The Origin Story Behind Athena Global
Athena Global was founded in 2009 to support industry restructuring in the banking and investment sector in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis.
Kaylene, Athena Global’s founder, wanted to create an advisory firm that helped investors and funders navigate the nascent field of investment with a social or environmental purpose. Her experience in frontier markets, risk management, mergers & acquisitions, banking and micro-finance was the foundation for launching a consulting business focused on multilateral donors and DFI, global foundations and early-movers in the impact investing space.
As both a capital allocator and an advisory firm, our clients welcome our practical approach to impact investing, balancing the ideal with the real. With nearly 30 years of breadth and depth in the industry, we are solutions oriented, and can help navigate uncertainty, grounded in experience.
More recently, Kaylene re-focused Athena Global’s efforts to primarily support the ever-changing environment in the US and the Americas. Athena works independently with clients to deploy impact capital, and through partners in the US, Colombia and Mexico.
Over time, Athena Global added partners and team members to expand our reach and serve more clients. Although based in the US, Athena Global’s team was intentionally based in the markets in which we operated, providing the opportunity for local talent to lead in leveraging on-the-ground perspectives, networks and contacts. We proudly worked with dozens of clients ranging from governments, multi-lateral organizations/DFI, foundations, private companies and non-profit organizations.
In 2018, through an investment from the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), Athena Global launched BIDUK, an Indonesian working capital facility focusing on providing debt finance to small and growing businesses. In addition to high portfolio quality, we also maintained a Blue Ocean and gender equity strategy. BIDUK funded numerous “main street” businesses to help stabilize cash flows to support sustainable growth through a global pandemic and beyond. BIDUK wound down in 2023.