Ishita Shah
She/Her/Hers
Ishita leads Align’s Catalytic Capital practice, which spans impact-first investing and philanthropy. In this role, she shapes Align’s Catalytic Capital strategy and conducts financial and impact diligence on grants and investments across asset classes and impact areas. Ishita also builds and oversees Align’s Impact Measurement and Management philosophy, impact evaluation frameworks, and impact reporting infrastructure.
She joined Align in 2019 from NewSchools Venture Fund where she refined their impact strategy and conducted diligence on PreK-12 education startups. Prior to that, she was the Director of Strategic Initiatives at New Classrooms, an education non-profit, where she led research and communications projects on impact measurement and outcomes. Ishita’s measurement work also includes an impact evaluation for MacArthur Foundation to understand its role in the impact investing community through interviews with 30+ industry experts. Earlier in her career, she focused on ESG research and business intelligence at Bloomberg LP, where she had three progressively senior roles over four years with the company.
Ishita holds an MBA from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and a BS from the University of Maryland. Outside of work, she serves on the Board of Style Her Empowered, an education nonprofit serving women and girls in west Africa.