Episode #63 of the Humans of Purpose Podcast features Amanda Goodman. She’s Head of Syndication and Director, Giant Leap at Impact Investment Group (IIG); but Amanda’s portfolio encompasses a wide gamut of incredible work within the impact space. She’s also a Director at Stand Up, a Director at The Observership Program, and Deputy Chair of RIAA’s Impact Investment Forum.
In this conversation, Amanda talks about how IIG takes investors on a journey of realising their potential impact. IIG’s work bridges the gap between investors and social good. Through the IIG journey, investors are not only shown that their money is an asset for growth, but that with a little bit of ‘intentionality’, their money can do really good stuff in the world.
Amanda explained this by using the analogy of money as a resource to fuel change in the world. IIG’s work is to evaluate which of these businesses are the best vehicles for change.
IIG invests in three key categories of asset classes: sustainable property, renewable energy infrastructure, and investing in rapidly scalable impact business through their venture fund, Giant Leap (founded in 2016).
Impact investments are investments made with the intention of generating social and environmental impact alongside a financial return. Put simply, it is a way for investors to align their values with their financial resources.
Through her own career, Amanda herself has taken the journey from the corners of investing to social impact. She started off with a career in finance and then worked in the not for profit sector. The experience poised her with a unique literacy for the two sectors. With that, she saw the opportunity to leverage the sustainability of the commercial world with the impact of the not for profit world.
Amanda definitely has us optimistic about the future. She says “there’s so much to smile about” and that we’re just at the beginning of mainstreaming these kinds of opportunities. If you are smiling too, subscribe by clicking this link, and pass on the joy by shooting a 5-star rating our way, and tell us how you are enjoying the show!
We were connected to Amanda by Dan Madhavan, a previous guest of the podcast who works closely with Amanda as CEO of IIG. You might also remember that another former guest, Gary Samowitz, is CEO of Stand Up, the organisation which Amanda is a board director at.
You can get the full YouTube HD video of Mike’s conversation with Amanda along with previous conversations by supporting Humans of Purpose as a Patron.
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