Investments

As a global social enterprise, we seek to reimagine what stewardship and fiduciary duty mean for a mission-driven organization. WES engages a total enterprise approach to achieve our mission and effect broader systems change.

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Overview Investment Approach Portfolio

Stewardship of a social enterprise should reflect both financial and mission objectives. WES is committed to a 100 percent mission-aligned investment portfolio, leveraging our full asset base to ensure WES’ financial sustainability, organizational growth, and achievement of impact goals. WES’ rotation of its portfolio for impact includes activating the full spectrum of capital, across six investing approaches.

At WES, we define our impact as threefold:

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WES strives for transparency in our policies and portfolio, both for accountability and to demonstrate our mission-aligned approach. Our Investment Policy Statement describes our mission-aligned investment commitment.

Read the Investment Policy Statement

Insights

WES Investments Team

Senior Director, Investments

Smitha Das

Senior Director, Investments

Smitha Das (she/her) is deeply committed to demonstrating a total portfolio approach for impact, with an eye towards reimagining the broader capital markets. As Senior Director of Investments at World Education Services (WES) – a global social enterprise – Smitha leads WES’ investment practice, stewarding all of WES’ resources to be 100% mission-aligned.
Her passion to create meaningful impact sparked at a young age when she founded a water nonprofit in middle school. She has since worked in government, private equity, venture philanthropy, and impact investing.
Smitha has a MBA from Harvard Business School and AB with Honors from Harvard College, where she co-founded the HBS Impact Investing Club and Harvard College Social Enterprise Club. She is a Just Economy Institute Fellow and serves as a Board and Investment Committee member to several organizations, including Mission Driven Finance, Echoing Green, Unlock Ownership Fund, and New Power Labs.

Senior Manager, Investments

Sean Crowley

Senior Manager, Investments

Sean Crowley (he/him) serves as Senior Manager of Investments at WES, where he leads the work on WES’ thematic investments portfolio, focused on a broad set of impact themes across the globe aligned with WES’ mission. Passionate about leveraging capital to increase access to opportunity, Sean has extensive experience working as an investor with and advisor to nonprofits, foundations, and social enterprises, particularly within education and healthcare.

Prior to WES, Sean held roles with education consultancy Tyton Partners, the Boston Children’s Hospital Investment Office, and Cambridge Associates.

A first-generation college graduate, Sean holds an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and a BA in Economics and Government from Cornell University.

Investments Platform Manager

Cristina Lara-Agudelo

Investments Platform Manager

Cristina Lara-Agudelo (she/her) is WES’ Investments Platform Manager. At WES, Cristina leads the Investment team’s portfolio management, portfolio operations, and impact measurement and management activities. Prior to WES, Cristina was Lending Partnerships Manager at Common Future, where she supported community‑centered lending programs that expanded access to affordable, power‑shifting capital. Cristina brings additional experience in social impact acceleration, community engagement, collective impact, and direct service.
She holds a B.S. in Economics from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, with concentrations in Business Economics & Public Policy and Operations, Information & Decisions. Based in the Denver area, she volunteers with the International Rescue Committee’s Tutoring Together Program, We Don’t Waste, and mentors first‑gen, low‑income (FGLI) students through Second Day. Cristina is passionate about ensuring that the economy serves all people equally.

Connect with Us:

We are excited to meet innovators, organizations, and fellow travelers who are committed to advancing shared priorities and collective impact. If you’d like to learn more or explore partnership opportunities with us, please contact the Investments team.

[email protected]