Institute — https://www.criterioninstitute.org/
- GSG Impact - https://www.gsgimpact.org/
- AVPN - https://avpn.asia/
- Latimpacto — https://latimpacto.org
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to Women Changing Finance
00:00:05
Speaker
Hi, welcome to the podcast Women Changing Finance, where you will discover amazing women from all around the world who are making finance become a force for good.
00:00:21
Speaker
Welcome to the podcast Women Changing Finance.
Meet Jessica Espinoza, CEO of 2X Global
00:00:24
Speaker
I'm Krisztina Tora and I'm welcoming today Jessica Espinoza, who is the CEO of 2X Global, a global industry body for gender lens investing, convening the entire spectrum of capital providers.
00:00:37
Speaker
Under Jessica's leadership, the 2X Challenge has raised more than 34 billion US dollars of gender lens investment since its launch at the G7 Summit in 2018, and catalyzed action at the nexus of gender and climate finance.
00:00:52
Speaker
I met Jessica a few years ago through work, and I have been really impressed by her achievements in driving the gender equity agenda forward. I'm really thrilled to have her on the show today.
What is Gender Lens Investing?
00:01:03
Speaker
So welcome, Jessica. And as we begin, could you please explain to the audience what is gender lens investing as a start so that they might be more familiar with it?
00:01:14
Speaker
How has this concept concept emerged? What is it? Thank you, Krisztina. It's really great to be here and look forward to our conversation. So gender lens investing in very simple terms means adding ah gender analysis to financial analysis with the intention of having better outcomes.
00:01:33
Speaker
And what it means very practically is that we look at an investment not only from a financial perspective, but also from an impact perspective. And in particular, look at opportunities of how that investment can contribute to gender equality and women's economic empowerment.
00:01:49
Speaker
The way we do it as 2X is we have developed the 2X criteria as a global industry standard and a shared framework where we have certain criteria that we analyze when we look at an investment opportunity.
00:02:04
Speaker
So let's say, for example, we're investing in a company in a certain sector. The 2X criteria look at women's ownership of that company. So is it majority women owned?
00:02:16
Speaker
Was it founded by a woman, for example, or a group of women? And then we look at the leadership level. So does senior management, for example, have a significant share of women? Are women represented on the board of directors?
00:02:29
Speaker
Then we look at and employment, Does this company create quality jobs for women? But we look both at the share of women in the workforce, as well as quality indicators such as workplace policies and practices that promote women's career advancement.
00:02:45
Speaker
Those could be things like you know equal pay or equal care support, but also, for example, mentoring programs. So it's kind of more qualitative aspects. Then we look at the supply chain, and that's still relatively nascent, but some companies have some engagement for women in the supply chain, so working with suppliers, and then also looking at products and services.
00:03:08
Speaker
So we know, for instance, that there are some areas that are really underfunded, such as women's health, for example, or in the financial sector, it could be financial products that promote women's financial independence, for instance.
00:03:21
Speaker
So also looking at the products and services and women as customers that receive meaningful benefits from those products and services. So that's kind of the how we look at it. A company doesn't have to meet all of them. It's more like a starting point to see where are they already strong.
00:03:37
Speaker
And then as part of the investment, we seek to kind of understand where they're currently at, at the point of investment. Wow, that's a super clear definition. Thank you so much. So now moving on to 2X Global.
Evolution of 2X Global
00:03:51
Speaker
So you're leading this organization. It's one of the most important and ambitious organizations working on gender lens investing. So can you tell us more about 2X Global? How has it started?
00:04:03
Speaker
What do you do? What's the theory of change? Yes, there's a lot I could talk about. Let me try to keep it reasonably kind of concise. So 2x Global, it's an interesting organization. It's on the one hand, a membership network. So we have today over 150 member organizations, really the full spectrum of different investors and capital providers, as well as others who are, for example, service providers that play an important role in the ecosystem or other industry shaping organizations.
00:04:33
Speaker
Those members, what they have in common is that they are all interested in doing more on gender lens investing. Some of them are quite advanced on their journey and have been doing this for a really long time. And others are more early on in their journey. And that's really the intention to bring them together to learn from one another. So that's kind of the membership model.
00:04:51
Speaker
But we're also a field building organization. So our purpose is really to build the global field of gender lens investing. That means it goes kind of beyond just serving our members.
00:05:02
Speaker
really thinking about the interests of the wider field and how that can be advanced. And so under the field learning, for example, we are very active in the standard setting space. So I mentioned the 2X criteria that are today a global industry standard that has been widely adopted by different types of actors.
