Partner and Co-Founder, Common Trust

Zoe Schlag is working to build Common Trust, an impact-aligned financing vehicle for Employee Ownership Trust (EOT) conversions. Common Trust has designed a unique set of financing terms that are compatible with long-term employee-ownership and aimed at equitably distributing risk and reward across the range of stakeholders. In addition to financing EOTs, the fund can finance adjacent variations on the EOT, i.e. ECOT, etc. The organization is structured as an LLC and will operate a subsidiary debt fund. Zoe has served on both sides of the table as both investor and operator. She is currently an Entrepreneur in Residence at Schmidt Futures, and previously served as Managing Director of Techstars Impact, Techstars' first impact fund, which she oversaw to invest in 74 impact companies after leading its formation and launch. Prior, she founded and served as CEO of UnLtd USA, an impact investment organization, which she led to join forces with Techstars in 2017. Over the last decade, Zoe has worked with founders across the US, Latin America, Africa and Asia, on issues ranging from human rights in supply chains to scalable preventive healthcare to criminal justice.