2021 NESsT Annual Report

2021 NESsT Annual Report

Table of Contents

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Letter from the CEOs

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NESsT Initiatives

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25 Years of NESsT

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Supporters

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NESsT Programs (Incubation & Impact Investing)

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Financials

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Annual Report 2021

Letter from the Co-CEOs Nicole Etchart and Loïc Comolli

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Foreword NESsT was created in Central and Eastern Europe 25 years ago as countries in the region sought to strengthen civil society and create vibrant economies. Since our beginning, we have been committed to supporting entrepreneurs to launch strong social businesses that reduce poverty and move marginalized communities toward a path of social mobility. Our dream has been to ensure that no one is left behind.

As we are writing this letter, the devastating violence impacting Ukraine for the past two months has resulted in thousands of casualties and more than six million people displaced. We have witnessed citizens from neighboring countries welcome the refugees – most of whom are women and children – into their homes and help them with day-to-day challenges. The strength of civil society is reflected in these acts of kindness, which will undoubtedly triumph over violence. We also see the same acts among our portfolio enterprises in Poland and Romania; they have moved quickly to provide everything from clothing and food to training and job opportunities for the refugees.

We stand alongside our portfolio enterprises and will amplify their efforts to support more refugees to rebuild their lives. Together, we will provide dignified employment and income generation opportunities for refugees in Poland, Romania, and Ukraine. Our original mission of supporting impact-driven entrepreneurship to Social Enterprise Day, Bucharest, Romania, 2012

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Annual Report 2021

strengthen civil society and rebuild vibrant economies continues to be key as we work with others on behalf of our humanity.

CEO Letter

2021 in Retrospect The COVID-19 pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement revealed the urgent need for long-term solutions that address interconnected and systemic global issues. In 2021, NESsT made new commitments to do just that: | To advance racial equity efforts in Brazil, we supported social businesses that promote entrepreneurship and employment among racial minorities. To combat rising deforestation and endemic poverty in the Amazon rainforest, we invested in enterprises that leverage technology solutions to improve yields, monitor forest conservation, boost agroforestry, and address transport and storage barriers. To ensure that the voices and capacities of women and the indigenous are heard, we helped our entire portfolio to set intentional, data-backed business and impact objectives with a gender and ethnic lens.

Our approach provided these entrepreneurs with the tools, resources, and confidence needed to take strategic risks, enhance purpose-led ideas, and scale proven models.

For NESsT, the solution is to place social entrepreneurship and social investment as the way forward. We achieve this through two paths – incubation and impact investing.

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Annual Report 2021 Photo: Maré de Sabores | NESsT Brazil

Incubation Portfolio Growth and Expansion |

NESsT’s incubation program invests in enterprises that are consolidating their business models and preparing for growth and investments. In 2021, we welcomed 28 new enterprises into our incubation portfolio focusing on (1) building sustainable agriculture and the circular economy in Central and Eastern Europe, (2) empowering indigenous communities and strengthening the bioeconomy in the Amazon, and (3) upskilling women and youth in the IT industry as part of our NESsT Empowers Program. We continued to use tools such as recoverable grants to prepare our incubation portfolio for investment. We also provided masterclasses on key cross-cutting topics and hundreds of hours of one-on-one mentoring.

Photo: Atelier Merci | NESsT Romania

Loan Fund Innovation |

6 Photo: RONAP | NESsT LatAm Fund

Our Latin America Loan Fund (“Fund”) catalyzed capital and strategic advice to small businesses in South America advancing livelihoods and conservation at the grassroots level. The Fund made close to $1 million of new loans and launched new financial products to respond to the needs of local entrepreneurs. In its third year, the Fund designed a new strategy to reflect its increasing specialization in rural livelihoods. Since the Fund already operates in areas of high biodiversity, going forward it will focus on making loans to rural businesses with strong income-generation and conservation potential in the Andes-Amazon. To help us execute this new strategy, we welcomed as a new partner CATALYZE Perú, which will help to de-risk the Fund’s lending in the Peruvian Amazon.

CEO Letter

Our 2021 Impact In 2021, NESsT invested in 49 companies that created and sustained 7,600 quality jobs, leading to a 138% increase in income for workers and suppliers and a 107% growth in sales for all portfolio enterprises and improving the lives of 154,000 underserved individuals.

