NWP Board of Directors

Christa Velasquez

Christa Velasquez is Senior Fellow with the Initiative for Responsible Investment (IRI) at the Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations at Harvard University. The IRI promotes the development of the theory and practice of responsible investment through research, dialogue, and action and is the home of the More for Mission Campaign and the Responsible Property Investing Center. Her work at IRI includes the integration of industry networks (More for Mission and the PRI Makers Network), impact investing advocacy and policy, and the development of social impact bonds.

For the past nine years Christa was the Director of Social Investments at the Annie E. Casey Foundation, a private charitable organization whose principal mission is to help build better futures for disadvantaged children and families in the US. She was responsible for managing the foundation's $125 million social investment fund. Her work encompassed all aspects of social investing, including program design, developing investment strategies, underwriting and structuring investments, and portfolio management.

The social investment portfolio has financed the creation of approximately 5,000 jobs, the development of 2,700 units of affordable housing and 500,000 square feet of commercial space, 2,000 charter school desks, and 300 child care slots. These investments have leveraged $355 million of co-investment from other foundations, banks, corporations, pension funds, and individuals. In addition to the investment portfolio, she helped develop the impact investing field and was a cofounder of the More for Mission Campaign and the PRI Makers Network.

Prior to joining the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Velasquez spent six years at the consulting firm Brody-Weiser-Burns, specializing in social investing, community development finance, and business planning for social enterprises. She received a bachelor's degree in Latin American studies from the University of Chicago and an MBA from the Yale School of Management.