Saturday May 29, 2010
13:00 – 14:00, Main Auditorium

Inspired by the desire to have a greater positive social impact, investors are breaking from their traditional investment perspective. The emerging field of social financing blends the role of donor and investor, allowing investors to use their investments to bring about social change, while still seeing returns. Panelists with extensive experience in funding, from both sides of the coin, will discuss the future of the social investing and the opposing views behind the commercialization of the industry.They will also share best practices and practical advice for receiving funding as well as evaluating and determining excellent social investment opportunities.

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Meet the Panel

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Bernd Balkenhol

Director of Social Finance
International Labor Organization (ILO)

Bernd Balkenhol is Director of Social Finance at the ILO (International Labor Organization). This department explores opportunities to engage financial institutions in strategies that advance decent work. The focus is on innovations in finance that create jobs, help manage risk and reduce vulnerabilities on a sustainable basis.

Prior to his current function he advised for several years the central bank of West African States (BCEAO) on policies to bridge the gap between banks and small enterprises.

He holds a PhD from Freiburg University in Germany and a MA from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy (US) He lectures at the Faculty of Economics of the University of Geneva. His publications cover a range of issues related to the access to finance. His latest book (“Microfinance and Public Policy”, Palgrave Macmillan) reviews the conditions for smart subsidies to microfinance institutions.

He served on the Executive Committee of CGAP and is Founding President of the Swiss Microfinance Platform.

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Martha Deacon

Founder and CEO
The Townships Project

Martha Deacon is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of The Townships Project, a Canadian registered charity, which she created in late 1998 in response to then President Nelson Mandela’s challenge to do something about the poverty in his country.  The Townships Project has worked tirelessly with local microfinance organizations in South Africa to extend small loans to start or expand small businesses, always exploring how to make these loans more effective in the fight against poverty.

Prior to starting The Townships Project, Martha founded and ran P1 Parking Systems Inc. in Vancouver, which was purchased by Imperial Parking Limited in 1998.  From 1986 – 1994, she was Vice-President Corporate Finance and a director of Deacon Barclays de Zoete Wedd Canada Limited (stockbrokers and investment bankers) and its predecessor firms.  Before becoming an investment banker, Martha was a solicitor with the Toronto law firm of Fraser & Beatty (now Fraser Milner Casgrain) specializing in corporate, commercial and securities law.

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Moderated by:

Dr. Maximilian Martin

Senior Partner and Chief Strategist
IJ Partners

Maximilian Martin is Senior Partner and Chief Strategist at IJ Partners, a wealth management company that builds wealth while engaging the future through investment strategies that fully integrate for-profit liquid and direct social investments in the asset portfolio. He also serves as Senior Fellow at the Center for Social Innovation at the University of St. Gallen, and as Visiting Professor at the University of Geneva, where he teaches in the International Organizations MBA program. To help to develop a transmission channel for vanguard capital directed toward social change initiatives, he conceived, set up, and led UBS Philanthropy Services and its UBS Philanthropy Forum from 2004-2009; the unit was named the world’s premier philanthropy advisory in 2007 by Euromoney. Dr. Martin also developed the first university course on social entrepreneurship in Europe for the University of Geneva in 2003.

Previous engagements include serving as Head of Research at the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, Senior Consultant with McKinsey & Company, instructor at Harvard’s Economics Department, and Fellow at the Center for Public Leadership at the John F. Kennedy School of Government.

Dr. Martin has authored over one hundred articles on social investment and related topics, and is a frequent speaker at international gatherings in the areas of wealth management, philanthropy, and social investment. He holds advanced degrees in anthropology and economics and a Ph.D. in economic anthropology.

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IOMBA Coordinator:  Lindsey Barone