Concordia crafts a family space for such youth daily where they receive the support they need and deserve.
NESsT focuses on improving economic autonomy because it improves community autonomy. As much as "Workforce Diversity and Inclusion" is used to solve this problem, it will not. We must pursue Workforce Equity and Justice.
Meet Victor. Victor is a coppersmith in the Romanian village of Brateiu. There used to be 200 Roma coppersmiths in his village. Now there are only six left. He says he’s proud he can continue to practice the craft of his ancestors and make a living doing so.
NESsT's portfolio director for the Andean Region offers three top tips for social entrepreneurs: (1) Look Deep, (2) Seek Feedback and (3) Test, Test, Test.
The NESsT Refugee Employment Initiative focuses on financing and assisting a cohort of fifteen impact-driven enterprises in Central and Eastern Europe that provide refugees with long-term employment opportunities, especially those affected by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The initiative is welcoming the first six social enterprises to continue building upon important aid efforts in the region.
For the last quarter of a century, NESsT has been a pioneer in venture philanthropy and a catalyst for social enterprises in global emerging markets. Core to NESsT’s success and remarkable achievements is our community of colleagues, donors, investors, and our fearless leadership.
Under the guidance of current co-CEOs, Nicole Etchart and Loic Comolli, NESsT has seen incredible growth and established meaningful impact. NESsT has invested over $24M, incubated and financed 235 enterprises, trained and supported over 24,000 entrepreneurs, sustained more than 77,000 formal jobs targeting women, at-risk youth, smallholder farmers, and minorities.
Now, as we look ahead to the next 25 years, the NESsT team is announcing two key leadership transitions to help us navigate the future of impact investing. Nicole and Loic will both transition to new opportunities and we will appoint a single CEO to continue building upon NESsT’s success.
After 17 invaluable years with NESsT, Loic has joined the Impact Investing team at The Schmidt Family Foundation. Loic started his career at NESsT as a Consulting Manager and climbed the ranks to become co-CEO in 2012, leading the organization into the Brazilian and Romanian markets and vastly expanding NESsT’s reach of impact. Loic has been a driving force for our organization and will remain a good friend of NESsT moving forward.
To ensure her expertise and experience is best deployed in critical areas, Nicole will be stepping into a new role as NESsT’s President supporting the new CEO in establishing and implementing the organization's vision. Her role will focus on trend awareness, innovation adoption, and knowledge management. Nicole will continue to work collaboratively with the Board of Directors to usher in a new generation of leadership.
We have commissioned Mission Talent to conduct the new CEO search. They have an impeccable track record of finding the best talent for mission-driven organizations. They dive deep to understand their clients and we have no doubt that they are very well equipped to find the most suitable CEO for NESsT.
Our business is stronger than ever. We thank Nicole and Loic for their singular achievements, including creating tremendous initiatives with major corporate partners; launching funds that are critically helping deserving populations; and – most importantly – demonstrably improving the lives of close to 1 million people in need.
INTERVIEW: Founded in the 1990s to support emerging civil society in eastern Europe, NESsT remains focused on helping high-impact organisations to grow and avoid grant dependency. We find out how the investor is going one step further to track its own impact – and how a new fund hopes to challenge LGBTQIA+ discrimination.
In the summer of 2021, Penn International Impact Consulting (PIIC), a pro-bono, student-run consulting club from the University of Pennsylvania, began a year long-partnership with NESsT Amazonia, offering business consulting services to two social enterprises in NESsT Amazonia’s portfolio that produce native Amazonian seeds — ASCAMPA (Associação Comunitária Agrícola do Rio Urupadi) and ASSOAB (Associação dos Agropecuários de Beruri).
Every two years, NESsT gathers qualitative data through in-person Dignified Employment surveys — these interviews provide rich insights into the quality of jobs created by its portfolio. In 2021, we surveyed around 10% of the total population impacted by our portfolio enterprises – 388 individuals who live across six countries, including Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Poland, and Romania.
Impact investments are investments made into companies, organizations, and funds with the intention to generate social and environmental impact alongside a financial return. Impact investments are made in both emerging and developed markets and target a range of returns from below market to market rate, depending on the investors’ strategic goals.
