Speakers 2024

Ruzgar Barisik

Managing Partner
Next Billion Capital Partners

Ruzgar is Managing Partner of Next Billion Capital Partners, a private equity investment firm focused on global emerging markets. Next Billion manages investment funds targeting high growth opportunities across Asia, Africa and Latin America.

Previously, Ruzgar led IFC / World Bank’s technology investments across EMEA and consumer internet investments. At IFC, Ruzgar launched Techemerge.org, a market-entry accelerator for global tech companies, and Startup Catalyst, a FoF program for early-stage funds. Earlier in his career, he was a partner at GTI Group, a private investment firm.

He received a BA from Cornell University and an MBA from Columbia Business School.

Hannah Beard

Vice President
Peregrine Communications

As co-lead of Peregrine’s ESG offering, Hannah is one of the firm’s ESG communications experts. She works with clients to develop their strategic approach to ESG and devises methods to successfully communicate ESG integration with internal and external stakeholders.

Hannah began her career in communications at specialist asset management consultancy JPES Partners in 2015, following this she was part of the financial services team at global PR firm, Instinctif Partners. She joined Peregrine Communications’ New York team in 2019 and specializes in corporate brand building, developing and implementing strategic communications programs and thought leadership campaigns for institutional and retail asset managers.

Cesar Bello

Partner
Corbin Capital

Cesar leads our litigation finance efforts and works more broadly on the firm’s private investment program, including private credit, secondaries and manager seeding. He also serves as assistant portfolio manager for the firm’s sustainability-focused fund and is a member of the Multi-Strategy Investment Committee and the Credit Investment Committee. Prior to joining Corbin in June 2010, he worked at Ivy Asset Management LLC and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP among others. Cesar received a B.S. in Finance (summa cum laude) from the University of Florida, a J.D. from New York University School of Law and an M.B.A. from New York University Stern School of Business.

Preeti Bhattacharji

Head of Sustainable Investing, USPB
JPMC

Preeti is the Head of Sustainable Investing for J.P. Morgan’s US Private Bank. In this role, she works with advisors and their clients to incorporate sustainability into their investment portfolios, develops thought leadership, and works with portfolio managers and due diligence colleagues to expand the Private Bank’s sustainable investing platform. Preeti has a decade of experience stewarding Sustainable Investments across asset classes and return profiles. Prior to JP Morgan, Preeti worked on post-investment engagement at Calvert Research & Management. Before that, she served as a Vice President of Integrated Capitals at the F.B. Heron Foundation, working to better align the foundation’s endowment with its mission, informing Heron’s long-term strategic direction, and helping to steward its investments across asset classes. Preeti has also served as the assistant director for the Heilbrunn Center for Graham & Dodd Investing and a research associate at the Council on Foreign Relations, where she reported on global issues that included the global financial crisis and climate change. Preeti earned a B.A. from Columbia University and an MBA from Columbia Business School.

Courtney Birnbaum

Director of Sustainability
Corbin Capital Partners

Courtney serves as the Director of Sustainability at Corbin Capital Partners, a New York-based woman-led independent alternative asset management firm that specializes in multi-strategy hedge fund and opportunistic credit investing. As of June 30th, 2024, Corbin has $9.2 billion in assets under management.

Courtney leads Corbin’s sustainable investing and ESG integration programs. She is a member of Corbin’s Sustainability Committee, Multi-Strategy Investment Committee, and Credit Investment Committee.

Previously, Courtney was a senior advisor and portfolio manager at several family offices and the Director of Marketable Investments for the Bowdoin College endowment. Before joining Bowdoin, Courtney spent approximately seven years at Goldman Sachs where she was a Vice President in the Alternative Investments and Manager Selection group (AIMS). In this role, she was responsible for manager selection and seeding within hedge funds. Prior to Goldman, she was a director at Sterling Stamos, a multi-family office, for four years. Courtney began her career in Investment Banking at Merrill Lynch and Rothschild.

She holds a B.A. in Psychology from Yale University and an MBA from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.

Leslie D. Biddle

Deputy Under Secretary for Commercialization and Finance
U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Infrastructure

Leslie D. Biddle serves as the Deputy Under Secretary for Commercialization and Finance at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Infrastructure where she focuses on commercialization, market adoption, and catalyzing private sector financing of the clean energy transition. She started at the DOE in January 2023 as a senior advisor to the Under Secretary for Infrastructure.

Prior to joining DOE, Ms. Biddle was a partner at Serengeti Asset Management, a specialty investment firm focused on private and public credit opportunities and the development of financing platforms. She is an accomplished investor in the public and private markets, investing in companies across the energy value-chain in renewables and conventional energy including solar, carbon capture, nuclear generation, the development of carbon offsets, and late-stage tech companies, among others. She served as the chief strategy officer of Climate Real Impact Solutions, investing private capital to accelerate the transition to clean energy and net carbon goals.

Before government service, Ms. Biddle was also a member of the board of directors of CenterPoint Energy, an electric and gas utility primarily in Texas and Minnesota; Nextracker, the leading provider of smart solar tacking systems; Cypress Creek Renewables, a leading U.S. solar and storage company; Empire State Realty Trust, the industry leader in carbon neutral commercial real estate; the chair of the Advisory Board of NatureVest, the impact investing arm of The Nature Conservancy; and a member of the Global Advisory Board of The Hawthorn Club for executive woman in energy.

