Meet the Impact Investing team

Liz Roberts

Head of Impact Investing

Liz is the Head of Impact Investing at MassMutual. In this role, she directs impact investing’s strategy and execution of the group’s theory of change addressing inequality as a systemic risk to our economy, society, and portfolio. She oversees the group’s key activities; MassMutual Catalyst Funds (MMCF) and First Fund Initiative, and guides a dynamic team focused on investing capital for risk-adjusted, market-rate financial returns while advancing economic, racial, and environmental equity. Prior to joining MassMutual in 2021, Liz focused her passions for innovation and education to deliver solid business results across industries. 10+ years in NYC tech start up space as key lead in two company exits followed by 10 years in VC and venture creation with a focus on overlooked investments that create outsized returns.

Liz holds a BA in Studio Art and Economics from Smith College, and she is now a proud Western MA local.

Jason Allen

Head of MassMutual Catalyst Funds

Jason joined MassMutual in 2021 as Lead Portfolio Manager for the Impact Investments team. Prior to MassMutual, Jason was the Vice President, Investments at MassVentures. Prior to MassVentures, Jason spent over eight years in the Boston startup ecosystem working at early stage startups such as CustomMade Ventures, Attivio (acquired by ServiceNow NYSE: NOW), and Ovia Health (acquired by LabCorp NYSE:LH).  He earned a JD from Northeastern University School of Law, a Master of Theological Studies from Harvard Divinity School, and a BA from Denison University.

Akobe Sandy

Head of First Fund

Akobe joined MassMutual in 2024 as Head of First Fund. Within this role, he is responsible for deal selection, portfolio construction, and management and strategic leadership of the First Fund.

Prior to joining MassMutual, Akobe was an Impact Investment Officer for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, where he co-developed a $300 million program-related investment (PRI) portfolio targeting the social determinants of health and led an investment strategy focused on advancing racial equity and wealth-building to drive health equity. Previously, Akobe was part of the Impact Investments group at the MacArthur Foundation, where he helped manage a $500 million portfolio consisting of private debt, equity investments and guarantees. Before his pivot to a career in impact investing, Akobe spent several years as an investment banker with KPMG Corporate Finance and Madison Street Capital, a middle-market investment bank.

Akobe received a BA in Political Science and Economics from Yale University and is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA). He is an IMPACT Leadership Fellow of the Chicago Urban League and the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. He and his family live in the Washington, DC. area.

Team nickname: Impact Oracle

Tamas Javor

Senior Associate

Tamas is a Senior Associate on the Impact Investments team. Prior to joining MassMutual, he worked for Techstars, a global startup accelerator, where he was responsible for piloting a new product. He was also a founding team member at the UMSL Accelerate, an entrepreneurship center at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. There, he and his team built the first-ever university-led corporate accelerator, making 19 seed startup investments over three years. Tamas also gained experience in traditional investment management while working for Generali Asset Management in Hungary, where he managed approximately $1.3B for institutional clients.

He holds an MBA from the UMSL and a BA in Finance from Corvinus University of Budapest.

Chris Young

Impact Investment Analyst

Chris joined the MassMutual Impact Investment team in 2023 as an analyst handling investment operations, deal screening and due diligence. While pursuing an MBA, Chris served as a Graduate Research Fellow for the Center of International Securities and Derivatives handling hedge fund indices reporting for Morningstar and Bloomberg. He also interned with an impact investment firm working on a range of sustainability-focused investment projects in the Caribbean and worked as a co-op at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston within the Supervision, Regulation and Credit Department conducting research for the analysis unit. He began his career as an analyst with the University of Massachusetts Amherst Dining program helping to strengthen supply chain logistics and increase budgetary commitments to local and sustainable food purchasing by providing accurate, timely and actionable information to stakeholders.

Chris holds an MBA from the Isenberg School of Management and a BA in Economics from UMass Amherst.