Roots To Foods Podcast

RootsToFoods

The RootsToFoods Capital Series Significant pools of private, philanthropic, and institutional capital, across the United States, Europe, Africa, Eastern Europe, India, and Southeast Asia, do not consistently reach the scalable impact opportunities they are designed to serve. This is not a series about aspiration. It is about mechanics, decision-making, and what it takes to close the gap between intent and deployment. And answer the key question of how capital intent can become capital deployment. Each conversation convenes a senior practitioner who is actively shaping how capital flows in practice, from blended finance structuring and family office transition to domestic capital architecture and entrepreneurship pipeline development. Together, the episodes form a practitioner-grade map of where capital is already moving, what enables it, and what holds it back. The Capital Series is an OviBees Ventures initiative. Founding partners: AV Ventures and ACDI/VOCA. Capital Insight Briefs Each episode of the Capital Series generates a Capital Insight Brief,  a practitioner-grade synthesis of the core insight, what is working, what is not, and what it takes to unlock capital deployment in practice. The Briefs are free, downloadable, and designed for practitioners, advisors, foundation programme officers, family office investment teams, and institutional capital professionals who want field-level insight without the full audio episode. Download the latest Capital Insight Brief below.  Wave 1 — Where Capital Is Already Moving Episode 1  |  Capital Deployment in Practice - Nathaniel Heller, EVP, Geneva Global. Episode 2  |  Blended Finance at Scale - Joan Larrea, CEO, Convergence Finance. Episode 3  |  Philanthropic Capital in Transition - Jennifer Kenning, Co-founder Align Impact. Episode 4  |  Mobilizing African Capital for Africa - Dr. Frannie Léautier, CEO, SouthBridge Investments. Episode 5  |  From Capital Platforms to Entrepreneurship Ecosystems - Jeff Hoffman, Global Entrepreneurship Network. Wave 2 and Wave 3 in development -  guests include leaders from Forum for Impact, Climate Philanthropy Catalyst Coalition, Harvard Kennedy School, Refugees Investment Network and leading family philanthropy platforms. Learn more at rootstofoods.com.

  1. Philanthropic Capital in Transition: From Intent to Deployment

    Jun 1

    Philanthropic Capital in Transition: From Intent to Deployment

    Guest: Jenn Kenning, Co-Founder & Former CEO, Align Impact Why does philanthropic capital stay stuck even when the intent is genuine and the money exists? Jenn Kenning has spent 25 years at the intersection of wealth management and impact — partnering with financial advisors, institutions, foundations, and families to turn values into capital strategy. Her answer to the deployment gap is not structural. It is human. In this conversation, Jenn and host Ovidiu Bujorean unpack three key things: → The biggest myth: that impact investing requires sacrificing returns or taking more risk. It does not. → The gap is not products or instruments. The most powerful unlock in impact investing is a client who has found their own why — and an advisor with the capacity to ask the question that surfaces it. When those two things meet, capital moves. → Just 5–10% of global philanthropic giving redirected toward impact unlocks $115–230 billion annually. The donor intent is already there. The roadmap is not. Jenn introduces the quarterback co-pilot model, goals-based planning as the unlock for scarcity psychology, and the one question that changes everything in an advisor-client conversation. This is Episode 3 of the RootsToFoods Capital Series — a five-episode practitioner series on the mechanics of capital deployment, hosted by Ovidiu Bujorean, CEO of OviBees Ventures. The series brings together senior practitioners across blended finance, impact capital, and emerging market development to talk honestly about why capital does not move even when the intent is there. Capital Series Wave 1 · Episode Arc ✅ EP01 · Nathaniel Heller, EVP · Geneva Global — The conditions problem ✅ EP02 · Joan Larrea, CEO · Convergence Finance — The blended finance instrument 🎙 EP03 · Jenn Kenning, Co-Founder · Align Impact - The human dynamic ← YOU ARE HERE 🔜 EP04 · June 16, 2026 · Dr. Frannie Léautier, CEO · SouthBridge Investments - Mobilizing African Capital: Domestic Wealth, Infrastructure & Change 🔜 EP05 · June 30, 2026 · Jeff Hoffman, Chairman · Global Entrepreneurship Network - Building the Ecosystem That Absorbs Capital: The Entrepreneur's Lens. Stay Inside the Capital Series: Subscribe to Capital Deployment LinkedIn newsletter - publishing one practitioner issue per episode — three key insights, the data, and an editorial frame. 👉 linkedin.com/newsletters/capital-deployment-7454225038356013056  Download the Capital Insight — EP03 A free two-page practitioner brief with key insights, data, and verbatim takeaways from this conversation. 👉 https://www.rootstofoods.com/episodes Follow the full series: Website: www. rootstofoods.com Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/roots-to-foods-podcast/id1712747151  Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6bodsZnw1IEGcf3KLdmxif  RootsToFoods Capital Series ·Host: Ovidiu Bujorean, CEO, OviBees Ventures

    45 min

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
3 Ratings

About

The RootsToFoods Capital Series Significant pools of private, philanthropic, and institutional capital, across the United States, Europe, Africa, Eastern Europe, India, and Southeast Asia, do not consistently reach the scalable impact opportunities they are designed to serve. This is not a series about aspiration. It is about mechanics, decision-making, and what it takes to close the gap between intent and deployment. And answer the key question of how capital intent can become capital deployment. Each conversation convenes a senior practitioner who is actively shaping how capital flows in practice, from blended finance structuring and family office transition to domestic capital architecture and entrepreneurship pipeline development. Together, the episodes form a practitioner-grade map of where capital is already moving, what enables it, and what holds it back. The Capital Series is an OviBees Ventures initiative. Founding partners: AV Ventures and ACDI/VOCA. Capital Insight Briefs Each episode of the Capital Series generates a Capital Insight Brief,  a practitioner-grade synthesis of the core insight, what is working, what is not, and what it takes to unlock capital deployment in practice. The Briefs are free, downloadable, and designed for practitioners, advisors, foundation programme officers, family office investment teams, and institutional capital professionals who want field-level insight without the full audio episode. Download the latest Capital Insight Brief below.  Wave 1 — Where Capital Is Already Moving Episode 1  |  Capital Deployment in Practice - Nathaniel Heller, EVP, Geneva Global. Episode 2  |  Blended Finance at Scale - Joan Larrea, CEO, Convergence Finance. Episode 3  |  Philanthropic Capital in Transition - Jennifer Kenning, Co-founder Align Impact. Episode 4  |  Mobilizing African Capital for Africa - Dr. Frannie Léautier, CEO, SouthBridge Investments. Episode 5  |  From Capital Platforms to Entrepreneurship Ecosystems - Jeff Hoffman, Global Entrepreneurship Network. Wave 2 and Wave 3 in development -  guests include leaders from Forum for Impact, Climate Philanthropy Catalyst Coalition, Harvard Kennedy School, Refugees Investment Network and leading family philanthropy platforms. Learn more at rootstofoods.com.