2022 Speakers

Benjamin Bailey

Vice President of Investments and a Senior Fixed Income Investment Manager, Praxis Mutual Funds and Everence Financial

Praxis Mutual Fund and Everence Financial is a leading provider of faith- based financial products in the United States and a ministry of Mennonite Church USA. He is a member of the organization’s investment management committee and has more than 20 years of experience in fixed-income investing. He has served as co-portfolio manager for the Praxis Impact Bond Fund since 2005 and co-portfolio manager of the Praxis Genesis Portfolios since June 2013. He also acts as co-portfolio manager on internal insurance portfolios and externally managed client accounts.

Cited in The Wall Street Journal, Money, Barron’s, Bloomberg and the Associated Press, Benjamin has spoken on Green Bonds and investing for a low-carbon economy at the US SIF Annual Conference, the SRI Conference and other national venues. In 2014, he was named a NextGen Bond Manager to watch by WealthManagement.com, highlighting a handful of managers younger than 45 who are quietly outperforming many of their peers.

Benjamin joined Everence in 2000, assisting portfolio managers as a socially responsible investing research analyst. A graduate of Huntington University, he earned the Chartered Financial Analyst® designation in 2003 and has served as president of the Investment Section for the American Frater- nal Alliance. Benjamin often serves as a resource to regional and national organizations and events on positive investing in the bond market.

Madeline Barconi

Advisor, Colorado Capital Management

Madeline is an experienced advisor with a fierce passion for financial planning and making sure her clients feel empowered to make great decisions.

After growing up in the Northwestern suburbs of Chicago, the allure of the mountains and the weather drew her to the University of Denver. She graduated with a degree in Political Science and International Studies. While attending DU she worked on developing potable water wells in southern Africa for people without access to clean water. The students had to secure the project funding themselves, which underscored the importance of developing strong financial skills, even for the most fundamental of human needs. This experience inspired her to begin her career with Fidelity Investments. During her six years at Fidelity Madeline earned the Chartered Financial Counselor (ChFc®) designation and is also a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional. She was one of the youngest women at Fidelity to be promoted into the Financial Advisor position. She won many top achiever awards along the way and was nominated for these awards by both peers and management. She also participated in many volunteer events, speaking on Fidelity’s behalf to improve the financial education curriculum at the high school level. Madeline loves spending time with her husband Derek and their dog Twyla. Depending on the season, they are most likely hiking, cross country skiing, rafting, or traveling somewhere new.

A. Denise Beal

Building upon a 25 year career in housing, community development and finance, Mississippi native Denise Beal is cultivating Black Flourish Fund–a pipeline of regenerative investments for Black community health, wealth and wholeness having an initial focus in the U. S. Deep South.

David Bennell

Principal, VCA, LLC

David is a leading ESG and Sustainability management professional with 25 years of experience with corporations and investors, as well as many of the world’s top NGOs and philanthropic foundations. He is a limited partner in a digital assets fund that invests in technology companies creating innovative solutions for climate change and biodiversity loss.

He’s worked directly in the corporate sector as an employee at Microsoft, REI and LL Bean managing research and development, leadership development, and sustainability programs and held a 5-year appointment at MIT as adjunct faculty in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics. David wrote and presents one of the world’s most watched corporate sustainability courses viewable on Linked In Learning (titled: Sustainability Strategies), named the #1 global course for impact investors.

He has an undergraduate degree in environmental studies, a graduate degree in health and human performance, is an alumnus of the Prince of Wales Business and Environment Programme at Cambridge University and was selected as a Fellow for Yale University’s Environmental Leadership Program.

Greg Berry

Whole Wealth Advisor, Conscious Capital Wealth Management

Greg is a Whole Wealth Advisor at Conscious Capital Wealth Management, a unique wealth advisory firm dedicated to integrating mindfulness into every aspect of our business. Greg designs custom, integrated wealth plans that include and transcend financial planning and investment strategy.

For over 25 years, Greg has been an advisor to entrepreneurs, investors, philanthropists and executives, both in the famous entrepreneurial ecosystem of Boulder, Colorado, and across several continents. He guides people at different points of wealth creation to evolve their relationship with wealth and money, towards more holistic and responsible approach, which is now commonly called ‘impact investing.’ For over 10 years, he has been an activist and catalyst for the impact investing community in Colorado.

Greg was a co-founder, Managing Director, and board director of Impact Hub Boulder, a communal work and event space serving a community of change-making entrepreneurs and impact investors in downtown Boulder. For two years, Greg served as a board director for the global Impact Hub Association, a partnership of over 105 Hubs on five continents.

Jessica Brooks

Chief Development Officer at Sunwealth

As Chief Development Officer at Sunwealth, Jess helps investors put money to work in community-based solar projects that create energy access, green jobs and savings for people and places that need them most. Before joining Sunwealth, she oversaw development and communications at BlueHub Capital, a national CDFI, where she helped grow assets under management from $60 million to over $1 billion, leveraging $5 billion in public and private investment in underserved communities nationwide. She has also worked in online community development for The New York Times and Abuzz, and as a securities trader on Wall Street. Jess serves on the advisory boards of First Teacher, The Carrot Project and Yggdrasil Land Foundation and chairs Brown University’s Advisory Council on Relations with Tougaloo College, a historically black college in Mississippi. She holds a BA from Brown University.

Sharlene Brown

Senior Fellow at Croatan Institute and Director of the Institute’s Initiative on Racial Equity, Economics, Finance, and Sustainability (REEFS)

Sharlene was previously the executive director of the Partnership for Responsible Financial Inclusion (PRFI), where she managed the strategic priorities of the member organizations and coordinated its working groups. Prior to that, she served as national director of Oikocredit-USA, where she raised investment capital and provided development education on microfinance and social performance to investors with more than US$35 million in assets. Sharlene also worked with the Grameen Foundation, a member of the Partnership for Responsible Financial Inclusion, as a senior program officer for their Social Performance Management Center, where she oversaw projects for microfinance institutions in sub-Saharan Africa and Middle- East/North Africa. She has also worked in the socially responsible investment marketplace as a business development manager for Domini Social Investments, and as research associate for the Social Investment Forum.

Sharlene’s immigrant roots inspire her to be of service to others. She has served on the Board of Directors of Women Advancing Microfinance (WAM) International, a global network that supports women working in microfinance and microenterprise development through education and training. Currently, Sharlene volunteers as a financial coach to low-income individuals, striving to improve their financial well-being through programs sponsored by Children’s First Institute and United Way’s Financial Stability Initiative. Sharlene shares what drives her passion for financial inclusion and coaching in the podcast She’s Got Drive.

Dina Ciarmatori

Senior Vice President, NB Sustainable Equity

Dina joined the NB Sustainable Equity team in 2008 and works as a research analyst where she is primarily responsible for conducting ESG analysis and leading the team’s efforts on corporate engagement and proxy voting. Her work has focused on energy and the environment, science-based emission reduction targets, net zero target setting, carbon emission life-cycle analysis, energy efficiency, water quality and management, supply chain sustainability, diversity and pay equity, workplace practices, Just Transition and human rights and linking ESG issues to executive compensation. Dina has spoken on industry panels with a focus on a range of sustainability issues. Prior to joining the Sustainable Equity team, Dina worked in Neuberger Berman’s equity research department on the Utility team and the climate change fund with emphasis on the power sector and renewables. In her personal time, for over ten years, Dina continues to be actively engaged with the US National Committee for UN Women an organization committed to the advocacy and awareness on women’s empowerment issues including violence against women and girls. Dina received a MA in European Politics from the University of Bath, UK and a BSE in Education from Westfield State University.

Justin Conway

Vice President, Investment Partnerships, Calvert Impact Capital

Calvert Impact Capital, an impact investment firm helping people and institutions invest for racial, gender, economic, and climate justice. Justin manages the Community Investment Note program and the Investor Relations team that has supported over 20,000 investors and financial professionals on their impact investing journeys. He also sits on the Staff Investment Committee and led Calvert Impact Capital’s subsidiary investment advisor in providing customized portfolio services to impact investors.

Justin currently serves on the board of Aeris, which is focused on driving transparency and accountability in impact investing, and on advisory committees for US SIF, Envest Microfinance Cooperative, and the Global Impact Investing Network. He has also served on the boards of US SIF, the association of financial professionals engaged in ESG and impact investing, and Green America, dedicated to harnessing our economic power to create a sustainable world.

Before joining Calvert Impact Capital:
Justin managed the Community Investment Program of the Social Investment Forum and Green America. Before that he worked on human and economic rights in both Asia and Central America. He received a Master’s in Applied Economics from Johns Hopkins University and a Bachelor’s in Sociology and Statistics from James Madison University.

