This summer I worked on sourcing deals and capital for Shift’s second fund, the Shift Multi-Neighborhood Fund. This was an incredible opportunity as Shift was taking the success of its first Philadelphia-focused impact real estate fund, and applying it on a national scale. I conducted due diligence on potential investments, researched markets for new developments, and prepared and pitched decks to investors to raise capital. This all aligned with Shift’s mission of creating catalytic change by investing in communities, not just in real estate that gentrifies and pushes out local residents. I was fortunate to take part in the execution of an investment in Washington, DC during my time with Shift. It was a fantastic experience getting to go through the various phases of a deal alongside established impact investors.

It’s funny how this internship worked out – I first learned about Shift through a case study in Professor Bruce Usher’s Finance and Sustainability class. I was immediately drawn in because it centered around impact investing in Philadelphia, where I’m from. Shift’s CEO, Brian Murray, spoke in class that day and it got me thinking this is the type of company and role I’d like to eventually pursue. When the opportunity came up to intern with them I was thrilled — thanks to Columbia and the Tamer Center for making that happen. I was able to apply things I learned from that class, but also from a number of other courses, such as Investing in Social Ventures. CBS has trained me well in analysis and technical skills to understand the financing side of things, but also in the soft skills needed to make a successful pitch when fundraising with investors.

I was particularly concerned with the quantitative nature of the role, as I did not have extensive experience modeling in Excel prior to business school in my role in product management. I was grateful for the coursework and cases that took me out of my comfort zone at CBS, learning how to build financial models, but doing it in a real world situation always poses new challenges. Thankfully, CBS prepared me well, though there definitely was a learning curve around real estate fundamentals. I also realized the benefit of the CBS network as some of my friends in my class had real estate backgrounds and showed me the ropes and answered some questions as I was getting up to speed early on.

My main takeaway is my continued interest in impact investing and real estate. I believe there is serious impact that can be made by thoughtfully investing in neighborhoods and aiming to uplift the residents rather than uproot them. Shift utilizes a variety of mechanisms to accomplish this and it is not easy, but it is worth pursuing so that we can push forward in bringing true equality to people and reversing the devastation caused by systemically racist practices like redlining. My hope is that as I develop in my career I can continue to learn skills and strategies that can be used in the impact realm to shape the world into a better place than it is in 2020. The SESF program allowed me to get hands-on experience in an area I was always interested in, and now I know it’s something I want to dedicate myself to.