Impact Shares

Impact Shares

Impact Shares was founded in 2015 by Ethan Powell, a former executive at Nuveen and Merrill Lynch, who sought to build a vehicle that could channel capital toward social objectives while delivering market-rate returns. The firm's structure bridges traditional asset management with philanthropic mission — a design that attracted early partnerships with organizations like the YWCA. The firm specializes in thematic ETFs. Its flagship product, the YWCA Women's Empowerment ETF (ticker: WOMN), tracks an index of US companies with strong gender diversity policies and routes a portion of its management fees to the YWCA. Impact Shares also manages the NAACP Minority Empowerment ETF (ticker: NACP), which similarly supports the NAACP. Both ETFs use custom ESG screens and are actively governed by nonprofit advisory boards. Geographic focus is primarily United States equities. Impact Shares operates as a registered investment adviser. The firm maintains a small team based in Chicago. A notable operational event occurred in 2023 when Impact Shares announced a partnership with the YWCA to expand the WOMN ETF's fee structure and charitable giving mechanisms (per Impact Shares press release, 2023). The firm does not disclose total AUM publicly. What distinguishes Impact Shares from other ESG fund providers is its nonprofit board governance model. Each ETF has an oversight board composed of members from the partner nonprofit, ensuring that the social mission — not just the investment returns — drives strategy. That governance structure creates a flywheel where fund growth directly increases philanthropic capacity.