Heading for Change embarks on new leadership journey
8 April 2024. Heading for Change (HfC) has appointed Sana Kapadia in the role of Chief Catalyst. Samantha Anderson, Change Weaver at HfC, will step away from her operational role and will provide advisory support as needed.
Sana Kapadia brings two decades of experience in impact investing and gender finance and has been a member of HfC’s Global Advisory Board since its inception. She also worked closely with Suzanne Biegel for several years, most recently as Director of Strategy at 2X Global (formerly GenderSmart), a global membership organization for gender lens investors and intermediaries. In addition to focusing on mission-alignment with the organization’s activities, Sana advanced the climate and gender finance workstream alongside impactful stakeholder engagement and broader field building efforts. Previously at GenderSmart, Sana orchestrated the GenderSmart Summits with Suzanne and shepherded the JEDI (justice, equity, diversity and inclusion) and care economy workstreams.
Sana shared: “I am so excited to join HfC because it’s an innovative multi-asset class demonstration portfolio that is making catalytic investments and grants to accelerate gender-smart climate finance. I feel closely connected to HfC’s mission and vision and believe this focus is not only helping to change the face of capital, but also demonstrating how integrating a gender lens can unlock more inclusive and equitable climate finance. The team have done an incredible job honoring Suzanne’s vision and I am thrilled to join to lead the endowment into its next phase of growth, advance the overall strategy and amplify the collective impact across the portfolio and beyond.”
Samantha Anderson adds, “It was an honor to help bring Suzanne’s vision to life, and I’m thrilled that Sana is coming on board. Sana’s strategic expertise and deep understanding of gender lens and climate investing are exactly what Heading for Change needs as the work is amplified and Suzanne’s legacy is carried forward.”
Jackie VanderBrug, HfC Trustee, says “Heading for Change has been so fortunate to have talent matched to its phases of development. We are grateful for Samantha’s leadership of our work from concept through launch, and excited that Sana will champion the amplification of our learnings across the gender and climate ecosystems. Our times call for bold action, and we have found stakeholders eager to partner in accelerating capital deployment.”
Heading for Change launched in 2023 with a $1MM endowment from Suzanne Biegel and Daniel Maskit, which has since grown to almost $3.5MM. It has made six investments to date at the intersection of climate and gender finance, most recently in Nordics-focused Unconventional Ventures. Under Sana’s leadership, the fund will execute its remaining 14 investments as part of its plan to commit all capital by March 2025. She will also oversee post-investment and post-grant support to the portfolio and help advance the neurodiversity grants portfolio, storytelling around key learnings and impact and engaging in broader ecosystem building to advance greater connectivity between the fields of gender and climate finance.