Betsy and Jesse Fink Foundation Awards Presidio Graduate School $20,000 to Support Internships in Emerging Impact Investment Field

The Connecticut-based Betsy and Jesse Fink Foundation is funding a newly sponsored internship program at Presidio Graduate School to develop business leaders for the emerging impact investment field. The $20,000 grant will bolster Presidio’s and the Foundation’s position as thought leaders and innovators in sustainable business.

With nearly 200 registered impact investment funds and many foundations and mainstream financial institutions active today, the impact investment field is rapidly taking shape, but without clear direction or differentiation among sectors. The new Betsy and Jesse Fink Foundation Impact Investment Internship Program will place a handful of Presidio students and/or recent alumni in select investment firms whose programs and portfolios approximate an “impact investment” model in the areas of cleantech and climate adaptation/resilience.

Interns will be exposed to the latest strategies and practices in the field, and will seek to answer this governing question, “What investment and portfolio management strategies are best suited for the climate change era?” In a world in which climate adaptation and resilience are rapidly becoming societal imperatives, how should investment managers most effectively evaluate new business opportunities? What asset classes are best aligned to these emergent environmental and economic realities? And how can philanthropic capital be put to work to advance and scale private/public partnerships that seek to mitigate climate impacts and promote community resilience?

The Betsy and Jesse Fink Foundation seeks to move communities toward a more balanced, sustainable relationship with the environment. They support and invest in innovative organizations that preserve and protect the better use of natural resources and biological diversity and enhance the health of humanity, while supporting and collaborating with those who serve as catalysts and conveners to leverage our impact and accomplish our goals. Jesse Fink is the Co-founder and Managing Director of MissionPoint Capital Partners, among the nation’s first cleantech/green private equity firms. He is also President and CEO of Marshall Street Management, a family office, and was the founding Chief Operating Officer of priceline.com, running operations from inception through IPO. With his wife Betsy, they manage the foundation, which focuses on catalytic environmental and educational grant making. Betsy and Jesse have also established and run Millstone Farm, which is dedicated to promoting local, sustainable agriculture, selling produce to select local restaurants and markets and providing a venue for educational programs.

More details on the new internship program will be forthcoming from the Student Affairs and Career Development Department staff over the next several weeks.