Jodi York

As Head of Impact, my focus is ensuring accountability, maintaining strategic direction, promoting transparency and integrity, facilitating effective decision-making, and enhancing stakeholder confidence.

Strategic

• Took an emerging climate-focused asset manager from zero to carbon-neutral certified B Corporation with best-in-class reporting in two years, leading Kilara to be recognised as 2022 finalist for Impact Asset Manager of the Year and 2023 RIAA Responsible Investment Leader.
• Formulated and implemented evidence-based climate impact strategy across multiple investment entities, including integration into existing investment processes from investment thesis to exit.
• Provided expert guidance to senior leaders on impact-related matters and emerging reporting requirements, influencing key decisions that impacted overall business strategy.
• Synthesised research, developed evidence base to support investment approaches, and evaluated potential impact of emerging technologies, staying ahead of industry trends and positioning the organization for future success.
• Reviewed analytics data to identify trends in portfolio company performance, tailoring engagement strategy accordingly for maximum impact.
• Maintained an up-to-date knowledge of global impact and reporting trends affecting operations for informed recommendations on potential impacts or opportunities within the organization's strategy.
• Cultivated improved organisational learning through strategic review and learning loops.

Operational

• Devised and implemented processes and procedures to streamline operations, including end-to-end processes for analysing, evaluating and reporting on investments.
• Designed and developed data pipelines to capture, clean, process, analyse and store data.
• Championed effective and data-driven decision making by transforming raw data into actionable intelligence for key stakeholders.
• Developed complex dashboard and reporting tools to track business performance metrics and deliver insights on dealflow progress, fund and portfolio company performance, external engagement and performance against Kilara's overall Theory of Change.
• Used evidence and critical thinking to break down problems, evaluate solutions and make decisions.
• Conducted regular reviews of operations and identified areas for improvement; helped meet changing demands by recommending improvements to business systems or procedures.
• Educated staff on organizational mission and goals to help colleagues achieve success; mentored junior staff members, helping them develop their skills and advance in their careers.
• Improved knowledge sharing by implementing a comprehensive knowledge management strategy, streamlining workflows and implementing new software tools to promote information sharing and improve overall team expertise; increased knowledge capture and use by enabling more efficient access to information for the entire dealflow team.
• Proactively shared domain knowledge with colleagues in a variety of formats including in-person presentations, mentoring, explanatory videos, structured decision-making frameworks, and written internal learning & information resources.
• Implemented sustainable business policies and practices, improving ESG performance, achieving 63% improvement in B Corp score and 51% reduction in electricity emissions since first carbon assessment, while driving innovation within the organization's procurement and supplier engagement strategy.

Investment Management

• As part of dealflow team, sourced, screened, and evaluated 500+ potential investments using a staged and fully impact-integrated due diligence process of my own design; continually enhanced interfaces to promote better functionality for users.
• Developed comprehensive capacity development and performance monitoring plans for portfolio companies, ensuring accurate tracking of both commercial and impact performance to drive financial stability, operational resilience, and ESG/impact outcomes.
• Supported portfolio companies with capacity development to measure, communicate and scale their climate impact, as well as technical guidance on developing their impact evidence base.
• Evaluated investee and portfolio outcomes, using results to inform future strategy and resource allocation decisions.

Stakeholder Engagement

• Facilitated stakeholder engagement through consistent communication and transparent reporting practices, which were celebrated in On Impact Media for their field-leading impact rigour.
• Drove development and implementation of external communication strategy including audience-tailored communications materials, LinkedIn updates that have increased audience by 400%, and creation of Kilara video insights portal that has had over 113 hours of unique viewing from 11,000+ unique viewers.
• Boosted stakeholder engagement through proactive communication, collaboration, and relationship-building efforts; these have included working groups, conferences, invited speaking engagements, professional events, podcasts, and ecosystem event participation.
• Delivered external thought leadership reports with up to 3000 downloads.
• Fostered partnerships with NGOs, government entities, academia, and other sectors to explore collaborative approaches to address complex social and environmental challenges; participated on Kilara's behalf in international research efforts including the Impact-linked Compensation Project, and the Harvard-Wharton Impact Finance Database.

