Impetus Trust appoints Palamon Capital co-founder as chairman

By: 

Cheryl Chapman

Managing Editor, Philanthropy UK

UK venture philanthropy pioneer Impetus Trust has appointed Louis Elson, managing partner and co-founder of Palamon Capital Partners, as its new chairman.

The Impetus venture philanthropy model involves providing charities and social enterprises with a combination of strategic funding and expertise, to accelerate their growth and multiply their social impact.  Created in 2002, Impetus has 14 organisations in its portfolio, including the Fairtrade Foundation, Leap Confronting Conflict, FRC Group and St Giles Trust.

Elson has been a trustee of Impetus since July 2009, and will officially become Impetus chairman on 24th March 2010.  He takes on the chairmanship as Impetus enters into an ambitious growth stage, with the aim of significantly growing its portfolio of charities and social enterprises in the next four years. 

Elson brings with him expert knowledge of the private equity and financial sectors - he co-founded Palamon in 1999 and prior to that was a London-based partner of Warburg Pincus. He has a longstanding commitment to the not-for-profit secto as a trustee of Phillips Academy - Andover, in his native USA, and a member of the Development Board of The Prince’s Trust.

Elson will take over from Impetus co-founder Stephen Dawson, who served as chairman for seven years. Dawson remains a supporter of Impetus, and will continue to contribute as a trustee, donor and advisor to Impetus. 

Commenting on his appointment, Elson said, “After more than two decades of active involvement in the charity world, I was attracted to Impetus because, quite simply – its venture philanthropy model works. It achieves phenomenal results in increasing the impact of the charities it supports, and does so in a way that resonates personally with my private equity background, as both work to make organisations more effective, efficient, and impactful. ”

Impetus vice chair Nat Sloane, who headed the search sub-committee, said: “Louis was a stand-out candidate for the chairmanship as he brings with him an exceptional commitment to social impact coupled with first-rate experience of the financial sector.”