Previously, Ms. Biddle was a partner at Goldman Sachs and member of the senior commodities management team contributing to the growth of the business to more than $3 billion. She was a member of Goldman’s firmwide Finance Committee, Business Practices Committee, New Activity Committee, Structured Investment Products Committee and European Audit and Compliance Committee. She was named managing director in 2004 and partner in 2006.

Prior to her work at Goldman Sachs, Ms. Biddle was a Vice President at the AES Corporation focusing on power plant development and acquisitions. She also served as a vice president at the Overseas Investment Corporation (now Development Finance Corporation), providing political risk insurance and financing to U.S. companies expanding overseas.

She holds an A.B. from Colby College where she served as vice chair of the Board of Trustees.

She is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and lives in New York, New York, with her husband, George, and their three children.

Jason Bordainick

Co-Founder & Managing Member
Hudson Valley Property Group, LLC

Jason co-founded Hudson Valley Property Group with a vision to create the preeminent housing preservation firm, improving upon the availability, quality, and affordability of housing across the country. HVPG acquires existing multi-family properties and enhances their sustainability, leveraging innovative strategic partnerships in the areas of healthcare, education and technology to deliver added value for residents and investors.

A recognized industry leader, Jason applies his creativity, tenacity and business acumen towards building an impactful organization that achieves outstanding results for its partners – both for-profit and non-profit, and the communities it serves. Jason leads the strategic direction for the firm and ensures each project, partnership and investment is structured for success.

Jason frequently lectures at graduate schools of business on the future of affordable housing. He has been recognized by New York Real Estate Journal as “One to Watch” 2022 and as Affordable Housing Finance’s Young Leaders. He serves on the board of the New York State Association for Affordable Housing and is a member of the National Leased Housing Association and SPIRE (Stanford Professionals in Real Estate).

Before founding HVPG, Jason founded and built Off Campus Partners (OCP), the nation’s largest online marketplace for off campus housing, which helps millions of students secure housing each year. OCP was acquired by CoStar in 2019. In his career, Jason has successfully executed over $2.5B of investments on behalf of private investors and corporations. He also previously worked in mergers & acquisitions and corporate management. Jason holds an MBA from Stanford’s Graduate School of Business and a BS in finance from the McIntire School of Commerce at the University of Virginia, where he was honored with the Warwick Johnson Jr. award for academic achievement and serves on the Advisory Board of the UVA Center for Real Estate and the Built Environment.

Emily Chien

Senior Fellow, Harvard University
Harvard University

Emily is a Senior Fellow at Harvard University, specializing in sustainability, climate finance, AI and accelerating innovation in the energy transition. She serves on the IFRS Advisory Council advising the IFRS, the ISSB and the IASB sustainability and accounting standards boards. Emily led IBM Global Climate Offerings and Partnerships, focusing on innovation in climate risk, tech, data and AI solutions. As a long-time proponent of AI for business value, she pioneered FOAK AI solutions in banking, insurance and asset management, and served as AI/ML Fellow at the World Economic Forum in the Responsible Use of Technology Program. Emily is founding co-chair of the 100 Women in Finance (100WF) ESG Peer Advisory Group. She is an Advisory Board Member of the Harvard Data Science Initiative, a Senior Editor for the Harvard Social Impact Review and has published with the Harvard Business School. Her passion for innovation is reflected in a patent awarded for digital capabilities now used by Amazon.com, American Express and others. Emily’s 25+ year strategic and general management career spans JP Morgan, Fidelity, American Express and Prudential Financial, where she built and scaled industry-leading platforms and businesses at the intersection of business and technology following a career as a Booz management consultant, CPA and PwC auditor. She is a member of the Economic Club of New York, 100 WF and Board Director of the Southampton Fresh Air Home. Emily holds a Certificate from the MIT Program in Sustainability and earned BS and MAS degrees in Accountancy and AI from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Amy Chung

Managing Director, Impact Investing
The California Endowment

Amy Chung manages The California Endowment’s Impact Investing portfolio. In November 2023, The Endowment’s board of directors committed to align all of its assets with its mission and vision and The Endowment is currently in process of implementing this decision. During her tenure at The Endowment, Amy has managed a $350 million allocation for Program-Related Investments and Mission-Related Investments.

Amy previously held positions in impact investing across the private and nonprofit sector, which includes roles as Associate Director of Capital Innovation at Living Cities and Vice-President in Citi’s Community Capital division.

Amy holds a B.A. from Northwestern University and an M.B.A. from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management. Amy also holds an M.P.A. from the Harvard Kennedy School.

Kimberlee Cornett

Director, Impact Investments
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Kimberlee Cornett is the Director of Impact Investment at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation where she leads the Foundation’s $650M allocation for debt, equity and guarantees. Before joining RWJF in 2020, Kimberlee led the impact investment fund at the Kresge Foundation. Before shifting to impact investing, Kimberlee led the Investment Management group at Enterprise Community Investment where she syndicated tax equity for investment in affordable housing. Earlier in her career, Kimberlee was a White House Fellow. Currently, Kimberlee serves on the Boards of the Conservation Fund, Habitat for Humanity International and the Housing Authority of the City of Annapolis.

