Sarah Gordon
Sarah Gordon is a visiting professor in practice at the Grantham Research Institute at LSE, where she is leading a research and advocacy project on mobilising private capital at scale for economic, environmental and social priorities, and a responsible climate journalism initiative.
Background
Sarah was the founding chief executive of the Impact Investing Institute, which was launched in 2019, with a mission to make capital markets fairer and work better for people and the planet. Previously, she spent 18 years at the Financial Times, where she ran the paper’s corporate coverage during the 2008-12 financial crisis and was business editor. Before journalism, she worked in fund management in the UK and the US, and at the UN Conference for Trade and Development in Geneva. Sarah is a non-executive director of Social Finance, a member of the Charity Bank Advisory Panel, a speaker for Speakers for Schools, and a member of the Leadership Council at Snowball Investment Management.
Research interests
- Sustainable finance and impact investment
- Providing practical solutions for government and the financial services industry on climate and social justice
- Blended finance for public policy priorities
- Improving communication and collaboration to address the climate and biodiversity crises
Policy
Policy - 2023
This report presents targeted proposals that can both redress the UK’s competitive imbalance with the US and EU on private finance mobilisation, and direct greater amounts of productive investment into priority areas such as net zero and social housing. Read more
News
News - 2025
In this podcast Sarah Gordon discusses the role the banking sector is playing in the fight against climate change. Read more
In this podcast Sarah Gordon discusses the importance of novel investment strategies, entrepreneurial impact, and cross-sector collaboration in achieving net zero goals. Read more
News - 2024
In this opinion article for the FT Sarah Gordon argues that a collaborative approach that involves the state and private investors should be the basis for designing a UK wealth fund. Read more
News - 2023
Article by Sarah Gordon (subscription required). Asian Impact Management Review, 11 December 2023 Read more
There is huge potential in the UK to work with investors to direct more capital to net zero, housing, transport, education, health and other sectors, and many examples that are now ready to be replicated at scale. But lessons must also be learnt from the past to improve outcomes for everyone, writes Sarah Gordon. Read more
In this commentary article Sarah Gordon argues that blended finance, where government uses its capital and policy instruments to catalyse... Read more
In this commentary article for the Financial Times Sarah Gordon outlines the benefits of collaboration between the government and the private sector to address climate challenges. Read more