Shownotes
In this episode, Joy sits down with Joanna Levitt Cea, Founder and Principal of Valiente Capital Design and lead of the Gender Funders CoLab report Moving Beyond Grant Capital: Meeting the Moment with Innovative Finance. Together, they unpack what it means to truly design finance for context - not just replicate existing models - and explore how fund design can become a tool for shifting power and advancing gender justice.
The conversation dives into the challenges of translation between finance and community knowledge, the pitfalls of “landscape mapping” without real co-design, and the importance of experimentation over perfection. Ultimately, Joy and Joanna invite listeners to imagine finance as an evolving language of possibility - one rooted in courage, care, and collaboration.
Episode Highlights
- 00:27 - Introduction
- 04:37 - Start with context, not track record
- 08:49 –Separating design from management
- 12:27 - The danger of hidden rules in design
- 16:34 - Translation: finance language and context
- 24:43 - Valiente’s brave translation work
- 31:15 - Move resources now: plurality and iteration
Relevant Links
Part of the ImpactAlpha Podcast Network
https://impactalpha.com/podcasts