00:05:19
Speaker
So of course, investors, but also, for example, companies, other stakeholders around the world, way beyond our membership. And more recently, we also launched a 2x certification mechanism.
00:05:30
Speaker
We also have now started to raise our own investment facilities, which are blended finance facilities, and not to duplicate any work that is already being done by others, but really where we see some of the persistent gaps.
00:05:43
Speaker
where capital just isn't flowing. And one particular area is the area of emerging female fund managers. So we see across global markets, this next generation of women who are coming to market with their own investment fund, with a particular focus on investing into underrepresented founders.
00:06:05
Speaker
So those underrepresented founders are often women, but also, for example, in a local context, more local businesses, more diverse businesses, and they have developed specific general len investment strategies to get through those.
00:06:18
Speaker
But because those women fund managers are often perceived by the market as first-time fund managers and their track record is regularly challenged by investors,
00:06:29
Speaker
there isn't enough capital flowing to them. So our 2X Ignite investment facilities, for example, and seek to provide catalytic capital to those fund managers to help them make track record investments,
00:06:42
Speaker
and signal the investment case. So by doing that, our aim is to crowd in other investors. So that's kind of more of a market building role that we also play. So you can see that it's quite a spectrum of different activities, but where it all started was with the 2X challenge. That's our flagship initiative.
00:07:00
Speaker
Back as you mentioned in your introduction in 2018 at the G7 summit, where we brought together ah group of development finance institutions originally from the states.
00:07:10
Speaker
to make an unprecedented commitment, like set a collective target that they would invest at least $3 billion dollars into emerging markets in private sector companies, funds, and financial institutions that have a specific focus on on benefiting women.
00:07:27
Speaker
At that point, we developed the 2X criteria to define what we actually mean by that and how we measure that. And that initial target of the $3 billion was significantly overachieved. At the time, it was very um still very nascent, gender lens investing, at least in that particular space among those actors.
00:07:45
Speaker
It was perceived as really ambitious, like $3 billion in three years. know we're going to achieve that. And then we also entered the COVID year in 2020, where people were particularly nervous.
00:07:56
Speaker
But we were able to really exceed that target. We landed at over $11 billion. dollars And so there was a lot of enthusiasm and excitement about really seeing that investment case of investing in women.
00:08:09
Speaker
The slogan at the time was invest in women, and invest in the world. So Seeing kind of that momentum and excitement, we saw an opportunity to bring on board other types of investors.
00:08:21
Speaker
And that's kind of where we were paving the way for the model that we have today to really open it up, establish an independent nonprofit organization and bringing all of those different actors together.
00:08:33
Speaker
At 2X Global is also the result of the coming together between kind of two separate initiatives or organizations. On the 2X side, the 2X Challenge and what then became the 2X Collaborative, so like this independent entity, as well as Gender Smart, that and many in the field are familiar with as one of of the leaders as well, also since the very early days in 2017-18.
00:08:59
Speaker
And GenderSmart has been most widely known for the GenderSmart Investing Summit, which was a global summit bringing together leaders across global markets around the opportunity of gender lens investing.
00:09:11
Speaker
And they then subsequently also ran a number of really high impact working groups um convening different stakeholders. And so we came together into one organization, 2x Global, in in early 2023 and have since kind of operated under that 2x global tent, so to speak.
00:09:28
Speaker
So it's that's a bit of the of the history and it's kind of been an organic development that's been really exciting.
Why Integrate Gender and Climate in Investments?
00:09:34
Speaker
Yes, definitely. And it's always great to see organizations come together to be be stronger and to be more impactful.
00:09:43
Speaker
So that's a ah really great example as well. One of the aspects that you mentioned or that I would love to to hear more from you about is the connection between gender lens investing and climate.
00:09:56
Speaker
How are you thinking about that? We always talk about how important it is to integrate the social and the environmental. I would love to know more about how you do that at 2X Global and maybe also through some specific examples of either funds or or companies that you've invested in or that you work with?
00:10:18
Speaker
Yeah, so this nexus is has been a high priority for us for a number of years. And it's on the one hand, recognizing that women and girls are disproportionately impacted by climate change.