Wendy Cromwell, CFA

Vice Chair, Senior Managing Director, Partner, Head of Sustainable Investment
Wellington Management

Wendy is the Vice Chair and head of Sustainable Investment, setting the research agenda and strategy for the firm’s sustainable investment practice. As vice chair, she is a senior member of the firm’s Management Team and works with the CEO on strategic initiatives and external affairs of the organization.

Wendy serves as Chair of the Wellington Management Australia Board, Vice Chair of the Sustainable Investment Governance Committee, and a member of the firm’s Investment Stewardship Committee. She is also a Director on the Board of the United Nations-supported Principles for Responsible Investment, an advisory group member for the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative, a member of the investor advisory group of the ISSB, and a member of the Climate-related Financial Risk Advisory Committee (CFRAC) of the Financial Services Oversight Committee (FSOC) in the US.

Previously, Wendy conducted research on long-term multi-asset themes and led the development of multi-asset portfolios for the firm’s global client base as the Director of Global Multi-Asset Strategies. She has also served terms on the Executive Committee, Compensation Committee, Hedge Fund Review Group, and Equity Review Group.

Wendy received her MBA, with honors, from Vanderbilt University and her BBA, summa cum laude, from the University of Mississippi. She also holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.

Minoti Dhanaraj

Director, Responsible Investing
Pension Boards United Church of Christ

Minoti joined the investment team at the Pension Boards UCC in 2018. With a focus on the Pension Boards’ commitment to sustainable and responsible investing, Minoti assists the team on asset allocation, manager due diligence and monitoring, developing responsible investing policies and guidelines, and CSR activities. Minoti has over 20 years of experience in the financial services industry, most recently as a Senior Investment Officer at The Employees’ Retirement Fund of the City of Dallas and a Research Analyst at Neuberger Berman. Minoti received her BBA in Finance from the University of Texas at Austin and an MBA from the University of Chicago. She is currently a member of Women on Boards and a Founding Circle member of Neythri, enabling professional success of South Asian women.

Jed Emerson

Chief Impact Officer
AlTi Tiedemann Global

Jed’s leadership on impact investing has influenced the sector from its very beginning. He has co-authored seven books, including “Impact Investing: Transforming How We Make Money While Making a Difference,” a Nautilus Gold Book Award winner and the first book on impact investing, and authored “The Purpose of Capital: Elements of Impact, Financial Flows and Natural Being.”

He is a frequent speaker at conferences, including appearances at The World Economic Forum and Clinton Global Initiative. Jed is a Senior Fellow with the Center for Social Investment at Heidelberg University (Germany) and the Center for Sustainable Finance and Private Wealth at the University of Zurich and has held faculty appointments at Harvard, Stanford, and Oxford business schools. He has taught social entrepreneurship at Kellogg Business School, Harvard Business School, and NYU-Abu Dhabi.

In addition to his role at AlTi, Jed is Senior Fellow with ImpactAssets, a nonprofit financial services firm. He has founded and co-founded some of the nation’s leading impact investing, venture philanthropy, community venture capital and social enterprises. Jed was strategic advisor to investments for five family offices with over $1.4 billion in total assets, executing 100 percent impact/sustainable investment strategies with their total net worth.

Eric Hsueh

Director, Investments
Veris Wealth Partners

Eric Hsueh is Director of Investments at Veris Wealth Partners. He is responsible for sourcing, due diligence and monitoring of investments across asset classes, thematic research, capital markets analysis, and impact measurement and management.

Prior to Veris, Eric led the sustainable and impact private markets investments due diligence practice at Bivium Capital Partners. Before that, Eric led the manager due diligence team at Cornerstone Capital Group (later acquired by Pathstone Family Office), a sustainable and impact investment focused boutique. At Cornerstone, he was responsible for sourcing, analysis, and monitoring of multi-asset class sustainable and impact investments. Preceding Cornerstone Capital Group, Eric spent a dozen years in Northern Trust’s Outsourced CIO division in various roles spanning from manager research to institutional client portfolio management. He started his career at Cambridge Associates in the Marketable Manager Research group.

Eric earned his BA in Economics from Johns Hopkins University. He is a Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) charter holder and is a member of the CAIA Association and CAIA New York. He is also a member of the Association of Asian American Investment Managers (AAAIM). He lives with his family in Westchester, NY.

Eliya Imtiaz

Analyst
Impact Capital Managers

Eliya Imtiaz is an Analyst at Impact Capital Managers, having joined the team in September of 2023. Prior to ICM, Eliya received her bachelors degree in business administration from the University of Michigan, with a minor in sociology. Her previous experience spans journalism, marketing and public relations, and political campaign movements. In her role at ICM, Eliya focuses on member programming and its talent and diversity initiatives, such as the Mosaic Fellowship.

Kristi Kuechler

Senior Director
The ImPact

Kristi is Senior Director of The ImPact, a global membership community of 75 affluent families from five continents who seek to align their values with their capital. The ImPact, organized as a non-profit, helps member families make more impact investments more effectively.

