Journey to Impact - Australia

Danny Almagor is co-founder (with his wife Berry) and the Executive Chair of Small Giants. Danny was the inaugural Social Entrepreneur in Residence at RMIT, the founder and former CEO of Engineers Without Borders Australia and is the co-founder and Chair of the Impact Investment Group, and more recently created Sentient Impact Group. He has founded over a dozen for profit and non profit organisations including The Sociable Weaver, The Impact Club, Beyond Family Office and Beyond Creative. He has served on numerous boards, including many of the Small Giants family of businesses such as Tom Organic, The School of Life, The Cape ecovillage and Pacific Biotechnologies, as well as non-profit boards and advisories boards including the Jewish Museum of Australia, Stand Up, Smiling Mind, The Gross National Happiness Centre in Bhutan and Toniic. Danny has been recognised through many awards including a Churchill Fellowship, RMIT Alumnus of the Year, EY Social Entrepreneur of the Year, UN PRI Social Investment Pioneer and the Medal of the Order of Australia.

He has studied Aerospace Engineering, Business Administration and outdoor education. He loves to cook, read, rock climb, talk about philosophy, garden, travel and jump on the trampoline with his three kids. He doesn’t like to run marathons, watch horror films, drink beer, spend time on social media, or invest in anything that isn’t impact.

Eleanor curates gatherings to bring people together around ideas for a hopeful future. She facilitates our Impact Safaris and was previously the Director of The School of Life Australia and the Head of Programming across Small Giants Academy.

Eleanor is a curatorial advisor to Groundswell Giving and sits on the council of the Art Gallery of New South Wales Atelier program.

Eleanor and her husband Dan also started First Light, a climate-focused investing vehicle supporting ideas and people doing transformational work for our planet.

A passionate and experienced governance professional, Mele-Ane’s work explores the intersection of cultural wisdom, purpose-led business, and the “next economy,” and believes in the immense power of storytelling for change. Mele-Ane holds an MBA from Oxford, where she was a fellow of the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship. She also has an LLB/BA from Monash University.

Mele has over 20 years of experience reporting to Boards and Board sub-committees with over 13 years of experience as a non-executive Director of Boards. Her experience spans ASX-listed companies, not-for-profits and for-purpose organisations across a wide range of sectors.

Francie is the CFO and Chief Investment Officer at Small Giants and sits on the Board of Small Giants Academy. Francie is passionate about using finance and business as a force for good through leadership and governance. She is responsible for leading finance, investments, governance and operations for the Small Giants family office and the portfolio of Small Giants businesses. Francie is also on the Board of Responsible Investment Association Australasia (RIAA).

Francie has a big family and loves long walks as well as arts and crafts (you can never have enough sequins and glitter!).

Berry Liberman is a podcaster and writer who focuses on themes of leadership, storytelling, consciousness, money, and human cultural evolutio and connection.

Berry, whose family office Small Giants has a 100% impact portfolio, is a pioneer in the impact investing landscape globally, across media, the built environment, venture capital, regenerative agriculture, financial services, nature-based climate solutions, biodiversity, and energy systems.

Berry is the Creative Director of Small Giants Academy, a not-for-profit accelerator, education and media initiative with a focus on leadership fora hopeful future. Berry was the Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Dumbo Feather Magazine — now The Wisdom & Action Podcast — with an abundant audience of conscious leaders from all sectors.

As a mother to three beautiful children, her work is in service to them and generations to come.

Jed’s leadership on impact investing has influenced the sector from its very beginning. He has co-authored seven books, including “Impact Investing: Transforming How We Make Money While Making a Difference,” a Nautilus Gold Book Award winner and the first book on impact investing, and authored “The Purpose of Capital: Elements of Impact, Financial Flows and Natural Being.”

He is a frequent speaker at conferences, including appearances at The World Economic Forum and Clinton Global Initiative. Jed is a Senior Fellow with the Center for Social Investment at Heidelberg University (Germany) and the Center for Sustainable Finance and Private Wealth at the University of Zurich and has held faculty appointments at Harvard, Stanford, and Oxford business schools. He has taught social entrepreneurship at Kellogg Business School, Harvard Business School, and NYU-Abu Dhabi.

In addition to his role at AlTi, Jed is Senior Fellow with ImpactAssets, a nonprofit financial services firm. He has founded and co-founded some of the nation’s leading impact investing, venture philanthropy, community venture capital and social enterprises. Jed was strategic advisor to investments for five family offices with over $1.4 billion in total assets, executing 100 percent impact/sustainable investment strategies with their total net worth.