00:10:31
Speaker
So they're really the majority of, for example, internally displaced people due to climate change and are significantly more impacted. But also, and that's very important to us, recognizing that they are really agents of change that are leading climate action at the front lines and also recognizing that leadership role. And there are many studies and kind of research publications that have found that if you think gender and climate together, so if you really think about the impact of climate change on women
00:11:05
Speaker
but also importantly, tap into the opportunity of involving women as agents of change and paying attention to that, that investments in the climate finance space are much more effective, both in terms of financial outcomes, but also climate outcomes.
00:11:21
Speaker
So even if you if you didn't at all care about gender equality and only about climate outcomes, it would still be smart to have a gender lens because it leads to better climate outcomes. We've seen a number of really interesting examples. So for instance, at COP, at the annual climate conference, we're always very active there.
00:11:42
Speaker
And so it was a few years ago when we were at the summit in Glasgow, where we launched a gender and climate finance toolkit, which kind of shows across 12 different sectors what that opportunity looks like.
00:11:57
Speaker
So whether you're in financial services or in water, transportation, manufacturing. And so really like presenting those business case statistics and and illustrating how to think the two together in those sectors.
00:12:11
Speaker
and And also across adaptation, mitigation, biodiversity, et cetera, like showing the opportunities and how to practically do it. So that toolkit was launched and we collaborated at the time with one of our partners, The Rallying Cry, who's bringing together really inspiring women entrepreneurs from across Africa who are at the forefront of climate action.
00:12:33
Speaker
And that was really powerful because on the one hand, it was an opportunity to show at COP what it can look like when women at the forefront of climate action are around the table at this really high policy forum.
00:12:48
Speaker
And then also to show very practically how investors can actually do it with that toolkit. So that's that's one illustration of the kind of work that we do in that space. In terms of examples, There's so many. So we have a lot of case studies also in this toolkit that that people can look at.
00:13:03
Speaker
But what's been interesting, for example, to see is like, say, for for instance, in the insurance area, so or it's kind of a combination of financial inclusion and insurance.
00:13:15
Speaker
We've seen interesting examples where Let's say a financial institution is lending to a group of women entrepreneurs who in climate and particularly climate affected sectors, for example.
00:13:27
Speaker
And so on the one hand, you have like the financial inclusion aspect where these women get access to finance. But then there's also an insurance product on top that's, for example, specifically for for climate change.
00:13:39
Speaker
related disasters and insurance. And then also, for example, another piece of capacity building to help those women be multipliers, for example, of knowledge about you know how to manage climate related risks in the local community.
00:13:55
Speaker
So that's one example. If you go kind of from more of this, of the grassroots, like to like, let's say more of the the big financial centers. We also know that in other studies, for example, there have been really interesting insights on how having more women on corporate boards, and that could be in big publicly listed companies, increases the climate-related actions of that company. So there's companies that have more women on boards, also have significantly higher reductions in emissions and initiatives on the way to tackle climate change.
00:14:30
Speaker
And we've also seen some interesting investment examples where investors have kind of tapped into that business case and the statistics and ways to bring more women and onto boards.
00:14:44
Speaker
because they know that there are then these ripple effects. So kind of thinking about how to strategically position change agents and the governance structure as well. Thank you for these examples. They're really good examples of how your work is concretely you know put into action.
00:15:01
Speaker
i also want to ask you to kind of reflect on how you have managed to get all of these different kinds of global institutions to work with
Mainstreaming Gender Lens Investing
00:15:11
Speaker
you.
00:15:11
Speaker
Because you mentioned you were starting with the development finance institutions, which are a very specific group. And now you're working with a really broad range of organizations.
00:15:22
Speaker
How have you gone from development all the way to, in a way, mainstreaming gender lens investing? And what was the journey there? And how do you feel that these organizations are learning from each other? What are the, I guess, best practices that they are sharing with each other?
00:15:41
Speaker
Yeah, it's it's a really interesting question. So as you say, we started with the development finance institutions and the first additional investors that came on board were those who were private sector investors co-investing alongside the DFIs in opportunities, for example, because they already saw firsthand the impact and the opportunity and really wanted to have a seat around the table and be an official member and be part of the community.
00:16:07
Speaker
Then we also, especially with the Twix challenge, because there was so much publicity and focus on really demonstrating the business case and the pipeline opportunity.
00:16:18
Speaker
We also got interest from other types of more mainstream investors and financial institutions that had just seen it, you know, kind of watching what's happening in the space.
00:16:29
Speaker
and also got really interested to be a part of it. I think it's also fair to say that there have been other actors who didn't necessarily call a gender lens investing, but who had actually recognized the business case for an even longer time.
