September 2022

Welcome to Wealth, Power & Social Change, our quarterly LinkedIn newsletter about how we can create a more sustainable and equitable world together through philanthropy, impact investing, and ESG. 


In September, we celebrated two years at Lebec Consulting! When Alix Lebec launched Lebec Consulting in 2020, the goal was to help clients across the philanthropy, impact investing, and ESG spectrum break with conventionality and have the courage, tools, and insights to steer significantly more capital toward impactful, women-led, and gender-inclusive businesses and solutions creating a more equitable, sustainable world. 

Two years later, our clients, team, partners, and strategic advisory board are making this vision a reality. Thank you to: Water.org , myWHY Agency, Inc., WaterEquity, Root Capital, Beyond Capital Ventures, Acumen, Alliance Global Advisors, The Global Fund, Panorama Global, The Elevate Prize Foundation, M+D, and so many others for supporting us. 

With you, we are ecosystem builders, co-creators, advisors, collaborators, and storytellers. 

From shaping a new future for philanthropy and impact investing with global social entrepreneurs, high-net-worth individuals, and next generation companies—to helping institutional asset managers and corporations step toward ESG 2.0 through more proactive ESG policies, integration plans, materiality assessments, and impact investments—we are just getting started. 

A big thank you to Christine Perrin-Stocco for sharing our story in her GB Living & Cocoplum Living Magazines (pictured above). Photo credit: Unmuted Brand

Our team is growing! Meet Tara: 

Tara Jafarmadar, ESG Data Specialist, is the founder and CEO of Baobab, a tool that helps businesses seamlessly develop and manage their Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) strategies. She also consults businesses on addressing and managing their ESG risks. Prior to building Baobab, Tara worked at Google, leading innovative sustainable infrastructure pilots for the company’s real estate organization. She specialized in biodiversity, circularity, and water resiliency efforts. During her time at Google, she also worked with company executives in developing and operationalizing their global real estate strategy. Prior to that, she worked as a deployment manager and Google Fiber, leading city-scale build-outs of high-speed internet infrastructure across the mid-western U.S. 

Tara is a civil engineer by profession, a LEED Accredited Professional, and a certified Project Management Professional (PMP). Tara received her Master’s in Engineering for Sustainable Development from the University of Cambridge, and her Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from Florida International University. 

During her free time, Tara leads the mentorship program for Women in Cleantech and Sustainability. She is also passionate about sustainability in the built environment and the circular economy. Tara is an OnDeck and StartingBloc Fellow. She is an avid reader, scuba diver, and dog mom. 

We are also excited to introduce our newest Strategic Advisory Board Member, Toni Johnson.

Toni is CEO and founder of Mission OutLoud, which uses creative communications strategy and content to unleash clients’ voices and cut through the noise. She is on the finance committee for the Christopher Reynolds Foundation and was recently communications director for The Schmidt Family Foundation. In 2020, she edited the “Impact Investing Handbook” for Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors. And previously in her role as head of knowledge and influence for the Heron Foundation, Toni designed and implemented the foundation’s long-term public influence and engagement strategy. She is a former deputy editor and staff writer for the Emmy-winning website of the Council on Foreign Relations. She spent nearly six years focusing on energy, the environment, religion, and global health. 

Toni also spent four years as a reporter for Congressional Quarterly, where she covered a range of legislation. Her work has appeared in numerous major publications, including the New York Times, the Washington Post, CNN.com, Global Post, the Huffington Post, Business Insider, and Oil and Gas Magazine. She has covered events ranging from fights over Kyoto compliance, food and energy price surges, and HIV in Africa to Hurricane Katrina, the Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the Fukushima crisis. She was awarded journalism fellowships with the International Reporting Project in 2009 and the East-West Center in 2010. Toni received her bachelor’s degree from Bard College at Simon’s Rock and her master’s in international journalism from American University. 

You might recognize Toni Johnson from our first season of Women(+) We’ve Been Waiting For. You can watch the episode below. 

One of our Strategic Advisory Board members, Susan McPherson, Founder & CEO of McPherson Strategies, recently shared some moving reflections from a trip to Greenland with 24 women from seven countries; the trip was organized by Active Philanthropy and featured prominent leaders such as the The Club of Rome‘s President, Sandrine Dixson-Declève, Apolitical Foundation‘s CEO, Lisa Witter, renowned economist, Kate Haworth and global economist and climate scientist, Dr. Twila Moon.

READ ABOUT SUSAN'S GREENLAND TRIP AND REFLECTIONS HERE.

Our team has been busy traveling in the U.S. and Europe to speak on panels and lead dynamic conversations around different capital tools for social impact. 

Last week, our Founder & CEO, Alix Lebec, along with Jessica Gisondo, Director of Communications & Partnerships, and Erin Risner, Chief Marketing Officer, spent the past week in New York for #UNGA.  

We attended:

Global Africa Business Initiative:

Alix sat down with Melissa Mahtani at the Global Africa Business Initiative to talk about the untapped potential of women in Africa, and how investing in women entrepreneurs and women-owned and -led businesses could add $600 billion to Africa’s GDP. 

World Climate Tech Launch Event:

The World Climate Tech Summit – set to take place in Miami in April 2023 - aspires to kickstart a new era of strategic collaboration between the investment, technology, and policy communities towards radical climate action. This launch event, organized by our friends at M+D, featured renowned climate leaders and innovators from business, policy, and international institutions. 

Alic Lebec Met with Strategic Board Member, Susan McPherson, CEO of McPherson Strategies.

