The 2024 Fowler Center Impact Investing Competition
The 2024 Impact Investing Competition was held in person Feb. 23rd in the Peter B. Lewis Building on the Case Western Reserve University campus. The competition was divided into two divisions to accommodate for the number of registered teams. Six student teams presented in the undergraduate division before a panel of four judges and eight student teams presented in the graduate division before a panel of five judges. All of the judges represented unique and diverse fields of investing and social impact-oriented investing.
Student presenters included a variety of Weatherhead School of Management graduate and undergraduate students. Students presented a wide range of unique ideas and solutions to manage a portfolio of investments as impact investors.
The competition was organized by Fowler Center fellows: Kendyl Biondich, Lucy Lin, Prmeeti Verma, Brooke Kahl, Serena Molina, and Richard Manigault. The case the student teams received was written by graduate students Richard Manigault and Anshul Gupta.
The nine judges included:
- Neelraj Arjune, Mergers and Acquisitions Associate, McDonald Hopkins, LLC
- Lynn Carpenter, Co-founder of EPOCH Pi
- Scott Hackenberg, Chief Lending Officer, Cornerstone Fund
- Theo Legwaila, Associate, Avivar Capital
- Uma M. Rajeshwar, Managing Director, Wealth Manager at BNY Mellon Wealth Management
- Kyle Regan, Investment Banking Analyst, EPOCH Pi
- Kirk Schmitt, Relationship Manager, Glenmede
- William Vogelgesang, Co-founder of EPOCH Pi
- Amy Willey, Chair of ESG Practice Area, McDonald Hopkins, LLC
The Fowler Center for Business as an Agent of World Benefit at Weatherhead would like to thank the students and judges who helped make our 2024 Impact Investing Competition a big success.
Competition Format
The student teams were tasked with proposing how to utilize a $25 million Impact Investment Fund for East Cleveland. The teams were asked to think about the overall impact of each company in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, how financing will leverage these outcomes, and then the overall scale of these impacts on sustainability measures as well as a financial investment perspective. The teams were given the explicit intention to advance progress on UN Global Goals in areas related to tackling urban challenges like food apartheid, environmental degradation, and limited green spaces. The impact investing fund sought a diversified portfolio that achieved social and/or environmental impact and a competitive financial return.
Each team had a total of seven minutes to present their pitch followed by a 6-minute Q&A session with the judges.
A reception was held post-competition where the winning teams were announced and students had the opportunity to network and follow up with the panel of judges.
Winning Teams
Graduate Division:
First place was presented to EcoEquity Ventures consisting of Shubhanker Sinha (MEM), Tejaswini Rane (MBA), and Casey Groves (MBA).
Second place was awarded to Yuga consisting of Sachin Mittal (MAcc), Sanjith Madhavan (MS Computer Science), Muskan Agarwal (MS Finance), and Zhe Zhang (MAcc).
Third place was awarded to Missing Robin consisting of Masters of Finance students Ziwen Xu, Shanning Du, Yidi Yang, Dong Liu, and Zhixum Rong.
Undergraduate Division:
First place was presented to 108th Street consisting of Kaden Tong, Sean Torres, and Isaiah Arrington.
Second place was awarded to Asclepii consisting of Ixchel Airi Robles Ruiz, Franco Kraiselburd, and Manuel Rocha Pereyra.
Third place was awarded to Sustainable Horizon Investments consisting of Cormac Apostolides, Casey Malcolm, Jared Sandberg, Cameron Thayer, and Tom Lin.
Each team was awarded prize money, a commemorative trophy, and individual certificates.
All the participating student teams worked hard and served as great representatives of the Weatherhead student body. We hope students enjoyed themselves and learned from the experience. We are looking forward to seeing you again next year!
Competition Judges
Neelraj “Raj” Arjune
Neelraj “Raj” Arjune is a mergers and acquisitions associate in the McDonald Hopkins’ Business Department. He provides counsel to privately held businesses in mergers and acquisitions. He also provides general corporate counseling to a variety of middle-market businesses, business owners and investors on matters relating to corporate governance, commercial contracts, and compliance. Raj earned his JD, cum laude, from Cleveland State University School of Law in 2021.
Lynn Carpenter
Co-founder of EPOCH Pi, Lynn Carpenter has previously served as director for both South Franklin Street Partners and Candlewood Partners LLC. She also worked as an associate on the buyout team for Morgenthaler where she assisted in the management of $1 billion in capital. Carpenter has experience using culture assessment tools and is certified in using Denison Consulting's Organizational Culture Survey and has substantial experience adding both cultural and strategic alignment to traditional investment banking.