Jennifer Coombs

Associate Professor, College for Financial Planning

Jennifer “Jenny” Coombs is an associate professor at The College for Financial Planning. She is the creator, lead author, and lead instructor for the Chartered SRI Counselor™ (CSRIC™) designation program developed in partnership with US SIF as the first professional financial education program in the United States exclusively devoted to sustainable investing. Prior to joining the College, Jennifer worked for several Wall Street firms in such varied roles as technical and fundamental analysis, equity research, trading, and portfolio management. Jennifer has given two TED talks on the topic of sustainable and responsible investing: “Investing for a Better World: Using Wall Street to Implement Social Change” (November 2015 at TEDx Jersey City), and “Stopping the Rebuttal: Millennial Investors and the Future of Sustainability” (April 2018 at TEDx Clarkson University). She has also given presentations at and interviews on “Dollars & Change” Wharton Business School Radio on Sirius XM, Bank of America/Merrill Lynch Wealth Management, The Society of Financial Services Professionals (FSP), The CFA Society of New York, US SIF Annual Conference, The SRI Conference, and Advisor Group. Jennifer is also sought out for her expertise on ESG education and market outlooks, and has been quoted in The New York Times, The AP, Market Watch, Investment News, ESG Clarity, Money Magazine, Citigroup, GreenMoney Journal, Financial Advisor IQ, RIABiz, Wealth Management, and Proactive Advisor Magazine.

Jennifer holds a Master of Science in Finance (MSF) and is a member of the ESG Advisory Board at Investment News and serves on the education committee of US SIF. She currently resides in her home state of Vermont.

Mike DiPetrillo

Chief Revenue Officer, Devvio

Mike has spent his life creating and scaling disruptive technologies that fundamentally change how systems are used. Programming the first web-based credit card processing system, the first web-based calendaring system, building out global search systems before Google was even around, and architecting the first global VoIP networks. During his 18-year career at VMware he brought x86 virtualization to mainstream computing, brought cloud computing to life with nearly every cloud provider on the planet, transformed distance learning of complex compute environments, and took a couple of blockchain researchers into changing the way stock was recorded at ASX and other exchanges with VMware Blockchain. Mike brings three decades of passion for disruptive technology change in the world of systems problems to the biggest systems problem of our generation – ESG. Mike will go into depth on how Web3 is the foundation to acceleration, trust, transparency, and simplification in the world of ESG.

Jewell Fears

Founder/CEO, Jewell Fears Consulting

Jewell is the Founder/CEO of Jewell Fears Consulting, a Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Consulting Firm that believes strongly in the individual experiences each of us gains as we walk through life. Through curated conversations, a non-judgmental approach to collaboration, and true partnership in recognizing that each organization requires a tailored approach, Jewell’s goal is to be a foundational resource in creating sustainably built cultures. With over 15 years of experience managing and monitoring company operations, advocating for teams and culture, human resources and relationship management, Jewell’s joy is in creating safe spaces for authentic conversations and in celebrating unique differences.

Julia Fish

Vice President, Sustainable & Impact Investing, Glenmede 

An impact investor and strategist with over 12 years of experience, Julia is a Vice President on the Sustainable & Impact Investing team at Glenmede, an investment and wealth management firm with $45 billion assets under management. She is responsible for providing strategic oversight of Glenmede’s Sustainable & Impact Investing program, with a focus on ESG integration, portfolio construction, shareholder engagement, and investing in products with a thematic focus, including climate change, gender diversity, and racial equity.

Prior to joining Glenmede in 2018, Julia served as an investment associate for the Palladium Group’s impact investing team, through which she advised the International Finance Corporation on scalable business solutions for low-income countries. Previously, Julia also worked in international development for four years and spent two years as a management consultant. An emerging markets specialist, she brings experience conducting in-market due diligence in over 15 developing countries. Julia holds an MBA from the Wharton School and a Master’s of International Studies from the Lauder Institute at the University of Pennsylvania.

Amberjae Freeman

Board Chairperson and Cheif Executive Officer, Etho Capital

Amberjae works with the executive team and board to shape strategy and execute the company’s vision. Amberjae also serves on the Board of Directors of The Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment (USSIF) and is on the Advisory Board of the South Bay Economics Institute at CSU Dominguez Hills (SBEI).

Amberjae’s career in sustainable finance began 15 years ago when she received dual fellowships with the Clinton Global Initiative in New York City and the Clinton Hunter Development Initiative in Kigali, Rwanda. Prior to joining Etho Capital, Amberjae developed innovation-focused thematic portfolios for fintech startup, Swell Investing. As senior analyst for the SRI Wealth Management Group at the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), she developed proprietary ESG and impact research and mission-related investment solutions for institutional, foundation, and endowment portfolios representing US$2 billion in assets.

Amberjae has served as an adjunct professor of Political Science and Economics at Santa Barbara City College (SBCC), and coordinated country-specific research to support asylum cases for the Center for Gender & Refugee Studies (CGRS) at UC Hastings College of the Law. Amberjae holds a bachelor’s degree and an MA in Global & International Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

George Gay

Chief Executive Officer, First Affirmative Financial Network

George is a pioneer of environmental, social, and governance investing and socially responsible investments (ESG/SRI). Growing up on a farm near heavily polluted Lake Erie, George recalls being admonished to “keep his head out of the water” when swimming to avoid getting sick. He credits that lasting memory as one of his inspirations for embarking on a career in SRI. The firm’s culture has allowed George and First Affirmative to reach unforeseen heights in moral and financial sustainability serving as a strong voice for organizations and individuals to make smart choices, and to be a louder voice for change, especially where financial matters are concerned. George is well versed in analysis and portfolio rating assessment, emerging trends, wealth management and how ESG/SRI investing can make the future better.

George is recognized as an industry role model and mentor. He’s a highly sought-after speaker, panelist and counselor. He is a past recipient of the industry’s “SRI Service Award.”

Yusuf George

Managing Director, Engine No. 1

Yusuf  leads Engine No. 1’s active ownership and proxy-voting strategies for the firm’s fund portfolio companies.

Prior to joining Engine No. 1, Yusuf worked at JUST Capital, where he developed and led the firm’s corporate engagement strategy, oversaw the racial equity portfolio, and assisted with investor-related engagement. He began his career in the global capital markets division at Barclays Capital.

Yusuf received a BS in Computer Science from Trinity College.

Paula Glick

Co-Founder, Honeytree Investment Management

Paula co-founded Honeytree Investment Management with Liz Simmie in 2018. Paula is involved in all aspects of the business including portfolio management, investment research, client service, and administration. She brings over 20 years of experience in the investment industry and a wealth of knowledge in ESG and impact investing.

Prior to founding Honeytree, Paula was Vice President, Business Development at MSCI Canada where she was responsible for ESG analytics, index, and research sales. Her extensive experience in ESG data began in 2004 at Sustainalytics as Director, Institutional Relations, developing the Canadian Institutional ESG market and overseeing the institutional relations team.

Paula has been a regular speaker at conferences as well as to board and investment committees on the subject of ESG and responsible investment. Prior to joining Sustainalytics, Paula held various institutional and retail investment management roles.

She is a Board member of Syrinx Concerts Toronto, and manages her late father’s musical legacy. Paula has been playing and performing violin with various groups for 25 years and is an avid chess player. She coaches soccer at SC Toronto, and is a Mentor at the University of Toronto. She lives in Toronto with her husband and two children.

Julie Gorte, Ph.D.

Senior Vice President for Sustainable Investing

Julie is Senior Vice President for Sustainable Investing at Impax Asset Management LLC, the North American division of Impax Asset Management Group and investment adviser to Pax World Funds.

She oversees environmental, social and governance-related research on prospective and current investments as well as the firm’s shareholder engagement and public policy advocacy. Julie is also a member of the Impax Gender Analytics team.

Prior to joining the firm, Julie served as Vice President and Chief Social Investment Strategist at Calvert. Her experience before she joined the investment world in 1999 includes a various number of roles. Julie spent nearly 14 years as Senior Associate and Project Director at the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment. Additionally, she has held the roles of Vice President for Economic and Environmental Research at The Wilderness Society, and Program Manager for Technology Programs in the Environmental Protection Agency’s policy office and Senior Associate at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.

Julie serves on the boards of the Endangered Species Coalition, E4theFuture, Clean Production Action and is the board chair of the Sustainable Investments Institute.

Julie received a Ph.D. and Master of Science in resource economics from Michigan State University and a Bachelor of Science in forest management at Northern Arizona University.

Erin Gray

Advisor, Institutional and Client Relations Manager, Green Century Capital Management, Inc.

As an Advisor, Institution, and Client Relations Manager, Erin supports financial advisors mainly on the West Coast. She also manages sustainable investing event participation and leads special analytical projects for Green Century Capital Management. She works with hundreds of financial advisors across the country, educating them on current and relevant issues related to environmentally responsible investing. Erin is also a member of U.S. SIF’s Education Committee and Agenda Committee for their annual conference. Prior to her current role, Erin worked as a financial analyst for an environmental consulting firm and a public accounting firm. Erin earned a B.A. from Smith College and completed a joint MBA and MEM (Masters of Environmental Management) from Yale University. She lives in Seattle.

