William Foote

William Foote is founder and Chief Executive Officer of Root Capital. He began his career as a financial analyst at Lehman Brothers. Initially, he worked as a journalist in Mexico and Argentina where he encountered the challenges faced by cooperatives and small producers lacking access to credit and markets. He founded Root Capital in 1999 (originally EcoLogic Finance). Foote was named a Skoll Fellow in 2005, an Ashoka Global Fellow in 2007, a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2008, a member of the Young Presidents' Organization (YPO) in 2009 and one of Forbes' "Impact 30" in 2011. He is on the executive committee of the Aspen Institute's Aspen Network for Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE) and is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Foote currently serves on the boards of E&Co, LASPAU: Academic and Professional Programs for the Americas, and the Open Learning Exchange (OLE). He holds an MS in development economics from the London School of Economics and a BA from Yale University. He is a member of the 2012 Class of Henry Crown Fellows at the Aspen Institute.