In this episode of Be & Think in the House of Trust, I am joined by the inspiring Sana Kapadia, a gender-smart and climate-smart investing specialist. With a focus on boldness, radiance and resilience, Sana, Chief Catalyst at Heading for Change and Senior Strategic Advisor at 2X Global, shares her insights on integrating a gender lens to unlock more inclusive and equitable climate finance.

In this episode:

The values that define us

"Kind, soulful, resilient, strategic, and graceful" - Sana reflects on the values that define her and how these attributes help her navigate the complex world of social justice and climate finance.

Doing the bold, inner work

Sana discusses the importance of being true to oneself and the role of self-awareness in driving systemic change.

A holistic approach to finance will drive real impact

"We need to be thinking about the political economy, the other social constructs that are in place around gender norms and structural barriers"

Passing on the baton in a way that makes sense

"We are definitely influencing our young people. So I think we have to choose how to do that well and to give them the right tools to take actions that are right for them" - On educating the younger generation about climate change and social justice.

A call to action

"We have to show up with courage, to keep being part of the conversation, to keep using our influence and power"

Interesting links:

• Connect with Sana on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sanakapadia
• Listen to Sana's Podcast: "Nour" https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/nour/id1666512169
• Heading for Change strategy and investments https://www.headingforchange.org/investments
• Heading for Change Newsletter: https://www.headingforchange.org/newsletter
• Gender and climate finance case-studies: https://www.2xglobal.org/case-studies-2
• Knowledge products:
• i) Inclusive Climate Finance https://www.2xglobal.org/knowledge-hub-blog/inclusive-gender-and-climate-finance
• ii) Seminal - Climate & Gender Finance Report https://static1.squarespace.com/static/6089294d7cb43b4cffb93591/t/60ec750cdcef4a49b3a96120/1626109200947/GenderSmart+Climate+Report.pdf
• iii) Fair Futures https://www.2xglobal.org/knowledge-hub-blog/envisioning-fair-futures

Connect with Servane:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/servanemouazan/

Website: https://servanemouazan.co.uk

Subscribe to Conscious Innovation updates:

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Servane Mouazan: Hello, this is Be and Think in the House of Trust with me, Servane Mouazan. And this podcast is for and by leaders who love to invest in social and environmental change and are keen to reflect on, um, the vision, the mental models, and the dark matter that makes or breaks the impact we want to create. And our guest today in the House of Trust is the amazing Sana Kapadia. Sana is a gender smart and climate smart investing specialist and global change maker, and she's focused on leveraging capital as a tool for social change and to support deep and intersectional systemic shifts. She's the chief catalyst at Heading for Change and a senior strategic advisor at, 2X Global among other things. She's also on the board of Criterion Ventures. And you can hear Criterion's CEO Joy Anderson in one of our, previous episodes. What you will often see Sana do these days is demonstrate to us all how integrating a gender lens unlock more inclusive and equitable climate finance. So I'm curious where our exploration will lead us today. Let's dive in. Hello, Sana. It's a pleasure to have you here today in the House of Trust.

Sana Kapadia: Hi, Servane. Thank you so much for having me. It's a joy to be here.

Servane Mouazan: So there's something else, um, that maybe some of you know is that Sana is also a podcaster. So we've got this kind of podcasting thing. So I'm just going to start with a question, basically to help the audience know a bit more about you. And if you had five words that define you, what would they be?

Sana Kapadia: This is a fun one, Servane because I thought of five and I asked one of my best friends, and then my daughter and there was beautiful crossover. So it's good that people see you the way you see yourself. And so five, of those words that came up for me were kind, soulful, resilient, strategic and graceful.

Servane Mouazan: And what is the connection between them all?

Sana Kapadia: I think, you know, there's a piece for me around, sort of not so much being fearless on the one hand, but being brave. And that's wrapped into why resilience shows up, right? Um, definitely a kindness is. Is in my DNA. I really believe that kindness is the thing that can help us really be at peace with each other. And such a needed quality these days in, how we show up as humans. Um, sometimes the word soulful, definitely, like, I feel I could have been born in a different century. But there's things from, um, like, really holding deep wisdom from the past that I think is important. Um, yeah, I think there is a thread around how we should show up in the world and what it means to really be one's true self and to embrace that, first of all, understanding. That is a journey in itself. It's not like when you're five years old, you could name these words, but you have to really feel and be and come into this sense of being over time. And of course, each of those is shaped by different experiences, so that was sort of my thought process of even coming up with them. Um, but, yeah, I really think that to do the work that we do, particularly in social justice, climate justice, having that self awareness and showing up fully, um, is a huge part of how we make change in the world.

