Flagship program

«Impact Investment & Blended Finance for Development Agencies & Foundations» (IIBF)

IIBF is pausing in 2025 for an even greater learning experience!

Stay tuned as we bring our highly successful program specifically for catalytic capital providers to the next level after 8 iterations. IIBF will kick off again in 2026 and we will announce the new date around mid-2025. In the meantime, please subscribe to our newsletter for updates or reach out to us for any questions.

Contact: Christina Moehrle (Education Lead) at cmoehrle@roots-of-impact.org.

Together with our program partners Roots of Impact, Center for Sustainable Finance and Private Wealth (CSP) at University of Zurich and Convergence, we run an actionable, practice-driven executive program that has received excellent feedback.

The program empowers public, philanthropic and private sector funders to collaborate effectively to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. A special ingredient is solutions that demonstrate how to enable high-impact enterprises with market-based solutions to scale and deliver positive impact in a sustainable way – a bottom-up approach. Our more than 210 IIBF alumni to date come from major organisations across the globe, e.g. UNDP, USAID, SDC/DEZA, GIZ, Global Affairs Canada, IFC, SECO, FAO, IFAD, as well as renowned foundations and NGOs such as UNICEF, Shell Foundation, Aqua for All, Danish Red Cross, SOS Children’s Villages International, Fundacion Chile, and Refugee Investment Network.

IIBF typically runs as an open program (based on application) at its home base in Zurich, Switzerland. It can be offered as a client-specific iteration in selected locations (e.g. 2 previous program iterations specifically for UNDP Egypt and UNDP Jordan). IIBF was designed and implemented based on the experience of close to 50 in-house training iterations offered and held by our program partner Roots of Impact since 2017. In addition, it builds on the extensive academic and practical expertise of our program partners Convergence and the Center for Sustainable Finance and Private Wealth (CSP) at University of Zurich.

Our education programs

Started, ongoing and planned

Determined to join us for the upcoming IIBF?

Interested but not yet certain when to apply?

IIBF Target Groups

First piloted in 2018, our IIBF programs exclusively target:

Executives and decision-makers from (a) develop­ment agencies, public or multi­lateral organizations, from (b) INGOs with experience in innovative finance as well as from (c) foundations with a focus on international development (i.e. catalytic and concessional capital providers).

The program is generally not shaped towards purely commercial capital providers such as institutional and private investors engaged in sustainable finance and financial-first impact investing.

IIBF Testimonials

IIBF 2024: Confirmed Speakers

> Karen E. Wilson, Founder GV Partners / Affiliate Faculty Member at London Business School

> Aakif Merchant, Associate Director Training & Engagement, Convergence

> Bjoern Struewer, Founder & CEO, Roots of Impact / Initiative Lead, Initiative for Blended Finance

> Audrey Desiderato, Head Miti, Mirova

> Dr. Falko Patzold, Initiator and Managing Director, Center for Sustainable Finance and Private Wealth at University of Zurich / Academic Lead, Initiative for Blended Finance

> Matthieu Pegon, Head of Blended Finance, IDB Invest

> Paddy Carter, Director, Development Impact Research and Policy, British Internation Investment (BII)

> Tom Adams, Co-Founder and Chief Strategist, 60 Decibels

> Alisée de Tonnac, Co-CEO and Co-Founder, Seedstars

> Rocío Pérez Ochoa, Co-Founder and CEO, Bidhaa Sasa

IIBF Impressions 2022/2023