Prior to joining The ImPact, Kristi has served in leadership positions at educational networks of families with complex wealth – as President of the Institute for Private Investors, (IPI) and as Managing Director of the Private Investor Center at Family Office Exchange (FOX). Kristi has worked with hundreds of families and family offices, creating and overseeing more than 1,000 discrete family education and networking sessions around topics of relevance to multi-generational families.

During her time at IPI, she created and launched Stanford University’s first Private Wealth Management program, teaching multiple classes and running the program for three years.

As an experienced speaker and writer on trends in wealth management, she has been quoted regularly in industry publications, including interviews in the New York Times, Bloomberg and Institutional Investor.

Kristi earned a M.A. from Stanford University (Education and Policy) and a B.A. from the University of California, Davis (International Relations).

Jason Lamin

Founder & Chief Executive Officer
Lenox Park Solutions, Inc.

Jason is Founder and CEO of Lenox Park Solutions, Inc. (“Lenox Park”). He started the company as a Consulting and Advisory company in 2009, and has overseen its transition into a leading Financial Technology firm that provides collaborative software, data aggregation tools and analytics geared toward fair and democratized access to opportunities. The firm’s clients include some of the largest institutions in the world, with cumulative Assets Under Management of over $4 trillion. In the asset management industry, Jason has been a champion for greater inclusion and intentionality in creating visibility for women, people of color and other underrepresented groups.

Before co-founding Lenox Park, Jason launched his career in Merrill Lynch’s Investment Banking division, focusing on Financial Institutions M&A transactions. Jason spent his career at Merrill Lynch working in their New York and London offices covering some of the firm’s most valuable institutional client relationships across product areas.
Jason serves as Independent Director on U.S.-based Harding Loevner Funds’ board, an Advisory Board member of France-based Tikehau Capital Asset Management and on the Investment Committees of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and Venture Capital firm, Alpha Impact 8.

Jason graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a B.A. in Economics in 1998. He remains active at his alma mater, where he currently serves on the Advisory Boards for the Department of Economics, and the Department of Black Studies, African & African Diaspora Studies. In 2017, Jason had the honor of delivering the Commencement Address to College of Liberal Arts graduates, where he spoke about the importance of inclusive and diverse cultures. In 2020, Jason was honored to receive the College of Liberal Arts’ highest award given to University of Texas Alumni, Pro Bene Meritis Distinguished Alumni Award.

Jason has been an active Private Sector Delegate of the United Nations, working with various groups within the Global Compact since 2009, including Co-Chair of SDG Antibribery & Anticorruption Working Group, Office of Special Advisors on Africa & Office of the President of the U.N. General Assembly. Among many speaking engagements at the U.N., Jason has had the privilege of addressing the General Assembly, Diplomats and Heads of State on innovative technologies that reduce bias and have potential to increase flows of investment capital into Africa, and how to move the needle on the SDGs with greater Stakeholder collaboration.

In 2008, Jason founded Nyawa Funding Group, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization with a mission to improve living standards in Sierra Leone, the country where Jason was born and lived until the age of 13.

Funmilayo Lediju

VP, Impact Product Strategist
Morgan Stanley

Funmilayo Lediju is the Lead Impact Product Strategist for Morgan Stanley Wealth Management’s Investing with Impact platform where she is responsible for leading on Public Market Solutions and Impact Alternatives/ Private Market Solutions. Prior to this role, she was the Lead Impact Alternatives Research Analyst for Morgan Stanley Wealth Management’s Global Investment and Manager Analysis team where she was responsible for the investment and impact due diligence for impact alternative funds (including diverse and emerging mangers) made available for clients.

Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, she worked as an Investment Officer for the NYC Comptroller’s Bureau of Asset Management Private Equity team, and as a Fiscal Analyst for the NYC Comptroller’s Bureau of Economic Development. She has a MPA in International Finance and Economic Policy from Columbia University and a B.S. in International Business from Northeastern University.

Helena Leslie

Account Supervisor
Peregrine Communications

Helena is an Account Supervisor in the New York office of Peregrine Communications, providing strategic and financial communications counsel to alternative asset and investment management firms. Her clients include HITE Hedge Asset Management, BKCoin Capital, Lombard International, and Pershing Institutional Solutions. She has extensive experience engaging with key media, crafting messaging, and providing company and leadership communications advice.

Helena joined Peregrine Communications from Hanbury Strategy, a strategic advisory and political consultancy in London, where she spent two years building communications campaigns for some of the most recognized companies in the United Kingdom, focusing on financial services, technology, retail, and culture.

Previously, Helena worked at Greenbrook Communications in London, where she provided reputation management support for the investment industry. Helena holds a BA in Ancient History from the University of Exeter in England.

Elizabeth Lien

Senior Director, Federal Climate Policy
WWF

Elizabeth Lien, Senior Director for Federal Climate Policy and Subnational Programs at WWF, has nearly 20 years of development, climate finance and environmental policy experience. Elizabeth leads on WWF’s Federal climate policy and manages the WWF team that oversees the America Is All In coalition, the largest coalition of subnational climate leaders ever assembled in the United States. Prior to joining WWF, Elizabeth spent 17 years in the U.S. Government, twelve of which were at the Treasury Department working on international climate finance, development policy and macroeconomics in Latin America and the Caribbean. Elizabeth’s served as senior advisor on international climate finance in the Treasury Department’s Climate Hub where she led on international climate finance work, developed net-zero principles for financial institutions and was a core member of the just energy transition partnership negotiations team, which resulted in the largest single climate finance commitment in history. Elizabeth has a Master’s of Public Affairs from the LBJ School of Public Affairs and a Master’s in Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Texas at Austin and a BA in Political Science and Journalism from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.

