Foote, William
CEO, Root Capital
Willy Foote is founder and CEO of Root Capital, a nonprofit agricultural impact investor that provides capital, delivers financial training, and strengthens market connections for businesses in Latin America, Africa, and Asia. Since 1999, Root Capital has disbursed more than $950 million in credit to over 600 rural enterprises that are building sustainable livelihoods for 1.2 million smallholder farmers. Foote is on the Executive Committee of the Aspen Network for Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE), and is a member of Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO) and the Council on Foreign Relations. He received the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship in 2005, and was named an Ashoka Fellow in 2007, a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2008, and one of Forbes’ “Impact 30” in 2011. He is a 2012 Henry Crown Fellow of the Aspen Institute and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network. He holds an MS in development economics from the London School of Economics and a BA from Yale University.