Betsy Alley
Impact · Insight
About Me
I focus on the intersection of business and impact—the potential of businesses to create solutions for inclusive economic development, poverty alleviation, and climate change. My work has involved leading strategic initiatives as well as producing fresh analytical work, within the fields of development finance and impact investing.
In addition to being a “big-picture thinker,” I have brought new ideas forward on more focused themes such as gender, conflict-affected countries, blended finance, and forced displacement. For more on my background and experience, please head to my CV page, or view my LinkedIn profile.
Latest Insights:
Accelerating and Financing Refugee Ventures
A research project examining refugee-owned startups, mission-driven startups helping refugees,
and the accelerators that support them.
Choose from several formats offering different levels of detail:
Highlights
(Coming Soon)
A 2-page summary of the main takeaways
roadmaps
(Coming Soon)
Summaries of findings and recommendations written for different types of organizations, such as investors, grant makers, accelerators, and others.
Other insights
Here is a selection of articles I've written and publications to which I have contributed:
How Are Refugee Entrepreneurship Programmes Responding to the Covid-19 Pandemic?
(Apr 16, 2020) Centre for Entrepreneurs, London, U.K.
A review of the various actions that refugee-entrepreneurship accelerators--and other organizations that support refugee-owned businesses--have taken to support their entrepreneurs in the face of challenges posed by the pandemic.
Generating Private Investment in Fragile and Conflict-Affected Areas
(Feb 2019) International Finance Corporation (IFC), part of the World Bank Group
A landmark study on how the private sector can help break the cycle of conflict, fragility, and poverty that persists in many fragile and conflict-affected situations (FCS). It draws on academic research and IFC’s experience to derive lessons on how to engage with the private sector to foster growth, job creation, and stability. (As a co-author of this study, I provided qualitative insights, data analysis (particularly regarding IFC's results on pp. 22-26), and strategic frameworks ("Intentional Harm vs. Intentional Good" on p.12, and "IFC’s Investment Decision-making Process in FCS" on p. 27)
Maximizing the Impact of the World Bank Group in Fragile and Conflict Affected Situations
(March 2018) The World Bank Group
A report on the World Bank Group's activities to leverage its business model to deliver results in the world's most difficult environments.
(I was the main contributor to the sections on private sector development, incorporated within various chapters of the report.)