Kleida Martiro

Partner
Glasswing Ventures

Kleida Martiro is a Partner at Glasswing Ventures with deep domain expertise in data science, entrepreneurship, and product management. At Glasswing, Kleida led the firm’s investments and serves on the Board of Directors of Retrocausal and Kusari. Her governance experience also includes Observer roles on the Boards of Inrupt, Black Kite, Labviva, Allure Security, Lambent, and ChaosSearch.

As the former Head of Data Science at SocialFlow (acquired by Piano), she led the machine learning efforts for the software platform, including its AI powered proprietary content classifier for automating editorial content categorization. Prior to SocialFlow, Kleida served on the Strategy and Analysis team at Digitas, part of Publicis Groupe, where she contributed to strategic initiatives for Bank of America. Kleida oversaw the utilization of new technology tools to enhance performance, including advanced analytics and the creation and implementation of digital content across social channels.

Kleida graduated cum laude from Mount Holyoke College with a BA in Economics, Mathematics, and Spanish and holds an MBA with honors from the Kellogg School of Management. She has been listed among Business Insider’s “41 Most Important VCs in Boston”, honored as a 2023 Rising Star by The Venture Capital Journal, and is a Boston Business Journal “40 Under 40” honoree. Currently, Kleida serves on the Steering Committee of the Boston Chapter of All Raise, committed to amplifying the success of women in the tech and venture ecosystems

Gina McCarthy

Former White House National Climate Advisor and U.S. EPA Administrator
America Is All In

A career public servant in both Democratic and Republican administrations, Gina McCarthy has been a leading advocate for common sense strategies to protect public health and the environment for more than thirty years. The first White House National Climate Advisor and former U.S. EPA Administrator, Gina is one of the nation’s most respected voices on climate change. McCarthy’s leadership led to the most aggressive action on climate in U.S. history, creating new jobs and unprecedented clean energy innovation and investments across the country. Her commitment to bold action across the Biden administration, supported by the climate and clean energy provisions in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act, restored U.S. climate leadership on a global stage and put a new U.S. national target to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 50-52 percent below 2005 levels by 2030 within reach. Gina is a Senior Advisor at Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Managing Co-Chair of the America Is All In Coalition, and a Senior Fellow at The Fletcher School’s Climate Policy Lab at Tufts University. She is also an Operating Advisor at Pegasus Capital Advisors and a Senior Advisor at TPG Rise Climate Fund. She serves as co-chair of the India-U.S. Track II Dialogue on Energy and Climate Change, and on the Board of Directors for the Energy Foundation and the Resources Legacy Foundation. Previously, McCarthy was President and CEO of the Natural Resources Defense Council, Professor of the Practice of Public Health in the Department of Environmental Health at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, and an advisor to five Massachusetts governors.

Andrew Miller

Head of Business Development
Kepos Capital

Bhakti Mirchandani

Managing Director, Responsible Investing
Trinity Church Wall Street

Bhakti Mirchandani is Managing Director, Responsible Investing at Trinity Church Wall Street, a thriving Episcopal congregation in lower Manhattan. Mirchandani is also a contributing writer at the Milken Institute and Forbes.com; teaches an award-winning impact finance class that she pioneered in Columbia University’s Masters in Sustainability Management Program, as well as an impact investing course in Columbia Business School’s Executive Education Program; is a co-founder and steering committee member of Institutional Allocators for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion; serves as an independent director of Live Oak Crestview Climate Acquisition Corp.; and is a life member at the Council on Foreign Relations. Previously, Mirchandani was managing director at FCLTGlobal, ESG advisor to Corbin Capital, an investment management strategist at One William Street Capital Management and Lehman Brothers, and a sustainable finance banker at Barclays Capital and Unitus Capital. She also spent 10 years pioneering microinsurance, microfinance securitization, and micropension. Her work has been featured in Harvard Business Review, The New York Times, the Financial Times, Institutional Investor, CNBC, and at the G-20, Davos, and at the US House of Representatives. She holds a BA, MBA, and MPA from Harvard University and received the Dean’s Award from Harvard Business School. Most importantly, she is a proud mother of a spirited 5-year-old (#girlmom)

Evgenia Molotova

Senior Investment Manager
Pictet Asset Management

Evgenia Molotova joined Pictet Asset Management in December 2017 and is a Senior Investment Manager in the Specialist Equities team, focused on the Positive Change strategy. Evgenia has more than 15 years of experience, having spent last 10 years performing various roles in the financial sector. She started her career at Sun Chemical Russia where she progressed to the level of Deputy General Manager, she was then transferred to the European headquarters of Sun Chemical in London, where she worked on various restructuring projects.

