“A true leader has to be someone selfless, and most importantly, to be authentic”.
On June 29, 2021, the POP Movement had the honor to receive Steve Schueth, who is a veteran financial services industry professional and a nationally recognized authority, consultant, and resource to the Sustainable, Responsible, Impact investment space in the U.S. Since 1989, he has focused on helping to direct the flow of investment capital in positively impactful and intentionally transformative ways—toward the creation of a truly sustainable future. He worked for Calvert Investments for eight years in the 1990s including four years as President of Calvert Distributors and served for eleven years as Chair of the Board of US SIF: The Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investing. Steve was Principal, President, and Chief Marketing Officer for the First Affirmative Financial Network from 1999 through 2017 and served as Executive Producer of The SRI Conference on Sustainable, Responsible, Impact Investing for nearly twenty years. He chairs the board of nonprofit sustainability focused Alliance Center in Denver, Colorado. And he serves on the core Leadership Team of Future Capital.

Dr. Ash Pachauri asked Steve Schueth what leadership meant to him within the field of Impact Investing and he said that leadership starts with true orientation and that it is about being capable of successfully dealing with people, relationships, and emotions. To him it is also important to devote time to develop your leadership skills, motivate with purpose, be intentional and give others credit.

Michelle Whiting from the United States wanted to know how Impact Investing shortens the gap between developed and developing countries to which Steve answered that in order to do that, there is a need to showcase the successful impact businesses. Entrepreneurs need to be trained, to step up, and be authentic. Besides those important actions, he added, there is no magic formula to do it. It’s a process involving raising awareness, education, and motivation with purpose so that capital can be attracted.
Kevin Morales from Mexico asked Steve what Impact Investing is and he told us the journey from PRI to SRI then ESG and finally impact investing. Investments are looking at the latter through the lens of ESG and trying to identify the companies that are better managed and more profitable than their competitors, but are also having a more positive impact on the world. He said that companies that better manage their environmental impacts are the ones performing better in general. He considers that this is because a managing team that is conscious about their environmental impact is thinking bigger picture and longer term and they bring that to every decision that they make. Businesses are more and more aware that they depend on a vibrant healthy human society.
Ivan Ransom from Mexico wanted to know what is taken into consideration to choose projects to invest in and Steve Schueth said that in order to get more investors, a project should have a strong and diverse team, have a sound business plan and show that the business works. Later on Ivan asked which environmental or social impact would be priority for Impact Investing. He responded that it depends on the business case. The project and the moment it’s going through as well as the mission, vision, purpose, and motivation of the investor/s. This process is like dancing. You need to find your perfect match on the dance floor. There’s no magic formula nor a single answer to that last question, that’s the challenge to attract money to entrepreneurial ventures.

Meda Hope Malinga from Uganda wanted to know how Corporate Social Responsibility can be implemented effectively and Steve Schueth told us that CSR is outdated now. ESG has overthrown it. Then he shared with us the joy he’s gotten from setting the foundations of the impact investing industry is that he has been able to prove in dollars and cents that it’s better business than the traditional approach. He pointed out that not only shareholders benefit from that, but also employees, customers, communities and the entire ecosystem of the company benefits.

Lastly, Ana Hanhausen from Mexico wanted to know how we can achieve a balance between consciousness, purpose, and profit, and he told us about the Future Capital group which is trying to bring consciousness and capital together to heal our relationship with money. He highlighted the importance of making conscious decisions, especially decisions that will affect other people and trying to figure out where the balance is.