Otho Kerr

CHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER, ACUMEN. Acumen is a U.S.-based non-profit impact investment organization with close to 20 years’ experience in investing in social enterprises that serve low-income communities in developing countries across Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, Latin America, and the United States. Acumen invests “Patient Capital,” capital that bridges the gap between the efficiency and scale of market-based approaches and the social impact of pure philanthropy, in entrepreneurs bringing sustainable solutions to big problems of poverty. Prior to joining Acumen, he was a founding partner with Encourage Capital, an asset management firm that leverages private capital to generate environmental and social impact as well as compelling investment returns. Otho was the Chief Operating Officer and more recently led an effort to work with native communities to develop carbon offset projects that would positively impact both the environment and the economic condition of landing-owning indigenous communities. Otho has worked in investment banking and asset management for over twenty years, having begun with Goldman Sachs Co. Otho was a co-founder of the Institute for Youth Entrepreneurship in Harlem and a fellow in the Rockefeller Foundation’s Next Generation Leadership Program. Most recently, Otho was an Ambassador for Health Equity, sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and serves on the National Academy of Medicine’s Advisory Committee on a Culture of Health Program. Topic: EQUITY