Asia Society Game Changer Award Acceptance Speech

I would like to thank the Asia Society members and Trustees for bestowing this incredible honor upon me. I am indeed very humbled.

As a child of a country first devastated by war and then grown dependent on development aid, I grew up with a strong sense of defiance – defiance to break down barriers that tried to hold me back as a girl, later a woman, in a conservative society; and defiance to break the rules of the traditional development paradigm that seemed to hold back my country.  

Today, standing here before you, I can say that my defiance, coupled with an overwhelming optimism for humanity, has allowed me to make a difference. I have been able to use the most powerful force in this world – finance – to make it work for development. Through the two organizations I founded -- Impact Investment Exchange (or IIX) and Shujog – my colleagues and I have effectively created capital markets for social good. We have been able to change finance and finance change that has had a positive impact on the lives of over 10 million people in Asia, bringing them clean water, off-grid electricity, low cost education, and affordable health care. We have created sustainable livelihoods for women and men throughout Asia, expanding market linkages, often in remote areas. And, all of this has been accomplished not through charity but through investment – impact investments – bringing the marginalized into the global economy by making finance work for them to create a path to self-determination.

This is just the beginning. There is still much more to be done. Globally, over 2 billion people still suffer from multidimensional poverty.  Billions still go hungry or lack access to clean water and electricity.

Pulling people out of poverty is not an easy task, and it is a reality that the economic system as it is today is not conducive to equitable, sustainable growth. If we want the world to be a more equitable place and to meet the Sustainable Development Goals, we will have to focus on changing the paradigm so that the market more effectively delivers prosperity to all. It is not enough to focus on maximizing output; we also need to ensure that the outcomes are achieved in line with our fundamental goals.

Traditional capital markets are good at maximizing output, but lack the “heart” required to achieve our higher social goals. At the same time, there are not enough dollars devoted to philanthropy to fully meet these goals. To solve the world’s most pressing problems and deliver on the dream of prosperity for all, we need to harness the power and scale of capital markets together with the social consciousness of the philanthropic sector. 

An effective Social Capital Market can harness the power of finance to bring together investors, entrepreneurs and the entire financial ecosystem to value social and environmental returns as well as financial returns. This impact investing phenomenon is now a movement. We need each one of you to be a part of this movement and expand it from niche to mass.

Each one of you have made incredible contributions to society through your professional work and, in many cases, your philanthropic giving. Now is the time to combine these two facets of your life to support investing for impact. There are many ways to do so. As individuals or organizations, you can use your philanthropic giving to help create the needed infrastructure for this movement, while directing your investment portfolios to invest in impact enterprises, impact funds and innovative financial mechanisms that create massive social good. The time to do it is now!

Ladies and Gentleman, I would like to take this moment to once again thank the Asia Society for this incredible honor. I would thank the people and organizations who believed in me, my investors including Rory Riggs, George Green, Antony Bugg-Levin, Kalpana Raina, The Rockefeller Foundation and all the impact investors and enterprises we have had the honor to work with. I would also like to thank my alma maters – Smith College, University of Pennsylvania and the Johns Hopkins University – their generosity and belief in me have allowed me to have the education I needed initiate this movement in Asia.

I would also like to thank Robert Kraybill, my life partner who has tirelessly supported me on this journey of doing good for the last 3 decades. I would like to thank my sisters, my mother and my grandmother, without whose sacrifices I would not be standing before you today.  Lastly, I would like to thank my daughters who inspire me to make the world a better place.

Thank you and have a good evening.