Personal

• Skilled at working independently and collaboratively in a team environment, providing support and guidance and willingness to help wherever needed.
• Adaptable and proficient in learning new concepts quickly and efficiently.
• Self-motivated, with a strong sense of personal responsibility.
• Excellent communication skills, both verbal and written.

Built a successful consultancy delivering evidence-led impact strategy & management for philanthropists, impact investors, and other capital providers solving complex social and environmental problems.

• Collaborated with Menzies Foundation to design and deliver the Philanthropic Impact Pioneers Program, a three-year learning journey for leaders of a cohort of ten Australian foundations seeking to become more strategic in focus.
• Supported multiple clients participating in the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade's Scaling Frontier Innovation agenda to achieve impact and social change in through supporting entrepreneurship and addressing complex, persistent challenges in entrepreneurial ecosystems in South and Southeast Asia, including: Frontiers Lab Asia; Brightlight, and SecondMuse.
• Co-authored multiple reports, including Demand-led investment : A New Perspective on Approaches to adapting capital and bridging the Missing Middle in SEA and co-founded Adaptive Collective to connect and support founders, funders and intermediaries.
• Evaluated client needs and expectations, establishing clear goals for each client engagement; developed effective improvement plans in alignment with goals and specifications.
• Identified areas of improvement for clients' operations, implementing targeted solutions to increase strategic effectiveness, impact, and evidence.
• Delivered outstanding service to clients to maintain and extend relationship for future business opportunities.

Selected Client Work

• Chair, Climate Venture Capital Fund (NZ), 2020-Present
• Acting Chief Impact Officer, Kilara Capital, 2020-2021
• Impact Advisor, Damson Capital, 2019-2021
• Advisor, Frontiers Lab Asia, 2021
• Impact Measurement and Management Methodology Design, Brightlight Impact Advisory, 2019-2020
• Research lead, Philanthropic Impact Pioneers Program, 2018-2020
• Training Lead, Frontier Innovators, 2017-2018

Adjunct Lecturer designing and delivering postgraduate courses in Social Enterprise and Sustainable Finance.

• Cultivated critical thinking skills through challenging assignments that required analysis, synthesis, and evaluation of information from various sources.
• Created excitement and enthusiasm in a diverse classroom by delivering engaging subject matter, accommodating multiple learning styles, incorporating real-world examples into lessons and connecting material to relevant experiences.
• Promoted collaboration among students through group projects and presentations, fostering teamwork and communication skills.
• Mentored and advised students to explore career pathways based and amplify knowledge, skills and strengths.

Founding researcher in the Asia Pacific Social Impact Centre, University of Melbourne's hub for education, research and action in the field of social impact (disestablished 2016).

• Worked with colleagues to spark positive social change in Australia and across the Asia–Pacific region by collaborating with the non-profit, business, philanthropic and government sectors to solve entrenched social problems.
• Conducted research on impact investment, catalytic philanthropy, social investment partnerships, sustainable business models, reporting frameworks and practices; published research findings in top-tier academic journals, contributing to the advancement of knowledge in the field.
• Presented research results at national and international conferences, fostering professional relationships and collaborations.
• Established partnerships with external organizations for collaborative research efforts, increasing resources and expertise available for projects.
• Secured grant funding for critical projects through persuasive proposal writing and effective collaboration with team members.
• Collaborated with multidisciplinary teams to tackle complex research questions from various perspectives.

Facilitated change management efforts in during significant process overhaul affecting key economic statistics for government and the implementation of new international regulatory framework for banks. Ensured compliance with regulatory standards while executing change management activities, and successfully navigating organizational transitions.

Developed new components for New Zealand's suite of official macroeconomic statistics, and co-authored government research publications, and mentored junior analysts, fostering professional development while enhancing overall team performance.

Collaborated with fellow scholars for interdisciplinary research projects, resulting in high-quality publications and presentations.