Alyssa Greenspan

President and Chief Operating Officer, Community Capital Management

As president and chief operating officer, Alyssa is responsible for strategic planning, human resources, and new product development. In addition, Alyssa is responsible for managing the day-to-day activities and operations of the firm as well as overseeing risk management, including compliance and client service. As an impact and ESG industry veteran, Alyssa is a frequent speaker on the topic and has been involved in the creation of detailed impact metrics and customized reporting at CCM, working closely with clients to understand both their impact and investment goals.

Alyssa began her career at Northern Trust Bank rising to investment officer before joining Morningstar, Inc. as a senior equity analyst covering the financial services sector. In 2003, Alyssa joined CCM as a portfolio manager and was promoted to chief operating officer in 2009 and president in 2015. Alyssa served two terms on the board of directors of U.S. SIF – The Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment, most recently as Treasurer and as part of the Executive Committee. She is also a past director of Impact Shares, which offers socially conscious ETFs with an evolving set of criteria defined by non-profit partners. Alyssa is committed to giving back to her community. She is involved with Women United of the United Way of Broward County, which focuses on education, inspiring, and empowering women of all ages and the Junior Achievement’s Circle of Wise Women. Alyssa encourages all of CCM’s employees to volunteer and give back to their communities.

Alyssa received her B.S.M. in Finance from Tulane University and an M.B.A. from the University of Miami. She is a CFA Charterholder and holds FINRA licenses: Series 6, 7, 24, 26 & 63.

Kimberly Griego-Kiel

CEO, Horizons Sustainable Financial Services

Kim has been a licensed Advisor in the SRI/Impact/ESG space since 2000 and in the industry for 24 years as of November 2022. Her experience running a thriving and rapidly expanding financial services business, her deep connection to her clients, and her more than 2 decades of experience in the industry provide her with a strong and unique perspective for both clients and other industry professionals. Kim began serving on the board of USSIF in January of 2021 and has been involved with policy and client focused work during that time. Kim is an experienced speaker on a variety of topics as shown in past engagements and on her podcast, Deep Impact Investing. Kim has been moving away from client centered work to produce the podcast and to work more directly in the fields of social and environmental justice. She also has passion for food and water systems, working to ensure that we create better management of the worlds sustainable food systems.

Her current areas of speaking expertise are History of Impact Investing, Women in Investing, ESG vs. Impact, Client management and retention, Marketing and social media, Podcasting (for women or anyone really), Greenwashing, gathering client assets in an expanding field, Sustainable Food Systems and Ways to approach our lives with more sustainability in mind.

Theresa Gusman

Chief Investment Officer, First Affirmative Financial Network

Theresa, is on a mission to change the way companies, advisors and individuals see their investments. Theresa’s commitment to incorporating environmental, social, and governance issues into investment decisions began early in her 30-plus year investment career. She understands the full investing process, from analyst and portfolio manager to asset and wealth management leadership roles, including Senior Portfolio Manager and Global Head of Equities for Deutsche Bank. This commitment to ESG/SRI investing is driven by her fiduciary responsibility to clients and strong belief that ESG is a financial factor that can affect performance, plus being the right thing to do. Financial and impact objectives are both attainable. First Affirmative’s unique Values-Aligned Direct Index Solution (VADIS) platform provides a unique, proprietary foundation for analysis, assessment and measurement. All of these factors combine to help Theresa in her work toward making sustainable, responsible, and impact investing accessible to all.

Outside of First Affirmative, Theresa shares her expertise on numerous advisory boards and in the classroom, teaching MBA courses.

Jon Hale

Global Head of Sustainability Research, Morningstar, Inc.

Jon Hale, Ph.D., CFA, is director of sustainability research for the Americas at Sustainalytics. He directs the company’s research initiatives on sustainable investing, beginning with the launch of the Morningstar Sustainability Rating™ for funds in 2016.

Before assuming this role in 2016, Jon was director of manager research for Morningstar, where he led approximately 60 manager research analysts based in North America and oversaw the team’s operations, thought leadership, and manager research coverage across asset classes.

Jon first joined Morningstar in 1995 as a mutual fund analyst and helped launch the firm’s institutional investment consulting business in 1998. He left the company in 1999 to work for Domini Social Investments before rejoining Morningstar as a senior investment consultant in 2001. He became managing consultant in 2009 and head of the investment advisory unit in 2014.

Jon holds a bachelor’s degree, with honors, from the University of Oklahoma and a doctorate in political science from Indiana University.

Hyewon Han

Associate Shareholder Advocate, Trillium

Hyewon joined Trillium in 2021 and leads advocacy initiatives to improve corporations’ environmental and social impact. Her areas of focus include democracy and voting rights, racial justice, worker rights and organized labor, and LGBTQ+ inclusion. Most recently, Hyewon has worked on racial equity audit shareholder proposals and authored papers on The Investor Case for Supporting Worker Organizing Rights and Corporate Support for Employee Voting.

Prior to Trillium, Hyewon held roles in ESG research and sustainability consulting. She received her B.A. in Sociology and Environmental Studies from Boston College.

Megan Hausmann

Director of Advisory Success, Apex Fintech Solutions

When Megan sees an empty space, she grabs her tools and slips into builder mode. After 15 years in financial services, becoming an architect for the future is effortless for her. So much so, she’s spent the bulk of her career curating the finest talent and offering business consulting services to assemble the next generation of leaders in wealth management.

At Apex Fintech Solutions, we depend on Megan to provide her distinctive insight to the strategic development of our advisory segment. She’s been adept at supporting the growth of Apex Advisor Solutions. Her strategic success for advisory clients has enabled them to expand through unparalleled service and innovative investor experiences. Megan was the captain of her water polo team at the University of Michigan. She’s used to keeping a cool head when facing challenges and knows that if you’re going to take the shot, you have to go all-in.

Lisa Hayles

Director of International Shareholder Advocacy, Trillium Asset Management

Lisa is Director of International Shareholder Advocacy at Trillium Asset Management, responsible for engaging Trillium’s international holdings and global policy makers on environmental, social and governance topics. She joined Trillium in the summer of 2020 and has more than 20 years’ experience advising institutional and individual investors on sustainable investing approaches in North America and Europe. A frequent speaker on gender equality and racial justice, she is co-founder of the Racial justice Investing Coalition and sits on the board of the Interfaith Center for Corporate Responsibility.

Lisa received her B.A.in Political Science and History from the University of Toronto and a M.Sc. in International Development from the University of Guelph. She also holds a French language Certificate for the University of Toulouse-Mirail in France.

Bob Helmuth

Advisor Impact Strategist, Conscious Capital Wealth Management

Bob joined Conscious Capital Wealth Management following a 20-year career in the sustainable investing industry, where he focused in areas of business development that contributed to the growth of the ESG investing nationally.

At Conscious Capital, Bob’s role as Advisor Impact Strategist is to support the firm’s unique culture of integrity, openness and caring so that its financial advisors will offer Whole Wealth services on behalf of their valued clients.

Prior to joining Conscious Capital, Bob served roles as Vice President Business Development and Senior Vice President, Stakeholder Relations at Impax Asset Management-Pax World Funds.

He is a founding member of the stewardship council of Boulder.Earth, an organization providing resources, inspiration and connections to enable impact in areas of climate change and environmental practices.

His earlier career was in marketing management in the cable television industry, where he served in executive positions at ESPN, Starz Media Group, Cablevision Industries (now Time Warner), McCaw Cablevision and Daniels Communications. He earned a BA at Colgate University and a MS in Public Communications at Boston University.

Originally from the NYC area, he and his wife, Nancy, are longtime residents of Boulder County, CO.

Brian Howell, MS, CFP®, CWS®

Director, Relationship Management, Schwab Charitable

Brian is a Director of Relationship Management and Business Development for Schwab Charitable. He has over 26 years of experience at The Charles Schwab Corporation, most recently with Schwab Private Client Investment Advisory where he led a team of portfolio consultants. Brian serves financial advisors, family offices and donor communities. He proactively partners with investment advisors and financial consultants to provide innovative solutions for integrating charitable planning into the wealth management process. He obtained his master’s degree at Regis University in Denver, CO and gained his CFP® designation in 2011. He earned his Certified Wealth Strategist designation in 2016. Brian has led the Denver Schwab Community Ambassador Team for most of his tenure at Charles Schwab and he remains very active in his community outside of work including sitting on the board of Easter Seals Colorado.

William Hsu

Vice President, Calvert Research and Management

William oversees proxy voting on behalf of Calvert and serves as a guide on corporate governance issues, in addition to supporting Calvert’s overall corporate engagement efforts. Among his responsibilities, William leads Calvert’s annual process for reviewing and updating the Proxy Voting Guidelines and voting policy.

