How to accelerate impact investing with Sarah Gordon

Impact investing has moved into the mainstream. Many asset owners and managers are trying to deliver more positive social and environmental impact as well as a financial return. Yet just a few years ago many institutions were dismissive or sceptical. How did this change?

"It's not about telling people what they should do, it's demonstrating what can be done and the power of the possible," says Sarah Gordon, the founding chief executive of the Impact Investing Institute which she ran from 2019 until recently. 

The Institute has found personal engagement alongside practical tools and case studies particularly effective. How else has it moved impact investing into the mainstream, and how has it performed against its four key objectives? 

Why must we accelerate our ambitions and how can we do so? Is fiduciary duty a barrier or obstacle to impact investing? How can we scale up place-based investing – and why are community voices as crucial as social and environmental benefit?

What has the Institute learned from from community development finance institutions and what can they learn from the Institute's experience?

This comprehensive conversation with Sarah Gordon also covers financing the just transition to Net Zero, practical steps individuals can take, the vital role of the media, and Sarah's next two projects, which will be located within the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, a research institute at the London School of Economics.

This is a packed episode with much to reflect on, learn from and put in to practice.

What next?

• Visit the Impact Investing Institute where you can access case studies along with blueprints, guidance and tools to catalyse more impact investing: https://www.impactinvest.org.uk/
• More about community development finance institutions (CDFIs) at https://responsiblefinance.org.uk