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Sean has devoted his entire career to realizing financial returns that align with social, environment and cultural outcomes for companies, investors and related stakeholders. He currently serves as Managing Director and Co-Head of Impact at Kirchner Group, a merchant bank where he leads the firm’s global impact advisory and asset management practice. Kirchner Group was founded in 1985 on two fundamental principles: that every business should improve the world and every business can be improved.
Prior to joining Kirchner Group, Sean co-founded Grand Basin Capital, which works to enhance and increase investment into regenerative farms, fisheries, forests and Aboriginal communities across Canada. Sean previously co-founded Purpose Capital, an impact investment advisory firm that mobilizes all forms of capital to accelerate social progress globally. In addition to his ongoing work with Grand Basin, Sean serves as the founding Executive Director of the Impact Angel Alliance, a non-profit collective of financial and strategic investors seeking to co-invest into high potential impact ventures across North America.
Sean has been directly involved in $10 billion in mergers, acquisitions, financings and restructuring transactions, $1.5 billion in capital formation for innovative private debt/equity impact fund vehicles, and $100 million in direct impact venture investments. He began his career in investment banking with Goldman Sachs in New York and private equity investing with Emerging Markets Partnership in Washington DC, before launching a series of successful technology, financial advisory and investment companies.
He serves as an advisor and board director to companies, funds and non-profits, including the Buckminster Fuller Institute. Sean graduated with distinction in economics from Cornell University as a Tradition Fellow, and earned his MBA from Oxford University as a Skoll Scholar.