Prior to joining Calvert, William oversaw Dimensional Fund Advisor’s issuer engagement program as Senior Associate, Investment Stewardship. Previously, he was a Corporate Governance Analyst at Chevron Corporation and also worked for the proxy advisory firm, Glass Lewis helping institutional investors build out automated voting policies.

William lives with his wife in Portland, Oregon. He is an avid cyclist and aspires to live a car-free lifestyle. He serves on the City of Portland’s Bicycle Advisory Committee advocating for safer bicycle routes and more accessible infrastructure, with a focus on the city’s more underserved communities. William graduated from University of California, Berkeley, with a B.S. in Environmental Economics and Policy.

Mirtha Kastrapeli

Executive Director, Sector Head Consumer – ESG Corporate Ratings, ISS ESG

Mirtha is Executive Director at ISS ESG and Sector Head for Consumer in Corporate Ratings. Mirtha is an accomplished sustainable investment leader with a track record in developing cutting-edge research in the ESG space. She is also a Fellow at Columbia University’s Center on Sustainable Investment, CCSI.

Most recently, Mirtha was the founder and CEO of Beyond Alpha LLC, a specialized research and consulting firm dedicated to helping investors design and implement sustainable investment strategies. Her approach was centered not only on improving risk-adjusted returns but also on creating clear positive people and planet outcomes. With Beyond Alpha, she published the study ‘We Need To Talk: Why It’s Time for Institutional Investors to Embrace SDG-Aligned Investing’, which was selected as one the top 10 ESG papers by Pension and Investment Europe Magazine in 2021.

Alya Kayal

Founder and Senior Advisor, ImpactARC LLC

Alya is a Founder and Senior Advisor at ImpactARC LLC, an impact advisory firm that aims to support asset owners and managers, international financial institutions and companies in their efforts towards a just and genuine transition towards net zero. Alya has more than 27 years of experience in sustainable investment, including ESG and impact investing.

Prior to ImpactARC, she was a Partner at Affirmative Investment Management (AIM), a London-based investment firm focused on impact fixed income. While there, Alya worked to expand AIM’s relationships in North America; track emerging global sustainable investment themes; conduct verification of green, social and sustainability bonds; and engage with impact bond issuers.

Before joining AIM in 2016, Alya was the Director of Policy and Programs at US SIF: The Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment, managing programs and advancing policy priorities on behalf of more than 300 investment professionals with more than $2 trillion in assets under management.

Courteney Keatinge

Senior Director, Environmental, Social and Governance Research, Glass Lewis

Courteney oversees Glass Lewis’ research and vote recommendations for shareholder proposals and covers research on major environmental and social issues in all major markets. Courteney plays a lead role in Glass Lewis’ partnerships with ESG data providers and specializes in issuer and stakeholder engagement, corporate governance and ESG analysis. She is also an active participant in Glass Lewis’ policy and product development. She has written reports for Glass Lewis including Greening the Green: Linking Executive Compensation to Sustainability and Mind the Gap: Board Gender Diversity. She has also contributed to a variety of papers with organizations including the UN PRI and Ceres on issues related to ESG and corporate governance. Before joining Glass Lewis, Courteney worked on corporate governance and corporate social responsibility issues at the California Public Employees’ Retirement System and the Colorado Public Employees’ Retirement Association. She has also filled roles including social media manager and scribe and as a featured author in the Yearbook for the International Corporate Governance Network. Courteney holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration and a master’s degree in business administration, with a concentration in corporate social responsibility from Daniels College of Business at the University of Denver.

Joseph Keefe

President, Impax Asset Management LLC

Joe is President of Impax Asset Management LLC, the North American division of Impax Asset Management Group and investment adviser to Pax World Funds. Based in the Portsmouth office, he is responsible for US managed strategies as well as distribution of Impax’s full capabilities across North America.

Prior to joining the firm in May 2005, Joe was President of NewCircle Communications, a strategic consulting and communications firm specializing in corporate social responsibility and public policy communications. He served as Senior Advisor for Strategic Social Policy at Calvert Group from 2003-2005 and as Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Citizens Advisers from 1997-2000. He is a former member of the Board of Directors (2000-2006) of US SIF, the trade association representing asset managers and investors engaged in sustainable investing throughout the United States. Before entering the investment management industry, Joe worked in private law practice for 16 years.

Joe holds a Juris Doctor from the University of Virginia School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy from the College of the Holy Cross.

Kathleen Keefe

Investor Relations & Portfolio Reporting Lead at LISC

Kathleen manages the LISC Impact Notes program and, as part of LISC Treasury, leads analysis and reporting to lenders on LISC’s $570+ million loan portfolio. She brings experience supporting CDFI investment products at Capital Impact Partners and in local economic development through work with the City of New Haven’s Economic Development Administration. Previously, Kathleen worked for more than 8 years in development consulting and financial management, overseeing large-scale USAID economic growth projects in Eastern Europe and conducting domestic policy research. From 2012-2013, she served as a Fulbright English instructor in Khabarovsk, Russia. Kathleen is a graduate of the Yale School of Management and the Yale Jackson School, where she received a dual MBA and MPP. She is passionate about building the field for impact investing in CDFIs, and catalyzing capital to promote racial equity and positive social impact.

Pooja Khosla, Ph.D.

Executive Vice President Client Development, Entelligent

Pooja is an economist, econometrician, mathematician and a thought leader in the sustainability and climate finance space. Pooja has deep knowledge to build sustainable investing solutions. She has extensive experience in predictive modeling, Microfinance and designing impact investment tools. Pooja Khosla has been working on impact solutions since 2003 both nationally and internationally. Pooja has been working with Entelligent since 2016 developing Entelligent’s Smart Climate technology and business, Smart Climate Indices as well as additional climate risk related products with partners such as Societe Generale and UBS. She is one of the inventors of patented Smart Climate technology. Pooja has several publications in economics, impact investing and microfinance. Her publications footprint include lead journals such as FT and P&I.

Besides designing sustainability products Pooja Khosla has a teaching career training student in economic applications and data science. Pooja Khosla holds a Ph.D in economics, and master degrees/diploma in four disciplines including economics, statistics, climate finance and public relations.

Robert Klaber

Director of ESG Research, Portfolio Manager

Robert is the Director of ESG Research and a Portfolio Manager of the Parnassus Mid Cap Growth Fund. Robert has responsibility for the integration of environmental, social and governance research into the firm’s investment process and portfolio management for the firm’s Mid Cap Growth Fund. He joined Parnassus Investments in 2012 after serving as a Parnassus research intern. Robert was named as one of Forbes’ “30 Under 30” in Finance. His prior experience includes work at Neuberger Berman and City Light Capital. Robert graduated Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude from Brown University, where he was a recipient of the Joslin Award for his commitment to leadership and service. He received his bachelor’s degree with concentrations in public and private sector organizations as well as sociology. He earned a master’s of philosophy degree from the University of Cambridge as a Craig Cambridge Scholar and received his master’s degree in business administration with honors from Harvard Business School.

Michael Kramer

Managing Partner, Natural Investments

Natural Investments is a registered investment adviser since 1985 focused exclusively on sustainable, responsible, and impact investments. He serves on the Policy Committee of US SIF: The Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment and served a term as board Vice-Chair. Michael is co-author of “The Resilient Investor: A Plan for Your Life, Not Just Your Money”. He has been with Natural Investments for 32 years as a client, financial advisor, and partner.

Sujeesh Kurup

Vice President, Calvert Research and Management

Sujeesh is a vice president and senior environmental, social and governance (ESG) Impact Management analyst at Calvert Research and Management. He joined Calvert in 2022. Sujeesh began his career in 2011. Before joining Calvert, he has held senior positions at The White House, U.S. Department of Transportation, and Booz Allen Hamilton. Sujeesh earned a B.S. and M.S. in Engineering from The University of Michigan.

Marissa LaFave

Manager of ESG Stewardship at Parnassus Investments

She leads the firm’s corporate engagement programs, focused on topics including environmental justice, worker rights, and climate change, and is a member of the firm’s Proxy Voting Committee. Prior to joining Parnassus Investments in 2018, she was a Shareholder Advocate at Green Century Capital Management and served on two working group advisory committees for the UN Principles for Responsible Investment.

Emily Lee, CSRIC®

Vice President, Business Development, Impax Asset Management, LLC

Emily is Vice President, Business Development, at Impax Asset Management LLC, the North American division of Impax Asset Management Group and investment adviser to Pax World Funds. She is based in San Francisco, California.

Emily has deep roots in the financial industry, having held positions with Trillium Asset Management, LPL Financial, Wellington Management Company and Putnam Investments before joining Impax in 2019.

Emily earned a Bachelor of Arts in history with a minor in environmental science from Willamette University. She is a member of Women Investing for a Sustainable Economy. Emily holds the FINRA Series 6 and 63 registrations and is a Chartered SRI Counselor (CSRIC®). She is a registered representative of Foreside Financial Services, LLC.