SunCulture Dinner:

Samir Ibrahim, Co-founder and CEO of SunCulture, and the Lebec Consulting team brought together a small group of philanthropists, impact investors, institutional asset managers, and entrepreneurs dedicated to building a sustainable future in Africa. This dinner was an opportunity to make new friends, connect with old ones, and dive into the role philanthropy, business, and capital markets can play in disrupting poverty and fueling local innovation, entrepreneurship, and solutions in Africa. 

At Acumen’s Imagine Dignity Gala, Alix snapped a quick photo with its founder Jacqueline Novogratz. 

Skoll Foundation UNGA Reception:

This event brought together Skoll Awardees, partners, and friends of the Foundation at the start of UNGA Week.  

Philanthropy & the Impact Investing Capital Spectrum, presented by Deloitte:

At Acumen’s “Imagine Dignity” event, Alix brought together and moderated a panel on the future of philanthropy and impact investing, co-hosted by Acumen and Lebec Consulting. From unique angles, the panelists explored how trust-based philanthropy—funding that is patient, flexible, risk-tolerant, and anchored in equity and partnership—is uniquely positioned to catalyze social innovation, reverse the tides of inequality, and encourage more action from risk-averse governments and financial markets.  

Panelists included: 

  • Emily Green, Director of Private Wealth, Ellevest 

  • Eve Rodsky, New York Times Best-Selling Author of Fair Play and Find Your Unicorn Space (backed by Hello Sunshine), Keynote Speaker, and Co-Founder of Philanthropy Advisory Group 

  • Jen Fisher, Chief Well-Being Officer, Deloitte 

  • Pete Yao, Chief Impact Officer, Thankyou 

  • Yasmina Zaidman, Chief Development and Partnerships Officer, Acumen 

UN Foundation, Hello Sunshine, and Fair Play UNGA event:

Alleviating the Unpaid Care Burden to Advance Gender Equity with Eve Rodsky, NYT Bestselling Author of Fair Play, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, Filmmaker and Director of Fair Play (Documentary) and First Partner of California, as well as other panelists from Google, Procter & Gamble, and Optum, to name a few.  Watch the trailer for Fair Play below.

Concordia Summit:

With over a decade of experience bringing together heads of state, leaders of the private and NGO sectors, and new and diversified perspectives to explore tangible solutions to local and global challenges, the 2022 Concordia Annual Summit was the largest convening alongside the UN General Assembly. The 12th Annual Summit convened the top movers and shakers of today’s world to spark dialogue, promote collaboration, and collectively pave the path toward a more equitable, sustainable future. 

Future of Impact:

Lebec Consulting’s Chief Strategy Officer, Europe, Rafia Qureshi, joined a fantastic discussion on supporting the scale journey for social entrepreneurs. Approximately 2% of global venture capital funding goes to female-led businesses even though research shows that female led teams generate a 35% higher return on investment than all male teams. Collectively, we have a huge opportunity to correct this market failure. We are thrilled to have been at the table with George Tsiatis, Carlos Eduardo Vargas, and Jessica Espinoza of  XOCO Unlimited to talk about this tremendous opportunity.  

Women in Impact Summit:

Alix joined Eve Rodsky for an incredible conversation at the Women in Impact Summit this month, emphasizing how achieving gender equality in the home is crucial to achieving gender equality and sustainability in the world. Women and girls undertake more than 75% of unpaid care work in the world, not to mention the amount of cognitive labor that accompanies caregiving and managing a home and family. What would happen if men stepped into their power as caregivers? As Eve Rodsky shared, "Your home is your most important organization. We have to get to a place where men see holding their child's hand at the dentist's office is just as important as that meeting in the boardroom." Thank you Beyond Capital Ventures, Eva Yazhari, and Mathilde Beniflah for making space for this important conversation that connects the dots between unpaid care work, gender equality, and sustainability (ESG).

The Miami Dade Beacon Council's Tech Committee:

Our ESG data analyst, Tara Jafarmadar, joined a roundtable to discuss trends in the ClimateTech sector and how Miami can become a testbed for climate innovations and solutions. She spoke about the opportunities and challenges of ESG and how companies can start adopting ESG strategies to unlock value and create resilient organizations.

Over the past few months, the Lebec Consulting team has been busy writing about these possibilities at the intersection of ESG, impact investing, and philanthropy in the Financial Times, Business Insider India, Sustainable Brands, and more:  

Mary Mwende—a Clinton Scholar, Women Deliver ambassador, and Global Give Back Circle advisor—talks openly about how if we are truly interested in transformation and social change, we simply must shift power dynamics in philanthropy. She believes we need to pause, take a step back, and have a very different conversation going forward. 

Elizabeth Elango is the CEO and Head of School for the Global Village Project, where she leads the only school for refugee girls in the U.S. Born and raised in Cameroon, Africa, she has over 20 years of experience working in global organizations. As someone who is passionately committed to development, she believes that three things—choices, voices, and opportunities—are the keys to changing the trajectory of people’s lives. 

About Lebec Consulting  

Lebec Consulting is a women-owned and led company working across philanthropy, impact investing, and ESG. We help clients break with conventionality and think outside the box to achieve their greatest social impact. With over two decades of experience, Lebec supports clients with their strategy, core messaging, and leveraging every tool in the capital toolbox. With our community of partners and clients, we are ecosystem builders, co-creators, disruptors, collaborators, and storytellers.

Lebec-Consulting.com | Meet the Lebec Consulting Team

Watch season one of our show, Women+ We’ve Been Waiting For: Conversations on Wealth, Power & Social Change with Alix Lebec on YouTube!