PROFILE
Carole Crist The Former First Lady of Florida Leads the Way in Impact Investing Carole Crist sees her role in society as one of public benefit. After an esteemed career in private business and public life, now, it’s all about how, why and who she can help.. By Amy Poliakoff
Crist is a native New Yorker who grew up in Roslyn, Long Island. While her business sense is somewhat innate, she was able to develop her acumen both through qualitative learning and academia. She earned a degree from Georgetown University Business School, and also took the reins of her family’s 100-year old Halloween business - which she helped lead for 25 years.
While many know Carole Crist as the former First Lady of Florida, she is equally known in philanthropic circles as a champion for those in need. Her personal and professional experiences in public and private life have honed her understanding of the impoverished, the unfortunate or the underserved, which has granted her a keen vantage point on the “who” and “how” one can make a difference. 28
Her success in this industry, plus her experience as a public figure, seemed to set the stage perfectly for a career in “impact investing.” Impact investing is purpose and mission-driven, where people invest money to advance a social or moral agenda and expand opportunity. Through developing new sectors of economies, or new technologies nationally and globally, impact investing is the proverbial “rising tide that lifts all boats” - to paraphrase President John F. Kennedy. And, if impact investing is the tide, then Carole Crist is a wavemaker. Carole is the Founder and CEO of CLC Global Advisors, an organization that works alongside select clients, family offices and colleagues whose shared objective is to invest capital
and build businesses that can have the most impact around the world. Carole has worked with tycoons, innovators, disruptors, and pioneers - across a variety of fields - to address problems and propose innovative solutions to expand horizons for the underserved. “Most impact investment opportunities today are introducing a technologically enabled product or service that enhances and optimizes how people live or how companies operate and do business,” says Crist. “When investing both our human and financial capital with the goal of helping others, we have the ability to fundamentally transform industries - and in turn, transform lives for the better. ‘Disruptive technology’ shakes up the way things are and brings 21st century solutions to the problems facing humankind,” Crist said. Disruptive technologies typically focus on areas like artificial intelligence, automation, clean energy, DNA sequencing, FinTech and blockchain technology. “The investment community has endless choices for opportunities to allocate their capital—why not deploy it ‘with a purpose’ into ventures that have a positive impact on people’s lives? The good news is that there has been a palpable shift in the mindset and missions of family offices and investment firms globally to do just that - and I try to elevate the conversation on this topic wherever I go.” she continues. The natural transition of Crist into impact investing came both through an existing personal and professional network, but also through hard work and dedication. Night and day, Carole’s work is not finished, and she views herself as a conduit between those with means and the communities, or regions of the world, in most need. Coining the phrase “Capital with a Conscience,” Carole began to make waves in various industries and get the buy-in from many leaders who have been able to catalyze change in their respective spaces. Crist’s sense of purpose is only surpassed by her determination to do good, traveling across the globe to rally support around the causes that she sees as most important to the advancement of society as a whole. In 2019, Carole brought this philosophy to the world stage. Attending the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, Crist
