Q&A with Laura Alsenas, new Head of Funds

This month we would like to introduce you to our new team member and Head of Funds, Laura Alsenas.

Nexus: The change of scenery from Portland to Phnom Penh is quite significant. Could you tell us more about the key drivers for joining Nexus in Phnom Penh?
Laura: While I loved the work I was doing in Portland, I began to miss the particular learning and exchange that come from cross-cultural, international development work. Southeast Asia has long been a region that I’ve wanted to explore further both personally and professionally: it has rich cultures and landscapes, a vibrant start-up community with strong impact investor interest, and significant development challenges yet to be addressed.

N: What are you most excited about in working at Nexus?
L: Nexus is structured as the kind of small, collaborative team in which I flourish. I love learning from diverse colleagues and partners and hope to also contribute my experience and skills immediately. Moreover, I’ve spent most of my career to date in mission-driven lending and putting capital to work for social and environmental returns truly motivates me. I’m excited about the explicit focus that Nexus has on supporting SMEs that not only seek carbon reduction but also directly benefit people in low-income communities.
N: What do you see as the main challenges and opportunities within the impact investing sector in Asia?
L: My initial perception is that while funding is flowing into impact investing, many social entrepreneurs struggle to make their businesses loan or investor ready and are not able to access funding to grow. I believe there is an opportunity to continue to test and refine traditional measures of credit assessment, transaction structuring, and risk mitigation to connect those social enterprises with growth capital while meeting investor return expectations.

N: How do you see Nexus thriving in this sector? What would be the key success factors for Nexus as a fund manager?
L: Nexus is well positioned as a relatively nimble organization with deep sector and technical expertise and a wide network throughout this region. When combined with its experience with various financing vehicles – including carbon asset markets, direct financing of solar installations for farmers, and as a regional impact fund manager – there’s a lot to leverage. Nexus has the ability to identify financing gaps and pilot innovative financing mechanisms that seek deeper impacts.

N: What do you think will be most challenging in your new role?
L: There is so much to learn! As I mentioned, I’m awed by the sector-specific expertise of the colleagues with whom I’m working and humbled by the wisdom of practitioners that have been engaged in these issues in this region for a long time. There is a lot of good work being done, so getting up to speed quickly, honoring what already exists, and then collaborating to expand opportunities is my greatest task.