In this annual report, we invite you to learn more about the proven business tools and blended capital that we provide to entrepreneurs to ensure the sustainable development of their businesses. We also invite you to read the firsthand stories of transformation shared by the people from marginalized communities our enterprises support.

We would not have been able to achieve this without all of you, our wonderful partners who invest in and support NESsT. Thank you for your continued belief in us. Together, we are turning commitments into concrete results.

- Nicole Etchart and Loïc Comolli

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Annual Report 2021

Photo: Romo | NESsT Romania

Loïc Comolli, NESsT Co-CEO | Social Enterprise World Forum 2012, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

25 Years of NESsT 8

Annual Report 2021

25 Years of NESsT Investing in front-line entrepreneurs to build sustainable and equitable futures since 1997.

To date, our work has contributed to the creation of over 77,000 quality jobs, improving the lives of close to one million people.

For over a quarter of a century, we have been building sustainable solutions that could promote social innovation and address systemic inequities. As we worked toward this goal, we pioneered many solutions that have now become mainstream practices in the impact investing sector, and we have shared our impact investing and incubation practices in over 100 case studies, books, and tools that have been published in 12 languages.

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Annual Report 2021 Photo: Café Compadre | NESsT Peru

25 Years by the Numbers

223 Enterprises Incubated and Accelerated

77,068 Dignified Jobs Created and Sustained 0

$24 million Invested

107% Annual Increase in Enterprise Sales from 2020 to 2021

910,268 People Impacted

138% Annual Increase in Individual Incomes from 2020 to 2021

NESsT 25th Anniversary

Alumni Spotlight - Upasol Union of Solidarity Parents and Friends (“Upasol”) was one of the first companies that NESsT invested in over a decade ago. The social enterprise was founded by a group of parents in Coquimbo, Chile who wanted to help their children with disabilities access better futures. To finance an education and rehabilitation center for their children, the cofounders decided to start a business that could also address a pressing environmental issue in the region – waste management. In 1999, Upasol started to provide sustainable waste management services. In the first year, the business was only recycling 400 kg of waste per month.

NESsT began supporting Upasol in 2007. Together with the co-founders, we prepared the company for a future stage of financial sustainability.

We supported Upasol to purchase new equipment, invest in infrastructure, develop a long-term business plan, and measure impact.

These strategic decisions helped to put Upasol on the map – within a year, the enterprise received additional funding from other channels and built partnerships with various national and international organizations, including government organizations and private sector businesses.

By 2011, Upasol’s vision was realized – revenues generated by the recycling center not only sustained the operations of the rehabilitation center but also enabled Upasol to contribute significant resources to improve and expand the services it offered to people with disabilities.

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In less than five years, Upasol grew from an isolated rural initiative to a regional business collaborating with local and international stakeholders with its model replicated across Latin America. The social enterprise also became a leader in fostering a culture of environmental innovation and sustainability in Chile.

NESsT 25th Anniversary

Alumni Spotlight - Pedala Pedala was a bicycle-based urban delivery social enterprise that trains and employs young low-income people – many from the favelas in Brazil – preparing them for new career and education opportunities.

Pedala’s solution was green. By contracting its services, its clients were supporting one of the most efficient forms of transportation, cycling, as opposed to more carbon-intensive options.

NESsT offered several rounds of patient capital and one-on-one tailored business services to Pedala, working with company executives to improve its services, governance, human resources, operations, sales and marketing, financial analysis, as well as impact measurement.

In late 2019, three years after joining the NESsT portfolio, Pedala was acquired by Ame Digital, a fintech company controlled by B2W Digital, one of the largest e-commerce companies in Latin America, and Lojas Americanas. By the time of its exit, the Brazilian enterprise avoided 85 tons of CO2 emissions per year through its cycling and logistics operations and was providing employment to 175 at-risk youth.

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Annual Report 2021

NESsT and its advisors supported Pedala to make a series of strategic decisions that allowed the company to make key pivots, expanding its reach, reducing its costs, and improving its overall visibility and branding.

Photo: Mamo Pracuj | NESsT Poland

NESsT Programs Incubation and Impact Investing 13

Incubation Program: NESsT invests in communities that have not been given equitable opportunities in life. Since 1997, our incubation program has offered multi-year, tailored business assistance, and flexible pre-seed financing in the forms of grants and recoverable grants to assist social enterprises to build sustainable businesses and become profitable.

