In celebration of Women’s History Month, we are spotlighting the stories of three women entrepreneurs at the helm of enterprises in the NESsT portfolio in Central & Eastern Europe and South America.
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.
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.
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.
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.
