Impact Investing is Evolving — So Must We

Reflections on my conversation with Priya

When we think about investing, it’s easy to default to spreadsheets, returns, and risk management. But the conversation with Priya Parrish reminded me—this is also about values. About the kind of world we want to live in, and what role we want our money to play in shaping that world.

Priya, a longtime investor and CIO at Impact Engine, has spent two decades navigating both traditional finance and the impact investing space. What stood out to me most from our conversation is this: impact investing is not a trend—it’s a response. A response to a world where policy alone hasn’t been enough, and where private capital has too often worked in service of growth at any cost.

We talked about what it really means to align our portfolios with our values. Not in theory, but in practice. It’s messy. There are gaps. Fund managers don’t have it all figured out. But that’s okay. As Priya said, “If investors are not going to invest in these companies or fund managers because they don’t have it all figured out, then guess what? You have nothing to invest in.”

It’s time to move beyond perfectionism and toward participation.

Here’s what I keep coming back to: we don’t need to wait for perfect frameworks or political conditions. Impact investing exists because policy alone hasn’t delivered the world we know is possible. And the most hopeful part? We can start now—by understanding what we own, asking better questions, and using our capital to move the needle toward dignity, health, and opportunity for all.

Because investing isn’t neutral. It’s always building a world. The question is: which one?

-Ali Motroni, Host of The Hopeful Pioneers

Listen to the full conversation with Priya Parrish on The Hopeful Pioneers podcast.