Tuesday, October 5

Digital Philanthropy Week – Day 2

Join us for our second session as we discuss the emergence of social finance instruments in the philanthropy space, and look at two pioneering examples in the health and education sphere. 

Share this page

Whitepaper

In good company: Aligning stakeholder interests for development with social finance

Philanthropists worldwide seek to deploy capital in an impactful way to end poverty, promote prosperity and protect the planet. While it is crucial to attract more capital to address these social and environmental issues, this paper is for those who want to understand how they can deploy it in the most effective way possible.

Today’s session on Innovative philanthropy and outcomes-based funding will explore the unique opportunity of combining financial sophistication and knowhow with good intentions. Because if we really want to achieve development goals that are measurable and scalable, we need to harness the power of the private sector. And social and blended finance are key to getting us there. Join Phyllis Kurlander Costanza, Head of Social Impact and CEO, UBS Optimus Foundation for a conversation with Safeena Husain, Founder and Executive Director, Educate Girls, and Priya Sharma, Managing Director, Scalable Innovation, Private Sector Engagement Hub, USAID.

Interested in learning more about Social Finance? Contact us to receive an invitation for our next webinar on student loan financing and income-share agreements.

Speakers

Phyllis Kurlander Costanza

Head of Social Impact and CEO, UBS Optimus Foundation

Phyllis Kurlander Costanza is Head of Social Impact and CEO UBS Optimus Foundation. She is committed to making UBS a force for driving positive change in society and the environment for future generations. As part of the Sustainability and Impact group, Phyllis oversees client and community philanthropy globally, the UBS Optimus Foundation and social finance.

Phyllis is also dedicated to finding innovative ways to use finance to tackle some of the world's most pressing social and environmental issues. In her role as CEO UBS Optimus Foundation, she applies an investment-based approach, making it simpler for clients and their families to manage their philanthropy and maximize their impact. Since starting at UBS in 2011 she's been instrumental in reshaping the UBS Optimus Foundation's strategy.

Prior to UBS, Phyllis was a senior executive and board member of the Children's Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF). She also has more than a decade of experience as a management consultant and has worked in the public sector for New York State Governor Mario Cuomo.

Phyllis is a member of the USA Charity Board of Directors of Educate Girls, board member of the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW), board member of the Blue Earth Foundation, Feusisberg and a board member at UBS Optimus Foundation UK. She is also a senior advisor to the Education Outcomes Fund for Africa and the Middle East, member of the Harvard University Women’s Leadership Board, and a member of the Council of Foreign Relations.

Phyllis holds a Master of Public Policy from Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government.

Safeena Husain

Founder and Executive Director, Educate Girls

Safeena Husain is the Founder and Executive Director of Educate Girls (EG), an Indian non-profit working towards empowering communities for girls’ education in some of the hardest-to-reach villages. Under Safeena’s guidance, EG has enrolled 950,000+ girls to date, impacting over 11.5 million+ beneficiaries.

Most recently, when the global pandemic hit India in 2020, EG under Safeena’s leadership distributed ration to 106,778 poverty-struck households in rural India. To combat the impact of Covid19 on children’s education, especially girls, EG started Camp Vidya – a community-based learning initiative. Piloted by Safeena, 11,165 camps were completed, improving learning outcomes for children. Currently, with the second-wave creating a massive loss of livelihood in India, EG has restarted its Covid Relief Initiative which aims to distribute ration and hygiene kits to 115,000+ households, while running awareness campaigns and amplifying the use of government learning applications.

A London School of Economics graduate, Safeena worked extensively with underserved communities in South America, Africa and Asia, before returning to India. Her efforts to bridge the gender gap in education in India has been instrumental in EG achieving a major global milestone – the world’s first Development Impact Bond in education. On its completion, the bond surpassed both its target outcomes by achieving 160% of its learning target and 116% of its enrolment target. These results are testimony to the commitment of EG to deliver quality at scale (the organization currently has 2,226 full time employees and 15,000+ community volunteers) and value to every single child in the program. She has also been instrumental in EG becoming the first Audacious project in Asia, a first-of-its-kind coalition that surfaces and funds critical projects with the potential to create global change.

In 2020, EG’s solution to empower 1.5M girls to go to school was selected at MIT Solve’s Learning for Girls & Women Challenge and EG also became one of world’s 100 most inspiring innovations in K12 education. Safeena has been conferred with many accolades for her work at grassroots which includes the 2017 NITI Aayog’s Women Transforming India Award, the 2016 NDTV-L’Oréal Paris Women of Worth Award.