00:16:43
Speaker
And so for them, it was an opportunity to come together and join a community of like-minded investors that they hadn't necessarily met before. So they may have done the work themselves for quite some time, but they there wasn't really a community that they could join to really engage in that peer learning. And I think that's one of the biggest...
00:17:03
Speaker
strength of our network, that you are not alone on the journey. You don't have to reinvent the wheel. You don't have to repeat mistakes that ah others have already made, but you can really almost like leapfrog to a more advanced stage of engagement by learning from others and adopting proven tools and practices.
00:17:24
Speaker
So I think that has also been a epi big pull factor. And then how we do it in our membership is, it's really about curation as well. So If, for example, we want to do something specifically for family offices, we really tailor our our support and our sessions to their particular needs and bring them together with other peers.
00:17:45
Speaker
If it is, and the same, for example, if it's about private equity funds or commercial banks, for instance, Also, differentiating in which asset class are they or do they have sector preferences whether there are specific challenges.
00:17:59
Speaker
At the same time, we also see an opportunity for learning across peer groups and knowledge exchange. So, for example, when we talk about the nexus of gender and climate finance or, say, financial inclusion or investing in women's health.
00:18:14
Speaker
Something like that, where our members also see value in coming together with different types of investors to to learn from them. So it's really understanding their needs and their demand and then customizing our offerings to really facilitate a meaningful exchange.
00:18:30
Speaker
What you'll never find is like just somebody talking at you with PowerPoints. It's always very practical and and very engaging to make sure that, yeah, that we're really driving change in practice.
00:18:41
Speaker
Thank you. And I also love your new initiative that you started talking about, Tweaks Ignite, because we know that there's not enough ah women investors.
00:18:52
Speaker
So can you ah kind of double click and expand on that new initiative?
2X Ignite: Empowering Women Fund Managers
00:18:57
Speaker
Why you have started it? Who are the target audiences and what you are hoping to achieve there?
00:19:04
Speaker
you Yeah, so something that we have observed is that while there has been a lot of engagement in the private equity and venture capital space or in the broader fund management space,
00:19:15
Speaker
it has often been more about transforming well-established firms. So firms that have originally not had any gender lens investing approach, also not much representation of women at the fund manager level, but who now really understand the opportunity and and the impact as well as the business case and want to go on the journey. And so there's been a lot of focus and support on them. So when they raise their next fund, how can they start adopting a gender lens? How can they also diversify their own team? you know, like think about how to be um more supportive of of women and their careers internally.
00:19:54
Speaker
So lot kind of on these transformation stories. But at the same time, we've seen, as I mentioned, this whole new generation of women fund managers that have typically left those established firms to create their own fund and their own investment thesis.
00:20:10
Speaker
And that's typically very intentional because they have seen the limitations in established firms and they really want to do things differently. So they want to establish a new firm that has a different culture, different set of values, different approach to things from the beginning.
00:20:28
Speaker
And that also has women in leadership from the outset. And typically also what we see, for example, in emerging markets is that there are more local fund managers or like local representatives.
00:20:41
Speaker
So less expatriates and also at a local level, more diversity. And so by kind of starting that own new venture, they're really able to bring that vision to life and and where they see the opportunities.
00:20:55
Speaker
Then on the design of their fund, They also typically focus on what local entrepreneurs really need. So those underrepresented founders, especially women entrepreneurs, but also in local context,
00:21:09
Speaker
other factors of diversity and that have been underfunded in the past? And what is it really that they need? So instead of, for example, just replicating the traditional and Silicon Valley model, like thinking, okay, in this particular market and context, what is really needed? What type of capital, what type of support, and how can we help these businesses really grow?
00:21:31
Speaker
And so with that objective, they they they launched that fund, right? But then they are coming up against very similar gender bias and barriers that these entrepreneurs face.
00:21:43
Speaker
So the kind of gender bias that women entrepreneurs face is often replicated at the fund manager level when they go on their fundraising journey. And so we see this kind of as a structural problem, because if you want to resolve problems,
00:21:58
Speaker
for the issue that there isn't enough capital going to women-led businesses or more diverse businesses, then you also have to kind of fix the issue that those who are investing in those businesses face similar barriers.
00:22:12
Speaker
So what we did in 2021, so already ah bit hu ago, and was to convene a global design sprint. So we brought together 120 investment professionals, both so-called limited partners, LPs, who are the type of investors that invest in funds, and the so-called general partners, GPs, that are the fund managers, and some other specialists and yeah stakeholders.
