Mark Watson currently serves as President of Potlikker Capital (a non profit charitable loan fund) an integrated capital fund dedicated to supporting BIPOC farmers at the intersection of racial and climate justice. Potlikker Capital is a supporting entity to Jubliee Justice. He also serves as Senior Investment Strategist after serving as Managing Director of the Fair Food Fund, which offers catalytic capital with a social equity lens to improve community access to healthy food and increase wealth through more local ownership of the means of the production and distribution of food. He is also the founder of Keel Asset Management LLC, a financial advisory firm that provides socially responsible financial planning and investment advisory services to nonprofits, public and corporate pension plans. Mark has over thirty years’ experience in financial services which includes roles in banking and on Wall Street, managing investment portfolios for foundations, endowments, and institutional pensions funds. Mr. Watson started his career as a banker at the First National Bank of Chicago, now JP Morgan in commercial banking, corporate and public finance. Most recently, Mr. Watson co-designed and launched an integrated racial justice capital fund, The Boston Impact Initiative Fund and managed the deployment of capital to over 30 small businesses. Mark continues as an investment committee member of the Boston Impact Initiative Fund; an advisory board member of MIT/Health Innovation Systems Inc.; Director of Transition of The Institute of Educational Leadership; board president of Sustainable Cape, Inc.; and a former board member of Social Venture Network. Mr. Watson holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance, University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana and a Master’s in Business Administration, The Booth School, University of Chicago.
Areas of Expertise:
- Capital Structure
- Fundraising with Impact Investors
- Working Capital Management
- Impact Fund Construction