Jessica Droste Yagan is the CEO of Impact Engine, and she has built a career based on her values and a clear demonstration of authenticity. We talk about how she did it, why it’s important, and how it benefits you and everyone around you.

Jessica shares her journey from McDonald's to Impact Engine, where she manages venture capital and private equity strategies focused on sustainable and impactful investments. She recounts her moment of realization while studying urban economics, where she realized that capitalism can be used to create sustainable jobs and wealth in high poverty areas.

You can align your personal values with business success and contributing to a more transparent and impactful society – and Jessica shares with us how!

About the Guest:

Jessica Droste Yagan is the CEO of Impact Engine, an investment firm with a mission to bring more capital to a market where financial returns are linked to positive social and environmental impacts. Impact Engine manages venture capital and private equity strategies that invest in transformative for-profit, positive-impact funds and businesses.

Prior to Impact Engine, Jessica led the creation of McDonald’s Corporation’s global and U.S. sustainable sourcing strategies. At McDonald’s, she enabled the integration of ethical, environmental, and economic sustainability across all food and packaging sourcing. Jessica also worked in urban economic development through the City Advisory Practice at the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City. 

Jessica has co-authored two Harvard University case studies on public-private partnerships and currently serves as a board member for the Metropolitan Planning Council, the Rustandy Center for Social Sector Innovation at Chicago Booth, and Fixer. Crain’s Chicago Business named her to its list of 40-Under-40 in 2013 and she served as a 2014Leadership Greater Chicago Fellow. Jessica holds a BA in Public Policy from Haverford College, an MBA from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business, and an MPA from the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government. She lives in Chicago with her husband and three children. 

https://www.theimpactengine.com/

About the Host:

Amy L. Riley is an internationally renowned speaker, author and consultant. She has over 2 decades of experience developing leaders at all levels. Her clients include Cisco Systems, Deloitte and Barclays.

As a trusted leadership coach and consultant, Amy has worked with hundreds of leaders one-on-one, and thousands more as part of a group, to fully step into their leadership, create amazing teams and achieve extraordinary results. 

Amy’s most popular keynote speeches are:

• The Courage of a Leader: The Power of a Leadership Legacy
• The Courage of a Leader: Create a Competitive Advantage with Sustainable, Results-Producing Cross-System Collaboration
• The Courage of a Leader: Accelerate Trust with Your Team, Customers and Community
• The Courage of a Leader: How to Build a Happy and Successful Hybrid Team

Her new book is a #1 international best-seller and is entitled, The Courage of a Leader: How to Inspire, Engage and Get Extraordinary Results. 

www.courageofaleader.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/amyshoopriley/

Resources mentioned in the podcast

The Inspire Your Team to Greatness assessment (the courage assessment).

How can you inspire our team to be more proactive, take ownership and get more done?

You demonstrate and empower The Courage of a Leader. In my nearly 3 decades of work with leaders, I’ve discovered the 11 things that leaders do – even very well-intentioned leaders do – that kill productivity.

In less than 10 minutes, find out where you’re empowering and inadvertently kills productivity, and get a custom report that will tell you step by step what you need to have your team get more done.

https://courageofaleader.com/inspireyourteam/

Thanks for listening!

Thanks so much for listening to The Courage of a Leader podcast! If you got inspired and/or got valuable leadership techniques you can use from this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share using the social media buttons on this page. 

Do you have questions or feedback about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below!

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Teaser for next episode

Stay tuned for our next podcast episode – The Human Connection: 4 Ways to Strengthen or Inadvertently Destroy Your Ability to Influence – with Brian Bogert.

Mentioned in this episode:

The Inspire Your Team to Greatness assessment (The Courage Assessment)

https://courageofaleader.com/inspireyourteam/