Impact Investing Analyst - Lateral?

Hi all,

Please bear with me - this is my first post on WSO and I'm not sure where to begin. I guess I'll start with a quick intro; I recently graduated from a great public school and was fortunate enough to land a position as an investment analyst with an impact investing focus advising institutions. I am really happy with my current gig, and I love my firm, team, and clients, but I have come to realize that I am much more excited about a more direct buy-side role at an impact manager. This is the real root of my question...

My day to day involves meeting with a handful of these managers every day, and I had two years of experience during college consulting some of the most prominent impact investors, so I have built a pretty extensive network. However, my current job does not offer any modeling or deal making exposure. Obviously this is a deal breaker in the PE/VC space despite my extensive niche knowledge in climate finance and impact investing. In fact, I have had a recruiter reach out from one of the top climate tech funds just to drop me after hearing that I had no IB experience. On one hand, I am wondering if I can rely on my network, niche, and modeling practice in my free time to get me to where I want to be. People from my firm have gone on to MM PE firms, so it is definitely a possibility. On the other, I am curious if I am just better off looking into full-time IB recruiting so that I can round out my profile. What does the process look like for candidates with a year of work experience? Do sustainable IB positions exist at the analyst level? It would definitely be a means to an end, so maybe that would make the banking experience more bearable since I am passionate about the space. I'd welcome any and all advice.

Thanks!