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In episode 49 of the Investing in Impact podcast, I speak with Princess Aghayere & John Gough of ICA Fund, on working to close the gender and racial wealth gap in the Bay Area through investing in local entrepreneurs.
ICA Fund is a nonprofit organization that works to close the gender and racial wealth gap in the Bay Area by providing coaching, connections, and capital to entrepreneurs who have been overlooked by mainstream funders.
Through training programs and mentorship initiatives, they help people of color—particularly women of color—to start businesses at higher rates than their white counterparts. They also provide access to funding opportunities such as grants and loans, which otherwise may not be available to those from marginalized communities. The goal is to create a local economy that works for all.
They are also committed to building an inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystem in the Bay Area. ICA helps business owners increase their knowledge about how to start a business, develop resources needed for success, establish networks with other entrepreneurs, secure financing options that meet their needs, and position themselves for growth.
The ICA Impact Note: helping great business grow shared wealth
The new ICA Impact Note is an innovative investment structure that helps entrepreneurs prioritize social impacts–like good job creation, workforce diversity, and profit distribution–as they grow their business. Many founders set out to leverage their business to create change in their community, but those aims can be chipped away while growing and fundraising in a competitive landscape.
When a company receives investment through the ICA Impact Note, the business must define the measurable social impact they want to create and the trade-offs they’ll need to make in order to achieve them. The note is designed so that as impact milestones are met, the investor returns ownership percentages back to the company.
Through this structure, the investor and the company are able to work in real partnership to scale social returns for the community by growing a profitable business. The design of this note builds off of ICA’s 10 years of experience deploying capital for community-minded growth-stage businesses and is free to use by other investors working to prioritize social impact.
About PrincessPrincess is an Investment Analyst at ICA and contributes to sourcing new investment prospects and conducting investment due diligence. She works cross-functionally across ICA, communicating portfolio company needs and identifying areas of growth.

Princess has experience working in a minority-owned private equity fund called IMB Partners and co-founded a non-profit called Rebound Liberia. The nonprofit empowers young women through basketball and leadership development. Following the launch of Rebound Liberia, Princess had a short stint playing professionally in Spain in the LF2 league.

Princess graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelor’s in Health and Societies and a minor in International Development. Outside of work, she loves traveling and is an avid basketball fan. She believes entrepreneurship is one of the most effective ways to promote economic growth and development. She hopes to facilitate ICA's mission of advising and providing capital for high potential businesses to address the gender and racial wealth gap.
About JohnJohn serves as Chief Investment Officer at ICA, a venture-capital CDFI and 501(c)(3) non-profit investment fund, focused on creating good jobs, funding women and entrepreneurs of color, and driving economic opportunity and ownership for employees.   John leads the organization’s Investment team, and oversees the development, funding, and implementation of the ICA Growth Fund and Seed Eq

In episode 48 of the Investing in Impact podcast, I speak with Chirag Gupta, Managing Partner at 8X Ventures, on investing in Deep Tech and its potential to impact the world for billions of people.

In episode 47 of the Investing in Impact podcast, I speak with Lawrence Yen, Founding Partner at MIH Impact Venture Capital, on impact investing, Taiwan, and the future of sustainability in the region.

In episode 46 of the Investing in Impact podcast, I speak with Tom Ferguson, Managing Partner at Burnt Island Ventures, on the future of water investments and water technologies.

In episode 45 of the Investing in Impact podcast, I speak with Eric Archambeau, Co-Founder & Partner, at Astanor Ventures on investing in DeepTech to power the future of nature and regenerative agriculture.

In episode 44 of the Investing in Impact podcast, Causeartist contributor Rafael Aldon, speaks with Sheeba Sen, Co-founder of Hasten Ventures, on developing large scale ecosystem regeneration projects.