Kathy Leonard

Development Committee, The Boulder Community Foundation

Kathy has been a financial advisor specializing in E.S.G. investing since 1983. She has worked at a variety of different firms, from her own RIA to a global bank. She retired last year from UBS.

Kathy currently serves on the development committee at The Boulder Community Foundation and prior to that as a trustee. Before that she was a trustee for US Social Investment Forum Board (USSIF), the social investing industry trade association. There she served as the SIF’s chair for the annual SRI in the Rockies Conference for three years and was the president of the Social Investment Forum’s Foundation. Kathy was a founding member and chair of the Colorado Chapter of Business for Social Responsibility (BSR). She was on the board of etown, a nationally syndicated radio program that promotes sustainability through music and a variety of collaborations that incorporate music. In addition, Kathy has served on the finance and investment committees of a number of local and national nonprofit organizations and has spoken at numerous conferences on impact investing.

Stephen Liberatore

Portfolio Manager, Nuveen

Steve is the lead portfolio manager for Nuveen’s fixed income strategies that incorporate Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) criteria and Impact investments, including those that comprise our Core Impact Bond, Short Duration Impact Bond and Green Bond composites. He is also a member of the Investment Committee.

Steve served on the ICMA Green Bond Principles Advisory Council and was a member of the initial executive committee. He is a member of the UN Capital Development Fund’s working group on Climate Insurance Linked Resilient Infrastructure Finance and serves on the UN’s Joint Sustainable Development Goals Fund’s Blue Economy Investor Advisory Group. He also serves on S&P’s Global Ratings ESG Leadership Council, the Steering Committee of the Orange Bond Principals, Fannie Mae’s Green Rental Housing Talks Force and Sustainalytics’ Investor Committee. He is a frequent speaker at conferences and a subject matter expert across media outlets, such as Bloomberg, CNBC, The Economist and The Wall Street Journal. He and his team were awarded “Investor of the Year” at Environmental Finance’s (EF) 2020 Bond Awards and Nuveen’s Global Fixed Income Impact Report won “Impact Report of the Year (for Investors)” at EF’s 2022 Bond Awards. Before joining the firm in 2004, he held roles at Nationwide Mutual Insurance and Protective Life.

Steve graduated with a B.S. from the State University of New York at Buffalo and an M.B.A. in Finance and Operations from Wake Forest University. He holds the CFA designation and is a member of the CFA Society of North Carolina and the CFA Institute.

Lisa Lindsley

Director, Investor Engagement, Majority Action 

Lisa directs investor engagement at Majority Action, leading outreach with institutional investors to support their efforts to implement good governance practices and sustainable business strategies.

Previously Lisa was the Capital Strategies Director at AFSCME, where she led the effort to remove Jamie Dimon as the board chair of JPMorgan Chase, helped pass the Dodd-Frank Act, and pioneered shareholder initiatives around ALEC and human rights. She has also held leadership roles in microfinance, as well as serving as a Managing Director in the Latin American Corporate Finance Division of Bear Stearns.

Lisa holds an MBA from NYU and an undergraduate degree from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. She has lived in Brazil, Argentina and Mexico, and she is fluent in Spanish and Portuguese.

Jackie Logan

Co-Founder and CIO, Raise Green

Jackie has 25+ years of experience across the capital markets – in both the startup and large money center bank worlds. At JP Morgan for over a decade, she covered a wide range of institutional investors on the fixed income trading floor. And at Goldman Sachs, for close to a decade she oversaw trading across markets for private wealth clients from a compliance perspective for both RIA and broker/dealer activities. In her last role at Goldman Sachs, while working with product teams developing esg investment strategies, she realized that we need significant private capital moving into direct climate solutions, and now. Ratings and rankings just did not have the consistent and granular data to effect the needed impact. During Climate Week NYC 2019 – a chance meeting with fellow co-founders very quickly turned into a new role once Jackie realized Raise Green offered a unique solution to this problem. Jackie is a New York City native, has a BA from Williams College in Chemistry, and graduated with Honors from The Wharton School with an MBA in Finance.

Malaika Maphalala, CPWA^®

Partner and Wealth Advisor, Natural Investments

Natural Investments is a nationwide SEC registered investment advisory firm that has specialized in exclusively socially responsible and impact investing for over 30 years. Malaika provides portfolio management and financial planning for a small group of high-net-worth individuals, families, and institutions across the country that want to use their wealth as a tool to transform society and economic systems using humane, restorative, and ecological principles as the guide. Malaika specializes in Regenerative Investing, which is investment that directly supports the regenerative capacity of communities and ecosystems. As a Partner, Malaika leads the firms substantial focus on private impact investment opportunities.

Monica Miller

Portfolio Manager and Partner of Private Assets, Impact Investors

Monica is a Portfolio Manager and Partner of Private Assets for Impact Investors where she launched and manages their private placements vehicle and platform. She has more than twenty years of banking and investment management experience, heavily involved in deals related to sustainable agriculture, renewable energy, education, environmental conservation, and social equity investing. Monica holds the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst® designation and as a finance major, she earned a B.S. in Business Administration degree cum laude from the University of Tennessee.

Renee Morgan

Social Justice Director, Adasina Social Capital

Renee brings a long history of political engagement, and a passion to create a just world, to her over 20 years of experience in the financial services industry. However, like half of all Americans, Renee began her adult working life in restaurants; washing dishes, seating people, cooking, and waiting tables. While life would take her to other professions, these early jobs provided valuable skills and the foundational work ethic so evident in her career.

She moved into the field of Social Work and from 1995-2001, worked as a counselor in a domestic violence shelter for women, a teen halfway house, a women’s addiction recovery halfway house, and then a county detox center. In 2001, Renee shifted careers and entered the field of finance at Trilogy Financial. After three years, Renee moved on to start her own firm, Better World Investments, acting as President until 2020.

Renee recently joined Adasina Social Capital as the Social Justice Director to combine her passion and cumulative work experience to make social and economic change. Renee works with our social justice partners to establish our investment criteria and direct investment campaigns.

Over the years, Renee has been recognized as a leader within Socially Responsible Investing and has served on several boards and committees. She has been a longtime activist and volunteer in the community, working with groups such as OutBoulder, Boulder County Hospice, and various political campaigns. In more recent years, her volunteer work and community activism have focused primarily on racial justice, working with projects like Showing Up For Racial Justice (SURJ), Black Lives Matter 5280, Denver Justice Project, and the Racial Justice Investing Coalition.

Renee has a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from San Jose State University and a Master’s degree in Counseling Psychology from Leslie College.

Megan Morrice

Co-founder, ValuesAdvisor

ValuesAdvisor is a matchmaking platform for clients to find advisors who specialize in sustainable investing. She also is the Program Director of the Sustainable and Impact Finance Initiative at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business. Megan previously worked as the ESG specialist for EQIS Capital Management and led client and partnership development at HIP Investor, a global leader in impact investing. She holds an MBA in Sustainable Management from Presidio Graduate School, where she later taught courses on sustainable capital markets and multi-sectoral finance. Megan is passionate about helping students, investors, and organizations understand their financial options, align their money with their desire for social and environmental impact, and creating financial products that best serve the needs of people.

William Nelson

Associate General Counsel, Investment Adviser Association (IAA)

William is an Associate General Counsel at the Investment Adviser Association (IAA), whose member firms manage more than $35 trillion in assets for a wide variety of individual and institutional clients. Prior to joining the IAA, William served as Chief Compliance Officer for Mercer Advisors, one of the largest independent SEC-registered investment advisers in the US, where he served as the subject matter expert on legal and regulatory compliance issues. William previously served as Assistant General Counsel and Public Policy Counsel for CFP Board and has held multiple roles as an attorney with both the U.S. Departments of Justice and Veterans Affairs. He has served as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law, teaching securities regulation, and George Washington University Law School and currently serves as Vice Chair for the DC Bar’s Corporation, Finance and Securities Law Community. He has been published in several scholarly law journals and his work has been cited in legal treatises and state and federal court decisions. William received his undergraduate degree from the University of Tulsa, his JD with Honors from the University of Tulsa College of Law, and his LLM from the George Washington University Law School.

Jay Nolan

Managing Director, Business Development, CapShift

Jay leads CapShift’s business development effort. He spearheads outreach to advisors and potential strategic partners for the firm. Jay brings extensive sales and relationship management experience in the RIA and family office market. Prior to CapShift, Jay served as Sales Director at Just Invest, a direct indexing start-up that was acquired by Vanguard in 2021. He has also served as Regional Sales Director for RiverNorth Capital, a specialist asset manager based in Chicago. Jay’s early career included investment analyst roles at Cambridge Associates, Glenmede Trust Company, and Pitcairn.

Jay holds a B.B.A. from James Madison University and an MBA from Emory University.