00:22:38
Speaker
And we really wanted to understand like, what's the problem? Why, if there are these amazing funds, why is nobody investing big amounts of capital into them? And also like, where's the disconnect?
00:22:50
Speaker
And so what we found was a number of different issues and one primary issue is that in investors who would invest in funds don't necessarily feel comfortable or their current investment guidelines don't necessarily work because they view these fund managers as first-time fund managers.
00:23:09
Speaker
So could be that they have 25 years of a track record and managed billions of dollars in capital, but not in this particular firm with this particular team set up.
00:23:20
Speaker
And so it it seems a bit ironic because there is so much of a track record, but it's not recognized in the traditional sense. And so to kind of resolve that problem, what we... designed together as a solution is what is called warehouse capital.
00:23:35
Speaker
doesn't have to do anything with a real warehouse. It's just the term. And what it means is that you provide investment capital to, say, if a woman fund manager. And then even before she actually raises her fund or like closes the fund formally, she's able to make investments with that capital under the same kind of strategy and investment thesis that the fund has to demonstrate to investors that she has access to pipeline, she's able to execute on those deals.
00:24:06
Speaker
And then once she is able to raise the funds, so once investors are willing to commit to the fund and the fund reaches the first close.
00:24:16
Speaker
So the first round of investors come in and then that investment deal gets into the fund and the capital gets paid back to those who provided that initial capital.
00:24:27
Speaker
And so this way, like that that woman fund manager is able to demonstrate to investors that Here's a real deal. Come into my fund. Like, you know, you can see more tangibly that like what will be an investment in the fund.
00:24:41
Speaker
And so that's one part of the solution. The other part of the solution is to provide also some bespoke capacity building, which is not, again, over mentoring women, which is not what's needed, but it's about kind of providing very targeted support.
00:24:58
Speaker
It could be in the form of shared services. So for example, help like before the fund is raised to provide the kind of technical support that is needed to meet investors' expectations.
00:25:12
Speaker
And that's often also related to just the working capital to make that happen. So it's kind of this working capital or providing shared services and expertise to really get the fund to a state where international investors, for example, or more sophisticated investors feel comfortable putting in money.
00:25:29
Speaker
But it's also, for instance, bespoke capacity building to actually understand the investor mindset, what they might be looking for in due diligence, and some of those more particular areas, or simply also helping on the fundraising side, so to establish relationships with investors.
00:25:48
Speaker
So all of that capacity building is is what we do under 2X Ignite. We have a global community of practice for emerging women-led fund managers. We also have an kind of an accelerator program called the GP Sprint, which is a six-month, very intensive program that emerging fund managers go through and where they have you know a lot of support on fundraising, but also putting themselves into kind of the mindset of the investor, what but they might be looking for.
00:26:18
Speaker
And the intention is to get them to a first close faster. And then on the kind of warehouse capital side, that's now these investment facilities that we are raising where we're bringing together capital from different types of ah investors who understand the importance of this.
00:26:36
Speaker
but who are still facing some constraints directly investing into these funds, but they feel comfortable collaborating or pulling their capital with other investors into a catalytic facility that then provides that capital to the fund managers.
00:26:49
Speaker
So the first one we have is in Africa, which is a warehouse facility that's providing very specifically this warehouse capital. And then we're launching another facility in Asia-Pacific,
00:27:01
Speaker
which focuses both on warehouse capital, but then also on the anchor investment capital. So meaning once the fund managers want to close their fund, and our facility would come in as an anchor investor and then also crowd in other types of investors.
00:27:17
Speaker
Thank you for explaining it so well. And we're so well done because it really shows that you've understood the problem that these managers, these fund managers are facing and kind of you've unpacked so many of those aspects and built all of the solutions to answer issues.
00:27:35
Speaker
Yeah, and the the warehousing facilities are a great innovation that really supports that. I mean, all of the rest as well. But I think that that's something that perhaps more people should be looking at for other solutions as well.
00:27:49
Speaker
Great. Maybe to kind of just provide an overview of what's exciting in your world, you know, you have the privilege of having this global perspective on gender lens investing.
Trends in Women's Health Investments
00:28:01
Speaker
What from your perspective, some interesting trends? Well, maybe positive, maybe negative that you are witnessing and how you were yeah working with those trends.
00:28:13
Speaker
So I think one big trend is thinking more about underfunded areas. So for example, and just put out an article on the opportunity of investing in women's health, which is a really interesting area where we hear a lot of interest from our community of investors.