By the end of 2021, our incubation portfolio was composed of 43 enterprises across Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Poland, and Romania. | In Chile, we are working with social enterprises that are improving employment opportunities for essential workers in the outsourcing sector and driving disability inclusion across Latin America through technology. | In Colombia, we are helping innovative businesses that are empowering women to access high-growth careers and smallholder farmers to secure fair prices and adopt climate resilience practices. | In Romania, we are supporting purpose-driven enterprises that help artisans sell upcycled products and agricultural producers situated in remote regions connect to urban consumers.

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NESsT Romania has a long track record of social enterprise development in the country. To date, the organization has evaluated more than 490 social enterprises and directly supported 26 with funding and business training. These 26 enterprises have impacted 2,600 at-risk individuals through new economic opportunities.

Incubation Supporter Spotlight

IKEA Social Entrepreneurship

Program Overview After successfully launching an accelerator program supporting social enterprises in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Peru in 2020, we kicked off a second program with IKEA Social Entrepreneurship to support ten purpose-driven enterprises in Poland and Romania. This new three-year accelerator seeks to upskill the local workforce in the two countries to contribute to an inclusive, sustainable, and environmentally progressive society. In addition to financing, the selected entrepreneurs have access to business knowledge and insights from local IKEA coworkers and NESsT. 15

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“We are very happy to welcome the cohort of social entrepreneurs to our accelerator co-created with NESsT and IKEA in Poland and Romania. This is a great opportunity to support passionate changemakers while they contribute to inclusive and sustainable economies in the region by providing steady job opportunities to people who need it the most.”

- Åsa Skogström Feldt, Managing Director IKEA Social Entrepreneurship BV

Incubation | Chile

Portfolio Spotlight – Ecocitex Ecocitex sells 100% recycled yarn made from used clothing through more than 250 women-led businesses across Chile. Its production process does not use water or dye, which are two of the main pollutants in the fast fashion industry. The Chilean enterprise trains and employs formerly incarcerated women in its production facility, ensuring access to technical roles that have been historically reserved for men. During the pandemic, Ecocitex donated more than 1,000 wool caps to homeless people living on the streets. | “Not every job gives you opportunities to reinvent yourself… at Ecocitex, I have the chance to grow. I know how to operate machines now; they taught me everything and raised my salary. It is also very good that my boss sees me and values what I do,” shares Marcela, Ecocitex worker. | “Ecocitex always leaves the door open for us. I had to leave Ecocitex two times to care for my family and every time I returned they welcomed me back with great affection,” Marcela adds.

Photo: Marcela, Ecocitex Worker | Chile

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Incubation | Chile

Portfolio Spotlight – Próxima Servicios Próxima Servicios’ mission is to provide workers in the Chilean outsourcing industry with quality employment opportunities that provide career stability, growth, and mobility. The social enterprise helped its workers to form a cooperative and offered it 10% of total company ownership at no cost, giving each worker the chance to become a partner of the company three months after they begin working. In addition, Próxima Servicios also organized training programs that teach employees transferable career skills. ⎮

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“Part of the problem is that workers can’t access quality careers that have growth opportunities; if you have worked 15 years in a multinational company in cleaning, that experience will only lead to the next job in cleaning,” explains Eduardo Castillo, CEO of Próxima Servicios.

Annual Report 2021 Photo: Proxima Servicios / Chile

Incubation

NESsT - IKEA Social Entrepreneurship Poland and Romania Accelerator Program

Atelierul de pânză (ADP) promotes responsible consumption by selling upcycled textile products. The Romanian enterprise is preparing to launch a new online store to promote the products of other impact-driven enterprises that support youth, young mothers, and people with disabilities.

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Arte Social Cooperative provides people who face social exclusion with long-term therapy, supporting each person to rebuild their professional and personal interests and pursue their desired careers. In 2021, the Polish enterprise opened its first shop that offers basic needs products at affordable prices for people in difficult financial situations.

Fundacja Targ Pietruszkowy brings local organic products directly to Krakow-based customers through its biweekly agricultural markets and online store. The Polish enterprise’s suppliers are 70 small farmers based within 150 km of Krakow, are eco-certified and own less than 5 hectares of land.