Lolita Nunn

Director of Program and Investor Relations, Potlikker Capital

Lolita is the Director of Program and Investor Relations for Potlikker Capital, where she leads the programattic development and outreach with BIPOC farming communities throughout the midwest. Lolita also manages the engagement and fund development efforts nationally. Lolita is a passionate changemaker that is dedicated to bringing resources, support and knowledge to people and communities that have been systemically and historically excluded. She brings over 25 years of diversified and progressive experience in both the nonprofit and for-profit sectors to the Potlikker team. She worked in the banking industry for 14 years where she developed expertise in finance, investment banking, and management. In addition to her financial role, her work included cultivating and building relationships with community leaders and advocating for programs providing financial literacy, consulting, and mentoring. Her passion for philanthropy led her to a career change working in the nonprofit sector where she led donor outreach, cultivation, fundraising, and community and business engagement efforts. Lolita’s career journey then led her to the sector of impact investing where she could further champion positive change for social, racial, and environmental systems change. In her most recent role as the Investor Relations Officer at Fair Food Fund where she helped to re-imagine their investment thesis to support BIPOC food businesses, increase their geographic reach, and grow the brand, awareness, and recognition of the Fund nationally.

Lolita is committed to building strong and resilient communities. Her efforts include serving on local boards and committees that have worked to address the need for at-risk youth, access to healthy and affordable food, financial literacy, and supporting women empowerment. Lolita received her Master of Business Administration from Eastern Michigan University.

Marvin J. Owens, Jr.

Chief Engagement Officer, Impact Shares

Marvin currently serves as Chief Engagement Officer for Impact Shares. In this role, Marvin has engagement responsibility for both fund managers and corporations, as well as cultivating and maintaining relationships with financial intermediaries with the goal of AUM growth. Marvin is also responsible for strategic relationships with our social advocacy partners and leads the firm in broader Social Impact and advocacy conversations. Prior to joining Impact Shares, Marvin served as Senior Director of Economic Programs for the NAACP. In this role, Mr. Owens was responsible for the NAACP’s national Economic Inclusion agenda which includes Asset and Wealth Creation programs with efforts that support financial education, homeownership, minority business development, franchising, workforce development and diversity; Advocacy and Sustainability with efforts around economic justice and social impact investing; and Research with ongoing efforts to track and report economic conditions, as well as recommended public policy changes.

Prior to joining the NAACP, Mr. Owens served a consultant, lecturer, and technical assistance provider in the areas of Community and Economic Development, Small Business Development, and Community Organizing. Mr. Owens serves as an Advisory Board Member of the Stonehenge Capital NMTC fund, where he advises, recommends, and monitors fund investments for economic impact. Guest lecturer credits include Oxford University’s Saïd School of Business on the subjects “Responsible Leadership,” and “Economic Development in the Black Church.”

Prior to becoming an independent consultant, Mr. Owens served as Vice President for Economic Empowerment at the National Urban League (NUL) where he managed all aspects of NUL’s corporate, foundation, and government relationships with specific focus on affiliate economic development activities, small business development, and finance. Mr. Owens was responsible for implementing business and economic development efforts in more than 20 US cities. Mr. Owens oversaw implementation of the National Urban League’s Empowerment Fund and was the lead staff in creating NUL’s current model of economic empowerment centers.

Susan Ozawa Perez

Independent Consultant

Susan is an economist, policy advocate and impact investment consultant. She has worked exclusively in socially responsible investments at Registered Investment Advisors and Broker-Dealers as a wealth manager, investment advisor and portfolio manager since 2015. Susan is a member of Women Investing for a Sustainable Economy (WISE-SF) and the Racial Justice Investing network and believes large-scale change is possible with activism paired with shareholder divestment and engagement strategies. Susan is a is also the Co-Founder and Economic Advisor to the non-profit, Project Binario, supporting early-stage digital entrepreneurs in Latin America and the Caribbean and a Board Member of Secure Justice, a non-profit advocating for public and private accountability to human and civil rights, particularly in use of technology in policing, prisons and immigration.

Tejal K. Patel

Corporate Governance Director, SOC Investment Group

Tejal joined the SOC Investment Group in 2016, where she focuses on corporate accountability and shareholder advocacy. In her current role, she has worked with investor coalitions on issues like opioids accountability and racial equity audits where she developed strategies for issuer engagement, shareholder proposals, and asset manager outreach. Prior to the SOC, Tejal was a Senior Associate at Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), where she worked with asset owners and asset managers in the development and implementation of their proxy voting guidelines. Before ISS, Tejal was an Associate at a Connecticut-based law firm, where she represented institutional lenders in a variety of commercial finance transactions and advised public and private companies on securities law related matters. She currently serves as secretary and a board member for the Council of Institutional Investors (CII) and previously served on the U.S. Asset Owners Advisory Council from 2019-2021. She holds a J.D. from the University of Connecticut School of Law and a MSc. from the London School of Economics.

Allan Pearce

Director of Investor Engagement, Ceres Food and Forests

Allan is the Director of Investor Engagement on Ceres Food & Forests team, where he works to support investors looking to draw connections between risk mitigation and opportunity related climate change, commodity driven deforestation, biodiversity loss, and other social and environmental issues.

In one facet of his role, Allan directs the Ceres Working Group on Land Use and Climate that seeks to promote sustainable agricultural supply chains and land use outcomes. Allan also provides strategy support to Ceres’ work related to biodiversity, natural climate solutions and climate transition plans. Drawing from his experience in shareholder advocacy and sustainability, Allan advises investors on corporate engagement strategies related to climate change, net zero emissions, and just transitions, among other ESG issues.

Prior to joining Ceres, Allan worked as a Director of Shareholder Advocacy for Trillium Asset Management and as an Environmental Research Specialist for Portfolio 21 Investments.

Marcela Pinilla

Director of Sustainable Investing

Marcela brings her background in the integration of environmental, social, and governance risks and impacts into active investing. As Director of Sustainable Investing for Zevin Asset Management, she extends this discipline into her advocacy work, collaborating with investors, NGOs, experts, and fellow advocates to address core business activities that pose deleterious impacts on society or the environment and to stimulate positive change.

Previously Marcela worked with Mercy Investments as Director of Shareholder Advocacy, as Director of Sustainable Investing at CBIS, and leading ESG research at Boston Trust Walden. More recently Marcela has on her own and with BSR, consulted for various Fortune 500 companies. With BSR, she also advised on and supported due ESG and impact due diligence for KKR’s Global Impact Fund.

Marcela is a born New Yorker from Panamanian and Nicaraguan parents and grew up in Mexico City. She is deeply committed to social and environmental justice, both on the streets of her Brooklyn neighborhood and in her corporate advocacy work serving clients at Zevin Asset Management. Marcela earned an MS in International Health Policy & Management and an MBA with a focus on Sustainable Development, both from Brandeis University.

Jordana Pleat

Senior Director, Impact Investments, CapShift

Jordana is responsible for impact assessment and screening and analyzing investment opportunities on the CapShift platform. Prior to joining the CapShift team, Jordana worked as a consultant at The Bridgespan Group, a social impact management consulting firm founded out of Bain & Company and as the CFO of Kunduz, an early-stage education technology startup. She has experience designing and implementing organization and fund strategy, diligence tools, and impact reporting. She is author of Back to the Frontier: Investing that Puts Impact First and Venture Capital’s Next Unicorn? Impact. Jordana is an avid guide-runner with Achilles International.

Jordana graduated from Columbia University with a BA in Sustainable Development and Business Management, magna cum laude.

Kylelane Purcell

Purcell Communications, Inc.

Kylelane is a 30-year veteran as a communicator and educator within the financial services industry. She started her career as a Morningstar analyst and eventual editor, and later assumed communications leadership roles at American Century and T. Rowe Price before starting Purcell Communications in 2005.

Her extensive familiarity with investments, investors, communications frameworks, and company organization has been a significant asset for clients. Outside of work, you can find Kyle discussing fantasy football options with her sons, traveling with her girlfriends, or hiking with her pooch.

Brady Quirk-Garvan

Natural Investments

Brady has been with Natural Investments for over a decade working with a team of people to serve clients across the country. Currently he works with a small group of high net worth clients focusing on driving more impact via their investments and charitable giving. Prior to joining Natural Investments, Brady worked in progressive politics and at a statewide non-profit. He is a graduate of the College of Charleston and also serves as an advisor to the Kachuwa Impact Fund.

Homero Radway

Senior Analyst, Activest

Homero is a Senior Analyst with Activest. He has 20 years of financial experience connecting people through stories and communities with capital. His recent financial experience includes Managing Director at Neighborly. He has also worked at JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, T. Rowe Price, Credit Suisse, and Lehman Brothers. Homero has an MBA from Georgetown University and BS from Cornell University.

