Impact Investing Made Easy: Discover the new tools, legal templates and risk frameworks that make the difference between success and failure - Melbourne

This session is part of a national series, also running in Sydney (July 21) and Brisbane (July 23).

Raising impact investment can be transformative for social enterprises and their investors, but the legal foundations of a deal matter. The right structure and early decisions can make the difference between a smooth transaction and one that becomes slow, costly or confusing.

Join the Impact Investing Hub and MinterEllison for a practical in-person conversation on the legal structures, documentation and common pitfalls that shape social enterprise and impact investment deals.

This practical event will explore the four big questions every impact investment deal needs to answer:

1. What legal structure will best support the enterprise’s impact, capital needs and growth plans?

2. What do founders and funders need to agree before the lawyers start drafting?

3. What documents are needed, and how do they fit together?

4. What are the common pitfalls that delay or derail impact investment deals?

The panel will discuss where impact investment deals commonly slow down, how legal structure shapes capital options, which governance issues are often overlooked, and how better documentation can help founders and funders get aligned earlier.

By the end of the event, participants will have a clearer understanding of common legal challenges in impact investment transactions, how to use the Toolkit in practice, and what to clarify early when preparing for or supporting an impact investment deal.

Hosted by MinterEllison in partnership with the Impact Investing Hub.

Meet the speakers

Hear from leaders working at the intersection of social enterprise, impact investment and legal structuring.

Cathy Scalzo
CEO of the Scalzo Family Office

Cathy is CEO of the Scalzo Family Office and Trustee of the Grace and Emilio Foundation. The Foundation’s mission is to ensure children and young people at risk of not meeting their full potential are given the support they need to thrive. Cathy is Chair of Australians Investing in Women, Deputy Chair of the Mornington Peninsula Foundation and a board member of the Social Impact Hub. She was previously General Counsel of Scalzo Foods, one of Australia’s largest privately owned food businesses, a senior associate at Allens specialising in workplace, anti-discrimination and anti-harassment laws and a diplomat at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Bruce Campbell
Chief Operating Officer, Impact Investing Australia

Bruce has an extensive career in extractives and operations management. His former roles include CEO of the Alternative Technology Association (ATA); Executive Manager Business Services, Australian Volunteers International (AVI); and General Manager Corporate Services, Good Shepherd Australia and New Zealand and 18 years with Shell. Bruce has a Bachelor of Engineering from the University of Queensland and an MBA from the Australian Graduate School of Management.

Alexander Persano
Senior Associate, MinterEllison

Alexander is a Senior Associate in the M&A and Capital Markets team at MinterEllison. Alexander has broad corporate experience particuarly in capital market transactions and venture capital, as well as private mergers and acquisitions, crossborder transactions, shareholder arrangements and corporate advisory, acting for medium to large private and publicly listed Australian and international companies across a range of industry sectors. Alexander acts for a number of private and government sponsored venture capital firms across a range of industry sectors from early stage investments through to exits, as well as extensive experience in initial public offerings and secondary capital raisings. Alexander holds a Bachelor of Laws from LaTrobe University.

Jessica Mendoza-Roth

Founder and CEO, Social Impact Hub

Jessica is the Founder and CEO of the Social Impact Hub, which collaborates with social purpose organisations to advise, educate and mobilise capital for impact. Jessica is also the Co-Founder of Wait Mate, a for-purpose organisation empowering parents to delay giving their child a smartphone. She is also an impact investment expert, consulting to private philanthropic foundations, an independent impact investment services firm, and she previously established the Sydney office of Impact Investment Group. Jessica began her career as a Solicitor at King & Wood Mallesons in Sydney. She holds a B.A. and LL.B. (with First Class Honours) from UNSW and a LL.M. from Harvard Law School, where she was the recipient of the R.G. Menzies Scholarship to Harvard, and she studied social entrepreneurship, philanthropy and impact investing.

As a purpose-driven intermediary and B Corp, Social Impact Hub offers a suite of capacity and capability building business services for organisations and individuals. Through expert advice, education, mobilising capital and ecosystem building, we help changemakers design, demonstrate and scale impact. If you would like to find out more about our work, please get in touch.