Incubation

Business Plan Competition - CVC Young Innovator Awards In November 2021, NESsT and CVC partnered to launch the CVC Young Innovator Awards (“YIA”) in Brazil.

YIA seeks to support business solutions that bring about positive change for local communities. NESsT recruited its portfolio companies Movimento Black Money and Maré de Sabores to invite entrepreneurs from their respective networks as competition participants.

Entrepreneurs received business plan and pitch training, and the winners were awarded cash prizes.

Finalist Spotlight: ⎮

DaMinhaCor specializes in creating innovative products for the Black community, such as swim caps for Afro-textured hair.

| Elma Ashar Confeitaria Artesanal is a woman-led business based in Maré, the largest favela in Rio de Janeiro, that sells artisanal sweets.

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Impact Investing

NESsT LatAM Fund The NESsT LatAM Fund provides patient loans to socially-focused small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that are advancing job creation in South America. These enterprises have the potential to improve the livelihoods of local communities and restore ecosystem health but lack access to traditional sources of financing. By lending at smaller levels – with loans between $50,000 to $500,000 – and offering flexible terms, the Fund seeks to provide high-impact enterprises with the appropriate resources they need to scale their growth and impact. Along with financing, Fund portfolio enterprises also receive business guidance from experienced NESsT portfolio managers that can strengthen their business strategy and financial management and accelerate their growth.

2021 marked the three-year milestone since the launch of the Fund. We took this opportunity to conduct a strategic evaluation to refine the Fund’s investment thesis and its impact targets. The outcome of this review was to pivot the Fund’s strategy to specialize and build expertise in financing rural businesses.

Photo: Shanantina | NESsT LatAm Fund

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Impact Investing

Impact Investing

Photo: Kemito Ene | ©Daniel Martínez

The new strategy centers on making loans to rural enterprises impacting both livelihoods and sustainable land management and has a strong geographic focus on the Andes-Amazon basin. Under the new strategy, the Fund specializes its lending primarily to businesses supporting smallholder farmers and operating in diverse sectors in the Andes-Amazon basin, including agriculture, agroforestry, forestry, and eco-tourism, among others.

All rural businesses need to implement sustainable land management practices, which we define as agricultural practices that integrate the management of land, water, forest, and other environmental resources to enhance farming productivity while ensuring long-term sustainability, ecosystem services, biodiversity, and livelihoods.

The Fund continues to promote gender equity in all of its loans. Given the target geography, we are also placing a new emphasis on indigenous peoples because of their roles in protecting the environmental resources of the Andes-Amazon.

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Impact Investing

NESsT LatAM Fund Summary Assets Under Management

$3.69 Million

Loans Committed

$1.73 Million

Number of Loans

7

Number of Businesses in Loan Portfolio

6

Number of Businesses Receiving Business Services

16

Portfolio Business Farmers and Employees Reached

1,946

Percent Women Farmers and Employees Reached

46%

Portfolio At-Risk over 180 days*

10%

Net Write-Offs * Represents one loan in restructuring as of December 31, 2021.

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0%

Impact Investing

The year 2021 was a busy season of activities for the NESsT LatAM Fund. We hosted two open calls and received 240 applications, tripling the number received in comparison to the previous year. In total, the fund made close to $1 million of new loans to four enterprises.

The new enterprises in the NESsT LatAM Fund portfolio are situated in the remote regions of the Peruvian Amazon and work in different value chains, including sacha inchi, Brazil nuts, and cocoa – all of which are nutrition-dense nuts and seeds that are native to the Amazon rainforest with growing international appeal.

Fund portfolio enterprises maintain strong relationships with local communities and support farmers to adopt sustainable practices that conserve the forest. The impact of the Fund portfolio consists of supporting the livelihoods of close to 2,000 smallholder farmers and vulnerable workers, 45% of whom are women, in rural Peru.

In addition to financing, the Fund provides tailored business mentoring to help rural enterprises to improve their network, governance, financial management, and social impact measurement and strategy. Business assistance is provided to initiatives in the Fund’s pipeline to help them access loans and also to those in the Fund’s portfolio to improve their long-term management capacity. Enterprises use this new knowledge to raise financing from other impact investors and traditional financial services companies.