In 2007 Evgenia joined UBS GAM, where she worked as Pan European Materials analyst for 3 years. She then moved to UBS, where she worked as Pan European Chemical analyst for 2 years. Evgenia also worked for Citi and Berenberg, where she held a position of Senior Analyst, covering Global chemicals. Prior to joining Pictet, she worked at Verno Capital as Portfolio Manager in charge of long only and long/short portfolios.

Evgenia holds a Master’s degree in Applied Linguistics and mathematics from the Moscow State University and a MBA in finance from the London Business School.

Isabelle Myers

Carbon Product Specialist
Kepos Capital

Betty Ng

CEO
Inspiring Diversity, LLC

As the founder and CEO of Inspiring Diversity, LLC, Betty Ng provides a roadmap to foster a culture of belonging and inclusion within organizations and schools. Betty is a #1 bestselling author, tech entrepreneur, speaker, trainer, as well as certified pickleball and life coach who leverages her own identity and experiences – from growing up in a poor single-parent household to becoming a senior corporate executive – as fuel for her impactful work.

Prior to founding her company in 2016, Betty spent 20 years in corporate and financial services leadership roles at organizations like Moody’s, Citigroup, and American Express. She has been recognized as a Notable Asian Leader, Corporate Trailblazer, and Youth Champion for her diversity and inclusion efforts. Betty holds an MBA from Harvard, a Stanford economics degree, and a Stanford executive education certification. She is also a certified public accountant, open water diver, and co-founder of the Asian American Authors Book Club. Betty inspires and empowers others through speaking, training, coaching, and authoring books as well as other solutions to promote success with authenticity, global citizenship, and inclusion.

Daniel Pianko

Managing Director
Achieve Partners

Daniel Pianko is a Managing Director at Achieve and was formerly an MD at University Ventures. With over a decade of experience in the education industry, Daniel has built a reputation as a trusted education adviser and innovator in student finance, medical education, and postsecondary education. A frequent commentator on higher education, Daniel’s insights have been featured in national media outlets including The Wall Street Journal, CNBC, TechCrunch, Inside Higher Ed, and The Chronicle of Higher Education .

Daniel began his career in investment banking at Goldman Sachs, and quickly became intrigued by the potential of leveraging private capital to establish the next generation of socially beneficial education companies. After leaving Goldman, Daniel invested in, founded, advised, or managed a number of education-related businesses that led to the creation of University Ventures. Prior to founding UV, he established a student loan fund, served as chief of staff for the public/private investments in the Philadelphia School District, and worked as a hedge fund analyst.

Daniel graduated magna cum laude from Columbia University, and holds a M.B.A. and M.A. in Education from Stanford University.

Imogen Rose-Smith

Contributing Editor
Impact Alpha

Imogen Rose-Smith writes a regular column on institutional asset management for Impact Alpha, the leading impact investment industry publication, and serves as an impact investment consultant to a family foundation. Imogen is a Partner at Confluence Partners, a communications and strategic consulting firm which advises businesses at the intersection of impact and finance. She is also the Research Director for AIF Global, an alternative investment think tank for institutional asset owners. An award-winning journalist, Imogen has over 20 years’ experience covering institutional asset management mostly as a Senior Writer with Institutional Investor magazine. Imogen was a 2017 – 2019 fellow of the Office of the Chief Investment Officer, University of California Regents, where she oversaw ESG and sustainable investing for the $160 billion investment office. Imogen has been named a Global Impact Leader by the Sorenson Impact Institute. Imogen served on the inaugural Advisory Board of Girls Who Invest, a not-for-profit focused on increasing the number of women in investment management roles. She was co-chair of the content planning committee for High Water Women’s annual Impact Investment Symposium. She is a co-founder of the Maui ESG Investment Project, an initiative to bring sustainable investment capital into Maui and diversify the Hawaii economy. From 2012 to 2014 Imogen worked as a consultant to the Robert F Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights on its Compass conference program, a high-level conference aimed at engaging asset owners in issues relating to ESG. Imogen has an MA in American Studies from Columbia University and a BA from the University of East Anglia, England. She lives in Brooklyn and Orient, NY.

Lauren Sercu

Co-Founder & Managing Partner
Sorenson Impact Advisory

Lauren Sercu is the co-founder of Sorenson Impact Advisory, a business dedicated to helping families and institutions achieve their unique missions by building portfolios that optimize for impact across philanthropic, catalytic, and market-rate investments. In this role, Lauren specializes in building out market-rate impact investing portfolios for clients. Prior to Sorenson Impact, Lauren was a Managing Director at Sepio Capital, where she led the firm’s impact investing practice. Lauren began her career at Cambridge Associates, where she served as an Investment Director, overseeing portfolio construction for select endowments and foundations. Lauren graduated from Claremont McKenna College where she received a B.A. in Economics and Literature. Lauren was a contributing author to “Activate Your Money: Invest to Grow Your Wealth and Build a Better World.” In addition, Lauren has earned the right to use the Chartered Financial Analyst designation and serves on the CFA Institute’s working group on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

Andrew Siwo

Head of Sustainable Investments & Climate Solutions
New York State Common Retirement Fund

Andrew Siwo is the Director of Sustainable Investments and Climate Solutions at the New York State Common Retirement Fund. He is charged with providing leadership and oversight of sustainable investment efforts across the Fund’s $272 billion portfolio. Previously, Siwo was an Investment Director and Head of Mission-Related Investments at Crewcial Partners, an investment consultancy to over 150 leading foundations and endowments.

