Investments

Smitha Das is deeply committed to centering equity and justice within her work and demonstrating a trust-based investment approach, with an eye toward reimagining the broader capital markets. As the Senior Director of Investments at WES, a global social enterprise, Smitha leads WES’ investment practice, stewarding 100 percent of WES’ resources to be mission-aligned.

Her passion for creating meaningful impact was sparked at an early age when she founded a water non-profit in middle school. She has since worked in government, renewable energy private equity, venture philanthropy, and impact investing.

Smitha has an MBA from Harvard Business School (HBS) and an AB with Honors in Environmental Science and Public Policy 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 member, advisor, and investment committee member for several organizations, including Mission Driven Finance, the Unlock Ownership Fund, JFF Ventures, New Power Labs, Cell-Ed, and the HBS Impact Investing Alumni Group.

Matthias Pries is Manager, Investments at WES, where he is responsible for the organization’s catalytic impact investing portfolio, providing capital to early-stage ventures and emerging fund managers who are advancing economic and educational inclusion for underserved and overlooked communities across Canada and the U.S.
Matthias brings significant experience working at the intersection of capital and impact. He has worked globally and domestically across private, public, and social sectors, advising investors on capital deployment, supporting social enterprises in capital raising, developing impact investing strategy for government, and structuring new impact investment funds and products. Matthias has facilitated impact investments in a wide range of areas, among them education technology, financial inclusion, workforce development, affordable housing, health care, and climate change.
Outside of his work with WES, Matthias is an investment committee member for an impact investment fund in his home province of Manitoba, as well as for a small family office with a global impact portfolio. He is also a frequent mentor to young professionals seeking to start their careers in impact investing. He has a MSc in Climate Change Finance and Investment from the University of Edinburgh and a B.ES in Environment and Business from the University of Waterloo.

Cristina Lara-Agudelo (she/her) has focused her career on bringing collaboration and community participation to programs and investments with an equity and justice focused lens. She is passionate about ensuring that the economy serves all people equally. As the Investment Manager, Platform, Cristina manages WES’ investment portfolio and leads the team’s partner support activities. Prior to joining WES, Cristina was the Lending Partnerships Manager at Common Future where she supported community centered lending programs with the goal of disbursing affordable, accessible, and power-shifting capital.

Cristina also brings experience in social impact acceleration, community engagement, collective impact, and direct service. Cristina holds a B.S in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business with a concentration in Business Economics & Public Policy and Operations, Information, & Decision Systems.

In her spare time, Cristina volunteers locally in Denver serving as a tutor in the International Rescue Committee’s Tutoring Together Program, a Food Market Volunteer with We Don’t Waste, and a FGLI Student Mentor with Second Day.