What happens when a former Goldman Sachs bond trader walks away from Wall Street — not for a bigger paycheck, but to end hunger in Africa? Zac Sicher did exactly that. After trading through the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, the Credit Suisse crisis, and Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Zac spent time alone in the mountains asking God what to do with his career. The answer led him across 400+ conversations on the African continent and into a new role as a fund manager for one of FDI's most ambitious initiatives yet: Solving the World's Greatest Problems.

Faith Driven Investor

[email protected] (Justin Forman, Henry Kaestner, Zac Sicher, Rebecca Yuschak)

Episode 220 Why Charity Alone Can Never Solve The World’s Greatest Problems

APR 13, 202647 MIN
Faith Driven Investor

Episode 220 Why Charity Alone Can Never Solve The World’s Greatest Problems

APR 13, 202647 MIN

Description

Episode Title: Solving the World's Greatest Problems: How Collaborative Giving Funds Are Reshaping Impact Capital Guests: Zac Sicher (Fund Manager, Hunger & Joblessness — Solving the World's Greatest Problems) and Rebecca Yuschak (Grants & Operations Lead — Faith Driven Investor) Host: Justin Forman with Henry Kaestner Key Topics: How philanthropic "first-loss" capital unlocks markets that investment capital alone cannot reach — and why the greatest innovations of the last 50 years started with charitable dollars   The Jenga block framework: why attacking one structural pressure point in a complex problem (trafficking, hunger, housing) can cause the entire broken system to collapse   The $14–16 trillion housing gap vs. $592 billion in annual US charitable giving — and why charity alone can never close it   How Solving the World's Greatest Problems Collaborative Giving Funds work as professionally managed donor-advised funds — 100% of contributions deployed into the field   Africa's structural hunger crisis: 378 million people facing solvable food insecurity, a 20x corn yield gap between Zimbabwe and the US, and 30–40% post-harvest food waste — and the market innovations targeting each   Notable Quotes: "There is no shortage of money willing to chase profitable solutions. There is no shortage of money willing to follow. There is an immense shortage of money willing to go first." — Zac Sicher "Capital, when structured properly, has the ability to solve the world's greatest problems. Not exclusively, but to play an important role in solving these problems." — Zac Sicher "Charity alone was never gonna get us there in many of these times."  — Justin Forman