18 October 2023 | New York
SPEAKERS
LEARN FROM SUSTAINABILITY & IMPACT INVESTING PIONEERS!
Impact Summit America invites global leaders, pioneers and experts of the impact & sustainable investing universe to share their knowledge and inspiration.
SPEAKERS 2023
Laura Weeks
Senior Responsible Investment Manager, U.S.,
Principles for Responsible Investment
Laura has over 18 years of experience in the finance industry, working in client relationship management roles supporting institutional investors. Prior to joining the PRI, she spent 15 years at Acadian Asset Management in various roles focused on relationship management, strategic initiatives, and on working groups committed to ESG advancement and diversity, equity, and inclusion. Before joining Acadian, Laura supported global business development efforts at Wellington Management Company.
Laura obtained her B.A. in International Relations from Boston University and her MBA from Simmons University. Laura has also achieved the CFA Institute Certificate in ESG Investing.
KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
Sam Gill
President and CEO,
Doris Duke Foundation
Previously, Gill served as senior vice president and chief program officer at the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and vice president of Freedman Consulting, LLC.
Gill attended the University of Chicago and the University of Oxford, where he was a Rhodes Scholar.
Shawn Watts
Director, US Strategy,
The Christensen Fund
Smitha Das
Director of Mission and Impact Investing,
World Education Services
Her passion to create meaningful social and environmental impact sparked at a young age when she founded a water nonprofit at age 12. She has since worked in government, renewable energy private equity, venture philanthropy, and innovative finance.
Smitha has a MBA from Harvard Business School (HBS) and AB with Honors in Environmental Science and Public Policy from Harvard College, where she co-founded the HBS Impact Investing Club and Harvard College Social Enterprise Club. She serves as a board member and advisor for several organizations, including Cell-Ed, JFF Ventures, New Power Labs, and the HBS Impact Investing Alumni Group.
FEATURED SPEAKERS
Amantia Muhedini
Executive Director, Sustainable & Impact Investing Strategist,
UBS Wealth Management Chief Investment Office
Prior to joining UBS, Amantia was a Sustainable Investing Fellow with Morgan Stanley’s Investing with Impact Wealth Management team. She also spent time at Working Capital – The Supply Chain Innovation Fund, conducting impact and commercial due diligence. Amantia started her career as an Investments Associate with the Omidyar’s Group Humanity United, where she helped design and implement a strategy to address forced labor in global corporate supply chains.
Amantia is a Board Director for United World Colleges International (UWC), a global education organization, and was a founding board member and acting Executive Director for UWC in Albania.
Amantia holds a BA from Princeton University and a MPA from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs.
Amy Cortese
Editorial Director,
ImpactAlpha
Anna Snider
Managing Director and Head of Due Diligence for the Chief Investment Office (CIO),
Bank of America Corporation
Ariele Cohen
Special Counsel,
Investment Management, Schulte Roth & Zabel
Speaking Engagements
• “Bank Failures: High Level Overview and Considerations,” Client Seminar, May 2023
Prior Experience
• Prudential Financial, Inc.
• AIG Investments
• Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP
Bar Admissions
• New York
• New Jersey
Education
• American University, Washington College of Law, J.D., Staff, International Law Review, 2002
• Brandeis University, B.A., magna cum laude, 1999
Benjamin Rosado
Senior Credit Analyst,
APG Asset Management
Beth Collins
Managing Director of Impact Investing,
Catholic Relief Services
Beth has a 30-year executive leadership career with global experience spanning corporate and NGO sectors throughout Africa, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and other emerging market regions. Beth worked for over 15 years in the private sector, starting, growing, and leading new entertainment and media ventures as SVP at Talk Media and VP at Universal Pictures and Walt Disney Theatrical Productions. Early in her career, she was an Associate at a NY-based leveraged buyout firm, sourcing, analyzing, and negotiating corporate acquisitions.