Scott Hackenberg
Scott Hackenberg is the founder of JSH Impact Advisors, where he develops purpose-driven investment strategies for fund managers in the private capital markets. Hackenberg worked in private equity for Blackstone, was the co-founder of Swander Pace Capital and a director with Triplepoint Capital, a venture debt firm on Sand Hill Road in Silicon Valley. Hackenberg pivoted to impact investing soon after that term came into existence and was brought in to help one of the early pioneers (RSF Social Finance) professionalize its $150 million social enterprise loan program. Hackenberg also worked with The Non Profit Finance Fund where he sourced and underwrote funding for community development projects in Oakland and California’s rural Central Valley. Hackenberg graduated with distinction from Cornell University and relocated back to Cleveland several years ago after 25-plus years in Silicon Valley.
Theo Legwaila
Theo Legwaila is an Associate at Avivar Capital supporting the team with portfolio monitoring, reporting, and due diligence. Previously, Theo spent over 3 years in financial services working with companies in the renewable energy, cleantech, and sustainable products industries. He worked at EPOCH Pi, an impact focused investment bank that helps business owners and entrepreneurs raise capital or sell their business while preserving the social and environmental impact of their companies beyond the transaction. He holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a concentration in finance from European University Business School in Geneva, Switzerland.
Uma M. Rajeshwar
Raj is a Managing Director, Wealth Manager at BNY Mellon Wealth Management, providing integrated Investment Management, Fiduciary and Wealth Advisory Services to multigenerational HNW families. In this role, Raj works within a teams based framework that internalizes clients’ financial profiles, goals and aspirations, risk appetite, desired margin of safety, dispositive intent and legacy objectives, and blends these into appropriate investment portfolios while remaining firmly anchored to their evolving goals.
Raj is also experienced in managing Endowments & Foundations, Donor Advised Funds and Sustainable & Impact Investing portfolios, helping Investment Committees and individuals reconcile the complexities of fiduciary governance with investment policy and their mission/personal objectives.
Raj joined the firm in 2023 and has more than 30 years in the Wealth Management business. His previous experience includes serving as Managing Director, Wealth Management at Glenmede and Senior Vice President, Private Asset Management at Key Bank.
Kyle Regan
Kyle is a recent graduate of the Weatherhead school of management where he focused in finance and was a Fowler Center Fellow. His involvement in the impact investment competition while at Case led him to his current role at EPOCH Pi Purposeful Investment Bank.
Prior to business school, Kyle served in the US Army as an Engineer Officer, focusing in combat and security operations. He spends his free time running, lifting, reading, and keeping up with his 3 young children.
Alex Romanowski
Alex is a senior analyst at Corbin Advisors, a capital markets insights and strategic advisory firm specializing in investor relations. He works to deliver research, analysis, and strategic insights to both Corbin’s for-profit and non-profit clients. Alex has experience helping companies connect their ESG/Sustainability story to broader business imperatives and value creation. Prior to joining Corbin, Alex worked with the MedTech and Biopharma Investor Relations Team of Finn Partners helping with research and investor/analyst outreach.
Kirk Schmitt
Kirk Schmitt, CFA, CFP® is a Relationship Manager in Glenmede’s Ohio office. In this role, he is responsible for providing investment advice, asset allocation and ongoing portfolio management for Glenmede clients. He partners with advisory, tax and wealth planning colleagues to understand client goals, provide tailored guidance and ensure clients’ wealth management objectives are fulfilled.
Prior to joining Glenmede, Mr. Schmitt was responsible for portfolio management and investment strategy at the Community Trust and Investment Company in Lexington, Kentucky. In this role, Mr. Schmitt worked closely with clients and was responsible for all aspects of portfolio construction, risk management and optimization. Previously, Mr. Schmitt gained experience at Victory Capital Management, where he managed a mid-cap core equity strategy.
William Vogelgesang
Co-founder of EPOCH Pi, William Vogelgesang was previously a co-founder and CEO of Candlewood Partners LLC and South Franklin Street Partners. Vogelgesang has also served on the board of numerous Cleveland-based companies. He has also served as chair of the Management Committee of Brown Gibbons Lang and a lender for Citicorp and KeyBank. Vogelgesang is also certified in using Barrett Values Center's cultural transformation tools, to help EPOCH Pi clients align their values in merger and acquisition transactions.
Amy Willey
Amy Willey, Member of the Mergers & Acquisitions Practice Group and Chair of the ESG Practice Area, McDonald Hopkins LLC. Amy Willey is a Member in the firm’s Business Department. Her practice is focused on representing sellers, strategic buyers and financial buyers in various types of transactions, including mergers, acquisitions, dispositions, leveraged buyouts, distressed acquisitions and dispositions, and investments. She has a strong passion for helping entrepreneurs and businesses on corporate social governance matters to help impact-driven companies continue to grow the revenues while having a positive social impact by assisting with business initiatives. Amy brings this passion to her M&A practice by helping both buyers and sellers to ensure cultural alignment and integration planning in their transactions, and works as general outside counsel for companies with the dual objectives of profit and purpose.