Students Gain Insight into Social Impact Investing

We were thrilled to welcome Dr. Joy Ippolito, a social work-trained Social Impact Investment Director, and her team members, Amber Porter, Venture Capital Associate, and Chaarvi Badani, Fall VC Associate and current Columbia SIPA student, for a talk about their work at the American Family Insurance Institute for Corporate and Social Impact last Wednesday!

Dr. Ippolito, Amber, and Chaarvi shared their varied paths to social impact investing and the ways in which they have brought their unique experiences and skill sets to this work. A few highlights from the discussion include the importance of:

  • Defining how you want to help people and make a difference in terms of concrete skills and expertise;
  • Taking the time to build the necessary content knowledge by working with different organizations and communities both on the ground and on a macro-level; and
  • Understanding and effectively communicating the value of these experiences and perspectives in advocating for meaningful and sustainable social change.

We are grateful to Dr. Ippolito, Amber, and Chaarvi, American Family Insurance, as well as Dr. Desmond Patton for making this event possible!

*If you missed the talk, a recorded and captioned video will be made available to students within the Document Library in the next few weeks. A copy of the presentation slides that provides an overview of AmFam’s mission and investment focus areas has already been posted and made available in the Library.

Career Talk with Dr. Joy Ippolito | Wednesday, November 20

UPDATE: The talk will also feature Amber Porter, Venture Capital Associate, and Chaarvi Badani, Fall VC Associate and current Columbia SIPA student.

Join us for an intimate conversation with Dr. Joy Ippolito, Social Impact Investment Director at American Family Insurance Institute for Corporate and Social Impact, on how she uses her social work background and 18+ years of experience in social impact policy and research to guide venture capital investments for health youth development.

Career Talk with Dr. Joy Ippolito
Wednesday, November 20, 12:30 – 1:30 PM
CSSW Room C05

Register here

About Dr. Joy Ippolito

Dr. Joy Ippolito is a Social Impact Investment Director  or the newly launched American Family Insurance Institute for Corporate and Social Impact. She has more than 18 years of policy, research, and graduate teaching experience in urban education, child welfare, juvenile justice, mental health, and supporting healthy families and communities. She uses this knowledge to guide venture capital investments she makes in healthy youth development. Prior to joining the Institute, Joy was a state policy executive and the first Anti-Human Trafficking Coordinator for the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families. She previously taught human development at the Urban Education Institute and conducted implementation and evaluation research at Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago, where she was the project manager for the federal evaluation of the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Initiative (TPPI) for Chicago Public Schools.

She holds a doctorate in human development and master’s degree in prevention science and practice from Harvard University, a master’s degree in clinical social work from the University of Chicago, and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Loyola University Chicago.

2018 Social Enterprise Conference | Friday, November 30

This headline event provides a unique opportunity for you to tap into the vibrant ecosystem of capital for social impact. They have a diverse line-up of over 40 speakers who will be sharing how they are changing the way they think about how capital is sourced and used to generate sustainable solutions to global, systemic challenges through the lens of business, philanthropy, impact investing, social entrepreneurship, and more.

Make sure to catch their keynote speakers, who will share best practices and how they engender new ideas surrounding the intersection of capital and society.

Friday, November 30, 2018
8:00 am – 5:00 pm
Riverside Church, 490 Riverside Drive, New York, NY 10027

Student Tickets $50
General Admission $150

Keynote Speakers

Joel Greenblatt Caroline Roan ’00 SIPA Darren Walker 
Managing Partner
of Gotham Capital
Vice President, Corporate Responsibility at Pfizer Inc; President of Pfizer Foundation President of the Ford Foundation

Sources of Capital

Private Equity Investments in Impact Investing

  • Chris Cozzone, Senior Vice President, Double Impact at Bain Capital Double Impact Fund
  • Brian Dunlap, Head of Technology Investing at TPG / The Rise Fund
  • * Stephanie Kater, Principal at The Bridgespan Group
  • Elizabeth Seeger, Director, Sustainable Investing at KKR

Opportunity Zones + Community Development Financing

  • Ron Moelis, CEO + Founding Partner of L+M Development Partners
  • * Lynne Sagalyn, Earle W. Kazis and Benjamin Schore Professor Emerita of Real Estate at Columbia Business School
  • Chris Slevin, Legislative Director at The Office of Senator Cory Booker