00:28:30
Speaker
And there's quite a strong business case. So women's health is an area that is significantly underfunded. But also when you look at the last years in terms of how investment has increased,
00:28:42
Speaker
into that area or different aspects of women's health. And also the business case stats of, you know, like how tackling women's health has positive ripple effects also on the economy, on society, for example, there's a really compelling case.
00:28:59
Speaker
And then there's also interesting data on the number of successful exits in women's health investments over the last years. So that that would be one. We also see a huge opportunity of more philanthropists, for example, women who are in philanthropy or who could be angel investors or yeah kind of taking charge off in family offices.
00:29:27
Speaker
that they could be more engaged As you're probably aware, there's a huge wealth transfer happening in countries like the US, but also the UK and in some other countries.
00:29:38
Speaker
And I think in emerging markets as well, while might not be the same as with these baby boomer wealth transfers, in emerging markets, we also have so many self-made women, millionaires or billionaires from entrepreneurship, that there's a huge opportunity to also think more about the role of high net worth individuals, family offices,
00:29:58
Speaker
philanthropists in kind of getting more active in the space of impact investing and and gender lens investing. And so that's an opportunity we see as well, where i think there are some who are really, really active and have been at the forefront for a long time.
00:30:14
Speaker
But in compared to the market opportunity or the potential of how many wealth holders there are or family offices, there's still so much more potential to unlock.
00:30:26
Speaker
So something that we would love to do this year is also explore how we can bring those actors into our community, also connect them to peers, collaborate with networks where they are already engaged to see how we can unlock that capital. And I think that's particularly important as some of the big government donors are now much less engaged compared to previous years and where there's really a role for the private sector to step up and do much more.
00:30:52
Speaker
Yeah, I love this positive spin on recent trends. Perfect. Well, I mean, that has been really, really enlightening. Thank you so much. And i think it shows or gives a reflection on your personal journey as well into how how you have come to this place.
00:31:13
Speaker
You have been in development finance, in microfinance, in impact investing in different countries. Can you tell us more about about this journey of yours? What were some turning points and and how you have arrived to this place today?
00:31:28
Speaker
Yeah, sure. So I started my career in London. social entrepreneurship, basically. So, or maybe let me take it even a bit earlier. So I studied international business management because I really wanted to understand the role business could play in creating social impact.
00:31:46
Speaker
So that was kind of my intention. And, you know, at the time when I studied, this was quite novel. So it wasn't particularly a logical career path. My initial idea was that upon graduation, I would join a big investment bank to see what I could do there, but a it wasn't quite there yet. There was very, very little unsustainable finance at that time.
00:32:10
Speaker
And so instead, relatively spontaneously, I decided to go down the social business route instead. And my first job was with a social business of the Ashoka Network in Latin America that had developed the first holistic solution for survivors of gender-based violence.
00:32:30
Speaker
And they were operating shelters for women and girls. And my role was to think about how to integrate the economic empowerment component, because what they found was that often survivors, they got all of the medical, legal and psychological attention, but it wasn't necessarily sustainable because they were still so financially dependent on other people and including, you know, those kind of violent partners or networks that were exploiting them.
00:32:57
Speaker
And so That was really interesting. So it was kind of coming up with different business models of how those survivors could be economically strengthened and and thinking about their financial independence and economic life.
00:33:10
Speaker
And from there, I then got really interested in microfinance. So I went into this whole space of financial inclusion, lived and worked in different places in Latin America and Africa in particular, and was working directly with microfinance institutions.
00:33:24
Speaker
but also very much focused on the aspect of consumer protection and transparency and fair pricing in microfinance. That a really interesting time. And I learned a lot about the different types of models and how they worked in practice or not.
00:33:41
Speaker
So both from a social impact perspective, but also from given that the majority of customers were women, also how that impacted women's lives and contributed to women's empowerment or where it did not contribute to women's empowerment because there were some pitfalls.
00:33:59
Speaker
So then equipped with that knowledge, I decided that I wanted to go more into SME finance because what struck me was there was a lot of support for women as micro entrepreneurs.
00:34:10
Speaker
But the moment they got more ambitious and wanted to grow their business, suddenly there was no more support. So, you know, it's like fine to if you want some financing for, let's say, seeds plant something, that's fine.
00:34:23
Speaker
If you want a tractor or you know some heavy machinery, then like no that's like too big. Don't dream so big. So I really wanted to understand how we could support those businesses to grow from micro to small to medium.
