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Luis A. Duarte

Portfolio Advisor
Location: United States
Focus Area: Littlest Learners / Growing Learners / Adult Learners
Regional Focus: Global

Meet Luis, a portfolio advisor of Imaginable Futures. Luis is an entrepreneur who has started a number of companies and worked across both corporate and public sectors. Luis served as chief philanthropy officer of ZOMALAB, the family office of Ben and Lucy Ana Walton, and as president of the ZOMA Foundation, where he led efforts to address challenging social issues in Colorado and Chile. Luis formerly worked as the investment director at Gary Community Investments, where he led the areas of innovation and impact investing.

Luis has held board seats or observer roles with B Lab, Gary Community Investments, Accion, Colorado Impact Fund, Aravaipa Ventures, Barton Institute for Philanthropy and Social Enterprise, Goldman Sachs Urban Investment Fund and WeeSchool. He is also a Colorado Governors Fellow, as well as an Unreasonable Institute Fellow.

What professional accomplishment are you most proud of?

Starting my first company at the age of 19 while in college. The firm provided jobs for people with disabilities while generating profits. This was certainly my precursor into the social entrepreneurship/impact investing space.

Q+A

What lessons did you learn early in your career that you keep with you today?

1) Hard and smart work equals opportunities.

2) Life is like a rollercoaster. You are sometimes up and sometimes down. Behave and treat people like you would at any point of the ride.

3) Active listening is the best sales skill.

What current Imaginable Futures endeavors most excite you?

The possibility to cross-sectors and geographies to catalyze human potential globally.

If you could be one character from a book? Who would you choose and why?

The Little Prince (by Antoine De Saint-Exupéry) because he is wise, joyful, full of questions, and is willing to travel, explore and investigate by doing. He is not afraid of the unknown but rather embraces uncertainty. His quest is concerned with the fundamental question of – what is life for?

What did you want to be when you grew up?

A fixer – someone who repairs either broken things, solves puzzles, or heals sad emotions (since I was a little kid).

What’s the closest thing to real magic in this world?

Life miracles such as the birth of my two boys.

If someone narrated your life, who would you want it to be?

My dad.

Favorite quote:

“The three factors that seem to have the greatest influence on increasing our happiness are our ability to reframe our situation more positively, our ability to experience gratitude, and our choice to be kind and generous.” ― Dalai Lama XIV

What do you imagine or wish for the future?

A fair world where everyone can be rewarded for their efforts and everyone has the opportunity to thrive regardless of where they come from. A world where we all value our differences as assets and not as threats.