Rooted in Community
Charism is led by a passionate community of individuals with deep expertise in community and impact investing — many of whom bring direct experience leading investment programs for religious congregations and other mission-aligned organizations.
Board of DirectorsCharism, Inc. Board
Board ChairDirector of Investments, Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
DirectorDirector, Adrian Dominican Sisters Portfolio Advisory Board
EXECUTIVE DIRECTORCEO & Founder, Charism Capital
DirectorPresident, Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration
TREASURER & SECRETARYPresident, Mercy Investment Services
investment committeeCharism Capital
Investment Committee
Director, Mercy Partnership Fund
Director, Adrian Dominican Sisters Portfolio Advisory Board
Impact Investing Advisor
Associate Director, Ascension Investment Management
Rev. Rufus Whitley, OMI
Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate
StaffOur Team
Elizabeth Garlow
Founder & Chief Executive OfficerElizabeth Garlow’s work brings together impact investing, Catholic Social Teaching, and deep partnership with women religious — grounded in the belief that investing, rightly ordered, can be an act of solidarity. Elizabeth’s career spans impact finance and public policy.
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She spent years in the community development finance world with ACCION and Kiva, served as an advisor to President Obama on local and community economic development initiatives, and helped lead impact investing for Lumina Foundation.
Elizabeth's formation in the Center for Action and Contemplation's Living School shapes her integrative approach to investing and field-building. She is a longtime organizer within the Economy of Francesco movement and co-founded the Francesco Collaborative, a community advancing Catholic Social Teaching-rooted alternatives to extractive economic systems.
Elizabeth holds an M.A. in economics and policy from Princeton University and a B.A. from Kalamazoo College. She received an honorary doctorate from the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology in recognition of her contributions to faith-rooted economic thought. Outside her work, Elizabeth finds renewal in her garden and in the waters of the Great Lakes.
Bill Hatch, CFA
Chief Financial Officer & Chief Operating OfficerBill has over 10 years of experience in investments and capital strategy for mission-driven organizations. He was part of the founding cleantech venture capital and energy projects team at BW Group in Singapore and served as Chair of the Jesuits of Canada's Investment Committee.
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He has advised Catholic institutional investors and impact fund initiatives through the Catholic Impact Investing Collaborative, Francesco Collaborative, and Allocator Solutions. He has held senior finance and operational roles with Ignatian and Jesuit organizations, including the Ignatian Spirituality Centre of Montreal and STIR Retreats, a collaboration of men's and women's religious congregations where he served as founding Executive Director. He is a CFA Charterholder and Yale University graduate.
Andreas Eichin
Chief investment officerAndreas is an investment and development finance professional with more than two decades of experience across private debt, private equity, risk management, and impact investing.
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His career has focused on partnering with mission-driven financial institutions to expand access to capital for underserved communities across emerging and frontier markets. He brings deep expertise in financial inclusion, SME finance, transaction structuring, due diligence, and portfolio management.
Throughout his career, Andreas has combined rigorous investment analysis with a commitment to advancing economic opportunity and sustainable development. He has successfully led complex investment transactions, built strategic partnerships, and worked closely with stakeholders across the public, private, and nonprofit sectors to deliver both financial and social impact.
Kelli Hickey
director of formation & communicationsKelli serves as Director of Communications and Formation for Charism Capital. Prior to joining Charism Capital, Kelli served as the Director of Formation for the Francesco Collaborative and was a Research Associate for the University of Notre Dame’s Institute for Social Concerns, where she fell in love with Catholic Social Teaching and the way it inspires a faith that seeks justice.
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With Clemens Sedmak, she is co-author of the book Counting the Cost: Financial Decision-Making, Discipleship, and Christian Living. She holds a BA in economics from Yale University and completed her graduate studies at the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business. She serves on the board of directors for the National Institute for Ministry with Young Adults and the advisory council for the University of Notre Dame's Institute for Social Concerns and McGrath Institute for Church Life.
Petra Vujakovic
investment associatePetra has been motivated in both her studies and work to seek ways to spread economic opportunity more fairly. After graduate studies in international development, she found impact investing the most practical venue for that work: honing her investment analysis skills at MicroVest, deepening her understanding of financial inclusion operations at rural banking software startup Oradian, and eventually arriving at faith-based investing with the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart.
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It was there that the threads came together. The Cabrini charism and Catholic Social Teaching gave Petra a new lens for the inherent tensions of impact investing. She found in the Sisters' approach to mission-driven investment a model that didn't “wish away” the tension between risk, return, and impact, but leaned into it with the courage to go where others won't, and holding community relationships and human dignity above and in contrast to transactional market logic.
Petra holds degrees in Economics from the Vienna University of Economics and Business and in International Relations from Johns Hopkins University. But her most formative experiences from those years were outside the classroom — on exchange in Mexico and volunteering in Ethiopia — which set her on a path toward work with a genuinely global footprint. She works today from her native Croatia, drawing daily inspiration from values-aligned partners doing meaningful work across five continents.
Manuel Costa
investment associateManuel (Manu) Costa works at the intersection of impact investing and economic justice — shaped by years of building with communities across Latin America and a deep belief that finance can be a tool of solidarity, not extraction.
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His path into capital began on the ground. As a volunteer and later a leader at TECHO — the Jesuit-rooted NGO operating across twenty countries in Latin America — Manuel coordinated emergency responses to some of the region's most devastating disasters, including the 2014 Iquique earthquake in northern Chile and the wildfires that devastated Valparaíso's hillside communities just a week later. That experience of showing up in crisis, organizing volunteers, and rebuilding alongside families who had lost everything forged a commitment that has never left him.
Manuel has since carried that orientation into finance. He deployed $29M+ in small-business capital at Self-Help Credit Union, one of the country's most respected CDFIs, and built a consulting practice — Consecuencia Partners — focused on fund design, investment strategy, and field-building for mission-driven organizations across the Americas. He holds an MBA from Duke's Fuqua School of Business, a BSc from Loughborough University, and splits his time between the U.S. and Latin America.
Nicole Rose Nieman
program director, charism inc.Nicole believes in the catalytic power of a unified church, as the world’s largest social development actor, to unlock the healing power of capital in creating and nurturing the conditions for thriving, equitable societies, and a regenerated earth.
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Nicole has witnessed the church’s resourcefulness and steadfast commitment to its mission in places where others cannot or will not go—on the peripheries and in fragile contexts. Her role involves a synodal approach, relationally weaving together, accompanying, and supporting church actors to build sustainable, responsive models of mission globally.
South African born and raised, Nicole’s experience spans the philanthropic, development, and business sectors. A formative part of Nicole’s journey involved working and living alongside the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart (Cabrini Sisters) on five continents. As an advisor to the General Superior, she supported strengthening the institute, developing its direct service provision, and advancing its impact investing endeavors.
As a founding team member at the ELMA Philanthropies (Africa), she initially supported systems level strengthening through their health portfolio. She further established and managed ELMA’s community grants program, strengthening community-based responses to child and family wellbeing in 12 countries across Southern and East Africa, through the investment of right-sized grants alongside technical assistance.
Nicole has a Master of Global Health (University of Milan), a Bachelor of Laws (University of Cape Town), a BCom (Stellenbosch University), and continues to learn from a dynamic community of global collaborators.
Contact Us
Learn more about our efforts to build a community and culture of investing deeply rooted in Catholic Social Teaching (CST).
“I think the difference between me and some people is that I’m content to do my little bit. Sometimes people think they have to do big things in order to make change. But if each one would light a candle we’d have a tremendous light.”