ImpactAlpha LP/GP: Latin American impact investors map a way forward

Greetings, Agents of Impact! 

Welcome to this week’s ImpactAlpha LP/GP, where we take you inside the real business of impact investing and the dynamic relationships between owners, managers and intermediaries of impact capital.

In this week’s newsletter:

• Cautious optimism among impact investors around Venezuela
• A to Z’s impact-first (financial) returns 
• Tracing food ingredients and risks
• Working capital for emerging managers

Featured: Geopolitical Risk

Now what? Like Venezuela, Latin American fund managers start to map a way forward. Across Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and elsewhere, the diaspora of Venezuelan entrepreneurs has helped build investment networks to improve conditions for farmers, urban residents and natural ecosystems. They’re eager to do the same for their own country. “We think about the possibility of returning and applying everything we have learned and built over the years,” says Adriana Mata of Agile Impacts, an impact measurement startup based in Valencia, Spain, who left Venezuela about a decade ago (see, “Impact measurement was very complicated – before AI”). Proximity to Venezuela was reflected in the range of reactions to the dramatic US seizure of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. From afar, the exercise of gunboat diplomacy raised alarms about the rule of law and US designs on Venezuela’s vast oil reserves. But fund managers and field builders close to the ground also are assessing possible opportunities to play a constructive role in improving livelihoods and communities in the once-prosperous country if and when conditions improve. “Alongside Venezuelans around the world who have opposed authoritarianism for decades, we remain cautiously optimistic,” Impaqto Capital’s Michelle Arevalo-Carpenter tells ImpactAlpha from Quito, Ecuador. “The key question now is how Venezuela might transition peacefully toward the democracy its people deserve, and how impact capital could help by leveraging Venezuelan entrepreneurial talent, rebuilding trust in the private sector, and creating inclusive pathways for development rooted in dignity and opportunity.”

• Oil and gas mirage. What if you grabbed the world’s largest reserve of oil and nobody wanted it? Venezuela is thought to have reserves of more than 300 billion barrels of oil, about 17% of the world’s reserves, according to the US Energy Information Administration. On Tuesday, President Donald Trump claimed Venezuela would send the US 50 million barrels of oil, “and that money will be controlled by me,” to benefit the people of both countries. His administration is already inviting in US oil and gas companies to develop Venezuela’s oil capacity. Industry experts say the president may not get many takers. “Venezuela doesn’t have the world’s largest supply of easy oil – it has the world’s largest inventory of very difficult oil,” say Guy Prince and Harry Benham of UK-based CarbonTracker. “The oil majors do not need or want more oil,” agrees Andrew Behar of climate-focused shareholder group As You Sow. The lack of interest, he says, shows “low industry confidence due to high costs and a global glut that will bring oil prices down and make renewables even more price competitive.”
  
• Donroe Doctrine. The US “is itself unwinding its own global order,” the Eurasia Group proclaims in its overview of top risks for 2026. In Latin America, where President Trump’s “Donroe Doctrine” asserts American primacy, “this posture will heighten the risk of policy overreach and unintended consequences,” the consultancy concludes. In Europe, people are shaken, at least as much by Trump’s bellicose posturing as by events in far-off Venezuela. A remarkable joint statement from European leaders on Arctic security (read: Greenland) pointedly reminded the US of its 1951 defense treaty with Denmark as well as its NATO obligations. Carbon Equity’s Jacqueline van den Ende used the developments to issue a call for Europe to become independent “as fast as we can.” Carolina Suarez of Latimpacto, a network of over 1,100 Latin America-focused impact investors, says, “The prevailing sentiment at present is one of shock and uncertainty,” but she remains cautiously optimistic. “Our role is not to pass judgment, but to remain engaged, attentive and prepared to act in ways that support people and generate positive impact as circumstances evolve.”
  
• Keep reading, “Now what? Like Venezuela, Latin American fund managers start to map a way forward,” by Erik Stein, Amy Cortese and David Bank. 

Signals: LP Snapshot

A to Z Impact: The financial returns of an impact-first family office. When Jeffrey Kaplan founded the family office and foundation known as A to Z Impact, he and the team placed “transparency” second only to “impact driven” on its list of values. Since then, managing director Alex Evangelides has spelled out “Why we invested” for each of the firm’s investments. The team is now going public with a post on their financial returns. As an impact-first investor with a focus on capital preservation, A to Z Impact is happy to sacrifice financial returns for more impact, says Evangelides (see, “Seeking real-world outcomes, these families, foundations and funds are investing for ‘impact first’”). “Our conviction is at an all-time high,” he writes. “We believe trading some financial return for deeper impact is absolutely worth it.”

• Impact assets. A to Z has roughly $20 million in assets under management. Its direct investments, primarily loans to nonprofits and social enterprises such as Acceso, Balloon and Be Girl, have delivered an average annual internal rate of return of roughly 4.5%. Its investments in debt-like funds such as AgDevCo, Dearfield and Project Equity have delivered an annual IRR of 3.8%. And the weighted annual IRR of its legacy portfolio of venture capital funds (now less of a focus) is -1.3%.
  
