Creating.Catalyzing.Connecting

Appointed to an international team of experts to advise The Human Safety Net of Generali on the use of a scaling grant for refugee entrepreneurship (since 2019).

Prepared and facilitated a workshop with the senior management team of one of Germany's largest foundation on the foundation's phasing out (exit) of its partner organisation. The process included in-depth interviews with senior leadership of the foundation, identifying critical issues, provision of related content and expertise, facilitation of 2 day workshop and workshop documentation (2020).

Facilitated a global practitioners' exchange to "Discover New Ways to Promote Entrepreneurship & Support MSME Development gathering entrepreneurship support organisations, practitioners, experts, investors and donors. On behalf of an international coalition of donors: BMZ, GIZ, EBRD, IFC, ILO and in cooperation with Adelphi (2019).

Advised a private client on key trends in sustainable finance as well as market opportunities in sustainable business and finance market in Indonesia. Designed and supporting a major stakeholder convening of sustainable finance and business community in Indonesia as a market entry strategy for the client (2019-20).

Private sector foundation Swisscontact embarked on a journey to develop knowledge knowledge and contribute to the international debate on how entrepreneurship and enterprise development can be best promoted (2017-2018).

More information about the principles developed can be accessed in our blog.

The Finance Guide is an introduction to the basics of commercial finance and investment in the context of development cooperation. The objective is to enable readers with limited or no prior exposure to finance topics to understand some key aspects in the public and private sector. Given the increasing importance of mobilizing private capital for development purposes, the Finance Guide is intended to provide orientation to GIZ staff when considering the role of commercial finance in designing and implementing technical-assistance programs. In addition, when working with implementing partners or businesses looking for finance, the reader will be able to assume a more substantial role in supporting such local partners and entrepreneurs in developing bankable and investment-ready projects or businesses (2017/18).

The guide can be accessed at Endeva's website, the lead partner for this assignment.

Supporting the UK innovation agency Nesta with designing and conducting a comprehensive piece of research on how foundations and other innovation funders fund and support innovation. The focus was on the role of learning, risk taking and failure and we specifically looked at philanthropic innovation funders engaged in developing and emerging countries. The results were to feed into the design of programs in international development

See more details here. 

F4C has been one of the first European leadership and training programs on impact investing. It's objective was to make the emering field, practicies and tools accessible to philanthropic funders, VC funds, business angels, intermediaries and financial institutions (2016-2017).

Advised Danida, the Danish Development Agency on options to mobilise private sector capital for sustainable development. The work included a recap of the current discussion of key concepts in impact investing and innovative finance, an identification of critical issues based on a literature review, stakeholder interviews in Europe, the US and emerging markets and a review of more than 20 blended finance vehicles (2015-2016).

The report is available here and the annexes including fact sheets for various blended finance investment vehicles can be downloaded here.

Developed, designed and managed a training, mentoring and co-investment program for impact entrepreneurs, social businesses, intermediaries, social investors in Turkey supported by JP Morgan Chase Foundation. Co-trainer in 3 day social investment training with a panel of highly recognized international social investment and impact measurement experts.

As Fellow of the German Mercator Foundation and Rockefeller Foundation / Impact Investing Policy Collaborative at the Istanbul Policy Center of Sabanci University Turkey led the first major research project in Turkey on social entrepreneurship and impact investment.

The work included a major social and green entrepreneurship survey; the testing of potential investors’ interest under various scenarios; identification on necessary conditions by international impact investment firms and funds for engaging in Turkey; a review of legal framework; the development of options for engagement by government and other market builders; convening of Turkey's first international impact investing conference in cooperartion with UNDP.

The results of the research were documented and shared in various publications, newspaper articles and blogs, which can be accessed here.

Inclusive Business involve low income communities in the value chain. Commissioned by GIZ, the German Government Agency explored demand by governments in Indonesia and Columbia for assistance for developing inclusive business policies.

The Turkish presidency of the G20 in 2015 identified Inclusive Business Policies as a priority topic for its Development Working Group. IFC and UNDP have been tasked by the G20 to lead on the development of a Framework on Inclusive Business Policies that can guide further actions. We were commissioned to support the consulting team led by our colleagues at Endeva to support the development of the framework. The Framework has been adopted as part of the G20 presidency in 2014.

The G20 Inclusive Business Framework can be accessed here.

The project aim was to identify innovative options to channel sustainable investment finance to an economically underdevelopment region in Kenya. Work included a review of financial service providers, their products and technologies to identify market gaps; the implementation of an enterprise survey to identify market needs for new financial and non-financial support; a review of international experience in public venture capital, investment fund design and management of funds for social impact; the development of an initial deal pipeline, advice on fund design options, a fund investment strategy and testing of investor interest. NKIF became part of the governments Vision2030.

Anja Koenig is an experienced impact and development professional with in-depth technical expertise in impact finance, entrepreneurship promotion, blended value partnerships and a trained facilitator in social innovation, generative facilitation and systems change. She enjoys co-creating multistakeholder strategies and systemic interventions, catalyzing new ideas and connecting individuals and organization for greater impact.

She is currently with the European Venture Philanthropy Association (EVPA), an European network of impact investors (part time). In this capacity she represents EVPA in the DACH region, facilitates interactive formats for peer learning. She initiatied EVPA's Transformative Finance and Investing for Development Initiatives and led the design of a Transformative Finance Lab, a space to co-create financing solutions to systemic challenges.
 

Anja is mentor mentor with OnPurpose, and has been a mentor with MentorMe, Germany's largest professional mentoring platform for young women. She has acted as pro bono jury member of start social, a government program to support innovative social projects in Germany.

She co-host and facilitated the Impact Investing Round Table Berlin for the past 7 years (now turned into the Berlin Chapter of Impact for Breakfast.

She speaks German (native), English, French as well as some Portuguese and basic Turkish. She is now based in Berlin, after living as a long term resident in London (UK) for 3 years, Nairobi (Kenya) for 6 years and Istanbul (Turkey) for 4 years and working on assignments in various countries in Africa, CEE, MENA, Asia and Latin America.