Alicia Robb

Founder and CEO

2015 - Current

One of the driving goals of Next Wave Impact is to increase diversity in early-stage investing and high growth entrepreneurship. Our first pilot programs sought to narrow the gender gap in angel investing by providing nearly 200 women a unique learning opportunity that allowed them to build a diversified portfolio of investments, receive mentoring by women who are experienced angel investors, and an education & training program around angel investing. We completed programs: a US program in partnership with Portfolia and Go Beyond Investing and a Europe program in partnership with Go Beyond Investing and the European Business Angel Network. The Angel Capital Association also partnered with us on the education and training piece, which was supported by the Kauffman Foundation. Our second fund is focused on impact companies and has a portfoilio of 15 companies, 100% led by women and founders of color. We have also set up a 501c(3) nonprofit organization, the Next Wave Foundation, which will focus on building out the education and training programs, as well as a global network of women investors and entrepreneurs (and the men who support them). The Next Wave Network is a global movement to increase women’s participation in angel investing as an asset class. It has been developed to provide an enriching investment experience; including an investment portfolio in start-ups, an education of the investment process, and the development of a global angel community of successful business women across the US, Europe, Africa,Middle East, Asia, and Latin America.

Research Director

2016

For those investors that want to align their values with their investing, we seek to provide an easy way to find out whether a company exploits animals or not. Cruelty Free Investing is a new project to categorize publicly traded companies into those that exploit animals and those that do not. Initially CFI is putting together a website with all 4000+ publicly traded stocks categorized by whether or not they exploit animals or not, and, if they do, how: animal testing; animal products like meat, dairy, eggs, leather, fur; using animal in entertainments, etc. The longer term plan to to partner with a financial institution to offer a cruelty free mutual fund that contains only companies that do not exploit animals in any way. The website will go live as soon as we finish our research in categorizing all of the publicly traded stocks.

Activator

2015

SheEO is a global initiative focused on building an innovative new model to finance, support and celebrate female entrepreneurs. The signature initiative, Radical Generosity, calls upon 1000 women per city to commit $1,100 to provide low interest loans to 10 women-led ventures that are selected by the 1000 women, theActivators. The ventures get loans and access to the women's networks, buying power and expertise to growth their businesses. This model will be in 1000 cities by 2020 loaning $1B annually to 10,000 women-led businesses.

Senior Fellow

2005 - 2016

Principal

2003 - 2015

Marin Economic Consulting is an economic consulting firm located in Marin County, California. We provide consulting services in the areas of: Litigation Consulting CEDS Support (Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy) Entrepreneurship Economic Development Regional Competitiveness Impact Studies Entrepreneurial Finance Small Business Banking Gender Studies Minority Studies Government Procurement Disparity Studies Policy and Research

Adjunct Professor in Economics

2003 - 2006

Executive Director

1995 - 2005

FSD achieves community-driven goals through asset-based development and international exchange in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. FSD envisions a world where all people have the opportunity and capacity to direct economic, social, and environmental resources toward sustainable outcomes that improve lives and communities. CORE VALUES Start With Assets, Not Problems: We take an asset-based approach to development work. We begin by listening to the priorities set by our community-based partners and then identify and utilize existing assets and capacity to address those priorities. Motivate Community Ownership: We partner with leaders, organizations, and stakeholders committed to change, action, and social justice. We stress community ownership and participation before launching initiatives,. Generate Enduring Results and Impact: We ensure the outcomes of our support have long-lasting benefits for our partners. We think hard on how to participate appropriately and effectively in development, and on how to become redundant so that our initiatives outlast our involvement. Focus On The Site Teams: We are headquartered in San Francisco, but our Site Teams direct our programs on the ground, 365 days a year. These teams build partnerships based on trust, respect, efficacy, and alignment with asset-based approaches. Build Capacity: We strengthen the skills, competencies, and abilities of the leaders at our community-based partners and of our student and professional volunteers. We educate and train, facilitating the sharing of best practices across all of our stakeholders to support our partners’ priorities. Be A Bridge: We relentlessly build a network for our community-based partners to access. We connect this network of assets and volunteers with the work of our partners through our international exchange and grantmaking programs.

Economist

2000 - 2003

Economist in Research and Statistics. My work focused on the Survey of Small Business Finances and research on finance and entrepreneurship.

Economist

1998 - 2000

Research Analyst

1994 - 1995

Research Assistant