Servane Mouazan: And there's a, um, gesture that people won't see, obviously you're doing is that gesture with your hands as if you were integrating, like a wave that keeps coming in and like. And that illustrates beautifully. And what people don't see is, well, there is a beautiful light shining behind you. And that brings me to, you know, the title, the name that you gave to your podcast. Nour, radiance and light. I love that word. Love that. I even got it tattooed. I mean, it's too much information, but I've got that calligraphy. I think it's beautiful. And I wonder, what is this sliver of light that keeps shining consistently for you, whatever happens, wherever you are?

Sana Kapadia: Yeah, I think it is anchored in a sense of, rootedness, but not in a place per se, because I think that's a different exploration for me, in terms of my personal journey, having been born and raised somewhere and lived and worked in many different countries. So I don't mean rootedness in terms of belonging in place, but I think it's. I derive that sense of, light and radiance from really being true to myself. Um, integrity is a value, um, and loyalty as well, are values that I hold very close. And I think how that then shows up, whether it's in work or at home, is you keep going back to that sense of rootedness and home in yourself. And when you're in challenging or when I'm in challenging situations, um, that inner compass is then sort of what guides how I show up, how I react, and in the work, um, that I get to do around moving climate finance and also more broadly finance more inclusively, I think coming back to that sense of, well, what are we really trying to bring to light here? Or what are we trying to sort of, um, expand in terms of the mindset that is built around how finances moves. Yeah. Gives a sense of purpose as well. And I think that's why even my career has moved to being very purpose driven and values based, from an early stage, driven by this, sense that, you know, one of the reasons we're here on this planet is to leave it better than we found it. And how can we do that, um, individually, collectively and as a species. And there's something here for me around, like the ancestral impact, because there were people here before us, there's others who will come after us and so on and so forth. And how do we pass the baton gracefully to each other in a way that helps keep this beautiful planet, going and thriving? But also we need to feel connected to each other because we are, it might feel like we're not, but, yeah, we're all deeply interconnected with nature, with each other, with all these systems.

Servane Mouazan: I mean, I hear you speak in systems there. All the interconnections, that interdependence, that light and roots... these ancestors, us, and we as ancestors, for the people to come, all the species. There's a lot of interconnectedness and "systems" vocabulary here. Um, and I wondered if we zoom into the work you're doing now. You've got many roles, you've got the gift of ubiquity, and so can you tell us more about what you're doing now and maybe Heading for Change just as a door that gives us a little bit of insight into what you do and how you do it?

Sana Kapadia: Yeah, happy to. So, heading for change is a gift and a privilege to be part of. It was founded by one of the founders of Gender Lens Investing, a dear friend and partner in this work, Suzanne Biegel who has now passed, from her battle to lung cancer last year. Um, and Suzanne also, um, sort of personifies some of that light that we've spoken about. Right. Like, really being able to be a trailblazer. And Suzanne's life's work was focused on building the field of gender lens investing, and in particular, around climate and gender finance. And so last year, she and her husband seeded an endowment called heading for change. Um, focused on making catalyst investments and grants at the nexus of climate and gender, being able to advance nature and biodiversity solutions that unlock gender equality. What we do at heading for change is we invest in fund managers that are climate and gender smart, as well as make some grants that help facilitate the movement of capital. So when I think about that work, also from a systems level, absolutely. We're using capital here to get, to be given in the hands of those who are working on the solutions, they're close to the problems. They're supporting businesses on the ground that are coming up with more climate smart products, services. But we're also thinking about that capital and what it's doing to sort of shift the system of finance, right. If we get more capital from a gender smart perspective into the hands of first time, diverse, underrepresented founders, fund managers, that also helps us change not only the face of capital, but the how capital is moving. And that's very important, right? Like are we only, um, supporting deals that sort of fit the traditional venture capital private equity model, then it will likely end up reproducing some of the systemic issues we have today. So in our approach, we're thinking about different models, different structures, have a beautiful geographic representation in the portfolio as well, driven by the mission heading for change, being a demonstration portfolio and showing others what's possible to invest in private markets and what are the different opportunities out there. There's also a piece around transparency and sharing our tools with the broader field. So, um, we have our criteria and our strategy up on our website and in the coming months we'll be sharing more of these to the market. Because it was really important to Suzanne and to us as a team that we help build the field and help get this into the hands of others so that they can see as a wealth holder or as a fund manager, as a different type of asset owner. How might one activate their climate and finance strategy? Recognising that climate is such an integral piece of work that needs to move forward today, given the backdrop of climate change and all the other aspects. So, um, working both within, but also to help build a system is a core part of what we're doing at heading for change. And as you rightly said, Sirvana and other roles. Because I think for me, what's important is that when we think about finance, it's a tool. It's one tool in our overall toolbox, but really to affect more systemic change, we need to be thinking about the political economy, the other social constructs that are in place around gender norms and structural barriers, gender based violence, the caring economy, etcetera. And having this more holistic approach in terms of how finance is flowing from a gender smart perspective is an essential part of really, um, affecting more systems level change.

