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PwC in the Channel Islands continues its ‘Connecting for Good Growth’ series early next month by hosting Jacqueline Novogratz, founder and CEO of Acumen, one of the best known and innovative impact investment organisations. Acumen is changing the way the world tackles poverty by investing patient capital in businesses whose products and services enable the poor to transform their lives. Acumen has invested $103 million to build more than 96 social enterprises in countries including Uganda, Kenya, Ghana, Pakistan, India and Colombia which have created over 60,000 jobs. In 2015, Acumen was named one of Fast Company’s Top 10 Most Innovative Not-for-Profit Companies.
Jacqueline left a career in international banking to spend her life on a quest to understand global poverty and develop new ways of tackling it. Prior to founding Acumen, she helped to open Rwanda’s first microfinance institution, then later founded and directed The Philanthropy Workshop and The Next Generation Leadership programs at the Rockefeller Foundation. She serves on the Aspen Institute Board of Trustees and the board of IDEO.org and is a frequent speaker at forums including the Clinton Global Initiative, TED and the Aspen Ideas Festival. She is also the author of the bestseller ‘The Blue Sweater, Bridging the Gap between Rich and Poor’. In June 2016, Jacqueline received the Forbes 400 Lifetime Achievement Award for Social Entrepreneurship.
Jacqueline will be joined on 1 December by PwC UK Partner, Jon Williams. Jon leads the finance sector team within PwC’s Sustainability & Climate Change practice, offering market-leading strategy, risk management, revenue development and impact measurement solutions to clients. His clients include global and regional banks in developing and developed economies, development banks, insurance companies, asset managers and private equity houses, as well as forest companies and public sector bodies.
Jon co-chairs a Carbon Markets & Investors Association Working Group, and acts as an Expert Adviser to a major European bank on sustainability issues. He is also Project Adviser to the World Economic Forum’s Energy Access Partnership. He previously chaired the Equator Principles, the global benchmark for banks to manage social and environmental issues in project finance, and chaired the Climate Finance Principles, a framework for the finance sector to respond to climate change.
Brendan McMahon, Senior Partner at PwC Channel Islands, commented:
‘Impact investing mobilises private and public sector capital to create outsized impact on critical global challenges, including poverty and climate change. It is rapidly gaining traction among a wide range of investors, including financial institutions, family offices, foundations, pension funds and development finance institutions. As international finance centres, the Channel Islands have the capabilities to facilitate impact investing. We are delighted to host Jacqueline, a global leader of impact investment strategies and Jon Williams, and hope their talks will catalyse government, business and individuals to implement strategies that harness finance for good.’
