Jenna Nicholas

Jenna is the CEO of Impact Experience which facilitates convenings that build lasting relationships between investors, philanthropists, innovators, and leaders of marginalized communities — linking vision with action and directing investment to the most vulnerable communities. Some of these issues include generating employment in marginalized communities such as retraining former coal miners in Appalachia; attracting greater pools of capital to minority and women run businesses and addressing health disparities. Jenna is also President of Phoenix Global Impact, a firm that specializes in impact investing, social entrepreneurship and strategic philanthropy. Through her firm, she has project managed Divest-Invest Philanthropy, a coalition of philanthropic foundations, divesting from investments in fossil fuels and reinvesting in new economy solutions. Jenna spoke at TedX Portland about the Divest-Invest work.

Jenna has also worked with the World Bank Treasury on green bonds and other sustainability projects and with Toniic helping to support an impact investing community. She has worked closely with the Calvert Special Equities team and is an advisor to the Nexus Global Youth Summit and Ethic, an online impact investing platform. Jenna graduated from Stanford University with an International Relations Honors Degree during which time she also read International Development at Oxford University. Jenna is a Stanford Graduate School of Business MBA graduate, is a PD Soros Fellow for New Americans, recipient of the Stanford Social Innovation Fellowship and an Echoing Green Fellow. Jenna has also been selected as a World Economic Forum Global Shaper. Jenna has special links with China and co-taught a course at Tsinghua School of Economics and Management on Business Ethics, Sustainability and Impact Investing. She is an active member of the Bahá'í Faith.