2026 Speakers

Amanda Bamberger

VP
EIF

Amanda Bamberger is a sustainability and impact focused investor working in early to growth stage venture capital. Amanda is a VP at Ecosystem Integrity Fund, a firm that has been investing in the renewable and cleantech sector for over a decade with $600M AUM. Prior to EIF, Amanda worked for a seed-stage venture firm brokering technologies to frontier and emerging markets. She has an undergraduate degree in Physics and a Masters of Science in Sustainable Engineering from Villanova University. Amanda brings together technical and business acumen to invest in and support startups that enable renewable and resilient energy systems.

Preeti Bhattacharji

Head of Sustainable Investing & Adjunct Professor
JPMC & Columbia University

Preeti Bhattacharji 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 over 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. She serves on the Board of the Victoria Foundation and the Investment Committee of the Nathan Cummings Foundation.

Leslie Biddle

SVP, Commercial Solutions
NextEra Energy Resources

Leslie D. Biddle is senior vice president of commercial solutions at NextEra Energy Resources, where she oversees EverBright, gas infrastructure, Gexa and renewable natural gas.

Prior to joining NextEra Energy Resources, Ms. Biddle was Deputy Under Secretary for Commercialization and Finance at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Infrastructure where she focused on commercialization, market adoption, and private sector financing for its $100 billion in equity investments and $350 billion in debt investments. Before joining the 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.

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 also served as a vice president at the AES Corporation focusing on power plant development, financing and acquisitions.

Ms. Biddle earned a bachelor’s degree from Colby College where she served as vice chair of the Board of Trustees and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. She previously served as a board member of CenterPoint Energy, Cypress Creek Renewables, Nextracker and NatureVest.

Sarah Bieber

Director of Climate Strategy
Acumen

Sarah leads strategy development for Acumen’s work at the intersection of climate and poverty. As a leading voice in the climate finance and clean energy sectors, Sarah cultivates partnerships with philanthropists, family offices, governments, and other investors to advance Acumen’s climate initiatives. Prior to joining Acumen in 2018, Sarah spent seven years as a Foreign Service Officer for USAID. She served in Bangkok, where she led the Sustainable Mekong portfolio, and in Washington DC at Power Africa, where she led the Scaling Off-Grid Energy Grand Challenge for Development. Based on her experience supporting pioneering enterprises delivering energy access to low-income communities, Sarah was elected and served on the board of the Global Off-Grid Lighting Association (GOGLA) from 2019 to 2025. Sarah holds a BS in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology from Tulane University and a Masters of International Affairs in Energy & Environment from Columbia University School of International & Public Affairs.

Courtney Birnbaum

Director of Sustainability
Corbin Capital Partners

Corbin Capital Partners is a $10.6bn majority women-owned independent alternative asset management firm that specializes in multi-strategy and opportunistic credit investing.
Courtney leads Corbin’s sustainability integration and impact-oriented investing programs. She is actively involved in the investment process across sustainability and thematic strategies, including multi-asset class and private credit investments.

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 worked at Goldman Sachs as a Vice President in the Alternative Investments and Manager Selection group (AIMS) where 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 and began her career in Investment Banking at Merrill Lynch and Rothschild.

B.A. in Psychology from Yale University and MBA from the Wharton School of Business

Charles Buck

CEO
United Church Funds

Charles Buck is President and CEO of United Church Funds (UCF), a U.S. provider of endowment and investment management services for faith-based non-profit organizations. Prior to joining UCF, Charles received his Ph.D. in historical musicology and served as an ordained minister of the United Church Christ in a variety of settings in California, Hawai`i and New Hampshire. He has extensive administrative, organizational, governance and investment experience from over thirty-five years of work as a church minister, judicatory executive, and member of numerous boards of directors and investment, finance and audit committees.

Emily Chien

Executive Fellow
Harvard University

Emily Chien is a technologist and strategic leader specializing in Agentic AI, AI corporate governance, with three decades of experience helping businesses harness emerging technologies to drive innovation and impact. She is an Executive Fellow at Harvard Business School, where she specializes in how Agentic AI is reshaping markets, business models, and governance practices. She also serves on the IFRS Advisory Council in London, advising the ISSB and IASB on emerging technology’s impact on risk, sustainability and accounting standards.

At IBM Consulting, Emily was a Global Leader for Sustainability and Climate Risk Offerings, and served on IBM’s AI Ethics Board Use Case Review Committee. She also led global growth and partnership programs for IBM’s $17B Consulting division as Chief of Staff to the Global Senior Managing Partner, and earlier spearheaded AI solutions for major banks, insurers and investors as a leader in the AI practice. Appointed as an AI Fellow at the World Economic Forum, she has collaborated with Microsoft, Salesforce, and other industry leaders to advance responsible AI adoption.

