Impact Investing

• Curious about impact investing?
• Interested in learning about the latest investment strategy?
• Do you have a company and want to know if impact investing is the right fit?

Join us for our virtual panel of impact investors and experts in the area to learn more.

Impact investing is about purposefully making investments that help achieve certain social and environmental benefits while generating financial returns. That refers to everything from investing in companies with an explicit mission aligned with values to avoiding investing in companies that do not meet those criteria. It can also be defined more expansively to include donating to nonprofits and projects that blend these charitable funds with investment capital to support larger or higher-risk projects that may not otherwise be financially viable.

Panelists:

Julie Cranston, Executive Director, RevFund (Moderator)

Oralia Alvarez, Director of Business Development, Mission Driven Finance 

Lee Barken, Chief Community Officer, Collective Sun 

Luis Gutierrez Prieto, Regional Business Development, Founders First Capital Partners 

Sara Templeton, Business Development Officer, Impact Assets

Zoom link will be sent upon registration

About the Panelists:

Julie Cranston, Executive Director, RevFund (Moderator)

In addition to her role at RevFund, Julie is the owner of The Cranston Group, which provides operations consulting and ongoing management for early-stage investment funds and incubators that support technology, life science, social impact, minority, and disadvantaged entrepreneurs.

Julie was previously Executive Director of Cove Fund II and Director of the SBDC @ UCI Beall Applied Innovation.  Prior to these roles, Julie worked with Varo Bank founders to create and support operations for what would become the first mobile-only bank to receive a bank charter in the U.S.

Oralia Alvarez, Director of Business Development, Mission Driven Finance

Oralia is an ecosystem builder, mentor, advisor, and angel investor to small businesses and startups. She serves as the Director of Business Development at Mission Driven Finance, a B Corp, social impact investment firm that has moved $85M into the community. Oralia also serves on the board of directors at Startup San Diego.

Prior to joining Mission Driven Finance, Oralia was the national director of business development who played a key role in the growth and expansion of one of the largest platforms for diverse-led businesses, providing accelerator programs, funding, and advisory support.

Lee Barken, Chief Community Officer, Collective Sun

Lee Barken, CPA, LEED-AP is the Chief Community Officer at CollectiveSun®, LLC. He has broad industry experience in renewable energy project finance, environmental commodities consulting and public policy analysis. He is dedicated to helping nonprofits and social ventures develop economically viable energy projects. Lee writes and speaks on the topics of renewable energy project finance, social entrepreneurship, and community financing. Lee plays an active role on the board of directors of Cleantech San Diego and the Impact Investment committee at San Diego Grantmakers. Lee received a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting from San Diego State University where he graduated with honors and academic distinction.

Luis Gutierrez Prieto, Regional Business Development, Founders First Capital Partners 

Luis leads regional Business Development for Founders First Capital that is focused on empowering diverse, job-creating businesses. Founders First has an integrated model with an accelerator and revenue-based financing model.  Luis is also Managing Partner for 12/21 International LLC, providing financial consulting services to Latino American businesses. Notably, he saved $300M in working capital by developing and implementing a cell phone financing program for a Bolivian telecommunication company. Additionally, he increased revenue by 150% for a 20-year-old money remittance family business by developing a strategic business plan to diversify products and services, determined pricing strategy, and provided operational leadership. Prior to establishing his consulting firm, he served as Vice President of Financial Services for Brightstar Corporation. While there, he introduced and developed financial instruments to increase purchasing power and improve balance sheets; specifically, designed and implemented a Price Put Option, Buy-Back Program, and a Leasing Program (a B2B2C business model) for the $14B company.

Luis also made significant positive impacts during his six-year tenure at Banco Azteca as first the Dinero Express Director before being promoted to the Latino America Director. He led the expansion of money transfer and microloan operations ($500 to $5000 for a loan portfolio worth $600M) of six financial subsidiaries of Banco Azteca throughout Latino American countries (Spain, Bolivia, Peru, Brazil, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, & Panama) as head of hiring, training, compliance, and regulatory needs for 19K employees.  He also designed Dinero Express, a money remittance program. In addition, he helped grow the business to achieve a record-setting 45K operations per day (industry average - 40,000 per month) through the effective leadership of a 200-member operation team, penetrating new markets, and rebranding program to DEX. 

Sara Templeton, Business Development Officer, Impact Assets

Sara Templeton is a seasoned philanthropy and impact investing professional who firmly believes that impact investing is a powerful tool for driving systemic change.  At ImpactAssets, Sara successfully manages a diverse set of client relationships; her holistic approach empowers clients to maximize the impact of their resources by aligning their grantmaking with investable charitable assets.

Throughout her career, Sara has worked with a range of nonprofits, family foundations, and social entrepreneurs. Her time at the Annenberg Foundation was particularly transformative, fueling her passion for promoting inclusive and equitable change. During this period, Sara played a pivotal role in the launch of PledgeLA, a pioneering initiative that united the Mayor’s office, Los Angeles-based tech companies, and venture capital firms to enhance access

to jobs and capital for underrepresented communities.  Sara's educational background includes a master's degree in Social Entrepreneurship from the University of Southern California's Marshall School of Business, where she gained invaluable insights into leveraging business principles for social impact. Complementing this knowledge, she holds an undergraduate degree in Political Science from UC Irvine, which deepened her understanding of governance and policy issues as they relate to advancing social impact objectives.