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Impact Investing

Fund Portfolio Spotlight: Inka Moss “Previously in Junín, there were no other products like moss, the local communities mostly planted potatoes and lived from agriculture, but they did not receive stable prices for their products. What makes me happy is to help people from the highlands who have no other income sources besides farming moss. I also know that in terms of salary the company has never been a stranger to the community or its staff,” shared Edwin, Inka Moss Plant Supervisor.

Inka Moss is a top sphagnum moss producer in Peru. In 2021, the NESsT Fund’s financing supported Inka Moss to open two additional processing plants in Satipo and Huánuco, increasing the enterprise’s impact on 378 moss suppliers, 245 of whom are women. In the next few years, Inka Moss aims to continue its expansion efforts, reaching communities in areas such as Cusco and Cajamarca.

Shanantina Shanantina works with smallholder farmers and indigenous communities to cultivate sacha inchi, a seed that has been used by indigenous people in Peru for at least 2,000 years.

In 2021, the Fund’s loan supported Shanantina to purchase new machinery and equipment for its processing plant and raw materials for working capital needs, which sustained stable income for 28 people and impacted the jobs of 129 suppliers. In addition to expanding its production capacity, Shanantina also developed new sacha inchi business lines such as flour and oil and set up a new board of directors.

“I have been working at Shanantina since early 2017. Thanks to this job opportunity, I was able to support my family, access loans, and fix my house. During the 4 years that I have been with Shanantina, I have seen the company grow and improve in so many areas,” shared Isabel, Plant Operations Worker.

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Impact Investing

Fund Portfolio Spotlight: RONAP RONAP is an association that improves the incomes of Brazil nut collectors in Madre de Dios, Peru, a region where illegal mining has turned forests into barren land and greatly threatened local livelihoods.

RONAP received a loan from the NESsT LatAM Fund in 2021 to purchase Brazil nuts from their associates and cover working capital needs for exports. NESsT’s support sustained the jobs of 12 employees from lowincome communities, seven of whom are women, and the livelihoods of 50 suppliers in the Amazon.

Kulkao Kulkao is a Peruvian cocoa producer improving the livelihoods of smallholder farmers in the Amazon. The enterprise sources cocoa beans from more than 1,000 smallholder farmers and hires employees directly from rural, low-income communities in San Martin, Ucayali, and Huánuco.

In 2021, the NESsT LatAM Fund’s loan enabled Kulkao to increase its production, directly improving the incomes of both employees from excluded communities and cocoa bean farmers.

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NESsT Initiatives NESsT Amazonia, NESsT Empowers, Diversity and Inclusion

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NESsT Initiatives We support income generation and jobs across three impact themes: | NESsT Amazonia: Amazon bioeconomy, regenerative agriculture, circular economy, climate change

| NESsT Empowers: workforce development, job upskilling, soft skills, wrap-around services

| Diversity & Inclusion: investing with multiple lenses, including racial, gender, and ethnicity

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Initiative

NESsT Amazonia The Amazon rainforest is home to 10% of the Earth's species and 20% of its freshwater. The region is home to 145 million people, of whom approximately 40 million live in poverty.1 This is why we launched NESsT Amazonia, an initiative that incubates and finances small businesses, cooperatives, and associations that grow sustainable value chains while improving livelihoods in the Amazon basin.

In 2021, NESsT Amazonia supported 39 enterprises, offering strategic support guidance and financing to help these forest-born initiatives to strengthen their positions as major bioeconomy businesses, enhance their conservation efforts, and advance gender equity in local regions.

Its supporters include Cisco Foundation, the Climate and Land Use Alliance (CLUA), Erol, Partnership Platform for the Amazon (PPA), United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

About the Amazon. (n.d.). WWF. https://wwf.panda.org/discover/knowledge_hub/where_we_work/amazon/about_the_amazon/

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NESsT Amazonia Enterprises

Colombia | Agrosolidaria Florencia

Brazil | Associação dos Produtores Rurais de Carauari (“ASPROC”)

Brazil | Associação dos Agropecuários de Beruri (“ASSOAB”)

Sells agricultural and cosmetic products made from sustainably cultivated Amazonia plants.

Agrosolidaria is founded by 12 associations representing more than 250 small farming families.