Emily’s operating career spans senior executive roles at Prudential Financial, Fidelity Investments, JPMorgan Chase, and American Express, where she built and scaled market-leading platforms and billion-dollar businesses at the intersection of data, digital transformation, and customer experience. A trained CPA, she holds a U.S. patent for digital payments now used by Amazon and American Express. She earned her B.S. and M.A.S. degrees in Accountancy and AI/MIS from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

A recognized thought leader in AI and sustainability, Emily has spoken at Chapter Zero, Harvard Business School, Harvard Law School, Princeton, Boston University, and Private Equity International forums. She is Senior Editor, Sustainability for Harvard Social Impact Review and Founding Co-Chair of the 100 Women in Finance Sustainability Peer Advisory Group. Her industry engagement includes AAAI, NACD, Women Execs on Boards, Exceptional Women Alliance (EWA) and the Economic Club of New York.

Natalia Costa i Coromina

Impact Lead
Energy Impact Partners

Natalia Costa i Coromina sits on the Impact team at Energy Impact Partners, where she leads impact strategy and thought leadership, and works with portfolio companies and investors to accelerate climate solutions. She also serves on the Steering Committee of Project Frame. Natalia previously taught at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business and published in Harvard Business Review, with prior experience at Astanor Ventures, Cambridge Associates, and other impact-driven firms. She holds a Master’s in Climate Change from UC Berkeley and degrees in Business and Humanities.

Wendy Cromwell

Vice Chair and Senior Managing Director
Wellington Management

Wendy is Vice Chair and Senior Managing Director at Wellington Management, where she contributes to the firm’s strategic initiatives and external affairs in close partnership with the CEO. She also serves as a senior advisor on sustainable investing, providing leadership both within the firm and across the broader investment industry. Externally, Wendy serves on the Board of the United Nations-supported Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) and is a member of the Investor Advisory Group of the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB). Previously, she served on the Advisory Group of the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative and on the Climate-related Financial Risk Advisory Committee (CFRAC) to the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC), chaired by the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury. A recognized thought leader, Wendy has shared her investment perspectives with Bloomberg TV, CNBC, The Wall Street Journal, and the Capital Allocators podcast. She has also been a featured speaker at leading industry conferences, including Responsible Investor, PRI in Person, and the Milken Institute.

Trysha Daskam-Smith

Managing Director | Head of Sustainability Risk & Strategy
Silver Regulatory Associates

Expert in policy writing and implementing regulatory controls, Trysha Daskam specializes in interpreting SEC regulations and developing realistic compliance policies and procedures for investment firms. Trysha is particularly adept at assessing risk associated with conflicts of interest and helping clients find compliance approaches that are in line with best practices and sustainable at their firm. A seasoned sustainability practitioner with an academic background unique to the industry, Trysha specializes in managing ESG strategy for investment firms. Trysha’s interest in sustainability began during her graduate work building financial models that showed the social and financial returns of investment in international health initiatives. Bringing this experience to the financial services industry, Trysha now develops sustainability policies and procedures for firms, helps them respond to investors’ related questions and designs sustainability reporting processes. Trysha is an officer of the Sustainability Investment Leadership Council. Prior to joining Silver Regulatory Associates, Trysha was a Vice President for U.S. Compliance Consulting at Duff & Phelps, which she joined in January 2016 as a result of their acquisition of CounselWorks LLC. The development of Trysha’s current ESG practice began at Duff & Phelps, where she was a global point person addressing ESG issues and completing ESG projects for a wide base of clients in different sectors. Trysha developed her in-house perspective as an associate at Universal Investments, LP, a hedge fund manager, where she was part of the team managing the firm’s business operations and involved in both mock and actual SEC exams. Trysha received a Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences from the University of Denver and a Masters of Public Health from The George Washington University where she dually concentrated on international economics and global health policy.

John Delaney

Chair of Strategy
Galvanize Climate

John Delaney is an entrepreneur, business leader, and public servant. By the age of 40, John founded and was CEO of two NYSE listed specialty lending companies – HealthCare Financial Partners Inc. and CapitalSource Inc. Collectively John’s companies made over $20 billion of loans and created more than $4 billion in shareholder value. John later went on to be elected to represent Maryland in the U.S. House of Representatives. While in Congress John was on the Financial Services and Joint Economic Committees and co-founded the Artificial Intelligence and Climate Solutions Caucuses. John is the Founder and Executive Chairman of Forbright Bank, and the Chairman and CEO of its holding company, Forbright, Inc, a member of the Board of Directors of the National Geographic Society, and several other private and non-profit entities. John is a member of YPO, was named Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year, and in 2017 was named one of the World’s 50 Greatest Leaders by Fortune Magazine. John received his J.D. from Georgetown Law Center and his B.A. from Columbia University.