Intergenerational Wealth Transfer + Millennials Driving Impact Investing

  • Ghislain Gouraige, Jr., Senior Vice President, Wealth Management at UBS
  • * Tami Kesselman, Chief Impact Strategist & Alchemist of Aligned Investing Global
  • Abigail Pohlman, Vice President at Goldman Sachs
  • Anna Raginskaya, The Blue Rider Group │ Private Wealth Advisor at Morgan Stanley

Foundations with Impact Focused Portfolios

  • Bob Bancroft, Vice President of Finance for Nathan Cummings Foundation
  • Preeti Bhattacharji ’14BUS ’09CC, Vice President of Integrated Capitals at Heron Foundation
  • Shuaib A. Siddiqui, Director, Impact Investing at Surdna Foundation
  • * Lily Trager, Director of Investing with Impact
    at Morgan Stanley


Uses of Capital

Trends in Social Impact Real Estate Development + Affordable Housing

* Thomas Campbell ’09BUS, Managing Member
of Thorobird Companies
Hugh R. Frater ’85BUS, Chairman of VEREIT / Shift Capital
Muzzy Rosenblatt, CEO & President of Bowery Residents’ Committee
Lauren Zullo, Director of Sustainability at Jonathan Rose Companies

Capital Deployment for Scaling Social Ventures

  • Jessie Gould, Founder of Ox Verte
  • Alex Husted, Co-owner of HELPSY
  • * Julius Mokrauer, Managing Director / Fund Manager at Serious Change, LP
  • Peter Neiman, Executive Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer of Amalgamated Bank

Sports Philanthropy

  • Eric DiMiceli, Director, Social Responsibility at National Basketball Association (NBA)
  • Olga Harvey, Vice President, Community Impact at Women’s Sports Foundation
  • JoAnn Neale, Chief Administrative & Social Responsibility Officer at Major League Soccer
  • * Ben Schornack, NYC Program Officer at Laureus Foundation

Clean Energy + Renewables

  • Peter Davidson, Co-founder and CEO of the Aligned Intermediary (AI)
  • Manish Kumar ’11BUS, Managing Director, Energy Storage at The AES Corporation Nate McMurray ’10BUS, Vice President, Divestiture & Portfolio Strategy at EDF Renewables North America
  • * Bruce Usher, Co-Director of the Tamer Center for Social Enterprise; Elizabeth B. Strickler ’86 and Mark T. Gallogly ’86 Faculty Director; Professor of Professional Practice

* Moderator of the panel

Click here for full program details.

Free Social Impact Career Virtual Summit | October 15 – October 18, 2018

Learn from 40+ Social Impact Leaders sharing their best strategies and advice for growing a career that makes a positive impact in the world at the upcoming Social Impact Career Virtual Summit, hosted by: and co-hosted by:

What You’ll Learn

  • An in-depth understanding of the types of roles and career paths you can pursue in the social impact space
  • Strategies on how to channel your passions, talents, and skills to create a career that makes a difference in the world
  • Clarity on what nonprofits and socially-conscious companies are looking for in job candidates
  • Tips on what you need to have in your resume, cover letter, and LinkedIn profile
  • Advice on exploring new career options, searching for jobs, and tapping into the hidden job market

How the Virtual Summit Works

The Social Impact Career Virtual Summit is a FREE online event providing you with the key insights for growing a career in a B Corp, Social Enterprise, or Nonprofit; in CSR, Sustainability, and Impact Investing; or as a Consultant, Freelancer or Social Entrepreneur.

  • After registration, you’ll receive an email with everything you need for getting the most out of the virtual event.
  • When the summit begins on October 15th, you’ll receive an email each day with a link to access all the interviews for that day.
  • All interview recordings will be available until midnight, October 18th.
  • If you can’t make all the sessions, no worries! After you get your free ticket, we will provide an option to access all the summit recordings to watch at your own convenience!

Summit Schedule + Speakers

Day 1 – October 15th (7:00 pm EST)
Facebook Live Kick-Off Event: Summit Overview + Live Career Coaching Q&A with Marcos Salazar, CEO of Be Social Change

Day 2 – October 16th (9:00 am EST)
For-Profit Careers: Using Business as a Force For Good

Day 3 – October 17th (9:00 am EST)
Nonprofit Careers: Working to Solve the Most Pressing Social and Environmental Problems

Day 4 – October 18th (9:00 am EST)
Entrepreneurial Careers: Working as a Social Entrepreneur, Impact Consultant, Freelancer, and Creative Social Impact Career Pathways

Get your FREE ticket!