Supports local riverine communities to produce and sell biodiverse products including pirarucu fish, manioc flour, natural rubber, and açaí. The association has improved the livelihoods of more than 700 riverine families and conserved more than one million hectares of land.

Acquires raw Brazil Nuts from more than 350 collecting families from the indigenous land Itixi Mitari and the sustainable development reserve (RDS) Piagaçú-Purus. The association provides formal employment to 65 people, 40% of whom are women.

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NESsT Amazonia

NESsT Amazonia Indigenous Enterprises ⎮

In 2021, NESsT supported indigenous enterprises through a partnership with Amazon Indigenous Rights and Resources (“AIRR”).

⎮

AIRR is a project co-implemented by NESsT with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), indigenous organizations, and the Coordinator of the Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon Basin (COICA), with support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Peru | Kemito Ene Supports the Asháninka indigenous people to sustainably produce and export certified organic cocoa and coffee. This Peruvian association consists of more than 450 Asháninka families from Ayacucho, Junín, and Cusco, and neighboring valleys who depend solely on the forest for their survival.

Colombia | Amazónica de Colombia Produces cacay (Caryodendron orinocense), aguaje, and sacha inchi oil, which are raw materials used for the cosmetic, nutraceutical, and pharmaceutical industries. The company currently works with 20 indigenous families and has client bases in Cali, Bogota, and Medellín.

Ecuador | Asociación Shuar Cultural Center Offers tourism services. In addition to teaching visitors about the culture of the Shuar indigenous people from Orellana, the association also provides traditional drinks called Tsuak that are made from medicinal plants.

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Initiative

NESsT Empowers NESsT Empowers is a global initiative that catalyzes social enterprises helping disadvantaged youth, especially young women, to find quality employment opportunities in high-growth industries.

The initiative also engages corporations that seek to deepen their commitments to a diverse, equitable, and inclusive digital economy, motivating collaboration across sectors to resolve problems such as gender equity in tech or family benefits in the workplace. In 2021, the NESsT Empowers portfolio consisted of 9 companies across four countries.

Its supporters include Alstom Foundation, BNY Mellon, Credit Suisse, Fundação Arymax, Google.org, J.P. Morgan, Trafigura Foundation, and Sage Foundation.

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Annual Report 2021 Photo: Hearty Foundation | NESsT Poland

Photo: Pia, Make It Real Regional Manager

NESsT Empowers | Colombia

Portfolio Spotlight – Make It Real Make It Real (“MIR”) offers online bootcamps in software development and data science to help students from underserved communities to launch careers in tech. This Colombian enterprise partners with government entities and educational institutes to provide students with flexible financing options. ⎮

When MIR first joined the NESsT – IKEA Social Entrepreneurship Latin America Accelerator Program, only 8% of its trainees were women.

⎮

To help more women to access career training in tech, MIR hired a woman, Pia G., as its new Regional Manager and adopted gender-inclusive language in its marketing materials, which tripled the number of women who applied to its program. In addition, NESsT invested in a newly launched stipend fund to provide financial support to women who were interested in MIR’s programs.

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NESsT Empowers | Poland

Portfolio Spotlight – asperIT In Poland, only 1% of people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are employed. asperIT supports people with ASD to expand their career paths. The Polish enterprise offers career training and education to program participants in ways that best suit their neurocognitive abilities and matches them with corporations that seek to increase workplace diversity.

All the participants in the [asperIT] program were on the autism spectrum. They were all very different, of course; these people were in different age groups, roughly from 18 to 40, with different life experiences and professional backgrounds. It was nice to know that they had similar experiences growing up as I did,” shared Nina, asperIT program participant.

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Annual Report 2021 Photo: asperIT | NESsT Poland

NESsT Empowers | Poland

Nina is 36 years old and is a Cyber Security Analyst at Ernst & Young (EY). | Nina was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder when she was young, “growing up it was hard for me because I didn't quite know what was going on,” she added. | Before participating in asperIT Foundation’s programs, Nina attempted different career paths but struggled with finding suitable work, “for example, in the call center there was a big room with a lot of people; it was loud, and it was not a job for me,” Nina shared. | Nina’s neurocognitive abilities enhanced her attention to detail and cultivated her inquisitive nature – “I think that being on the spectrum helped me in my work. I am very focused on details, and I can spot mistakes easily.” | With asperIT Foundation’s support, Nina found a job at EY that allows her to leverage her strengths and achieve her full potential.

