What I love about this conversation with Howard is his passion for using impact investing to address large-scale social problems. He shared his story of personal transformation after facing a crisis, which led him to co-create Gratitude Railroad, working to create deep social and environmental impact through investments.

Howard is co-founder and Chief Evangelist of Gratitude Railroad. Gratitude Railroad is an educational, community building, and impact investment organization focused on catalyzing positive social and environmental change through for-profit businesses. GRR’s core focus is an active investment process led by its Founders, Advisors and Partners guided by its full time diligence team.

He is also the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Basso Capital Management, L.P. a hedge fund management company focused on Special Purpose Acquisition Corporations (SPACs). Howard is the portfolio manager for the firm’s dedicated SPAC fund and oversees all operating and marketing efforts.

Previously, Howard was co-head of the institutional convertible trading desk at Smith Barney. Before Smith Barney, Mr. Fischer was a convertible trader at Drexel Burnham and at Cohen Feit & Company. Prior to his trading career, Mr. Fischer was a Certified Public Accountant in both public and private practice. Howard serves on the Boards of 1% For The Planet and The Carbon Underground, and advises BrightEdge, the investment fund of the American Cancer Society. He also has advisory/board roles at DoneGood, Builders Fund, Atlas Impact Partners and Blackdirt Capital – for profit entities in which he has invested.

Howard holds a B.S.E. in Accounting and Finance from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and was a 2013 and 2014 fellow in the Advanced Leadership Initiative at Harvard University.