Priya Sharma

Managing Director, Scalable Innovation, Private Sector Engagement Hub, USAID 

Priya Sharma is the Acting Managing Director of Scalable Innovations in the Private Sector Engagement Hub at USAID. In her current role, Priya provides support and assistance to USAID Missions and Operating Units interested in developing and testing innovative tools and approaches to engaging with the private sector. Priya previously worked as the Senior Policy and Innovative Financing Advisor in the Global Health Bureau’s Center for Innovation and Impact where she managed USAID’s first global health development impact bond, and co-authored a number of resources including Investing for Impact and Greater than the Sum of its Parts: Blended Finance Roadmap for Global Health. These resources are intended for development practitioners interested in learning more about blended and innovative financing in global health.

Priya received her MSc in International Health Policy (with Health Economics) from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and she completed her undergraduate studies at Tufts University.

This communication is issued by UBS Philanthropy Services and is intended for the recipient only and is not for further distribution without the consent of UBS Philanthropy Services. Recipients may not forward/share the link with other, or record this webinar without the prior written permission of UBS Philanthropy Services. To the extent permitted by law, UBS Philanthropy Services does not accept any liability arising from the use of this communication.

By registering to attend the webinar, you agree that all personal data disclosed by you for registration and participation in the webinar will be processed by UBS AG (“UBS”) and its affiliates (collectively “UBS Group”) acting as the data controller. If you are providing personal information about individuals other than yourself, please ensure that they agree and consent to your providing their information to UBS and that they are aware of the purposes for which UBS will use their information. These individuals may also request a copy of the applicable UBS Privacy Statement, and contact us for details on their rights of access and correction of their information.

All such data may be transferred locally or internationally within the UBS Group for the purpose of arranging, managing, and assessing this webinar and to create client profiles. If your personal data is transferred abroad, it will be subject to applicable foreign laws and regulations and may cease to be protected by any relevant banking secrecy, financial privacy, client confidentiality or data protection rules under your local laws. For this webinar, personal data may also be transferred to and/or processed by our agents, partners or suppliers in your jurisdiction or abroad that will be engaged in organizing this webinar and tasked with providing services to you.  UBS will not otherwise disclose your information to third parties without your consent unless we are required or requested to do so pursuant to any law, regulation, or regulatory order.

Where data protection laws (e.g., the EU General Data Protection Regulation) permit personal data to be processed under different lawful grounds, UBS relies on lawful grounds other than consent for processing your personal data. For information on how UBS uses and discloses personal data, how long we retain it, how we keep it secure and your data protection rights, please see our Privacy Notice.

Please note that the views presented by third party speakers are their own views and may not necessarily be the same as those of UBS. By participating in the webinar, you thereby acknowledge and agree that the views and opinions expressed in this webinar by third parties are not those of UBS. UBS does not attest to the accuracy and completeness of any information or associated materials provided by them. UBS makes no recommendation in relation to them or their services. Accordingly, UBS does not accept any liability over the content shared by third parties or any claims, losses or damages arising from the use or reliance of all or any part of such content or information.

UBS is not responsible for any technical defects in the provision of the infrastructure supporting the call or video feed. UBS assumes no responsibility for any loss or damage resulting from the use of such infrastructure. UBS is not responsible for any information you may make available via any Q&A, howsoever provided by you, and assumes no responsibility for any loss or damage resulting therefrom. You understand that there may be third parties (e.g., UBS clients, invited guests, guest speakers, service providers) participating in the webinar. By actively participating (e.g., by asking questions or identifying yourself), your identity may become known to other participants.  In such a case, you would be expressly waiving your right to confidentiality as to those other participants. UBS will record the webinar, including discussions involving participants, and make this available to participants following the webinar to maximize the benefit of the webinar for the participants. By participating in the webinar, you thereby consent to the recording of the webinar, to the extent required by applicable law.

By providing your telephone number and/or e-mail address in registering for the webinar, you expressly consent to being contacted by UBS via telephone and/or e-mail, including for marketing purposes. If you would like to cease receiving all materials or have any requests in relation to such materials, please contact your UBS representative.

The UBS Optimus Foundation is a grant-making foundation that helps UBS clients use their wealth to drive positive social and environmental change. Optimus Foundation UK (OFUK) is a UK registered charity number 1153537. UBS UK Donor-Advised Foundation (DAF UK) is a UK registered charity number 1153551.

© UBS 2021. The key symbol and UBS are among the registered and unregistered trademarks of UBS AG. All rights reserved.