Blog
Blog
NESsT, a global impact organization dedicated to supporting high-potential social entrepreneurs that create meaningful employment and income opportunities in their communities, is proud to announce the appointment of Dana Gilland to the NESsT Board of Directors.
We spoke to our portfolio managers and entrepreneurs in the region to uncover the lessons learned and insights gained from three years of close-up acceleration and collaboration in the region catalyzing wide-ranging, innovative business models and supporting the financial independence and stability of people from diverse backgrounds.
This International Women’s Day, NESsT is celebrating our portfolio of enterprises that are making a real impact in advancing gender equity in South America and Central & Eastern Europe, as well as NESsT’s commitment to Gender Lens Investing and gender equity within our organization.
As questions on the value of diversity, equity, and inclusion arise around the world, we maintain our commitment to advancing social justice by injecting financing and business opportunities into social enterprises impacting excluded communities in South America and Central and Eastern Europe.
In this blog, we speak with bioeconomy entrepreneurs to better understand the challenges they face when applying for funding from multiple sources. Read it now to learn how complex application criteria and reporting demands impact their businesses and explore actionable recommendations for how the funding community can help ensure more equitable, inclusive access to financing.
The next iteration of NESsT’s accelerator program in Central and Eastern Europe, with a focus on Poland and Romania, will be backed by our long-standing partners, IKEA Social Entrepreneurship and Cisco Foundation. This phase will accompany 26 companies on their growth and impact journeys, providing capacity building, knowledge sharing, and mentoring with industry experts at NESsT, IKEA Social Entrepreneurship, and Cisco Foundation.
As I celebrate my one-year anniversary as CEO of NESsT, I wanted to reflect on what it means to lead a purpose-driven organization defined by vision and impact. NESsT was created with the vision that businesses could thrive while prioritizing social and environmental outcomes. That visionary approach continues to guide us today as we actively choose to evolve and grow.
In 2023, we outlined objectives that focused on those directly impacted by our work and the work of the social enterprises in our portfolio. Our survey, completed by NESsT portfolio managers and team members sitting down with the 531 respondents who participated, captures the following information: Who are the direct beneficiaries of our work? Are their jobs well-paid and secure? How do they feel about their career opportunities? How do they feel about their workplaces? How does our work impact their families overall? Is our work making a real difference in their lives?
NESsT’s recent study and extensive research identifies that the term ‘bioeconomy’ is often broadly interpreted by bioeconomy funders and global policymakers, sometimes straying far from a vision of environmental stewardship. We interviewed Indigenous leaders and entrepreneurs as part of ongoing efforts to deepen our understanding of their perspectives, vision and expectations of the bioeconomy as not just as an economic model, but as a way of life rooted deeply in ancestral tradition.
At COP16, NESsT reinforced its ongoing commitment to improving access to funding for locally-led bioeconomy initiatives in the Amazon. This work, including its plans to invest $6 million in seed-stage financing through 2025 to support these efforts, was recently featured in Carbon Pulse.
This blog delves into the methodology behind NESsT’s publication to improve the targeting, accessibility, efficacy, and efficiency of investments in the Amazon bioeconomy; it homes in on NESsT’s firm intention to bring local voices to global discussions around Amazon bioeconomy funding and explores how NESsT anchored the publication in authentic narratives and diverse Amazonian contexts while tailoring the message for the international financing community.
As part of its ongoing commitment to address the pressing challenges faced by entrepreneurs in Latin America, particularly in the Andes-Amazon region, the NESsT Lirio Fund is expanding its reach into Brazil. The fund is investing in small and medium-sized enterprises that create dignified income opportunities and improve local livelihoods while contributing to environmental conservation.
NESsT and The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation are partnering to consolidate and scale Indigenous peoples and local community (IPLC) enterprises in the Amazon that contribute to the bioeconomy and conserve the environment.
Ludmila and Anatolyi have worked at Box Elyte since 2022 when, together with their daughter, they were forced to flee their homes due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Today on World Refugee Day, we share their story in this photo essay.
NESsT’s extensive one-year research reveals critical insights to drive better-targeted investments for Indigenous Peoples and local communities.
