In an unpredictable world, mission-driven enterprises often face unforeseen financial hurdles that threaten to derail high-impact businesses tackling the world’s biggest challenges. Addressing these disruptions requires innovative, flexible financing tools that go beyond conventional approaches.
In this Luminarias fireside chat, Caroline Bressan, CEO of Open Road Impact, will join Impact Entrepreneur’s Laurie Lane-Zucker to explore the importance of “impact-first” capital in sustaining the resilience of social enterprises and impact investments. Caroline will share insights into the challenges of maintaining mission integrity amidst financial constraints, as well as the lessons learned from providing emergency funding to SDG-aligned enterprises.
Open Road Impact has emerged as a critical player in this space, providing bridge financing to address unforeseen roadblocks and safeguard momentum for social entrepreneurs and impact investors. Caroline will discuss Open Road’s pioneering approach to resilience financing, including its recent transition from a for-profit to a not-for-profit structure and its embrace of philanthropy to amplify impact.
Join us for a thought-provoking discussion on how targeted, timely capital can sustain momentum, mitigate risk, and protect mission-driven organizations as they create solutions to the most pressing issues facing people and the planet.
Caroline Bressan is the Chief Executive Officer of Open Road. Prior to Open Road, Caroline was an Investment Principal at D. Capital, the investment advisory wing of Dalberg. There she focused on D. Capital’s impact investment advisory offerings, building a pipeline of investment opportunities in Sub-Saharan Africa, specifically in energy and agriculture. Caroline also worked on the design and structuring of innovative financing mechanisms, including impact bonds and social impact insurance.
Previously, Caroline was an Investment Officer at Calvert Foundation, where she managed its $20 million portfolio, mainly focused on Latin America. At Calvert Foundation, she originated and managed a pipeline of lending and investment deals focused on the sustainable trade, social enterprise, and financial inclusion sectors. In addition, Caroline designed and launched a revolving line of credit product, the first of its kind for Calvert Foundation, and helped launch the international component of the Women Investing in Women Initiative (WIN-WIN). She also sat on the investment committee of the Haitian Emergency Liquidity Fund, created to provide funding to microfinance institutions in the aftermath of the 2009 earthquake. Caroline has previously worked in Bolivia with Pro Mujer designing a business education program for clients.
Caroline received her MBA from Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business and holds a Bachelor in Business Administration from the University of Michigan. She speaks English and Spanish.
Laurie Lane-Zucker is Founder and CEO of Impact Entrepreneur, PBC, an impact economy business that hosts the Impact Entrepreneur Network — a large, global network of “systems-minded” entrepreneurs, investors, and scholars of social and environmental innovation — and editor and publisher of Impact Entrepreneur, a digital magazine covering the emerging Impact Economy. For over 30 years, Laurie has been a “pioneer” (Forbes) and recognized leader in sustainability, social enterprise, and impact investing. Laurie was the founding Executive Director of the international environmental organization, Orion Society, which publishes the celebrated Orion Magazine, as well as the founder of a global sustainability think-tank, the Triad Institute, and Hotfrog, a Founding B Corporation, GIIRS Pioneer Company, and the first company ever to complete an equity transaction on an impact investment exchange. Laurie is the bestselling and multiple award-winning publisher and editor of books and magazines on sustainability and social impact — having worked with such acclaimed authors as Wendell Berry, Barry Lopez, Terry Tempest Williams, and David James Duncan — and the author of numerous articles on entrepreneurship and impact investing. Laurie is contributing author to the recently published academic textbook from World Scientific, Sustainability: Business and Investment Implications (2023).
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