Impact Investing for Systems Change with Charly Kleissner

Charly Kleissner is an impact investor. He believes that the deeper meaning of wealth is to make a positive contribution to humanity and the planet and that the best impact investments integrate positive impact into their business model. He argues that Modern Portfolio Theory has to be re-conceptualized to fully integrate positive impact into a Total Portfolio Theory. He sees impact investing not as an intellectual exercise, but as an expression of who he really is. Dr. Kleissner co-founded KL Felicitas Foundation, Social-Impact International, the Central European Investment Ready Program, and Hawai’i Investment Ready, which help social entrepreneurs worldwide accelerate and increase their impact. Dr. Kleissner co-founded Toniic and the ‘100% Impact Network’, global networks for impact investors.

Dr. Kleissner serves as a full member of The Club of Rome, as Chairman of the Board at ImpactAssets, on the Board of the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, and on the Advisory Board of Chi Impact Capital, the Global Hub Company, Industree Foundation, SETup, the Katapult Fund, and the UNSIF High-Level Advisory Board. Dr. Kleissner has over twenty years of experience as a senior technology executive in Silicon Valley working for companies like NeXT and Ariba. Dr. Kleissner earned his M.S. and Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Technology, Vienna.

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).