Christa Velasquez

Christa Velasquez is director of Lumina Impact Ventures.
In this role, she sources, structures, underwrites, and negotiates social investments to support the strategic priorities at Lumina Foundation, an independent, private foundation in Indianapolis that is committed to making opportunities for learning beyond high school available to all.
Prior to joining Lumina, Velasquez was a lecturer at the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago, where she taught graduate and undergraduate courses on philanthropy, impact investing, and the business of nonprofits and the evolving social sector.
She also consulted with various community outreach entities at the university to create new initiatives, programs, and courses; to improve UC-nonprofit relationships; and to strengthen nonprofit capacity.
Velasquez also has served as a philanthropy and impact investing consultant and senior fellow for responsible investing at Harvard University.
She also served as director of social investments for the Annie E.
Casey Foundation, where she created and managed a $125 million social investment program.
Velasquez holds a master’s degree in business administration from Yale University with a concentration in strategy and nonprofit management.
She also holds a bachelor’s in Latin American studies from the University of Chicago.