Prior to joining Crewcial Partners, Siwo was a manager at the Global Impact Investing Networking (GIIN). In his capacity there, he was responsible for the operation, sourcing, and development of ImpactBase, the largest platform of impact investment funds globally, which he grew by north of $10 billion and approved more than 100 prospective impact funds targeting a financial return as well as social/environmental benefits. He also educated and fostered institutional investors seeking exposure to sustainable investments. Prior to joining the GIIN, Siwo spent five years in the investment banking division at JP Morgan—most recently in the Global Special Opportunities Group, a $3 billion proprietary portfolio of principal investments in private equity, debt, mezzanine, infrastructure, and real estate. He also held roles on the Rates Desk and executed fixed income financing transactions as well as the Securitized Products Group where he valued collateralized mortgage obligations. Before JP Morgan, Siwo was a member of the Corporate Finance and Real Estate Strategy Group at Victoria’s Secret where he oversaw capital budgeting. He began his career at E*TRADE Financial where he managed a team of investment representatives serving active traders and high net-worth investors. His investment articles have been printed in various industry publications.

Siwo completed an MPA in Finance and Fiscal Policy at Cornell University and holds a BA in Accounting from Morehouse College. He has held FINRA Series 7, 63, and 24 licenses. He teaches an ESG course at The Wagner Graduate of Public Service at NYU where he is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Public Service. Siwo also serves on the Board of New York Professional Advisors to Community Entrepreneurs (NYPACE) and United World Schools (UWS).

Carine Smith Ihenacho

Chief Governance and Compliance Officer
Norges Bank Investment Management

Carine Smith Ihenacho is the Chief Governance and Compliance Officer at Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), the manager of Norway’s sovereign wealth fund. She is a member of the fund’s executive management group and responsible for exercising the fund’s ownership rights and promoting good governance and responsible business conduct with the fund’s investments in almost 9 000 companies. This includes policy development, company dialogue and voting, supporting sustainability initiatives and research, and developing and implementing the fund’s climate action plan. Carine is in addition responsible for the fund’s control and operational risk activities, compliance, and legal and tax services.

Carine has an extensive career as a lawyer and executive, both in corporates and financial institutions, and has served as a non-executive director on several boards and advisory councils. Carine holds a law degree from the University of Oslo, a Master of Economics from the Norwegian School of Business Administration, and a Master of Laws from Harvard Law School.

Marieke Spence

Executive Director
Impact Capital Managers

Marieke Spence is Executive Director of Impact Capital Managers (ICM) and the affiliated ICM Institute, with the joint mission of advancing member performance and scaling the impact investing marketplace with integrity and authenticity. Under her leadership ICM has grown its membership of leading private capital impact funds from 20 to over 115 members, and from $5B to over $80B in collective AUM; established network standards on impact measurement and management; published field-building reports on legal innovation in impact investing and financial returns and impact on exit; launched the Mosaic Fellowship, which to date has placed 90 high performing graduate students from underrepresented backgrounds at ICM member funds as summer associates; and with Daniel Pianko, launched the Better Money, Better World podcast. ICM is supported by membership dues and the ICM Institute, by the Surdna, MacArthur, Ford, W.K. Kellogg, and Annie E. Casey Foundations, as well as the Tipping Point Fund on Impact Investing and Builders Bridge.

Prior to joining ICM, Marieke was a Director of the Global Philanthropists Circle at Synergos, a peer learning community of 400+ philanthropists and social investors. Before Synergos, Marieke was a Senior Consultant at TCC Group, a social impact consulting firm. She has studied impact investing as a Summer Fellow at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and her thought leadership has been published in the Stanford Social Innovation Review, The Foundation Review, and GrantCraft. She is co-author with Jacob Harold, Joshua Spitzer, and Jed Emerson of “Environmental Impact Investing: Co-Managing the Ecological and Economic Household,” published in Social Finance (Oxford University Press, 2016). Marieke was formerly Director of Corporate Communication and Strategy at The Kessler Group; producer of On Point, a nationally-syndicated news program on NPR; and Assistant Director of Communications at the Council on Foreign Relations. She holds a MALD in International Business and Communication from The Fletcher School at Tufts University, a BA from Brown University, and is an alumna of the Impact Investing Programme at Oxford University’s Said Business School.

Emily Thomas

Head of Investing with Impact
Morgan Stanley

Emily Thomas, CFA is an Executive Director and Head of Investing with Impact for Morgan Stanley Wealth Management. Emily joined Morgan Stanley in 2017. In her current role, Emily works to provide individual, family and institutional clients with investment products, solutions, research and tools, and analytics to capture the opportunities and mitigate risks posed by key sustainability and impact themes. Previously, she was the lead Investing with Impact Analyst on Morgan Stanley’s Global Investment Manager Analysis manager due diligence team and helped launch the Diversity and Inclusion Investment Office. Emily began her career in finance at Cambridge Associates. Before entering finance, Emily worked in international development and spent time in Ecuador and Uganda.