00:34:37
Speaker
And so decided to join... an SME banking group. And that was really exciting. I very quickly um got promoted to the C-suite of an SME bank in Nicaragua and was also working with some of the sister banks in other Latin American countries to like pilot a new SME strategy, then roll it out across the group.
00:34:59
Speaker
and work with entrepreneurs to grow from small to medium, etc. That was a really amazing experience. I think that was one of the highlights of my career, really working you know directly with those companies and seeing the change.
00:35:13
Speaker
But I also realized how like I always thought... If you're in the C-suite of a bank, for example, that's where you have a lot of influence. And it's partially true, but in reality, a lot of influence was with was with the investors and the board of directors.
00:35:29
Speaker
And so I realized how much influence shareholders have and... and investors. And from there, got interested in understanding what impact I could have if I was on the investor side, which would allow me not only to impact one company or one bank, but really multiples, like a whole portfolio of ah financial institutions or companies.
00:35:51
Speaker
So from there, I joined and development finance institution. I moved on to the investor side and was um a senior investment manager and then vice president for um different types of investments. First, focusing on and debt, equity, mezzanine, all kinds of investments, including like ah bonds, et cetera. So really the full spectrum.
00:36:14
Speaker
Focus on financial institutions. And that was a very interesting role where I was, for example, working also on the board and like setting up and sharing the ENS committee, for example, and and a number of exciting initiatives.
00:36:28
Speaker
And then was leading private equity and venture capital investments and, you know, kind of seeing what impact you can have through fund investments as well and and to direct equity investments.
00:36:40
Speaker
And that was one of the turning points that you alluded to you know, kind of moving from more of the executive side in a bank to the investor side and seeing how an investor can really use their influence, whether it's on the board or structuring the investment and negotiating terms to promote positive change, both on gender lens investing, but also more broadly on climate action and and other impact objectives.
00:37:07
Speaker
That's amazing. Thank you. It really kind of, you you have a red thread, you know, you wanted always to kind of create more impact, to be more impactful.
Career Highlights and Challenges Overcome
00:37:17
Speaker
This is the time also for you to perhaps share something that you consider as your biggest achievement or biggest achievements in plural or anything that makes you really, really proud or perhaps something that you want still to achieve.
00:37:34
Speaker
Great question. i would say one is definitely the launch of the 2X challenge, it which wasn't easy at the time. It was very new, took a lot of convincing.
00:37:44
Speaker
And I think it really speaks to the power of collective action, because by bringing together those different development finance institutions and their champions, we were able to pull something off that we wouldn't have been able to do alone.
00:37:58
Speaker
and And playing a role in that, I think is one of my highlights. But then also not too long after the launch. And so the governance structure at the time was that we had a steering committee and a rotating chair.
00:38:11
Speaker
And my chair period was 2019, started 2019. And so was a very important time because end of 2020 was the end date of our target.
00:38:23
Speaker
And then just as I had taken on the chair, we can't like we were in COVID. I think at the time, nobody would have held it against those participating DFIs. And that you know I was kind of representing one of them.
00:38:36
Speaker
If we had just said, okay you know it was a great initiative, but... Times have changed. That's it. And so I think also just having that collective courage and keep having yeah just that faith that we could still do it and demonstrating that it can be done, i think was really powerful. And as I mentioned, because of that commitment, we overachieved the target and still in the middle of the pandemic in 2021 at the G7 summit, we announced the next ambitious target. So we went even further and and set a more ambitious goal of then 15 billion over two years.
00:39:11
Speaker
So I think that's another milestone that day and i I really like like looking back at. And especially in times like these at the moment where the world isn't in a great place and it's easy to get absorbed by the headlines and and lose optimism. I like looking back at those examples of previous crises that we have navigated.
00:39:32
Speaker
and I think that's always good to see the bigger picture of how we have dealt with challenging moments before. In terms of the future, I mean, there's so much... So many highlights that I look forward to, but I think just continuing to grow our community and our efforts and also thinking how we can move from the billions to the trillions. I think that's for me the next big guiding star.
00:39:57
Speaker
Like how can we really bring in more actors? And i think I forgot to mention this at the outset, but our mission and vision is really to transform the global financial system. So if we dream big, who else needs to come on board? How do we engage them?
00:40:11
Speaker
And how do we think about trillions while still making sure that it's meaningful that you know at the grassroots, like where the actual impact happens? Yes, absolutely. And for those women in the communities that you were talking about, right?