Servane Mouazan: Mhm. You said you had a, um, 17 year old niece and I wonder when she grows up, when she grows wiser, even wiser and even older, what do you think she will notice that will tell her well, this venture was not just more of the same.

Sana Kapadia: Yeah, I think it's so, it's, um, for those who are listening, I'm currently here, um, in the US with my family in the summer. And the other night, my niece and I, 17 year old niece and I were chatting, she was asking me like, so can you tell me what the real deal is about climate? Like, is it real? Why do we need to care about climate change? And I think she has the basic concept, but is at that stage of really educating herself. Um, and so we talked through, you know, well, the lived reality of how climate change is affecting communities in different parts of the world. Um, and you could see like, things switching in her mind in terms of. Right, okay, this helps make it, you know, make it seem real. I think there's also with, um, the stage that she's at in her life, there's so much absorption, that people do at a young age and even learning by osmosis. So, um, you know, really understand they may, she may not get the full concepts of like, how investing is happening, etcetera. But I think that by having these types of conversations, we're able to like, feed certain ideas. And even frankly, I do it with my, with my own kids, my six and nine year old. I keep joking that, like, in some ways they're being subliminally messaged all day because mom is always talking about gender smart investing, impact investing, social change, social justice. I remember taking my kids to their first demonstration against fossil fuel companies. My son was two, my daughter was five. And it's just, I think, again, I'll come back to this ancestral part. I think it's a responsibility as a parent, um, but also as anyone in the world today, as a leader to be educating our young generation about what's really happening so that then they can also make more nuanced decisions about how they want to show up, what they want to learn about, what they're curious about, how to foster that curiosity. Um, and we've also had conversations, with this niece actually, on, um, what it might mean to have a gender smart investing guide for someone her age and talk about some of those principles. It's on my, um, wish list of things that I'm, projects I should say, that I'm working on, but even just aligning on language, because I think that's the thing that sometimes when we're so entrenched in our field, we think, okay, sure, a 15 year old should get this, but no, there's making sure that we're packaging things in a way that makes sense. But for me it's more about planting that seed and just seeing where they want to go with it. And I think it will influence my kids and hopefully others around in terms of, yeah, things that they will then want to learn more about and explore. And ah, interestingly, when I speak to um, parents who have older kids, some of them tend, are following in their footsteps, not that they were encouraged to do so, but like, if you know, one of the person who's coming to mind, she spent 30 years in development, her daughter has naturally sort of chosen a path in that area. So we are definitely influencing our young people. So I think we um, have to choose how to do that well and to give also them the right tools to um, then take actions that are right for them.

Servane Mouazan: Another sliver of hope and radiance there. So if we keep in that asset- based ways of seeing things, what have you discovered along the way about climate investing and gender smart investing that sparked joy or even surprise for you?

Sana Kapadia: I think what continually inspires me is when I speak to fund, um, managers as well as to entrepreneurs on the ground who are coming up with amazing solutions. What really inspires me and makes me joyful is when I hear them speak about, for example, Ajaita Shah of frontier markets in India, and her beautiful model of working with local women, rural communities in designing, but also making them part of the solution so intrinsically. And it's, you know, we need way more models like that too. Or I speak to fund managers who are working on, let's say, coral reefs in a very specific island nation, and coming up with a funding structure that makes sense for the problem that they're trying to solve for, or ocean plastics, or working with an INgo, coming up with again, a fund model that provides more flexible capital because the types of businesses they're looking to support need that. So I think what's really inspiring is seeing that breadth of solutions that is coming up. Um, I think from a climate and gender finance field perspective we have, it's a growing field, it's still early days, but we have a lot more case studies and examples of things that are happening that the development finance institutions support all the way through to amazing initiatives like um, the Earthshock Prize or others that are really incentivizing solutions to come together. But then recognising again, these are more ecosystem approaches too. So there's lots of hope and promise out there for sure. And I think even just looking recently, I forget one of my favourite podcasts is outrage and optimism on the climate side. And I think there was this beautiful visual they had put on their LinkedIn about how we've actually crossed that threshold where renewable energy and clean sources of energy are more cost effective than traditional fossil fuel powered ones. And just looking at how that data is shifting, I feel sometimes the climate conversation is too anchored in despair and doom. But actually there's a lot of hope to derive because we are making these seismic shifts. And a lot of the times it's incredible. Women leaders at the forefront of that change, and we need to keep doubling down on that narrative that, yes, women, girls, children are disproportionately impacted, but they're also at the forefront of solutions. And I feel very privileged to see that every day in my work and hear those stories and examples of the change that's happening on the ground. And that, of course, is very, very joyful.

Servane Mouazan: spreading more of that evidence probably could be a key there. Imagine if you want to do more of that. So more spreading the good radiance to good stories, the evidence. What kind of resource do you feel you should gather courage and boldness to tap into, to do this?

