She wanted to have an outsized impact. She now leads impact management for a global development investor.
Lillian Alexander (MIDP’20) draws on her international development policy degree and the lifelong community she gained at the McCourt School of Public Policy as director of impact at Mercy Corps Ventures.
Lillian Alexander (MIDP’20), director of impact at Mercy Corps Ventures, speaking at an impact investing conference.
In reflecting on life post-graduation, Lillian Alexander (MIDP’20) shared the joys of living in DC and making the most of her proximity to Georgetown’s McCourt School of Public Policy, attending alumni events, speaking to student organizations and connecting with impact-driven Hoyas.
“That’s one of the best things about sticking around DC after graduation,” said Alexander. “You can remain an active member of the Georgetown community.”
Though she has planted roots in the District of Columbia, her work keeps her eyes set abroad. After completing the McCourt School’s Master of International Development Policy program , Alexander began working with Mercy Corps Ventures (MCV), an early-stage impact investor that provides capital and targeted support to fuel startups that improve the resilience of communities in emerging markets. She leads impact measurement and management for MCV’s portfolio of solution-oriented ventures across sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia.
“I work across the MCV team and our investment portfolio to ensure that all of our activities align with our mission of strengthening financial and climate resilience for underserved populations,” she said.
Alexander’s role blends past experiences, from her undergraduate studies and field research in food insecurity, agricultural development and environmental science at Harvard to her MIDP Summer Experience in Ethiopia with Kidame Mart, a social enterprise operating a network of rural female entrepreneurs to provide last mile distribution of high impact and fast moving consumer goods.
“My internship with Kidame Mart was the first time I worked directly for a social enterprise,” said Alexander. “It cemented my belief in the potential of market-based solutions and reaffirmed that this was an area where I could have an outsized impact.”
Alexander in Ghana with a representative from Kofa, a Mercy Corps Ventures portfolio company building a low-cost renewable energy network.
She also took advantage of electives at Georgetown’s other graduate schools, including McDonough School of Business and School of Foreign Service classes in social entrepreneurship, sustainable business models and impact investing.
“I knew I wanted to work at the intersection of the private and public sectors,” said Alexander, “so I appreciated being able to take classes from a wide range of professors and practitioners. None of our work exists in a vacuum. I like being able to approach a problem from numerous perspectives.”
It’s an exciting time for Alexander to be working in global impact investing for a variety of reasons: the growing urgency for climate-adaptation solutions, the evolution of financial inclusion measures and the emergence of innovative entrepreneurs across the world who are building products and services to meet everyday challenges head-on.
“I am grateful for the lifelong community McCourt gave me,” she said. “My cohort is closely connected, and I’m excited to continue learning and working alongside my peers as we strive towards a more resilient and just world.”