Women

Women's Month: Inspiring the next generation of Indigenous women with Lida Medina, Founder of AMITLI

Women's Month: Inspiring the next generation of Indigenous women with Lida Medina, Founder of AMITLI

Meet Lida Medina, Indigenous entrepreneur from Vaupés, Colombia. For years, she and the women of her territory occupied a secondary place in community life, with most of their roles centred on domestic work and limited participation in public spaces. One day, she realized that the change she was waiting for needed to come from within, and so she proposed something radically different: What if the women of her community came together, formed an association, and took ownership of their futures?

FLII 2026: Women who are changing the equation

FLII 2026: Women who are changing the equation

Women continue to face structural and cultural barriers that range from unequal access to financing and business networks to a disproportionate burden of unpaid work and less visibility in decision-making spaces. We caught up with Gonzalo San Martín of NESsT Chile about participating in FLII as the “human book” Women that are changing the equation, where he shared NESsT’s journey in gender-lens investing and his own experience strengthening the gender balance in Chile’s portfolio.

Women's Month: Creating opportunities with co-founder of Bioincos, Yuli Rodríguez

Women's Month: Creating opportunities with co-founder of Bioincos, Yuli Rodríguez

Born in Putumayo, Colombia, BioIncos co-founder Yuli Rodríguez has pride in the territory that raised her and the opportunity to create dignified work among the biodiversity that exists there. When they first started BioIncos and began sourcing cacay from local communities to transform it into a natural oil, very few producers believed they had a valuable product that others would be willing to purchase. Read their story here.

The Lirio Fund reinvests in organic cooperative COAS to ensure steady income for close to 600 smallholder producers in Junín, Peru

The Lirio Fund reinvests in organic cooperative COAS to ensure steady income for close to 600 smallholder producers in Junín, Peru

Cooperativa Agraria Sonomoro del Vraem (COAS) joined the NESsT Lirio Fund in 2023 and has since received a revolving capital line of credit and a term loan to scale its cacao production, ensure steady income for its cacao producers, and strengthen its commitment to conserving local biodiversity. Based on the cooperative’s strong track record of sustainable operations in a volatile market, in 2025, NESsT renewed the cooperative’s revolving credit loan, ensuring it can continue to pay local producers for raw cacao while meeting the rising global demand for high-quality cacao. 

Greenbox and Cuencas secure repeat investments from the NESsT Lirio Fund to continue strengthening rural livelihoods in Peru through sustainable agriculture

Greenbox and Cuencas secure repeat investments from the NESsT Lirio Fund to continue strengthening rural livelihoods in Peru through sustainable agriculture

In 2025, the NESsT Lirio Fund extended repeat loans to Greenbox and Cuencas del Huallaga, reflecting our continued commitment to these enterprises’ business models and impact. Operating in regions where farming families have few income livelihood options and often turn to illicit crops and environment-damaging monocultures to generate quick income, these enterprises offer sustainable livelihood alternatives through sustainable, organic agriculture and meaningful technical assistance. 

Rebuilding livelihoods through opportunity and belonging: Olena’s story with Women’s Entrepreneurship Foundation

Rebuilding livelihoods through opportunity and belonging: Olena’s story with Women’s Entrepreneurship Foundation

After leaving Ukraine and arriving in Poland, Olena faced challenges while trying to secure stability for her family. Through Women’s Entrepreneurship Foundation (WEF), she connected with several programs designed to support displaced women navigate these new systems and access clear pathways to quality jobs and entrepreneurship.

The Future is Ancestral and Collective: Reflections and Voices from Impact Minds 2025 by Latimpacto

The Future is Ancestral and Collective: Reflections and Voices from Impact Minds 2025 by Latimpacto

In this article, Renata Truzzi, NESsT Chief Impact and Operations Officer, shares her reflections from Impact Minds 2025 by Latimpacto, weaving together her own insights with voices and stories from the event, showing how collective action, ancestral knowledge, and community-led approaches have the potential to shape the future of impact investing.

The NESsT Lirio Fund Renews Support for Three Enterprises Strengthening Sustainable Livelihoods in the Peruvian Amazon

The NESsT Lirio Fund Renews Support for Three Enterprises Strengthening Sustainable Livelihoods in the Peruvian Amazon

In the first half of 2025, Lirio Fund enterprises Kulkao, Lagunas de los Condores, and Pebani received repeat loans from NESsT, reflecting our continued confidence in the enterprises’ business models and impact. Read to learn more about their continued impact and growth as part of our fund portfolio.