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Annual Report 2021 Photo: Nina, Former asperIT Student | Poland

Photo: Oliwia, Former Hearty Foundation Student | Poland

NESsT Empowers | Poland

Portfolio Spotlight – Hearty Foundation The Hearty Foundation is a Polish enterprise that offers occupational training to young people from more than 26 foster care facilities to help them build fulfilling careers.

Oliwia is 20 years old and started her first job in IT in October 2021 after receiving digital skills training from the Hearty Foundation for a year. | “In October 2021, I started my first junior IT role developing a small app. I am currently working in a men-only team consisting of 6 members and we work fully on-site,” shared Oliwia. | “I have always wanted to work in the foster care facility to help youth to become independent. I am still in contact with the Hearty Foundation, and they have asked me to become a mentor in the future to share my first professional experience with younger people,” she added.

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NESsT Empowers | Poland

Mentoring Program The NESsT Empowers Mentoring program works with corporate volunteers who share their learnings and skills with portfolio entrepreneurs and the people they impact. In 2021, 18 mentees from three NESsT Poland portfolio enterprises were matched to corporate mentors from Credit Suisse, BNY Mellon, and Sage Foundation.

In 2021, women, at-risk youth, and non-binary individuals who participated in the NESsT Empowers mentoring program received guidance on navigating changes in labor market trends, identifying new career paths, and overcoming entry barriers to the tech industry.

In addition to regular one-on-one mentor meetings, the program also offered mentees training and workshops in Java Developer, SQL, Python, Cypress, and English to improve their candidacy in high-growth industries. Through these projects, NESsT Empowers seeks to build a community for its mentees, helping them to increase motivation and reduce feelings of isolation as they strive for their career goals.

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Annual Report 2021 Photo: Kinga, NESsT Empowers Mentor, Credit Suisse Employee

NESsT Empowers Supporter Spotlight

Credit Suisse

Program Overview Credit Suisse has been a long-term supporter of the NESsT Empowers program, helping over 140 youth to launch careers in the IT and digital industry in Poland. Since the launch of the program, 11 Credit Suisse employees have provided mentorship to youth from disadvantaged backgrounds, participating in individual sessions as well as workshops.

“When we first met, Agnieszka was determined to change her career path, and I helped her to build on her tech skills… At first, we had weekly meetings. I supported her throughout her recruiting process, and I am very happy that I was able to help her land her new job in the IT industry.”

- Marek, Java Developer at Credit Suisse, NESsT Empowers Mentor

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Initiative

Diversity and Inclusion ⎮ NESsT is committed to supporting a diverse and inclusive global economy. Last year, we put into effect new diversity, equity, and inclusion (”DEI”) systems and policy within our organization: 55% of our staff are women, 50% of senior staff members are women, and 62% of senior staff members voluntarily self-identify as members of an underrepresented racial or ethnic group. ⎮ We also supported our portfolio with their own DEI initiatives by (1) collecting and measuring their enterprise DEI impact through our Performance Management Tool (2) engaging entrepreneurs in dialogues around the value of adopting DEI practices for their business and impact goals (3) helping portfolio enterprises to set DEI objectives.

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Diversity and Inclusion

Racial Equity | Social businesses provide formal economic opportunities for Black Brazilians who are under-represented as founders, business leaders, and in the labor market. | Movimento Black Money (“MBM”) aims to transform the economic reality of the Black community in Brazil through entrepreneurship, education, and financial services. In 2021, we welcomed MBM into the Brazil portfolio to support its online marketplace, Mercado Black Money, which connects shoppers to over 2,500 Black-owned businesses, 70% of which are led by women.

We are targeting places where we talk about capital, money, and power — so that we can talk about humanity, freedom, and autonomy, which drive our society.” – Nina Silva, Co-Founder and CEO of Movimento Black Money Photo: Nina Silva, CEO of Movimento Black Money

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Diversity and Inclusion

Gender Inclusion NESsT adopts an intentional gender lens in our investment strategy. Building on an eight-week pilot aimed to create our gender lens framework by hearing from entrepreneurs and the women they impact, we have been actively working to foster gender-inclusive policies and practices not only with our portfolio companies but also within our own organization.