In 2003, Beth joined the Clinton Foundation as its first Rwanda Country Director. Her work in Rwanda is profiled in an article on President Clinton in Fortune Magazine’s “The Power of Philanthropy.” Upon returning to the US, Beth joined the Clinton Foundation management team, leading new strategic initiatives including the Clinton Global Initiative’s $100m call-to-action for Haiti. Beth has also served as Strategic Advisor to a diverse range of clients including Merck & Co., Qiagen, Paramount Pictures, HRH Prince Faisal of Jordan’s Generations for Peace and the USC School of Film & Television. Beth holds a BA in International Studies from Miami University and an MBA in Finance from NYU.
Bethany Aquilina Brez
Managing Director, Strategy Execution,
U.S. International Development Finance Corporation
Previously she was the Acting Deputy Chief of Staff at the Millennium Challenge Corporation, where she provided guidance and leadership to MCC’s senior management team on strategy, operations, and $5B investment portfolio. Over the course of her career at MCC Ms. Aquilina Brez worked on US foreign assistance operations in Africa and Asia, including advising MCC partner country governments and leading the implementation of a $44.4M policy and institutional reform program with the Government of Sierra Leone.
Prior to joining MCC, she worked with the United Nations (UN) on strategic planning and enterprise risk management, and on the development and implementation of UN humanitarian programs in Sudan, Uganda, and Kenya. She holds an MIA and MPH from Columbia University and a BA from Princeton University.
Carol Tarr
Impact Measurement and Management Lead,
Phenix Capital Group
She has a Master’s degree from Harvard University in Religious Studies where she specialized in World Religions with a focus on Ethics. She is from Chicago, USA and lives in Amsterdam.
Chantal Hermans
COO,
Phenix Capital Group
Chris Martin
Portfolio Manager, Americas Natural Resources,
APG Asset Management
Previously, Chris led portfolio management of an institutional portfolio of Brazilian timberland investments at Resource Management Service, LLC. Chris began his career as Program Associate, Andes-Amazon Initiative at the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. Chris holds a Master of Business Administration and Master of Forestry from Yale University and a Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Studies (summa cum laude) from the University of Colorado at Boulder.
Cyril Gouiffès
Head of Social Impact Equity Investments,
European Investment Fund
His entire career within EIF has been dedicated to impact related activities, starting with microfinance in 2008. In this context, he was responsible for the implementation of the JASMINE programme, an EU initiative aimed at boosting the institutional capacity of microfinance institutions in Europe. Prior to joining EIF, Cyril gained unique field experience working with microfinance institutions in the Middle East. Cyril is an occasionnal lecturer on impact investing at EM Lyon and studied at Toulouse Institut d'Études Politiques where he received a Masters in Development Economics with a focus on poverty alleviation and local development.
David Rowlett
Portfolio Manager - U.S. Impact Equity,
T. Rowe Price
David earned a B.B.A., cum laude, with high honors, in finance from the University of Georgia and an M.B.A. from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. He also has earned the Chartered Financial Analyst® designation.
Diane Damskey
Head of Secretariat,
Operating Principles for Impact Management
Erika Brice
Investment officer, Social Investment Practice,
The Kresge Foundation
Erika began her career at UrbanAmerica, a private impact real estate equity fund. She later transitioned to work on debt finance, tax credits, asset management and real estate development at organizations such as US Bank, NeighborWorks and Rector Development. Throughout her career, Erika has worked on affordable housing, economic development real estate projects and public/private partnerships to serve communities across the United States.
A native of Kansas City, Missouri, Erika earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in finance from Howard University. She serves on the advisory board of the community development financial institution AltCap and has served on a number of civic commissions and boards for over a decade.
Graham Singh
CEO,
Trinity Centres Foundation
Jon Strieter
Analyst - Impact Investments,
Wespath Benefits and Investments
Julia Fish
Vice President, Sustainable & Impact Investing,
Glenmede
Prior to joining Glenmede, Ms. Fish served as an investment associate for the Palladium Group’s Impact Investing group. In this role, she advised the International Finance Corporation on scalable investment solutions for low-income countries. Before this role, Ms. Fish was responsible for business development at Chemonics International, an international development consulting firm in Washington, D.C., and spent two years as a management consultant with Booz Allen Hamilton. An emerging markets specialist, she brings experience conducting in-market assessments in over 15 countries across Africa and Asia.
