Women as Capital Allocators

My name is Raquel Bell, a Brazilian born and raised in the state of Amazonas, to a family with deep roots in the Amazon rainforest. My childhood home abutted an igarapé — a small creek, a tributary of the Rio Amazonas. Yet I never swam in it. Its waters never splashed my face, and its fish never nourished me.

By the time I was born, many of the streams flowing through my hometown were already heavily polluted and choked with discarded trash and raw sewage.

Still, the stories remained. My mother and grandmother spoke of diving from those riverbanks, watching the sunset over the water, and living alongside an ecosystem that once felt abundant and alive. Those memories shaped how I think about systems, long-term thinking, and the consequences of human and economic decisions across generations.

Professionally, my path led me into finance, sustainability, and impact investing. Over the years, I became increasingly interested in one question: who gets to decide what the future looks like? Behind most of those decisions is capital — who allocates it, where it flows, and which ideas are given the chance to grow.

This space is dedicated to helping more women feel comfortable as capital allocators and shift capital to where it truly matters. Not by pretending investing is simple, but by making it more understandable, more transparent, and less intimidating.