Emily graduated from Washington University in St. Louis with a B.A. in Psychology and received a Master of Law and Diplomacy from the Fletcher School at Tufts University. She is also a member of CFA Society New York where she is currently the co-chair of the Sustainable Investing Group. Emily and her family live in Manhattan.

Artemis Diana Tiburcio

Director, Global Sustainable Finance
Morgan Stanley

Artemis Tiburcio is a Director within Morgan Stanley’s Global Sustainable Finance team, supporting the firm’s Institutional Securities, Investment Management, and Wealth Management businesses deliver sustainable finance solutions and drive client engagement across various thematic pillars. Prior to her current role, she structured billions in USD of municipal bond transactions for issuers across the New York and Mid-Atlantic regions. Artemis holds a B.S. in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.

Jennifer Trivelli

Senior Director, Communications & Marketing
Mission Investors Exchange

Jennifer joined Mission Investors Exchange in 2023 as Senior Director of Communications and Marketing. In this role, Jennifer will lead the management and growth of MIE’s communications and marketing processes, playing an active role in increasing the organization’s visibility, helping to evolve MIE’s outreach, member engagement, and overall organizational strategy.

Jennifer brings 17 years of experience to MIE, most recently as Senior Director of Integrated Marketing with the Cleveland Foundation, where she held successive marketing and communications roles for a decade, including as Director of Content Marketing and as Senior Marketing & Communications Officer. During this time, she supported ongoing marketing and communications strategies for the foundation’s $385 million impact investing program. She also played a leading role in the development and launch of the ImpactCleveland platform and helped convene a city-wide consortium of partners representing $375 million in impact capital. In addition, Jennifer provided comprehensive marketing and communications strategies supporting a decade of fundraising growth, including three top fundraising years, was instrumental in the award-winning Cleveland Foundation centennial year, and led signature events, including the organization’s annual meeting and Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards ceremony.

Jennifer previously served as a Public Relations Associate with Summa Health System in Akron, Ohio, where she was responsible for enhancing the image and national reputation of several medical specialties, including cardiology, oncology, surgery, women’s health and ED/trauma. In this role, she earned Lean Six Sigma Greenbelt certification and completed training at FEMA’s Center for Domestic Preparedness, earning certification in Hospital Incident Command. She previously held successive marketing and public relations roles at Robinson Memorial Hospital.

Jennifer graduated from Kent State University with a Master of Business Administration in finance and a Bachelor of Science in public relations with a minor in political science. She serves as a volunteer mentor with College Now Greater Cleveland.

Katie Twomey

SVP of Finance & Operations
Illumen Capital

Katie Twomey is passionate about using innovative methods of financing to advance social and economic justice and to positively impact people, communities, sectors, and markets. She moves forward this work through her role at Illumen Capital as the SVP of Finance & Operations and Chief Compliance Officer.

Prior to joining Illumen Capital, Katie led the finance, operations & HR functions at the nonprofit organization, Mama Hope, which aims to create a new global approach to tackling injustice in which communities hold the power and resources they need to drive their own futures. She began her career at Apollo Global Management, providing compliance support to PE, credit, and real estate businesses to ensure compliance with FINRA, SEC, state, federal, and international regulations.

Katie earned a BS in Management from Boston College’s Carroll School of Management and holds an MBA from the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University.

Megan Walsh Thompson

Mission Investment Officer
Ford Foundation

Megan Walsh Thompson is an impact investor on Ford’s Mission Investments team. As Mission Investments Officer, Megan is responsible for underwriting and managing impact investments for the Foundation’s Program Related Investment (PRI) and Mission Related Investment (MRI) portfolios.

During her time at Ford, Megan supported the development, approval and launch of the Foundation’s historic commitment to invest $1 billion of Ford’s endowment to address social problems while seeking a risk-adjusted market rate of financial return. She also supported the strategic planning effort to refine the Foundation’s PRI focus. Megan’s work primarily focuses on themes including Affordable Housing, Financial Inclusion, Quality Jobs and Diverse Managers. Megan represents the Foundation on several fund advisory committees and serves on the Advisory Board for the CASE i3 Initiative on Impact Investing at Fuqua School of Business.

Before joining Ford, she spent several years working in fixed income capital markets at Citigroup. She earned her bachelor’s degree in economics from The College of the Holy Cross, and an MBA from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business.

Johnny Wu

AAAIM Board Member
AAAIM

Johnny Wu is CEO of Quartzy Capital Advisors, LLC, a company he started in 2020 to provide high impact and value added consulting and product development advice to leading financial services organizations including asset management firms, asset owners, financial technology firms and investment banks.

Chex Yu

Executive Director, Sustainability and Climate Research and Innovation Lead
Goldman Sachs Asset Management

Chex leads sustainability and climate research and innovation in Goldman Sachs Asset Management Client Solutions Group. Previously, Chex worked in the Sustainable Finance Group leading Goldman Sachs firmwide sustainable finance data analytics strategy and the firm’s net zero target setting exercise. Prior to joining the firm in 2022, Chex was Director for Product and Analytics at Ping An Group, Data Science Lead at JP Morgan Chase, and Economics Researcher at the World Bank. Chex earned an MPA from Princeton University and a bachelor’s degree in Statistics and Economics from UNC-Chapel Hill where she was awarded the Chancellor Prize for Economics and Best Economics Thesis Award.