About Us
The Impact Management Academy aims to become the go-to source for professionals and aspiring professionals to gain knowledge and qualifications that will lead to a successful and meaningful impact career.
Impact Management Academy is a resource for existing and aspiring professionals to obtain the right skills you need to succeed in the Impact Economy. The site will allow you to efficiently find and access courses, certifications, and credentials that will help you drive the kind of meaningful change and other professional outcomes and careers you want.
Our mission
Impact Management Academy bridges the supply-demand gaps in impact management education to enable the world to grow social, environmental, and financial value and solve big problems.
Our vision
Impact management is a widespread business practice that replaces extraction and depletion with equity and resilience.
Meet the team
We are a group of people united by our passion for creating impact.
Sara Olsen
A thought leader in impact management with 20+ years of experience teaching (7000 + taught live and in-person), practicing and publishing on IMM topics.
Sara founded SVT Group in 2001. Since then she has worked with over 100 unique clients internationally, has taught over 5,700 individuals about impact management in person, and exposed at least 35,000 more to the concepts via writings and remote trainings. She is a founding board member of Social Value United States and co-chair of the methodology subcommittee of Social Value International; a board member of Social Value International; has taught at Stanford Graduate School of Business, Middlebury Institute of International Studies, and others; and is the author of several publications on impact management. Sara earned her MBA from UC Berkeley and MSW from the University of Chicago. She lives with her daughter and partner in Silicon Valley.
yuwei shi
A career of management education, administration, innovation and leadership, and extensive experience in venture and investing.
Yuwei was the founding dean of Middlebury’s Graduate School of International Policy and Management, and led the integration of its two predecessor schools in policy and business. He was also the founding director of the Frontier Market Scouts Program, an award winning education program in social entrepreneurship and impact investing. Yuwei is an expert in competitive strategy, early-stage venture business model development and venture performance evaluation. He has published over three dozen papers in peer-reviewed journals and a number of books and book chapters. He is an award winning teacher and researcher who has taught MBA and doctoral programs in nearly a dozen universities across the globe.
Katia hardgrave
Educated in international development with a dedicated career in various parts of the impact sector across many countries.
Katia draws from a background in international development studies and social entrepreneurship. She has experience working across the impact sector including impact startup, VC, and investment bank experiences. Having lived, studied, and worked across North America, South America, and South/Southeast Asia has informed her sector analyses and other research and analytical support. Her goal is to learn how sustainable, effective, and long-lasting impact is created and measured. She also loves the adventure and adrenaline rush of adventure sports whether it is snowboarding, snorkeling, or rock climbing, and recently added motorcycling to her favorite pursuits.
Syed Umair Aftab
An MBA student with an extensive marketing background and a fresh pair of eyes on “impact”
Umair has an extensive professional background in brand management, marketing analytics, and key business knowledge as a current MBA student equipped with extensive knowledge of business marketing fundamentals. Umair has experience in promotional efforts, advertising campaigns, and public relations initiatives. He has a good understanding of audience and customer needs and strong creative, analytical and, organization skills. Umair is a competent communicator and a visual presenter, capable of transforming analytical results into actionable business-relevant recommendations. The combination of his fresh perspective on the impact sector and his extensive marketing knowledge transforms the work behind Impact Management Academy into a clear and accessible message that appeals to both novice and experienced learners across sectors.
He is a lifetime student of exploring different cultures and learning global history, a board game lover, and a Chess Champion.
Are you interested in partnering with us? Want to learn more about the Impact Management Academy? Do you have a course that you would like to teach? Let’s set up a time to talk!