Sana Kapadia: I mean, I think there's lots of beautiful, um, there's amazing resources out there, right? Like this is one thing that there's no shortage of. We are, as a field more broadly, even in the investing space, we're pretty adept at pumping out a lot of case studies, tools, etcetera. So I think that that's, you know, you know, cheque out. For example, we have some amazing case studies on the two x global website that I outline how this works in practise. Um, as I mentioned, with heading for change. We, you know, are sharing our investments, um, as they come live. And there's details, interviews that we do with founders and fund managers, for example, and lots of other places. But I think the other resource, and what I believe people also need to do to do this work is a lot of that inner work and to be able to really understand why this is important for you. Like, what is it about climate? What is it activating within you that you need to listen to more? Um, and it comes back to that sense of like, what is rooting you not only in this moment, but what do you need to really unlock within yourself to understand why this work is important? So I think for me it's a blend of like, you know, tapping into the plethora of resources and data that's out there, having conversations with like minded people as well. Having that sort of, um, sisterhood and collective of people that you can speak to when things are challenging, that's very important. Um, and then, yes, doing some more of this, um, inner work, inner reflection, and the grounding that you need for when things are more challenging, too.

Servane Mouazan: So stay close, connected, look inside and continue weaving, weaving, weaving new tapestries of goodness and evidence of.

Sana Kapadia: Yeah, and that's, I think, tied to the word at the front end. Like the resilience aspect. Right. Like we need this work needs resilience. And it's also resilience is built into how we think about climate, um, change more broadly. Like, that's ultimately one of the things we're trying to foster here.

Servane Mouazan: So tell me, if you had 200% more courage, Sana, and you have a lot already, what would change for you?

Sana Kapadia: Um, that's hard. I think if I put on my work hat for a moment, I think that what we're doing at heading for change, um, is incredible. I think that there should be many more such models out there. I think that we could have, um, a much bigger endowment. I think that we can do this sort of at scale. Absolutely. Personally, um, I'm also a writer in addition to being a podcaster. So it's not just the courage, but time and courage. I think I would also try and put some of these, this, chain of thought around feminist finance sort of more closely together and write about it. I've been incubating a book idea, and now that I've said it out loud, I have to do it.

Servane Mouazan: Yes, yes, yes, yes. I'll come back to you about that. Thank you. That's a call to action.

Sana Kapadia: there we go. So we'll definitely spend more time on that. And I think it's just to keep being bold. I think this time requires us to be urgent. Um, there's this fierce urgency of now. There is no turning back. If thinking about the type of change we're looking to create in the world, we each need to show up and do that every day in whatever way that we can. I understand it also comes from a place of privilege. So how do you really use your privilege and influence that you do have? And I think even from an investing perspective, each of us does have influence, even if youre a smaller retail investor. So how do you show up and make conscious investment decisions every day? That does take courage. Um, and I think that its a wonderful time to be alive where theres so much seismic change and shift happening in the world and this or paradigm shift. So we have to show up with courage, to keep being part of the conversation, to keep using our influence and power and yeah, just continue fighting, not fighting the good fight, but continue, um, showing up fully as our whole selves and just doing the best that we can to be there for each other and to really the future is possible, creating the world that we want to see as possible. And it will take all of us, um, collectively to make that happen. So courage for all of that and.

Servane Mouazan: More so, chasing the Nour, keeping the light on at all times. So good. Thank you so much for that fresh air, that hope, that call to action. Sana, where can we find you? Or maybe, well, let me not in the world because you're always on the move there. Where else can we find you if not physically?

Sana Kapadia: in terms of social platforms, I think I'm most active on LinkedIn. It's also where I tend to, um, share my own podcast, which I have been quite slow at, but it is out there so you can find that also on Apple and Spotify. But please do feel free to find me on LinkedIn with my name then if you want to cheque out heading for change, I, um, can also share that link. We have a website and a newsletter that you can sign up for. And yeah, please, feel free to reach out for anything, systems, climate, gender, finance, um, resilience, leadership, all of the above here to chat.

Servane Mouazan: Wow. So we got our hands full. A lot of homework there. Wonderful. What I've heard today is this call to keeping it bold and continuing and weaving connections and looking, looking inside, reconnect. We're part of that larger story. Thank you dearly, Sana, for staying a little while with us in the House of Trust. Come back soon, we'll talk about the book and to you all. How about you come back to the podcast in the next episode you can subscribe to this show. It's available to listen to anywhere you can find your usual podcasts and it's completely free. For more insights, events and resources you can head to my website, servanemouazan.co.uk get the regular conscious innovation updates. You can also find me , like Sana, on LinkedIn and all the rest. And leave me a note if you want to experience deeper thinking in the House of Trust. I'd love to hear from you. Goodbye. Stay well.