Zamorano University and Kirchner Impact Foundation Collaborate to Offer Investment Academy to Students

Unique Program Focused on Demystifying Impact Investment for the Latin American Entrepreneurship Ecosystem

Jacksonville, FL and Valle de Yegüare – Zamorano, November 23, 2022 –  Zamorano University and the Kirchner-Donovan Impact Initiative (KDII), an initiative of the Kirchner Impact Foundation (KIF) are excited to announce a one-of-a-kind collaboration to contribute towards strengthening the local impact investing ecosystem. Starting in 2023, Zamorano will give their graduate students the opportunity to participate in the Kirchner Investment Academy. This program will be offered to Zamorano’s students and joint programs with other renowned academic institutions in business and agriculture, including Masters´ students from agribusiness programs at INCAE and EAFIT.

Zamorano is known as one of the leading academic institutions in the Agri-Food sector of Latin America and considers entrepreneurship as a stamp that their graduates carry on. A significant percentage of the institution’s alumni start their own businesses or are otherwise involved in startup ecosystems across Latin America.

The Kirchner Investment Academy, developed by the Kirchner Impact Foundation, focuses heavily on familiarizing aspiring individuals with the fundamentals of equity impact investing, from the perspective of investors. The program will be structured as a boot-camp style program for Zamorano students with the mission to help prepare a new generation of entrepreneurs and capital allocators to actively participate in their own local impact investing ecosystems.

“The course offers a new way of developing Latin America’s agricultural sector,” commented Arie Sanders, Associate Dean of Graduate Studies at Zamorano University. “With equity investments, agricultural initiatives not only broaden their financial base but also receive strategic inputs from their new counterpart to achieve economic growth.”

“We are confident that the impressive student talent that Zamorano University nourishes will benefit from this immersive experience and we are excited to offer this program in collaboration with Zamorano,” added Adrián García, Lead Instructor of the Kirchner Investment Academy. “Each program is adjusted to the specific industry and regional context of the participants and we believe that Zamorano’s students and values will also align perfectly with the experience Kirchner has in agribusiness and the region.”

The Kirchner Investment Academy has trained more than 800 individuals across 10 countries worldwide. Many participants have highlighted the great value of this bootcamp-style introductory program towards understanding and harnessing the power of impact investing for the development and growth of promising early-stage businesses oriented toward social and environmental impact. The program has a 9.9/10 rating, gleaned from surveys of participants 6 months post program and 99% of participants recommend this program to anyone in the investor-entrepreneur ecosystem. 

“As an alumnus from both the Kirchner Fellowship Program and Zamorano, I am extremely excited to see the collaboration between these two impact-driven organizations. I believe Central America has enormous potential for generating positive social and environmental change through impact-oriented businesses; however, there is a lack of access to practical knowledge on how to leverage impact investing to scale early-stage social enterprises,” commented Eduardo Garay, Senior Fellow with the Kirchner Fellowship – Americas Program. “I look forward to the launching of this fruitful collaboration for the benefit of the entire region.”

Zamorano

Founded in 1942, Escuela Agrícola Panamericana – Zamorano, is a private university located in the Yegüare Valley of Honduras. The University provides undergraduate programs and recently expanded to offer master programs with a focus in sustainable agriculture and business. The university is registered as a non-profit organization 501(c)3 in Delaware, USA. Zamorano also has a long history and tradition of collaborating with a broad range of organizations across the world in the spirit of developing the agriculture and food sector of the region. More importantly, Zamorano is considered an academic leader and standard of reference in terms of preparing the future agricultural leaders of Latin America.

Kirchner Impact Foundation

The Kirchner Impact Foundation (KIF), is a nonprofit organization that serves as one of the “returning” arms of Kirchner Group. KIF harnesses the positive power of enterprise to make a difference in addressing some of the most important issues of today and reflects our belief that all businesses should contribute to a positive human future. The primary activities of KIF include the Kirchner Fellowship and Kirchner Investment Academy as well as other initiatives primarily across four sectors: Agriculture/Food, Health/Life Science, Energy/Resources and Education. Through the Kirchner Impact Model (“returning” with head, hip and heart), the Foundation promotes capital efficiency and sustainable enterprises, while aiming to generate measurable, social and environmental benefits.

Adrián García |Lead Director, Kirchner Investment Academy | adrian@kirchnerfellowship.com

Eduardo Garay | Senior Fellow Kirchner Fellowship | eduardo@kirchnerfellowship.com

Kirchner Group

Kirchner Group was founded in 1985 as a boutique advisory firm and today operates various subsidiaries, providing advisory services (M&A, assessments, diligence) and operational support (interim management, workouts, turnarounds) as well as asset management (dedicated, portfolio optimization) – all leveraging a proprietary approach that dovetails domain and process expertise. The firm also recently launched an academic initiative, using their expertise and four decades of experience, to assist academic institutions in leveraging their current assets to generate new resources while also growing their societal impact.

Throughout the decades Kirchner Group has been internationally recognized for its unique business model centered around creating value while promoting values: “earning while returning”. The firm has also established a reputation for building and rebuilding important business and social paradigms based on its deep entrepreneurial orientation.

Kirchner Group’s clients and partners include early stage to mid-market companies, , academic institutions, venture capital and private equity firms as well as family offices and some of the world’s largest insurance companies, commercial banks and institutional investors. www.kirchnergroup.com  Stay up to date on our initiatives and activities by following us on LinkedIn.

Blair Kirchner | Managing Director | bgkirchner@kirchnergroup.com