ICM Announces 2025 Impact Awards

Brian Trelstad, Cynthia Muller, and Kendall Bedford To Be Honored in Washington, D.C.

New York, NY - Feb 13, 2025 — This week, the Impact Capital Managers (ICM) membership association announced the three recipients of the third annual Impact Awards: Brian Trelstad, Kendall Bedford, and Cynthia Muller. Each was selected by their peers for outstanding leadership and dedication to the field.

Established in 2022, these awards honor excellence in market-rate private capital impact investing, recognizing individuals whose work advances both superior investor returns and meaningful impact. The awards also celebrate contributions that uphold integrity and authenticity while fostering the industry's growth. This year’s winners will be recognized at the ICM Impact Awards Gala on March 20, 2025, in Washington, D.C.

ICM's Executive Director, Marieke Spence, spoke about this year’s awards winners: “Brian, Cynthia, and Kendall share a deep commitment to advancing impact investing. They are first-movers, visionaries, and leaders who have pushed the field forward in unique and powerful ways. They illustrate both excellence and integrity in this fast-evolving market. We look forward to celebrating them at the Impact Awards Gala next month in DC.”

The 2025 Impact Award: Brian Trelstad, Partner and Board Member, Bridges Fund Management

Brian Trelstad is a Partner and Board Member of Bridges Fund Management, an impact investment firm founded in Europe in 2002 and active in the United States since 2012. Brian has helped to incubate countless field-building organizations and innovations in impact measurement and management, including Impact Capital Managers & the affiliated ICM Institute, where he is a founding board member. Brian has also dedicated himself to educating future impact investors and business leaders through his academic positions at Harvard.   

Previously, Brian served as the Chief Investment Officer at Acumen, overseeing investments across South Asia and Africa. Before joining Acumen, he worked as a healthcare consultant at McKinsey & Company and served as the lead environmental staff member at the Corporation for National Service. He has also played a key role in founding and advising a range of nonprofit and for-profit startups.

In addition to his investment work, Brian is a Senior Lecturer at Harvard Business School and the Faculty Chair of the Harvard Advanced Leadership Initiative.

The 2025 LP Leader Award: Cynthia Muller, Director, Mission Investment, W.K. Kellogg Foundation

Cynthia leads the W.K. Kellogg Foundation’s (WKKF) mission-driven investments (MDI) portfolio, overseeing strategic impact investment activities that address systemic barriers faced by historically marginalized communities and children. Since its inception, the MDI program has committed more than $340 million in mission and program-related investments targeting market-rate financial returns to further WKKF’s mission.

Before joining WKKF, Cynthia developed and managed Arabella Advisors’ impact investing practice, designing strategies for foundations and individuals to drive social and environmental progress. Earlier in her career, she worked in community development finance and community-based healthcare, building her expertise in deploying capital to support equity-focused solutions.

Cynthia is a member of the LP Advisory Council at Impact Capital Managers, where she helps to promote shared priorities among general and limited partners, including best practices, effective regulation, and scaling impact with integrity. She is recognized for her leadership in mobilizing capital for impact and fostering a more inclusive financial system.

The 2025 Emerging Leader Award: Kendall Bedford, Associate, SustainVC

Kendall began her professional career as an ecologist but later transitioned into consulting. She currently serves in an impact investing role at SustainVC.

Before joining SustainVC, Kendall worked as a Project Manager at an early-stage project development and environmental consultancy firm. In 2021, she was selected as an Impact Capital Managers Mosaic Fellow and spent two summers with a sustainable infrastructure fund during her graduate studies. Kendall initially joined SustainVC as an Impact Fellow while pursuing her dual-degree Master of Environmental Studies and MBA and co-led Wharton Impact Investing Partners, a student-run fund. She has been with the SustainVC team since 2022. In 2024, in recognition of her commitment to fostering inclusivity within the impact investing community, Kendall was invited to co-chair the Impact Capital Managers Talent & Diversity Working Group.

Kendall chose to pursue a career in impact investing because she wanted to use her position to amplify the voices of those historically excluded from important conversations. She wants to continue fostering inclusive discussions that promote a more sustainable and equitable world for everyone.

About Impact Capital Managers: Impact Capital Managers is a network of private capital fund managers investing for superior financial returns and meaningful impact, with a mission to accelerate the performance of its members and to scale the private capital impact investing market with integrity and authenticity. Membership is by invitation only. Today, the network includes 140+ funds collectively representing more than $70 billion in impact-focused capital. ICM is a 501(c)6 organization with an affiliated 501(c)3, the ICM Institute. For more information, visit impactcapitalmanagers.com.

Press Contact: Kamal Cheema, Analyst, Communications & Policy, kcheema@impactcapitalmanagers.com.

There is no geographic focus for the ICM Impact Awards. For GPs and Emerging Leaders, individuals at all ICM member funds are eligible. Self-nomination is allowed. Nominations are anonymous; the staff and Board of ICM conduct diligence on prospective winners and choose recipients from the nominee pool.