JESSICA DROSTE YAGAN
Partner & Chief Executive Officer
Jessica Droste Yagan is the CEO of Impact Engine, an investment firm with a mission to bring more capital to a market where financial returns are linked to positive social and environmental impacts. Impact Engine manages venture capital and private equity strategies that invest in transformative for-profit, positive-impact funds and businesses.
Prior to Impact Engine, Jessica led the creation of McDonald’s Corporation’s global and U.S. sustainable sourcing strategies. At McDonald’s, she enabled the integration of ethical, environmental, and economic sustainability across all food and packaging sourcing. Jessica also worked in the field of urban economic development through the City Advisory Practice at the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City.
Jessica has co-authored two Harvard University case studies on public-private partnerships and currently serves as a board member for the Metropolitan Planning Council, the Rustandy Center for Social Sector Innovation at Chicago Booth, and Fixer. Crain’s Chicago Business named her to its list of 40-Under-40 in 2013 and she served as a 2014 Leadership Greater Chicago Fellow.
Jessica holds a BA in Public Policy from Haverford College, an MBA from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business, and an MPA from the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government. She lives in Chicago with her husband and three children.