Carrie Rich ’07
Co-Founder and CEO, The Global Good Fund
B.S., Science, Technology and Society
Providing opportunities for social entrepreneurs
It began with $100 inside a birthday card that Carrie Rich ’07 received on her 26th birthday. Her boss, Knox Singleton, then CEO of Inova Health System, gifted her the money in lieu of a birthday lunch, telling her to use it to pursue her dream of founding a nonprofit.
Building on her philosophy that even small gestures can make a difference, Rich used it to begin raising capital to start The Global Good Fund. Rich is co-founder and CEO of the nonprofit that pairs experienced business executives with emerging social entrepreneurs, most of whom come from underrepresented communities that are closest to the problems they’re addressing. “Great ideas come from all kinds of people, but opportunity is not evenly distributed,” Rich says.
Since its inception in 2012, The Global Good Fund has supported more than 700 entrepreneurs in 60 countries and impacted more than 11 million lives. Rich also serves as managing director of the Global Impact Fund, a for-profit venture capital fund that exclusively invests for equity in social impact startups.
Her passion for being a catalyst for positive change dates to her time at Lehigh. As a student, Rich wrote a letter to then-University President Alice P. Gast urging her to consider an interdisciplinary major related to health care. It eventually led to the establishment of the health, medicine, and society major. Today Rich serves on the advisory board of the College of Health.
After graduating, Rich interned with the World Health Organization in Tanzania where she taught public health in rural communities and earned a master’s degree in health systems administration from Georgetown University. While completing an internship for her master’s degree, she met Singleton, who hired her for a newly created position of senior director, vision translation, and systems office administrator at Inova Health System. Rich left that job in 2012 to work full time leading The Global Good Fund. She continues to remain actively involved in health care by serving on the national board of directors of Trinity Health System as well as the board of directors of Cabinet Health.
Making It New: Providing Mentoring Opportunities
Having a mentor like Singleton inspired Rich to provide similar opportunities for social entrepreneurs. “I realized that there are a lot of high-potential leaders across the planet who have great ideas, a strong moral compass, and a dedicated work ethic, but who don’t get a chance,” Rich says. “What if we could shine a light to further empower talented social entrepreneurs and let their ideas make the world better? Everyone wins.”
Such opportunities are the basis of the fund’s fellowship program. Fellows are chosen in a competitive process and paired with an executive coach and business mentor. Their businesses represent the fund’s areas of focus: health, education, environment, financial inclusion, and economic mobility. Business initiatives have included access to clean water, job development, assistive platforms for people with disabilities, and programs to close the racial wealth divide.
Rich says the nonprofit looks for entrepreneurs willing to listen and receive feedback. Their passion for their work and a willingness to persevere against the odds are prerequisites. “Their excitement cannot be contained,” Rich says. “They are relentless.”
The Global Good Fund also offers the LEAP program, which uses peer and group coaching “to get underrepresented entrepreneurs to the starting line,” she explains. Many go on to become fellows.
Making a Difference: Investing in Overlooked Businesses
“When we’re effective at mentoring leaders in the form of social entrepreneurs, they in turn grow their businesses and positively impact the world,” Rich says. “When we do our job properly, the next thing that happens is they need access to capital. But these entrepreneurs are not the [people] typically capitalized by traditional venture markets.”
The solution was starting the Global Impact Fund in 2016. Rich, who had never worked in venture capital before, asked 100 people to invest. Ninety people said no; the 10 investors who agreed took a big chance that Rich does not take lightly. “The venture capital fund performed three times better financially than a high-performing VC fund with far greater diversity in terms of portfolio leadership and the diversity of investors,” Rich says. She went on to raise a fund 20 times the size of the pilot with half of all investors reflecting the same diversity as the entrepreneurs that the fund supports. “We’re creating wealth for an overlooked market segment.”
Revenue also comes from Global Good Fund Consulting, a for-profit subsidiary of The Global Good Fund. Clients include Fortune 100 companies, small and mid-size businesses, foundations, nonprofits, and government agencies that contract for customized consulting solutions focused on impact strategy and implementation. Services include strategy development for impact, corporate sustainability consulting, impact investing consulting, as well as business model design for impact and financial returns.
“I think it’s harder to make a difference than it is to make a dollar. So much of our world focuses on driving profit and money,” Rich says. “What I’ve realized is that the two are not mutually exclusive. We need both. Money is a great thing when it can be used for making the world better. You can do good and do well at the same time. Who doesn’t want that?”
Making It Together: Becoming a Citizen Statesperson
Rich believes in every person’s potential to effect positive change. In her Wall Street Journal best-selling book, Impact The World: Live Your Values and Drive Change as a Citizen Statesperson, co-authored with Dean Fealk, she urges people to start making a difference in their communities. The book outlines the steps to become involved, beginning with finding a cause, building a personal brand, developing a knowledge base, and cultivating a network. She acknowledges she followed similar steps in founding The Global Good Fund.
“The point is that average, everyday people can make the world better,” Rich states.