Patrick Reed

CEO, YourStake

Patrick is the Co-Founder and CEO of YourStake, which provides explainable ESG analysis and reporting tools to financial advisors. Prior to co-founding YourStake, Patrick co-founded Real Impact Tracker which published an open-sourced methodology for scoring the ESG impact of asset managers. He also worked in renewable energy and sustainable finance for firms including Solar Mosaic and Restituo Advisors. While earning a dual degree in Econometrics and Environmental Studies at Yale, Patrick conducted his thesis on climate-economic modeling under Nobel-prize winning Nordhaus and led Yale’s fossil fuel divestment movement. Patrick published one of the first academic papers on Green Bonds in the Journal of Investing, and was named 30 under 30 in Socially Responsible Investing.

Mark Regier

Vice President of Stewardship Investing, Praxis Mutual Funds and Everence Financial

Praxis Mutual Funds® and Everence Financial®, a leading provider of faith-based financial products in the United States and a ministry of Mennonite Church USA. Mark has been in- volved in the field of ethical and socially responsible investing at Everence for nearly 25 years. He oversees the company’s work in socially responsible investing and impact investing (including investment screening, proxy voting, corporate engagement and community investing). He works with products and programs throughout Everence to strengthen their creative integration of faith and finances.

As Director of Sales for Praxis Mutual Funds, Mark provides leadership for the Praxis sales program. In this role, his primary focus is identifying and pursuing strategic opportunities for growth within the socially responsible, faith-based and impact investing industry.

Mark has been a member of the Board of Directors of US SIF: The Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment, the U.S. membership organization for professionals, companies and institutions engaged in sustainable and responsible investing.  He has also served as governing board chairman for the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility and was founding chairman for the International SRI Working Group (US SIF). More recently, he served as board chairman for the Isaiah Funds (disaster recovery investments) and as an executive committee member for Partners for the Common Good (faith-based community investments). In his community, Mark serves as chair of the board for The Center for Healing and Hope, a nonprofit provider of healthcare to the uninsured.

In 2006, Mark received the SRI Service Award, the U.S. social investment industry’s highest honor. With nearly 30 years of service to church institutions and a background in ethics and theological studies, Mark is often a resource for national and international organizations and media on faith-based and impact investing issues.

Heike Reichelt

Head of Investor Relations and Sustainable Finance, World Bank Treasury

The World Bank Treasury manages the funding programs for the World Bank (International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, IBRD), the International Development Association (IDA), and the International Finance Facility for Immunisation (IFFIm). Heike’s team is responsible for managing relationships with bond investors, rating agencies and the financial media, and supporting sustainable finance in the bond markets. This includes developing products to raise awareness for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through World Bank Sustainable Development Bonds and for climate change mitigation and adaptation through World Bank Green Bonds. Heike also manages outreach to the sustainable and impact investing community and works with other issuers and market participants to encourage the growth of sustainable capital markets focused on making a long-term positive social and environmental impact through integration of environmental, social and governance criteria (ESG) in investment decisions. She has 20+ years of experience in finance – including as an engagement manager for the World Bank Treasury’s Reserves Advisory Management Partnership Program for central banks and in the areas of export finance and capital markets, during her career at KfW, the largest German development bank. Heike was recognized for her role in building sustainable capital markets as the 2017 recipient of the prestigious Joan Bavaria Award.

Lenore Reiner, CFP, CSRIC

Senior Responsible Investment Strategy Specialist, Calvert Research and Management

Lenore is a vice president and senior responsible investment strategy specialist for Calvert Research and Management, a wholly owned subsidiary of Eaton Vance Management specializing in responsible and sustainable investing across global markets. She is responsible for the suite of strategies focused on responsible investing, encompassing actively and passively managed U.S. and international equity strategies, fixed-income strategies and asset allocation funds. Lenore is responsible for client and internal communications and insights on investment strategy and portfolio positioning. She joined Calvert Research and Management in 2017.

Gabe Rissman

President, YourStake

Gabe is the Co-Founder and President of YourStake, which provides explainable ESG analysis and reporting tools to financial advisors. Gabe is a WealthManagement.com 2022 Ten to Watch, is a board member of the Intentional Endowments Network, is a member of the Adasina Social Justice Index Committee, and was named 30 under 30 in Socially Responsible Investing.

Prior to founding YourStake, Gabe co-founded Real Impact Tracker, which published an open-sourced methodology for scoring the ESG impact of asset managers. He has also published academic papers on ESG investing, and held positions at Rockefeller & Co and the Connecticut Green Bank.

Gabe holds a B.S. computational astrophysics from Yale, where he also led Yale’s fossil fuel divestment movement and student-managed Socially Responsible Investing fund, which under his leadership became the first ever student investment fund to file a shareholder resolution.

Leslie Samuelrich

President, Green Century Capital Management

Leslie leads Green Century Capital Management, which have experienced unprecedented growth under her leadership since 2012. Leslie has more than 25 years of experience in corporate engagement, and environmental and public health advocacy. Her comments on responsible investing, greenwashing, and shareholder engagement have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Reuters, Morningstar, the New York Times, Barron’s, and many other outlets. She is a guest lecturer on impact investing at The Wharton School and Brandeis University. Leslie was honored with the 2019 SRI Service Award, which recognizes an “individual who has demonstrated leadership, innovation, high standards of professional conduct, and accomplishment in collaboration with other SRI industry leaders.”

Matthew Segura, CFA

Director of Institutional Portfolio Management, SKBA Capital Management, LLC.

Matthew is the Director of Institutional Portfolio Management, a member of the Investment Strategy Team and is also a securities analyst at SKBA Capital Management. Matthew has worked at SKBA full time since 2011 and also worked as an intern while attending college. Matthew previously worked at Charles Schwab & Co from 2008 – 2011 in the Treasury and later as a Manager in Financial Planning and Analysis. He also served five years Active Duty in the United States Marine Corps. Matthew received a BS in business administration from Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley and is a member of the CFA Society of San Francisco and the CFA Institute. He is also an equity owner of the firm.

Julie Skye

Managing Member, CCO Sustainable Advisors Alliance, LLC

Julie Skye is a Founding Member and the Chief Compliance Officer of the Sustainable Advisors Alliance, LLC, headquartered in Tulsa Oklahoma. She has combined her experience with her passion for sustainable-impact investing and works with families, nonprofits, and endowments. Her research-based best practices, strategic planning and investment policy design are critical skills in helping clients develop risk-adjusted investment portfolios. Her work on Sustainable Impact Investing became her sole focus and she launched her own Registered Investment Advisory firm, Skye Advisors LLC, in December of 2017. In 2020, during the Pandemic, she and 5 other ESG Advisors co-founded SAA.

Today, Julie works with the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility through her appointment to the Unitarian Universalist Association’s Investment Committee and helped the UUA divest from fossil fuels at the 2014 General Assembly. She is a founding member of Compassionate Tulsa and is going to be in the 2022-2023 Garrison Institute’s Compassionate Leaders In Finance program. Committed to reducing police violence, Julie is active in the All-Souls 21st Century Justice League. In 2001, she joined the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre Committee and has been active since on reparations and other ways to heal the scars deep within Tulsa’s history.

Timothy Smith

Senior ESG Advisor, Boston Trust Walden

Tim serves as Senior ESG Advisor at Boston Trust Walden. He advises the in-house ESG team on the firm’s shareholder engagement efforts related to issues like climate lobbying and governance. Tim frequently represents Boston Trust Walden at public events and helps to foster long-term client relationships. He is a member of the ESG Research & Engagement Committee and Active Ownership Committee.

Tim joined Boston Trust Walden in 2000 after serving for 30 years at the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR), including 24 years as Executive Director. ICCR is a coalition of more than 300 faith-based investors and partners (including Boston Trust Walden). ICCR has been a primary player in the corporate responsibility movement and social investment community since the early 1970s.

In 2007, 2012, and 2013, Tim was named as one of the “Top 100 Most Influential People in Business Ethics” by Ethisphere Institute. In 2010, he received the Bavaria Award for Impact at the third annual Joan Bavaria Awards for Building Sustainability into the Capital Markets. In 2011 and 2012, he was named one of the most influential people in corporate governance by the National Association of Corporate Directors.

Tim has served on multiple boards and chaired advisory councils for several different institutions. He currently serves as chair for Shared Interest, which mobilizes economic resources for communities in Southern Africa. Tim earned a BA from the University of Toronto and Master of Divinity degree from Union Theological Seminary.

Anna Smukowski

Senior Director, Capital Programs, Enterprise Community Loan Fund

Anna serves as Enterprise Community Loan Fund’s senior director of capital programs where she assists ECLF’s capital and lending teams on capital raising and fund structuring. Prior to this position, she led LISC’s $200 million retail note offering, coordinated investor relations and positioned LISC’s capital raising within ESG, impact and social bond frameworks. Anna also managed $50 million in LISC’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) deployment and has structured and managed affordable housing and economic development funds, as well as pay for success work through a Social Innovation Fund grant award. Anna started her career as a strategy and operations consultant at Deloitte. Anna holds a B.S. from NYU Stern and an M.B.A. from Columbia Business School.

