Webinar | Innovative financing mechanisms for social impact - Perspectives from Latin America and Europe

With a decade of experience in the social investment space, as part of her long journey at Impact Europe, the investing for impact network, Alessia contributes to build the impact investing market, by supporting impact investors and all impact stakeholders in connecting, exchanging, learning from each other, and providing them with research, data insights and capacity building opportunities. Alessia aims at accelerating impact by focusing on building partnerships with other networks and relevant actors in the field, sharing learning and good practices, breaking silos, and facilitating the creation and the exchange of knowledge.

In her capacity as Impact Europe Director of Knowledge and Programs, Alessia leads a team of 8 young enthusiastic professionals working on research activities, content and programs development, programs management, data collection, and community engagement.

Alessia co-authored publications, practical cases, and articles on topics such as venture philanthropy, impact measurement and management, impact strategies, the European impact ecosystem, tailored and hybrid finance. Thanks to her research, she prominently contributed to the Impact Europe narrative around investing for impact and to the debate on the different nuances of impact investing. Alessia is invited to speak at international conferences and give guest lectures at European Universities and Business Schools (e.g., ESADE Center for Social Impact, Nova School of Business and Economics, Luiss – Libera Università Internazionale degli Studi Sociali Guido Carli, INSEAD Business School in Paris, Solvay Brussels School Economics & Management).

Alessia also cooperates with Impact Europe's sister organisations in Latin America, Asia and Africa (GAIN, Latimpacto, AVPN and AVPA) to strengthen the collaboration among actors active in the global impact ecosystem, by sharing learning, facilitating the exchange of experiences, contributing to scale successes across regions.

Carolina is CEO of LatImpacto, the Latin America Venture Philanthropy Network, a regional community of social investors that connects and mobilizes capital (human, intellectual, and financial) committed to achieving the most significant social and environmental impact.

Mrs Suárez has over 14 years of experience in the fields of private social investment and philanthropy. Throughout her career and as an expert working with the social sector, she has played a strategic role in the international arena in promoting effective transformations by knowledge sharing and building effective partnerships. She is a reference on strategic approaches to philanthropy and is frequently invited to participate in high-level debates regarding private social investment.

Before heading LatImpacto, she was a Senior Adviser at the International Venture Philanthropy Center (IVPC), where she co-led and strategized the creation of the LatImpacto, based on the success of the European Venture Philanthropy Association (EPVA) and the Asian Venture Philanthropy Association (APVN).

Mrs Suárez was also the Founder and CEO of the Association of Family and Corporate Foundations -AFE Colombia- since its creation in March 2008 until June 2018. During these years, she positioned, nationwide and internationally, the AFE as a leading entity and point of reference in philanthropic and social issues, projecting its reach all over Colombia and to international borders, where she contributed to achieving greater synergies and alliances to carry out projects with major social impact, and influencing public policy to promote social transformations through the collective work.

Alexandre has over 26 years of experience in the field of law and taxation and has worked in the areas of M&A and wealth management, succession and tax planning in Brazil and abroad. As well as being one of the founding partners of Wright Capital Wealth Management, he was a partner at Vinci Partners in the area of wealth management from 2011 to 2014.

Before that, he was a founding partner at Velloza Girotto and Lindenbojm law firm from 1998 to 2011, responsible for the area of consulting. He began his career at Banco Norchem S/A, he was also a lawyer with Mattos Filho law firm and worked for Greenberg Traurig Attorneys at law in NY in 1997 and 1998.

He is a member of the Board at Ache Laboratories and had been a member of the consultative Board of Racional Engenharia-. He graduated in Law at PUC-SP.

Marta Garcia is a Director and Co-lead of Social Finance's International team, with direct responsibilities for Social Finance's work in Spain and Latin America and for building a network of practitioners in this region. Marta plays an active role on Social Finance's market-building efforts by providing advice, support and insight to key stakeholders in countries outside the UK.

Marta's professional career spans several countries and sectors. She has extensive commercial experience, having worked for over a decade in strategic management consulting (Boston Consulting Group) and commercial banking (Capital One Bank) in both advisory and operational roles. She has also spent a large part of her career building the growth, sustainability and impact-creation capabilities of non-profit organizations and social enterprises (UnLtd, The Bridgespan Group, Population Services International). More recently, as Head of the Leaders' Quest Foundation, Marta gained hands-on expertise on the running of an operational foundation. Marta has been the Vice-Chair of FPA, a UK-based sexual health charity. She has a BA in Economics and Business Administration from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (Spain) and an MBA from Stanford University.