Our goal is to give women an equitable voice and ensure that their work is valued and fairly remunerated. We are convinced that by bringing more women into management, building equitable teams and value chains, businesses will improve their performance and poverty will be reduced at a much faster rate. It's the only way we will manage to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.” – Nicole Etchart, NESsT Co-Founder and Co-CEO

Photo: Helena Edir, Maré de Sabores Co-Founder and Co-CEO | NESsT Brazil

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Annual Report 2021

Diversity and Inclusion

NESsT’s Gender Lens Work | We created a series of modules on topics including Gender Bias & Gender Inclusive Language, Strengthening Gender Equitable and Inclusive Value Chains, and Considering Intersectionalities of Gender, among others. | These modules equip our entrepreneurs with the resources to establish equitable workplaces, create incentives for gender inclusion within their organization, and showcase the business case and the impact case of gender lens investing to other stakeholders, including investors.

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Annual Report 2021

Photos: CIEDS (top left), Hearty Foundation (bottom left), Maré de Sabores (top right), Asociación Bosque de las Nuwas (bottom right), ©Daniel Martínez

Gender Impact at NESsT: By the Numbers

47% of all managers of NESsT enterprises are women

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Annual Report 2021

81% of NESsT Portfolio enterprises have women on their leadership teams

96% women's salary as a percentage of men's salary across the NESsT portfolio

Diversity and Inclusion

Women-led Enterprise: Maré de Sabores Maré de Sabores joined the NESsT-IKEA Social Entrepreneurship Latin America Accelerator in 2021. The social enterprise provides women, especially low-income single mothers, with training, work experience, and job opportunities in the food industry.

Twice a year, Maré de Sabores hosts open calls to recruit women in the local community for its gastronomy training courses. The Brazilian enterprise equips women with the resources and technical skills they need to launch their careers and has inspired several of its program participants to start small businesses.

Michele’s Story | Michele became a mother at an early age and fully dedicated herself to her family. At age 37, she wanted to pursue her passion for gastronomy but had qualms about joining the workforce and challenging gender roles in the favela, where most women do not have income, “I thought I wasn’t capable of learning, let alone teaching," she shared. | Maré de Sabores offered Michele resources, training, and employment opportunities, paving a tangible path for her to achieve her career goals. Surrounded by a community of women who understand and support each other, Michele has taken on the role of a culinary professional. Today, she is a cook and teacher at Maré de Sabores, passing on her knowledge to help other women take ownership of their financial futures, “I am a woman breaking new ground in the world,” she added.

Photo: Michele, Maré de Sabores Culinary Professional

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Annual Report 2021

Supporters 44

Supporters

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Annual Report 2021

Supporters Thank you for your belief in NESsT.

Board of Directors

Individual Supporters

Joamir Müller Romiti Alves

Rose Agger & Nicolas Mendoza

Jennifer and Tim Kingston Charitable Fund

Natasha Buchler

Ghislaine Augier

Evy Marques

Loïc Comolli

Riefler Boyatt Family Fund

Brad Michaels

Lord Mervyn Davies of Abersoch, CBE (Chair)

Philip and Rosemary Collyer Fund

Manuel Orillac

Nicole Etchart

Karen and Richard Cook

Joe Palombo

Nathalie Figueroa (Secretary)

Oscar Decotelli

Olga Pascault

Edwin Gutierrez

Katherine Downs

Rosalu Queiroz

Geoffrey Hamlin

Regina Eberhart

Steve Smith

István Szőke

Tatiana Fonseca

Muriel Soupart

Brian Wardrop (Treasurer)

Sergio Freitas

Marcus Stewart

David York

Deva Kirin Hewett

Vlad Taralunga Claire Wilkinson

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Annual Report 2021

Financials 47

Financials SUPPORT & REVENUE Private Contributions & Grants Government Grants

$3,112,496 $427,900

In-Kind Contributions

$28,899

Investment Returns

$85,812

Foreign Currency Gain / Loss

(67,444)

Total Operating Revenue

$3,588,411

OPERATING EXPENSES Program Services

$1,951,059

General & Administrative

$195,738

Fundraising

$141,239

Total Expenses

$2,288,036

Increase in Net Assets

$1,300,375

Net Assets, Beginning of Year

$2,599,164

Net Assets, End of Year

$3,899,539

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Annual Report 2021