The nine enterprises to join the South America Accelerator Program, co-created by NESsT and IKEA Social Entrepreneurship, are set to drive sustainable development and inclusive growth across the region.
This past February marks two years since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.
As of February 2024, an estimated 3.7 million people are still displaced within Ukraine’s borders, and 6.5 million refugees are in countries such as Poland and Romania. The reality is, although it has been two years since the crisis began, millions of refugees in the region still need support to find dignified work that allows them to feed their families.
Impact investing trailblazer ImpactAssets has selected NESsT to its IA 50 Emerging Impact Managers 2024 list of newer fund managers to watch that demonstrate potential to create meaningful impact.
NESsT has a portfolio of 50 enterprises based in the Amazon. Over the past five years, NESsT portfolio managers have worked closely with these enterprises to monitor, measure, and grow their impact. Recently, NESsT sought to develop more detailed methods to understand the culture and context of the data it collects, specifically for enterprises in the Amazon.
Associação Bebô Xirin do Bacajá (ABEX) is an Indigenous-led association that participated in the Amazon Indigenous Rights and Resources (AIRR) project launched in 2021 to support Indigenous populations to become more visible and active actors in the Amazon economy, in ways that conserve rainforest biodiversity and build environmental resiliency.
Located in the jungle areas of central and eastern Peru, Kulkao sources cocoa from over 400 smallholder farmers living in the remote regions of the Amazon basin. Its products include cocoa butter, cocoa powder, and cocoa nibs that are sold to local and international markets such as Europe and North America. Due to its success, in 2023, NESsT approved a second revolving loan to Kulkao, supporting the social enterprise to continue to purchase cacao beans from local farmers committed to organic, sustainable practices.
NESsT, a leading global impact investor and venture philanthropist, today announced the appointment of Kirsten Dueck as Chief Executive Officer. NESsT announces this significant leadership transition as it closes out its milestone of over a quarter-century of success, and prepares to embark on its next quarter-century journey of impact investing. Nicole Etchart, NESsT co-founder and outgoing CEO, will transition into a new role as Senior Advisor and will remain on the Board of Directors.
The Racial Equity Portfolio provides funding to select Black enterprises focused on economic empowerment and social impact in Brazil.
SOCAP 2023 took place in San Francisco, California from 23–25 October. Nicole Etchart, NESsT Co-Founder and CEO, co-hosted the session ‘Scaling Impact Through Collaboration: Rallying Stakeholders Around Blended Finance,’ alongside Nele Bouchier, Chief Communications & Public Affairs Officer for IKEA in the United States, and Charu Adesnik, Executive Director of the Cisco Foundation and Director of Social Innovation Investments at Cisco Systems, Inc.
Diaspora.Black, a social enterprise in the tourism and events sector, joins the NESsT Racial Equity Initiative. With NESsT’s investment, Diaspora.Black will offer training and funding to local Afro-entrepreneurs, fostering a community dedicated to expanding tourist routes that bring more visibility to the history and culture of Afro-Brazilians.
Nicole Etchart, NESsT CEO and Co-Founder, spoke with journalist Valentina Llompart at the Diario Financiero. Article Summary: Founded over 26 years ago, Impact investor NESsT’s international trajectory has taken it to countries in Central and Eastern Europe and South America, including Chile – which was one of the first countries it invested in. NESsT has created significant impact in the region through investing in social enterprises that work on the ground with Chile’s marginalized communities.
Flower producer Cattleya manages employs 350 individuals, primarily from the nearby rural towns of Suesca and Sesquilé, providing them with a stable source of income, fair wages, well-being services, and professional development opportunities. Over 50% of Cattleya’s workforce are women who are the primary earners of their families.
The partnership program improves the quality of life of marginalized and excluded people across Chile, Colombia and Peru by supporting a fair, inclusive, and sustainable economy.
The NESsT’s Lirio Fund’s investment will provide working capital to Cuencas on an as-needed basis, supporting the social enterprise to increase the number of cacao suppliers it sources from and boost its organic cacao production capacity.
Our portfolio enterprise Targ Pietruszkowy is celebrating a decade of creating a positive impact in its local community. Targ works with around 140 small-farm holders, almost half of whom are women. For many, selling their organically grown produce at Targ Pietruszkowy is their main source of income.