Jennifer Katz

Head of Mission-Aligned Investing
Doris Duke Foundation

Jennifer Katz is the director for investments at the Doris Duke Foundation and also serves as the head of mission-aligned investing. Prior to joining the foundation in 2017, Katz spent approximately 10 years as an investor in the private U.S. infrastructure space, focusing on regulated utilities and power generation assets. Katz earned a Bachelor of Arts in astrophysics with a concentration in mathematics from Columbia University and holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.

Bhakti Mirchandani

Managing Director, Responsible Investing
Trinity Church Wall Street

Laura Nishikawa

Head of Emerging Risk R&D – Banks & Corporates Segment
MSCI

As Global Head of ESG Research, Laura Nishikawa oversees all ESG related content and methodology at MSCI, the largest provider of ESG Ratings and analytics to global institutional investors.

Laura leads one of the largest teams of research analysts in the world who are dedicated to identifying risks and opportunities arising from material ESG issues. Her team, located in 19 offices globally, develops innovative models, content, and tools to help clients incorporate ESG factors into their investment processes. She also led the methodology and design of ESG fixed income indexes and developed MSCI’s Green Bond Criteria.

Laura joined MSCI in 2010 through the acquisition of RiskMetrics, where she led ESG Ratings methodology development and was the head of fixed income and financial sector analysis.

Laura received her Master’s degree in International Economic Policy from Columbia University (SIPA), and her Bachelor’s degree from McGill University, and is a CFA charter holder.

Meghan Pasricha

Partner, Credit and Capital Solutions
Galvanize Climate

Meghan has deep experience investing in credit and private equity. Before Galvanize, Meghan was a Managing Director at Riverstone Holdings, a global energy investment firm with $40+ billion of capital raised to date. With nearly a decade of direct lending experience at Riverstone, Meghan sourced, structured, and led financing solutions to energy companies. She served as President of a water solutions company and a board observer for multiple companies. Prior to Riverstone, Meghan was a private equity investor at The Carlyle Group and began her career at UBS Investment Bank in leveraged finance, financial sponsors, and restructuring. Meghan is the Co-Founder of Women in Climate Investing & Finance (“WICIF”). Beyond her work in finance, she is the Co-Founder and CEO of a nonprofit focused on youth leadership and community service. Meghan graduated from Harvard College, magna cum laude, and earned her MBA from Harvard Business School.

Anju Suresh, CFA

Vice President, Portfolio Manager & Impact Investing Specialist
Glenmede Endowment & Foundation Management

Anju Suresh, CFA, is a Portfolio Manager and Impact Investing Specialist at Glenmede, where she advises endowments, foundations, and other mission-driven organizations on portfolio construction, asset allocation, and mission-aligned investment strategies. Drawing on her experience in both traditional investment management and sustainable investing, she works with clients to integrate impact objectives into long-term portfolios while pursuing competitive financial returns.

Prior to joining Glenmede’s Endowment & Foundation team, Anju served as an Investment Specialist on the firm’s Sustainable Investing team, supporting investment research, strategy development, and mission-aligned portfolio construction. She previously worked at a community development financial institution (CDFI) focused on expanding access to affordable healthcare in underserved communities and held ESG-focused roles at Allianz Global Investors. Anju is a CFA charterholder and holds a B.S., magna cum laude, in Industrial and Systems Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Katie Twomey

SVP, 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.

Yana Watson Kakar

MD and Head of the Americas
La Caisse

Yana Watson Kakar is Managing Director and Head of the Americas at La Caisse (CDPQ), a global investment group managing over US$380BN on behalf of 6 million Québecers. A member of the Global Management team, Yana oversees activities across the United States, representing US$170BN of assets, and works closely with asset class leaders to drive investment strategy, public private partnerships and execution across private equity, credit, infrastructure, and real estate. Yana also leads government relations and regulatory affairs for La Caisse across the US. Prior to joining La Caisse, Yana was Global Managing Partner and CEO of Dalberg, a multinational investment and strategy consulting firm. Yana holds a Master of Business Administration from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor of Arts from McGill University. She is a dual citizen of the United States and Canada, and lives in New York with her husband, two children, and much-loved dog.