Meet the 2021 Fellows

A spotlight on Africa and Asia

AVPA and AVPN (our Asia sister network) in collaboration with Faculty from the Oxford Saïd Business School are proud to announce the inaugural Africa-Asia Impact Investing Fellowship to nurture asset owners and capital managers into becoming effective impact investing practitioners. Leveraging strong networks in Africa and Asia, this Fellowship will build the capacity and knowledge of fellows in areas such as innovative finance, impact management, and leadership in complexity. The Fellowship aims to ultimately increase the flow of social investment capital into Africa and Asia.

Hear from the inaugural Africa-Asia Impact Investing Fellows

About

What is the Fellowship about?

The Fellowship will select 30 individuals in Asia and 30 individuals in Africa who embody the values and skills needed to develop a strong impact investing sector. It will then work with these Fellows to build their capacity to ensure that they have the right information and resources, knowledge and insight on how to build an impact strategy, manage a portfolio, define, evaluate and manage impact, among other skills.
What is the Fellowship about?
Why is it necessary?

Why is it necessary?

Impact investing is at its nascent stage in Asia and Africa. Although it is now getting an increasing level of attention from various actors in the social investment ecosystem, there are only a handful of impact funds and foundations that are actually practicing impact investing. The obstacles that are hindering impact investing from gaining traction in Asia and Africa amongst wealth holders, asset managers and their advisors include the perception that it will necessitate a trade-off on financial returns, a lack of an investment-ready pipeline, inexperience in managing a portfolio, and the complexities in defining and evaluating impact measurement.

Who should apply?

The Fellows will consist of Private Equity and Venture Capital Fund managers, Foundation Directors, Family Office Principals/Directors, NextGen Leaders, Incubators and Accelerators; those who have access to significant capital, or have responsibility for large investment portfolios and are used to managing assets of High Net Worth Individuals, families or funds. These individuals are either deploying or intend to deploy capital with an impact investing lens.

Please register your interest by filling this form. Applications close on 12 August 2021. The Fellowship costs USD 975 for Fellows based in Asia and USD 1275 for Fellows based in Africa to be paid in full upon acceptance.
Who should apply?

Fellowship Benefits



Become an impact investing practitioner

Develop know-how and gain tools to apply an impact lens to your investing strategy

Grow your network

Build rapport with leading practitioners in Asia and Africa and explore collaboration opportunities

Understand latest regional and global trends

Be immersed in a strong impact investing network and deepen your knowledge

Fellowship Agenda

Early September

Induction: Introduction and Orientation

Mid-September

Module 1: Overview of Impact Investing in Africa and Asia

  • Understand the Asia and African Social Investment Landscapes and learn from innovators and trends in this space as a starting point to map your impact journey
  • Build the case for how this model can lay the foundation for more effective deployment of capital into the social economy in Asia and Africa

Mid-October

Module 2: Impact Measurement and Management in an Age of Complexity

  • Understand the universe of impact standards and establish a common language around impact goals and performance
  • Apply leadership strategies for integrating IMM into organization
  • Become familiar with tools that will help you assess and measure systemic change

Mid-November

Module 3: Using Blended Finance to address Complex Problems

  • Learn how grants, donations and high-return investments blend together to create innovative fund structures and large-scale impact
  • Gain insight into social finance tools including catalytic philanthropy, public-private partnerships, social and development impact bonds and systems change models

Early-December

Graduation

Meet the Facilitators

Gayle Peterson

Fellow,
Oxford Said Business School (more…)

Sombo Chunda

Senior Fellow,
pfc Social Impact Advisors

Dr. Frank Aswani

CEO,
AVPA

Nancy Kairo

Executive Director – East Africa Region,
AVPA

Sujata Lamba

Director, Finance & Private Sector, Competitive Value Chain Practice,
The World Bank

Naina Subberwal Batra

Chairperson & CEO,
AVPN

Robert Mayfield Yawson

Fellow,
pfc Social Impact Advisors

Jennifer Pryce

President & CEO,
Calvert Impact Capital (more…)

Safeena Husain

Founder & Board Member, Educate Girls (more…)

Hari Balasubramanian

Managing Partner at EcoAdvisors & Co-founder,
EcoInvestors Capital

Phyllis Costanza

CEO
UBS Optimus Foundation (more…)

K Sujata

Senior Fellow,
pfc Social Impact Advisors (more…)

Dr. Adam Richards

Director of Impact,
Social Value International

Komal Sahu

Chief of Sustainable Finance,
AVPN (more…)

Roshini Prakash

Knowledge Director,
AVPN (more…)

Partners





About AVPN

AVPN is a unique funders’ network based in Singapore committed to building a vibrant and high impact social investment community across Asia. As an advocate, capacity builder, and platform that cuts across private, public and social sectors, AVPN embraces all types of engagement to improve the effectiveness of members across the Asia Pacific region.

The core mission of AVPN is to increase the flow of financial, human and intellectual capital to the social sector by connecting and empowering key stakeholders from funders to the social purpose organizations they support.

Frequently Asked Questions