E22 - Urmi Sengupta, Senior Impact Investments Officer at MacArthur Foundation (USA)

What if the capital we need most is the kind that stays where others won’t? In this episode, Urmi Sengupta from the MacArthur Foundation explains catalytic capital, patient, flexible, and risk-tolerant funding designed to go where traditional investors won’t. We explore how this capital can seed innovation, sustain essential services like affordable housing, and scale solutions in climate and small business finance that otherwise wouldn’t happen. Urmi shares how the Catalytic Capital Consortium is mobilizing hundreds of millions of dollars while bringing funders together in partnership. Urmi shares why collaboration is more costly, yet more powerful. Why community voices must shape investment decisions. And why foundations must move from isolated funding to collective system change. This conversation is a powerful reminder that finance is not neutral. It can exclude or it can include. And perhaps most importantly: change doesn’t require perfect solutions. It requires action. Please review the episode, share your feedback, and subscribe to the podcast! You can also: Visit our website: womenchangingfinance.org Follow Urmi on LinkedIn To go further, here are some of the references mentioned during the episode: MacArthur Foundation — https://www.macfound.org Catalytic Capital Consortium (C3)— https://catalyticcapitalconsortium.org/research-learning/ Rockefeller Foundation — https://www.rockefellerfoundation.org Omidyar Network — https://omidyar.com GroundBreak Coalition — https://groundbreakcoalition.org/ Invest Appalachia — https://investappalachia.org Chicago Trend - https://www.chicagotrend.com/ Mission Investors Exchange — https://missioninvestors.org GSG Impact — https://gsgimpact.org CapitalPlus Exchange —https://capplus.org Tideline - https://tideline.com/ Half of a Yellow Sun, Americanah and Dream Count by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie — https://www.chimamanda.com/book/ Women Changing Finance is part of the Impact Alpha Podcast Network.