Aunnie Patton Power, Founder of the Innovative Finance Initiative: Rethinking Finance and Building Alternatives to the Status Quo

>>> This episode airs on 07 September 2026 <<<

Aunnie Patton Power, Founder of the Innovative Finance Initiative, joins Alberto Lidji on the Do One Better Podcast as she shares her views on how finance can be redesigned to better serve people, communities, and the planet.

The Innovative Finance Initiative brings together more than 2,000 funders, intermediaries, and changemakers exploring what is possible beyond traditional approaches to finance. Aunnie explains why she believes the goal should not simply be to shift the existing system, but to build credible alternatives to it.

The conversation explores some fundamental questions. What does it really mean to invest for impact? Who should decide where capital goes? Does “market rate” actually mean what we think it means? And how should asset owners think about their responsibilities to the communities and people ultimately affected by their investments?

Aunnie also shares examples of alternative approaches to fund design, governance, ownership, and capital allocation, while challenging some of the assumptions that have come to underpin modern impact investing.

About Aunnie Patton Power

Aunnie Patton Power works at the forefront of innovative finance, catalyzing inclusive and fit-for-purpose models that unlock systemic change. She is the Founding Director of the Innovative Finance Initiative (IFI), Associate Fellow at Oxford’s Saïd Business School, Visiting Fellow at LSE’s Marshall Institute, Impact Fellow at The ImPact, and Academic Director of the BEAM Network.

Aunnie sits on the investment committee of Nyala Venture, and serves on the Social and Ethics Committee of JUMO. She is also the founder of Impact Finance Pro and a founding member of Dazzle Angels, advancing gender-lens investing.

Her first book, Adventure Finance (2021), introduced practical tools and bold ideas for mobilizing capital to start-ups through innovative deal structures. She is working on her second book on innovative fund structures for impact. A former M&A banker turned “adventure financier,” Aunnie began her impact journey in India and has since worked across five continents with investors, entrepreneurs, governments, and development finance institutions.