NESsT announces Renata Truzzi has been named Chief Impact & Operations Officer. Truzzi – who joined the organization in 2012 – has served in multiple capacities within NESsT, most recently as Global Acceleration & Impact Director. Her background in impact investing, business development, marketing, and fundraising will further support NESsT’s organizational effectiveness and operational excellence.
We’re delighted to release the NESsT 2024 Annual Report, highlighting a year defined by far-reaching impact and transformative growth. For nearly three decades, NESsT has worked at the nexus of people, profit, and the planet. In 2024, we reached a milestone that speaks to this mission: since its founding, NESsT has positively impacted the lives of over 3.4 million people from communities around the world.
Sweden joins as a donor to NESsT’s long-standing South America acceleration program, enabling the program to increase the number of enterprises it supports and to expand its efforts in Colombia, Peru, and into Brazil.
Our work on the ground in Brazil’s Amazon region has consistently shown that increasing women's participation is critical for the socio-bioeconomy to become a robust and sustainable national development strategy.
NESsT announces that Chad Sachs has been appointed Chief Executive Officer. Sachs has held a series of senior management roles with NESsT since joining in 2019, most recently as Chief Investment Officer. He brings deep experience in the worlds of finance and social impact that will further reinforce NESsT’s mission of developing sustainable communities and building an inclusive economy.
Most investments with a gender lens support companies led by women serving women, but this is not enough. Setting the intention to improve the lives of women is crucial because it sets to transform the negative ways in which people perceive gender differences. NESsT created a step-by-step process to investors develop their own gender lens investing (GLI) strategy.
In Latin America, while the participation of women in the labor market increased in recent years, women are still overrepresented in low-income or non-remunerated household work. Two social enterprises in the NESsT - IKEA Social Entrepreneurship Latin America Accelerator run training programs designed to help women land salaried employment, freelancing opportunities, and micro-entrepreneurship -- the choice is theirs!
A new multi-year partnership between NESsT and Erol Foundation will improve forest conservation by catalyzing local sustainable enterprises in areas of high biodiversity. The NESsT Amazonia incubator will support 15 conservation enterprises that improve forest conservation in the Amazon basin and provide sustainable livelihoods to local communities.
NESsT Empowers is a program that helps women who face discrimination in the hiring process access the career resources to transition into sustainable and quality jobs. Through Empowers, social enterprises are connected to successful business leaders who are interested in deepening the commitment towards diversity, equity and inclusion of their workplace.
NESsT is on track to double its portfolio by the end of this year so that 50 social enterprises can access the financing and business advisory services needed to consolidate and grow their social and environmental impact. To support the organization with scaling its operations, NESsT’s Board of Directors appointed Lord Mervyn Davies as Chair.
