Alix Lebec on Impact Investing and How $1 Million in Philanthropy Can Unlock $50 Million in Private Capital

June 2

1h 2m

Episode Description

What if your money could fund the future you actually want to live in?

That is the question Alix Lebec has spent her career trying to answer. On Getting Rich Together, host Syama Bunten sits down with Alix, founder of Lebec, a firm built to mainstream innovative finance and put more capital to work on some of the world's biggest problems.

Alix grew up between France, South Korea, and China before finishing high school in Dallas, Texas. That global upbringing shaped everything about how she sees money, risk, and opportunity. She built her career inside global development, philanthropy, and asset management before launching Lebec during the height of the pandemic to bridge the gap between traditional finance and meaningful change.

The conversation gets into the real mechanics of innovative finance strategies, including how blended finance can turn $1 million in philanthropy into $50 million in private investment capital that would otherwise sit on the sidelines. Alix breaks down why women in impact investing are not choosing between returns and values, and why that false choice has kept too many people out of the room for too long.

Lebec operates across three pillars. The first is strategic advisory. The second is a boutique investment manager that builds diversified portfolios of private market funds across sectors like water, oceans, and deforestation. The third is narrative change through commercial film and storytelling, where innovative finance structures put capital directly in the hands of social entrepreneurs. Alix is also raising a $1 million seed round to scale the vision.

This episode is for any woman who has ever wondered whether her money can do more. Impact investing for women is no longer a niche conversation. It is becoming one of the most important conversations in finance. And if you are ready to take it further, join Syama and the Wealth Catalyst community at the Freedom Tour salons happening in cities across the country, or at the Wealth Catalyst Summit on October 16 in San Francisco. Find your seat at wealthcatalyst.com.

Episode Breakdown:

00:00 Welcome to Getting Rich Together

02:48 Growing Up Across Three Continents

20:01 From Documentary Filmmaking to the World Bank

26:15 Money, Salary Negotiations, and Early Financial Lessons

30:36 Fieldwork in Bangkok and the Shift Toward Social Entrepreneurship

40:25 Joining the Clinton Global Initiative and Discovering Impact Investing for Women

43:42 The "Bleeding Heart" Mindset and the Real Cost of Mission-Driven Work

45:40 Why the Scarcity Mindset in Impact Work Has to Go

50:29 Building Lebec and the Case for Innovative Finance

59:23 How Alix Spends Her Money and What She Is Building Next

Connect with Alix Lebec: