This summer with the Leo Impact Fund, a student‑run impact investing fund at Columbia Business School, I worked on projects that connected investment discipline with the fund’s mission of driving measurable social and environmental impact. The fund manages approximately $115,000 in assets and focuses on debt investments in companies advancing financial inclusion, health, education, and climate solutions. I designed an investment strategy aligned with our dual mandate, redesigned the due diligence and sourcing memo template to improve how opportunities are evaluated and communicated, updated the fund handbook to ensure continuity for future cohorts, and memorialized a loan amendment for an existing investment. These projects strengthened the fund’s ability to scale its mission, create sustainable processes, and deepen its impact‑driven approach.

My MBA coursework was central to this work. Classes in capital markets and valuation provided a technical foundation for strategy design, helping me consider risk, return, and capital allocation. Investing in social ventures offered frameworks for evaluating mission‑driven enterprises, which I incorporated into the redesigned memo templates to balance financial and impact considerations. Philanthropy courses with Doug Bauer and Melissa Berman emphasised trust‑based philanthropy and measurement, guiding how I approached impact evaluation. These courses taught me to integrate financial analysis with impact assessment in a structured way.

Balancing the dual mandate of financial returns and measurable impact was challenging. In redesigning the memo template, I needed to include detailed financial metrics and clear impact frameworks without letting one dimension dominate. Another challenge was creating systems that would remain useful for future cohorts. Updating the handbook involved making content comprehensive yet practical; this required iterations, feedback, and simplification. Striking the right balance between depth and usability was crucial.

This internship taught me that disciplined processes enable impact investing to deliver financial and social value. Even modest funds can advance meaningful outcomes when structured approaches are applied. I learned the nuance of quantifying outcomes while telling the story of how capital changes lives. The experience reinforced my belief that finance can be a powerful tool for inclusion, climate solutions, and community development when paired with rigorous analysis and intentional impact measurement. I hope to continue building a career at the intersection of finance and impact.