00:40:25
Speaker
Exactly. Fantastic. Thank you for this. I wonder, it's hard, right? Like this work is not easy. There's a lot to do. It's very ambitious.
00:40:36
Speaker
What helps you be your best self or what has helped you be your best self? I think it's this community. I think it's, you know, not not doing it on your own, but having that collective action and that community around you where you have like-minded people and change agents who believe in the same mission.
00:40:55
Speaker
And it doesn't mean that we all always agree or have the same same perspective, right And I think that's also good. So there's definitely... No group thing. They're very diverse perspectives and we don't always agree.
00:41:07
Speaker
But I think still having like that group of people who, even if we don't agree in every detail or with every decision or approach, because there are many different approaches to doing this, you know, you can work within the system and then try to change the system from within. You can create a new system and show what an alternative system looks like, like very different approaches that some of our members have.
00:41:31
Speaker
But I think knowing that the overall guiding star is shared and that we have the same overarching vision and moving towards the same ultimate goals, I think that's something that really gives me a lot of strength and keeps me going.
00:41:44
Speaker
Fantastic. And it's a great segue to the last kind of set of questions, which are quite short. What's keeping you optimistic? I think, yeah, I don't want to say again the community, but I think that is what's keeping me optimistic.
00:42:00
Speaker
Every time, and think it's real action that keeps me optimistic. I'm becoming a bit more skeptical about all the talking and announcements. I think they are important to create momentum, but what's really keeping me optimistic is seeing the actual action.
00:42:15
Speaker
And every time an investment is qualified under the 2X challenge or one of our members celebrates another milestone and we can really see the action going, that gives me yeah a lot of optimism for the future. We're also seeing how people are just really advancing what they believe in and find new creative ways how they innovate with financial products and services, and look kind of beyond the known and what has always been done and just trying and proving that things can be done differently. And this whole innovation space, I think there's so much, especially in our fields that can be transformed and where innovation plays such an important role.
00:42:58
Speaker
Absolutely. Yes. 100% on innovation. What or who is inspiring you? I would say those women fund managers are definitely inspiring me.
00:43:09
Speaker
i think, I mean, what, you know, what they're going through, is it's just unbelievable. And they still have that perseverance and just keep going and show that it can be done. So they definitely inspire me.
00:43:20
Speaker
But also we talked about these women entrepreneurs who are leading climate action. I think they as well. it's It's really inspiring how much, impact they have in their communities and then inspire other entrepreneurs.
00:43:33
Speaker
So like the whole power of entrepreneurship, definitely as well. And then also, i think I would also say some of the big like champions in big firms, it's really hard to promote change within those.
00:43:47
Speaker
And I think having the courage to stay in those big firms and putting up with challenges and and still playing a role in transforming them is also something that I really admire.
00:43:58
Speaker
Yeah. And I think that shows that everyone has their own role to play wherever they are, whichever organization they are at. And final question, do you have any readings, anything that you're reading currently that you would recommend?
00:44:12
Speaker
and That's a great question. i would have to think. So there's a lot of great content on LinkedIn. It's not one particular you know source or ah book or anything, but I really like seeing whats you know what's trending in our field and what our partners and the wider community is doing.
00:44:32
Speaker
I also love podcasts, so like yours, to really hear directly from from people who are leading action. Then Impact Alpha is always great to read as well.
00:44:43
Speaker
Also a lot of inspiring and encouraging stories. And then I also just enjoy newsletters, you know, like ah of other field building organizations, whether it's GSG or AVPN or Latin Pacto, like also seeing what those other networks are up to.
00:45:00
Speaker
and And Criterion Institute also always has really nice resources. Thank you. Thank you for that. Okay. Any final thoughts, piece of advice for fellow changemakers or any specific ask that you have for them?
00:45:15
Speaker
I would say just sending you a lot of optimism. I know it's not an easy year, but I really believe that by sticking together, finding new ways of community and collaboration, we can really make a big difference. And it's now more needed than ever. So I hope you all have the strength to keep going and find like-minded people to collaborate with.
00:45:36
Speaker
Fantastic. Thank you. Thank you so much, Jessica, for your time today. This was a really, really insightful conversation about gender lens investing and gender towards gender equality.
00:45:49
Speaker
So thank you very much for your time and hope to see you soon somewhere, either online or in person. Thank you so much, Krisztina. Really hope so too.
00:46:02
Speaker
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00:46:13
Speaker
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00:46:25
Speaker
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