Belmont alumnus Nick Ashburn serves as the senior director of impact investing of the Wharton Social Impact Initiative. WSII is a cross-disciplinary center giving students hands-on experience in impact investing.
Ashburn graduated from Belmont in 2008 as a double major in political science and German. While at Belmont, his concentration was in international political economy. Through his academics and experience studying abroad in Dresden, Germany for a full year, Ashburn felt prepared to navigate and work across multiple sectors of the economy and to take a global perspective on some of the greatest, systematic social and environmental challenges facing the world.
“As Senior Director of Impact Investing at WSII, I think a lot about how we use capital to drive social impact, from philanthropy and grants for nonprofits, to emerging, innovative ways people are using their investment dollars to tackle issues around income inequality, affordable housing, climate change, health care, among many others.”
Ashburn appeared on campus earlier this semester, offering a global leadership convocation to students as well as speaking to a business symposium focused on the current state of social impact investing.
His work is ultimately divided across three dimensions – creating educational programs, managing research activities and conducting applied work. He also hosts a weekly radio show “Dollars & Change” on SiriusXM 132.
Ashburn has taught in the School of Social Policy & Practice at the University of Pennsylvania where he earned his master’s degree in International Development and at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas-Austin.
