Sarah Gordon appointed Head of Impact Investing at the UK’s Office for Investment unit

Sarah Gordon has been appointed as the Head of Impact Investing and Philanthropy at the Office for Investment, a UK government unit which sits across HM Treasury, the Department for Business and Trade and Number 10.

The Office for Investment identifies and secures investment to support the UK’s strategic priorities – driving growth, creating jobs, and boosting productivity across regions.

As well as conventional investment, the OfI has a growing focus on securing more “impact capital” to invest in these priorities: impact investment, social investment and philanthropic capital, which generates positive, measurable social and environmental impact as well as a financial return. Gordon will be working with colleagues in Whitehall and mission-driven capital holders and managers to build partnerships and connect more investment to the pressing needs of people and businesses across the UK.

The OfI works in close collaboration with the Partnerships Unit in No 10, HM Treasury, the new Office for the Impact Economy in the Cabinet Office and with the growing number of asset owners, fund managers and philanthropists in the UK and elsewhere who want their money to be committed responsibly and purposefully.

Gordon spent many years as a journalist at the Financial Times and then became the first chief executive of the Impact Investing Institute. “It is thrilling to be in – or at least near to – the corridors of power”, she said. “It is also great to be back in close touch with many dedicated and inspiring colleagues in the impact investing world.”