Esther has also served as the Vice President for Strategy and Business Development at RSF Social Finance, and oversaw all lending activity from 2007-2011, which resulted in a tripling of the loan portfolio, and the development of a mezzanine debt fund.  

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Prior to joining RSF, Esther was a senior consultant for ShoreBank Advisory Services, where she provided strategic and capital planning advice for Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), particularly small business and affordable-housing loan funds. She also trained lenders internationally in small business lending practices, and underwrote Program Related Investments (PRIs) for private foundation clients.  

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And in a previous life, Esther lived in Nukus, Uzbekistan, teaching English and conducting program evaluation work for the United Nations. 

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Esther received her MPP from University of Chicago, and BA in Social Welfare from the University of California Berkeley. 

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She lives in Berkeley, California with her husband, Greg, and their two children, Evangeline and Bryce.

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HIGHLIGHTS

 

• Esther describes her work with Cienega Capital. 

• Why is Regenerative Agriculture Cienega Capital’s chosen focus? 

• What does it mean to be Regenerative? 

• Esther talks about change: What changes are needed? How is change happening?

• How working with Sallie Calhoun has opened Esther’s eyes to the benefits of paying attention to soil

• What is the #NoRegrets Initiative?

• Capitalism: Reformation or Revolution? 

• “Vulture Capitalism” vs. “Emergent Changemakers” - the shift from exploitive and extractive to investment in positive change

• Esther talks about two businesses Cienega Capital is currently investing in and how it parallels moving from monoculture to a diverse ecosystem.

• How COVID has exposed lack of resilience in our food system, and how (surprisingly) inefficiency can help

• Exploring the idea of “What is enough?”

• How are women playing a key role in innovation at the forefront of both Regenerative Agriculture and Investing? 

• “The Third Way” - how rejecting a dichotomy of choice framework paves the way toward creative solutions

 

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

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• Visit the Cienega Capital website

• Learn more about the #NoRegrets Initiative

• Learn more about Paicines Ranch

• Read about Sallie Calhoun and Esther’s work, highlighted in Joel Solomon's book, "The Clean Money Revolution:" https://joelsolomon.org/book/

• Read ”Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds,” by Adrienne Maree Brown: https://www.akpress.org/emergentstrategy.html 

 

Connect with Esther & Cienega Capital:  FACEBOOK | LINKEDIN