Dail St. Claire

Chief Strategist, ESG Investments, Amalgamated Bank

Dail St. Claire focuses on sustainable finance and investments including business advisory for companies, family offices, pension funds, and foundations. A Chief Strategist, Asset Owner, Fintech Executive, and Financial Advisor with a background in Asset/Wealth Management, Technology, and Capital Markets, Dail St. Claire began her career managing assets for New York City’s $240 billion pension funds.

With over 25 years of experience across global public and private markets and as an experienced ESG and DEI leader, Dail St. Claire is Chief Strategist, ESG Investments, Amalgamated Bank (Nasdaq: AMAL). Fund strategies include Sustainable Cash, Climate Leaders, and Racial Equity.

Colby Stilson

Portfolio Manager, Co-Head of Global Taxable Fixed Income, Brown Advisory

Colby is a partner, portfolio manager and co-head of the global taxable fixed income team. He joined Brown Advisory after three years as an investor and operator within private markets, most recently as a partner and executive at TIFIN Group. Prior to that, Colby spent 18 years as an investor in public markets managing credit portfolios and covering industries including TMT, financials, energy, industrials, and sovereigns. His most recent role was at ArrowMark Partners where his responsibilities included research, trading, and portfolio management. He helped lead efforts to build, launch, and manage a corporate credit research platform. Prior to joining ArrowMark, in 2013, Colby helped lead efforts to launch a global fixed income business at Janus Henderson Investors (formerly known as Janus Capital) in London, UK. The first half of his career at Janus was primarily focused on credit and equity research. He began his career within telecommunications M&A at Lumen (formerly known as Level 3 Communications).

Sophia Sung

Data Team Leader, Gender-Equality Index (GEI) & Governance Scores in Bloomberg’s ESG Data Group, Bloomberg

Sophia is the Data Team Leader, Gender-Equality Index (GEI) & Governance Scores in Bloomberg’s ESG Data group at Bloomberg. Sophia joined Bloomberg in 2015 to focus on U.S. municipal bonds, green bond standards, news generation, league tables, and more. In 2020, she became the Lead Data Specialist for the Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index on the ESG team, a role in which she focused on improving the data capture and data submission user experience, data acquisition workflow, and scoring methodology.

Sophia earned her bachelor’s degree in economics from Rutgers University, while minoring in statistics. She demonstrates her passion for diversity as a member of Bloomberg’s Pan-Asian and Women’s Communities.

Brian Svendahl

Senior Portfolio Manager, RBC Global Asset Management (U.S.) Inc.

Brian is a senior portfolio manager within the BlueBay Fixed income team. He has been the lead portfolio manager for RBC GAM’s impact investing strategies since 2006 along with many government and mortgage strategies. Brian joined RBC GAM in 2005 and has co-led the Minneapolis-based fixed income group since 2012. He had previously held several risk management, research, and trading positions with a large American multinational financial services company and first started in the investment industry in 1992.

Vivek Tanneeru

Portfolio Manager, Matthews Asia

Vivek is a Portfolio Manager at Matthews Asia and manages the firm’s Emerging Markets Sustainable Future, Emerging Markets Small Companies, Asia Small Companies and Asia Sustainable Future Strategies. Prior to joining Matthews Asia in 2011, Vivek was an Investment Manager on the Global Emerging Markets team of Pictet Asset Management in London. While at Pictet, he also worked on the firm’s Global Equities team, managing Japan and Asia ex-Japan markets. Before earning his MBA from the London Business School in 2006, Vivek was a Business Systems Officer at The World Bank and served as a Consultant at Arthur Andersen Business Consulting and Citicorp Infotech Industries. He interned at Generation Investment Management while studying for his MBA Vivek received his Master’s in Finance from the Birla Institute of Technology & Science in India. He is fluent in Hindi and Telugu.

Holly Testa

Director of Shareholder Engagement, First Affiramtive Financial Network

Holly manages corporate engagement activities for First Affirmative Financial Network and directs the firm’s proxy voting policy and implementation. She was responsible for developing and launching the firm’s direct advocacy program in 2008 and has since engaged dozens of portfolio companies through dialogue and resolution filing on numerous environmental, social, and governance issues. Holly works with the firm’s advisors and their clients, providing advocacy education and engagement opportunities. Holly has been affiliated with First Affirmative for over 25 years in several capacities, including business development and as an Investment Advisor.

Junko Usuba

Director of Investment Research and ESG, Sargasso Environmental Steinberg Asset Management 

June is on a mission to transform green investing to drive environmental impact through her work at Sargasso Environmental, an environmentally-led global public equity strategy that invests in environmental leaders with an emphasis on materiality and environmental performance.

Prior to Sargasso, she worked in strategy consulting and brand management to solve complex business problems and define strategic directions for corporations across Asia, Europe, and North America, including roles at the Coca-Cola Company, the Boston Consulting Group and as Head of Asia Pacific Strategy at Henkel. She has worked in climate change consulting at Systemiq and South Pole.

As Climate Reality Leader, June enjoys giving climate change presentation to community organizations and universities on the science of climate change and encouraging local action as well as serving on the board of the Sake Brewery Association of North America.  June has a BA from the International Christian University (Japan) and an MBA from the Harvard Business School.

Mark Watson

Co-Founder, President, and Board Member, Potlikker Capital

Mark currently serves as President of Potlikker Capital (a nonprofit charitable loan fund), an integrated capital fund dedicated to supporting BIPOC farmers at the intersection of racial and climate justice. Mark has over thirty years in financial services, including banking and on Wall Street. Mark started his career as a banker at the First National Bank of Chicago, then JP Morgan, in commercial banking and corporate and public finance. He has had a 30-year career managing investment portfolios for foundations, endowments, and institutional pension funds. Mark has served as Managing Director of the Fair Food Fund, which offers catalytic capital with a social equity lens, and now serves as a Senior Investment Strategist. Additionally, he is the founder of Keel Asset Management LLC, a financial advisory firm that provides socially responsible financial planning and investment advisory services to nonprofits, corporations, and the public on pension plans. Mark recently co-designed and launched an integrated racial justice capital fund, The Boston Impact Initiative Fund, and managed capital deployment to over 30 small businesses.

Mark continues as an investment committee member of the Boston Impact Initiative Fund; an advisory board member of MIT/Health Innovation Systems Inc.; Director of Transition of The Institute of Educational Leadership; board president of Sustainable Cape, Inc.; and a former board member of the Social Venture Network. Mark holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance from the University of Illinois Champaign -Urbana, and a Master’s in Business Administration from the Booth School, University of Chicago.

Julia Wilkinson

Chief Executive Officer, imvest

Julia is founder and CEO of imvest, committed to building a sustainable future through social entrepreneurship, ESG, and impact investing. She helps funds, family offices, foundations, endowments and entrepreneurs to integrate impact into their models and investments. To unlock value and sustainable growth, she advises on portfolio construction, manager diligence, growth strategy, and impact measurement.

She is an angel investor and accelerator to high-impact startups, where she helps incubate their growth and sustainable value. Her VC experience includes several years with SV Latam Fund, investing at the intersection of high impact hardware and software innovation in the US and Latam.
Julia brings to the table 15 years of experience in capital markets. She has worked in private wealth management at Goldman Sachs, and alternative investing across asset classes and regions.

She has an MPA from Columbia SIPA and a BA from University of Pennsylvania.

Trilingual in English, Portuguese, and Spanish
Published articles in: Miami Herald, London Stock Exchange Group (Refinitiv) ESG Playbook 2020 and 2021, CAIA, ImpactAlpha
Experienced Board Member

Fabian Willskytt

Associate Director, Public Markets, Align Impact

Fabian leads Align’s public markets investing practice and is responsible for research, manager selection, and portfolio management. He joined Align Impact in 2018 after working with HIP Investor, an ESG data provider, in a leadership role for three years. In that role, Fabian worked on ESG datasets across various asset classes within the public markets, serving asset managers looking to build values-aligned and ESG-integrated portfolios. Previously, Fabian held Adjunct Lecturer and Research Assistant positions at the San Francisco State University College of Business Enterprises.

Lisa Woll

CEO, US SIF

Lisa is the CEO of US SIF: The Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment, the leading US organization advancing sustainable investment.

Prior to US SIF, Lisa was executive director of the International Women’s Media Foundation, director of the first international study of the impact of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and directed the Washington, DC office of Save the Children. Lisa’s career began as an Urban Fellow in the New York City Human Resources Administration. She has written and spoken widely on sustainable investment, public policy, human rights and development, as well as leadership.

Lisa was included in Barron’s list of The 20 Most Influential People in ESG Investing and received the inaugural Forbes Impact Award as well as the SRI Service award.. Lisa holds a BA in political science from the University of IL, an MA in public policy and women’s studies from George Washington University and was a Fulbright Fellow in Melbourne, Australia.