Back Office Management in Impact Investing: Latest Research & Best Practices
Managing a fund’s back office can make or break its ability to deploy capital effectively. Yet most emerging impact funds struggle with the same operational bottlenecks: fragmented systems, underdeveloped policies, manual data tracking, and unclear workflows for compliance, reporting, and communications with investors.
Join us for a special Drop-In Learning Session with Fundamenta, a new platform developed specifically to serve the operational needs of early-stage and community-rooted impact funds. Co-founders Janice Shade and Hélène L’Sterlin bring decades of experience across impact investing, community capital, and fund operations, and have been leading national research on the back-office pain points faced by new fund managers.
This session will provide an inside look at the latest thinking, tools, and shared practices taking shape across the field.
What We’ll Cover
During this 75-minute session, attendees will:
Learn about emerging best practices for operations, record-keeping, investor relations, and compliance
Hear insights from Fundamenta’s research with 60+ emerging fund managers
Explore how funds are approaching workflow management, capital accounting, reporting systems, and deal tracking
Engage in open Q&A for operational challenges facing your own team or fund
This session is designed to be practical, supportive, and grounded in what small and community-based funds actually need, not just what’s common in conventional finance!
Format
45-minute talk + guided discussion
20-minute Q&A
Optional resource sharing
Zoom (link provided upon RSVP)
About Our Guest Speakers
Janice Shade
Co-Founder, Fundamenta
Janice Shade is a seasoned impact finance leader, entrepreneur, and co-founder of Fundamenta, where she supports the operational and administrative needs of early-stage impact funds. With more than two decades of experience across fundraising, financial management, and community capital, she has led and advised multiple blended-capital ventures advancing regenerative and community-based economic models.
Janice also serves as a Visiting Lecturer at Bard College’s MBA in Sustainability, where she teaches emerging leaders how to design capital structures and financial models that prioritize long-term social and environmental impact. She is widely recognized for her work to democratize access to capital and develop practical tools that help new fund managers build resilient, transparent back-office operations.
Hélène L’Sterlin
Co-Founder, Fundamenta
Hélène L’Sterlin is an impact strategist, organizational designer, and co-founder of Fundamenta, a platform built to strengthen the back-office infrastructure of emerging impact funds. She brings more than 20 years of experience in social innovation, entrepreneurship, and capacity-building across mission-driven organizations. Hélène has worked globally helping funds, foundations, and community-rooted enterprises build strong operational systems, align strategy with purpose, and scale their impact with integrity.