Mr. Kurt Hoffman

Kurt Hoffman is an internationally recognized leader in entrepreneurship, impact investment, and innovation for development, with over 30 years of experience mobilizing enterprise-based solutions to address global challenges. He has designed and directed large-scale programs that link entrepreneurship, finance, and innovation to sustainable development across Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Europe.

Hoffman is the founding architect of the Shell Foundation, where he deployed $40 million in catalytic capital, leveraging more than $1.4 billion for scalable solutions in clean energy, SME finance, and sustainable urban transport. Under his leadership, the Foundation established enduring platforms, including GroFin Capital, now Africa’s leading SME finance facility, and EMBARQ, a global network of sustainable transportation centers active in over 50 cities. He went on to design and lead TransFarm Africa, a $50 million USAID- and Hewlett Foundation–backed initiative that pioneered the equitable commercialization of smallholder agriculture across sub-Saharan Africa.

Beyond philanthropy, Hoffman has served as Chief Executive of the Institute for Philanthropy in London and New York, where he advised leading global philanthropists on maximizing the social value of their giving. Since 2015, he has served as Director of the School for Startups (S4S), a UK-based social enterprise that has trained over 40,000 entrepreneurs worldwide and advised governments on entrepreneurship-led growth strategies. Earlier in his career, he spent a decade as a Senior Fellow at the University of Sussex and launched two venture-backed technology startups, providing him with a unique perspective on academia, entrepreneurship, and global development.

Hoffman has been a trusted advisor to international organizations, including DFID, USAID, the UN, and the Rockefeller Foundation, on issues ranging from innovation policy to humanitarian relief. He has served on multiple boards and advisory councils, including as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (RSA). His published work and thought leadership have influenced policy debates on enterprise-based development and innovation ecosystems worldwide.

At TIV, Hoffman draws on his unmatched experience in entrepreneurship, finance, and innovation policy to advise on the design and evaluation of programs that deliver measurable, scalable impact in economic development and sustainability