After more than a decade leading Convergence, I have made the decision to retire as CEO next year.
It is difficult to capture what these years have meant to me. When I joined Convergence in 2016 as its first CEO, blended finance was still an emerging concept, understood and practiced by very few people, and lacking coherence as a field. Today, it’s an established part of the global development finance landscape and a key tool for mobilizing private capital to emerging markets and developing economies.
Convergence has grown alongside the field. What began as an ambitious idea and a handful of staff has become an internal team of 40 across five countries and a truly global network of public, private, and philanthropic organizations committed to making blended finance more effective.
I am enormously proud of what we have built and so grateful to the people who built it with us. Our members and partners have been at the heart of Convergence from the beginning. You have shared your experiences and expertise, challenged our thinking, collaborated with one another, and helped shape the critical, vibrant, and relentlessly forward-leaning community that surrounds Convergence today.
But my proudest accomplishment over this last decade is building something that will long outlast my tenure. I’m honoured to have grown a team of people from around the world with their own competencies and views, who stand tall amongst their peers, and who in turn carry forward their own deep commitment to supporting the donors and fiduciaries building the field of blended finance. The decision to retire came partly from this place of strength. Not only do we have a world-class team, but we also have a stable financial position and an engaged and growing global network. From this solid base I know Convergence will springboard to even higher ambitions under its next leader.
These are turbulent times in both development finance and global financial markets, yet we must figure out how to direct private capital to where it can simultaneously deliver outcomes and returns. Convergence continues to have an important role to play as a lighthouse, guiding capital to where it can be most effective. It is at moments like this when new leadership and new ideas can be transformative.
My retirement will be a planned and gradual transition. I will continue to serve as CEO while our Board conducts a search for my successor, and I will work closely with the team to ensure continuity throughout the process.
While stepping away from Convergence will be bittersweet, I am excited about what comes next for me, for Convergence, and for this community. Leadership may change, but that’s just a matter of the lighthouse keeper stepping off-duty; the voyage continues and the lighthouse will stand bright and constant.
It has been an extraordinary privilege and the best of adventures to lead Convergence. Thank you for your partnership, your support, and above all, for being part of this journey.
Joan M. Larrea
