Join the upcoming StrategEast.Live panel discussion on June 21, 15:00 CET | 9:00 EST
The wealth/capital is gradually shifting into the hands of millennials – a generation that does not prioritize high income. They are more interested in solving socially important issues, creating products that bring both money and benefit. This is how social entrepreneurship appears and for this, there is impact investing – an investment made into companies, organizations, and funds to generate a measurable, beneficial social or environmental impact alongside a financial return. At the same time, impact investing is not the same as a charity – the project should pay off.
Research by the Global Impact Investing Network shows that the social investment market is worth around $60 billion a year. Impact investors are primarily interested in startups that meet Sustainable Development Goals which address the global challenges, including poverty, inequality, climate change, environmental degradation, peace and justice; aiming at ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education, gender equality, energy-saving technologies, responsible consumption and production, etc. These principles were developed by the UN, and now they are applicable in private investment.
StrategEast.Live gathers experts to discuss the role of Social entrepreneurship and Impact Investment in Eurasia. The moderator of the discussion will be Olga Afanasyeva, PhD, Head of Kyiv Branch Office at ELEKS.
The main issues to be discussed:
- In which countries of Eurasia was it possible to create an ecosystem for Social entrepreneurship and Impact Investment? What additional measures could the Eurasian state take to develop such an ecosystem?
- What is the role of non-governmental organizations in the development of Social entrepreneurship and Impact Investment?
- What areas of Social entrepreneurship and Impact Investment – education, healthcare, gender equality, security – are the most relevant for the countries of Eurasia? What landmark projects do you know in your country or what projects are led by your company/organization?
- What can be the role of Western financial organizations and development institutions in the development of Social entrepreneurship and Impact Investment in Eurasia?
Confirmed panel participants:
- Olesea Ghedrovici, Senior Economic Policy Advisor to the Moldovan Government at GIZ;
- Jeffrey Liebert, CEO, Gazelle Finance;
- Roman Zinchenko, Co-Founder of Greencubator, Head of energy committee at Ukrainian Venture Capital Association.
StrategEast.Live is a series of online panel discussions launched by StrategEast in 2020 to continue the conversation on how technology can lead to an overall transformation in Eurasia. During these events, the esteemed guests put forward the ideas that facilitate the further development of a knowledge-driven economy in the region.
Olga Afanasyeva – PhD, Head of Kyiv Branch Office at ELEKS.
Prior to holding the current position, Olga Afanasyeva served as the Executive Director of the Ukrainian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association. Financial Times and Google nominated her as a Changemaker New Europe 100 in 2016. In 2017, Olga was appointed as Ukraine’s Ambassador of Women in Venture Capital. Olga holds a PhD in Finance at the Ukrainian banking academy of the National Bank of Ukraine. She has been studying at the University of Applied Sciences of the Deutsche Bundesbank, Academy of Capital Market Leaders at Lesław A. Paga Foundation (Poland). Olga has 8 years of experience lecturing at the Ukrainian banking academy of the National Bank of Ukraine, University of Greenwich (London, UK), as well as at the Jean Monnet Program of Erasmus +. She has experience in corporate governance and international cooperation. She also worked at the Warsaw Stock Exchange.
Olga is a member of the EU Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum Working Group “Economic Integration & Convergence with EU Policies”. She is an author of more than 50 scientific papers, researches, and 3 books in finance, investments and banking.
Olga was co-organizer of Ukrainian Davos Nights (January 2017), and initiator of the first-ever Ukrainian Startup Pavilion at Consumer Electronic Show in Las Vegas.
Olesea Ghedrovici – Senior Economic Policy Advisor to the Moldovan Government at GIZ.
Olesea Ghedrovici is heading the policy component within the project “Economic policy advice to the Moldovan Government”, implemented by GIZ Moldova with the financial support of the Governments of Germany and Switzerland. The project represented by Olesea Ghedrovici provided expertise to the Ministry of Economy and Infrastructure in the elaboration of the Regulation of the National Commission for Social Entrepreneurship and supports the Ministry and the SMEs Development Organization of Moldova (ODIMM) in the development of the dedicated National Programs.
Roman Zinchenko, Co-Founder of Greencubator, Head of energy committee at Ukrainian Venture Capital Association.
Roman Zinchenko is a co-founder of Greencubator, Ukrainian cleantech and smart energy evangelist, head of the energy committee at UVCA, sustainable entrepreneurship and communication trainer, visiting lecturer at Lviv Business School of UCU. Roman is the team leader of EBRD’s Climate Innovation Vouchers project managed by Greencubator; he advises green startups as well as corporations, and develops ecosystems for low-carbon entrepreneurship in Ukraine. In 2014 Lviv Business School Roman introduced his course “Green Business Models” for MBA and MSc in innovations programs, followed by «Innovation Management» in 2021.
Roman co-created TeslaCamp & Hack4Energy contests and brought to Ukraine international cleantech competitions, including ClimateLaunchpad and PowerUp. In addition to being a national trainer for ClimateLaunchpad, Roman has also contributed to the national selection phase of international innovation programs like Startup Energy Transition, EDF Pulse innovation contest, Rockstart Smart Energy program, 1776 / Challenge Cup, CODE_n @ CeBIT and others. As a mentor, Roman contributed to numerous entrepreneurship initiatives including UCU Center for Entrepreneurship, Garage48 Circular Economy Hackathon, re:think Circular Hackathon, Startupbootcamp Berlin, Pioneers Kyiv, Hub:raum Krakow and others.
Mr. Zinchenko holds an MA in international information from the Institute of International Relations (Kyiv, 1998), Aspen Institute alumnus (Executive Leadership Program, 2006). Lives in Kyiv and loves bridges.
Awards
- Stanford Bright Award https://goo.gl/jVSUj2
- New Europe 100 https://goo.gl/ERLFvw
- Ukraine’s Top-20 Innovators by Focus https://goo.gl/oL9ukH
Jeffrey Liebert – CEO, Gazelle Finance.
Jeffrey Liebert is the CEO of the fund manager Gazelle Finance and successfully raised $42M in capital commitments for the Gazelle Fund, which invests in SMEs in Central Asia, Caucasus, and East Europe. Prior to this Jeffrey was a co-founder of an alternative energy and carbon offset project development company, Verdeo Group, which was sold in 2011 to Sindicatum. Prior to Verdeo Group, Jeffrey was a Vice President for Climate Change Capital’s (acquired by Bunge) $1 billion carbon fund, where he was responsible for developing and managing a portfolio of industrial energy efficiency and methane gas utilization projects throughout Eurasia.
As an Investment Officer at IFC, Jeffrey led the development of a $30M in-house clean-tech venture capital fund that is now IFC’s Cleantech Investment Group with over $200M AUM. He structured a $465M energy efficiency finance and renewable energy risk-sharing facility (CHUEE) with $46M of IFC capital in first and second loss positions with Chinese banks: Industrial Bank, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, and Bank of Beijing. The deal was the runner-up for the 2006 Financial Times Sustainable Deal of the Year Award. As of today, the facility has mobilized over $6.3B in financing in over 200 projects.
Before IFC, Jeffrey consulted to multinational corporations on market entry strategies for China and established and managed textile factories throughout Central Asia and China. Jeffrey served in the Peace Corps in Mongolia immediately following the collapse of the Soviet Union, holds an MBA from Wharton Business School, a BA in Russian Studies and International Relations from Tufts University, and speaks Mandarin, Mongolian, and Russian. Jeffrey serves on the board of The Taimen Fund, a conservation organization operating in Mongolia that he helped to establish in 2003.
