Are We “There” Yet?

My sophomore year of college, inspired by Warby Parker and the excitement of Shark Tank, I dreamt up what I would later learn was called “impact investing.” When I shared that ambition with professors and mentors, the advice was consistent: wait – the market wasn’t “there” yet. I was nudged toward investment banking to learn the hard skills of finance, then into an investing role with UC Berkeley’s endowment (BEMCO), and eventually to business school to become an impact investor.

Over the last decade+, I’ve watched impact investing evolve in fits and starts, oscillating between a nascent idea, an academic theory, and, at times, a controversial outlier. For many investors and operators, it often felt more aspirational than operational – well-intentioned, but difficult to implement with rigor at scale.

Then came a more challenging phase: impact as a marketing strategy. The term was stretched thin and applied liberally, giving rise to impact-washing and a healthy dose of skepticism from institutional allocators. Too often, familiar return expectations were imposed on markets and business models that required a fundamentally different approach.

But recently, something meaningful has shifted. Impact investing is increasingly being understood as creative problem-solving – using capital to fix broken or underserved markets with structures designed for real-world constraints. Across education, workforce, and social infrastructure, we are seeing greater willingness to let go of venture-scale return expectations and design capital around how value is actually created.

Investors are recognizing different challenges require different tools, timelines, and risk tolerances, and acknowledging that upfront is proving essential to both impact and performance. In our work with clients, this often means advising on investment strategy and helping teams think through creative structures—across equity, debt, and hybrid instruments—to better align capital with intended outcomes.

This is the version of impact investing I’ve been waiting for. Blended finance, guarantees, revenue-based instruments, and yes—debt—are taking their rightful place in the toolkit. We might not be “there” yet, but we’re headed the right direction, gaining speed, and moving boldly forward. If you’re traveling a similar path, we’d love to compare notes and hear what you’re seeing!

Next stop: impact measurement.