Beth Foster-Chao

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Beth is the Portfolio & Investment Manager at the Autodesk Foundation. Her expertise includes grantmaking, impact investing diversity, equity and inclusion strategies. In this role, she deploys the full spectrum of capital, from grants to impact investments, to support a global portfolio of organizations using technology for positive social and environmental impact. She developed and currently leads the Foundation’s DEI strategy to ensure that the organization’s financial and in-kind resources are deployed equitably to leaders from a diversity of backgrounds.

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Prior to joining Autodesk Foundation, Beth worked in East Africa as the Investment Manager for EWB Ventures, the impact investing arm of Engineers Without Borders Canada, co-developing the fund’s Gender Lens Investment framework and supporting startups in the areas of financial inclusion, agriculture innovation, affordable housing, and education technology.

Beth first became interested in social entrepreneurship during her time as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Rwanda where she developed income-generating initiatives alongside cassava farmers and coordinated national Gender and Development programs. She co-authored Scaling the Social Enterprise, Grameen America: The Pivotal Role of Technology in Scaling, and contributed to Socio-Tech Innovation: Harnessing Technology for Social Good. Beth received an MBA from the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley and a BA in Political Science from Middlebury College.