• LP = leadership potential. The takeaway message: “It’s still early!” says Evangelides. He’s cautiously optimistic that capital preservation is possible with an impact-first investment strategy. “We sincerely hope that more individuals and organizations will create impact-first strategies and portfolios, and we are sharing our results to further encourage this happening,” he says. “Come on in, the water’s fine!”

• Keep reading, “A to Z Impact: The financial returns of an impact-first family office,” by A to Z Impact’s Alex Evangelides. 

Dealflow: Food Systems

TPG’s Rise Fund takes a majority stake in Trustwell to strengthen food traceability and compliance. The equity firm’s majority investment in Oregon-based Trustwell reflects growing demand for greater transparency across food supply chains. “Visibility into the foods we eat, and their ingredients, continue to grow in importance,” said TPG’s Akash Pradhan. Trustwell’s products include AskReg, an AI-powered compliance assistant built to simplify labeling and compliance questions based on data sourced from the US Food and Drug Administration, US Department of Agriculture and global regulators. Trustwell says its software leverages 40 years of data on more than 145,000 food ingredients. 

• PE exit. TPG invested through its TPG Rise Funds, which manage roughly $29 billion in impact assets. Upon closing of the deal, The Riverside Company will exit its investment in Trustwell. The New York-based private equity investor invested in the company before it rebranded as Trustwell, following a merger of ESHA Research’s nutritional analysis and label development solution and FoodLogicQ’s supply chain management software. Riverside’s Brian Sauer said Riverside helped Trustwell launch AI-driven allergen alerts and traceability tools compliant with the Food Safety Modernization Act.
  
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Impact Voices: Emerging Managers

Working capital is the missing link for next-gen managers. Long before a new fund manager begins earning fees, the costs of doing business pile up. Staff salaries, legal fees and other expenses ahead of a first close can add up to hundreds of thousands of dollars. “For nascent GPs who do not have personal wealth or deep-pocketed partners, accessing finance to cover costs during their first few months of fundraising is a significant barrier,” write Catalyze’s Regina Green and Spring Point Partners’ Sabrina Bainbridge in a guest post. This “working capital gap” is holding back a new generation of managers, many from underprivileged backgrounds, who would otherwise build lasting and impactful investment firms (see related, “Mission Driven Finance seeks to help new impact managers get going”). Green and Bainbridge call for purpose-built, non-dilutive working capital solutions that treat firm-building infrastructure as a necessary investment rather than a personal burden for GPs. 

• Flexible and non-dilutive. Short-term tools like capital call facilities and warehouse lending can bridge immediate gaps, but they are “not designed for the kind of strategic firm-building costs that managers face as they scale,” explain Green and Bainbridge. Equity-based GP staking, meanwhile, can “dilute firm ownership and can impede equitable wealth generation.” Their solution: working capital loans that provide a runway without requiring GPs to give up ownership or risk the long-term economic upside of their management companies. Drawing on lessons from Catalyze’s GP Runway Fund, Green and Bainbridge show how small amounts of capital can have outsized impact. “The end goal,” they write, “is a market where fund managers have access to the same types of strategic capital they extend to their portfolio companies.”
  
• Keep reading, “Working capital is the missing link for next-gen managers,” by Regina Green and Sabrina Bainbridge.

Agents of Impact: Follow the Talent

The California Public Employees’ Retirement System appoints Shari Slate, previously with CVS Health, as chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer… The African American Alliance of CDFI CEOs recruits Amber Banks, former chief operating officer of the Carolina Small Business Development Fund, to be its next president and CEO… Melissa Hoover, previously with Democracy at Work Institute, becomes Apis & Heritage Capital’s managing director of ownership culture.

The Skillman Foundation welcomes Walter Cook, previously with Detroit Public Schools Community District, as learning and impact manager… Kate Murphy, former principal at Soros Economic Development Fund, joins Open Road as an investment officer… Social Finance adds Jenny Hafers, previously with the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers, as senior associate of corporate finance and operations.

The Blue Bond Accelerator seeks a consultant for a blue bonds market engagement strategy. The accelerator is also hiring a market intelligence and data manager, an issuer engagement manager, and a communications and marketing lead… The Climate Policy Initiative is looking for a financial innovation consultant… The Nature Conservancy is looking for a sustainable debt director.

Norfund is on the hunt for an environmental and social manager… The McConnell Foundation has an opening for a social inclusion program director… Macmillan Cancer Support is hiring an impact investments manager… BlueMark is recruiting an impact investing senior analyst in London… BFA Global seeks a research and impact lead in India or Kenya.

👉 View (or post) impact investing jobs on ImpactAlpha’s Career Hub.

Thank you for your impact!

– Jan. 7, 2026