Ms. Fish received a Master’s of Business Administration from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, and a Master’s in international studies with a focus on Africa regional studies from the Lauder Institute. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree in international relations from the University of Pennsylvania. She is on the Executive Board of the Brandywine Ballet and co-leads the Philadelphia chapter of Women Investing for a Sustainable Economy (WISE). Ms. Fish received the Forum of Executive Women’s Emerging Leader Award in 2022.
Jyoti Aggarwala
Principal,
Private Capital Raise
Kunal Doshi
Chief Investment Officer,
Accelerate Investment Group
Prior to Capricorn, Kunal was at Greentech Capital Advisors, an Investment Bank acquired by Nomura, where he focused on projects in the energy and sustainability sector. He began his career on Wall Street as an Investment Banking Analyst within Citigroup’s Mergers & Acquisitions team. During his tenure at Greentech and Citigroup, he successfully raised over $1 billion in capital for the sustainable global infrastructure sector. Kunal briefly served as a delegate to The United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development. He continues to serve on various boards including a non-profit, Brighter Children.
Kunal earned his Master's Degree at Stanford's Graduate School of Business and his Bachelor’s Degree from the McIntire School of Commerce at The University of Virginia.
Marcella McClatchey
Senior Program Officer of Inclusive Markets in Agricultural Development,
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Meredith Lorenz Heimburger
Partner Head of Impact Investing,
Global Endowment Management
Prior to joining GEM in 2012, Meredith spent seven years with Teach For America. She served first as a classroom teacher and then as a member of the staff, leading the expansion of the organization’s presence in new and developing regions across the U.S.
Meredith is a trustee and chair of the finance committee for the Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation, which promotes sustainable solutions to human and environmental problems. She is also a member of the Davidson College Board of Visitors and a trustee of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Library Foundaiton. She is an active member of several organizations that focus on leveraging assets for positive impact, invluding The ImPact and The Philanthropy Workshop (TPW).
Meredith received her B.A. in English with a concentration in Gender Studies from Davidson College.
Nathalia Millan
Head of ESG,
Tikehau Capital
Her career has been focused on impact investing and sustainability. Prior to joining Tikehau Capital, Nathalia worked for almost four years as a strategy and sustainability consultant for large European asset managers at INDEFI. In this context, she has developed impact measurement methodologies and participated to the launch of private equity and infrastructure funds. Previously, she worked at La Banque Postale where she monitored Carbon Fund projects that aimed to finance GHG emission reduction projects.
Nathalia began her career in 2013 in Colombia, at the European Union Delegation to Colombia and at Oxfam. She holds a master’s degree from Sciences Po Paris and graduated from the Universidad Externado de Colombia.
Rachel Bass
Managing Director, Impact Management,
U.S. International Development Finance Corporation
Rachel holds a Masters in International Business from the Fletcher School at Tufts University and a BA in International Studies from Johns Hopkins University.
Richard Zimmerman
Partner,
WE Family Offices
WE Family Offices is a Family Office Company that provides strategic wealth advice on approximately $10 billion of assets for over 70 U.S. and international families. WE is highly recognized in the industry, including being named among Barron’s Top RIA Firms of 2019 and Best Multi-Family Office from $5 billion AUM/AUA by the family wealth report in 2020.
Richard is a recognized speaker and advisor in the ESG and Impact Investing arena and works with some of the world’s wealthiest families helping them align their values to their investments. He speaks and advises on topics such as 100% Impact Investing; Climate-Aware Investing; and SDG Thematic Investing.
Richard holds a M.S. in Sustainability Management from Columbia University and a B.A. from the University of Virginia. He has a Sustainable Investment Professional Certification (SIPC) with the John Molson School of Business. Richard is the Executive Director of Foundation House and a Board Director at the Capital Institute. He has also served on the Ceres President’s Council, the Earth Charter Initiative International Council, and the Earth Institute Leadership Council.
Shannon Fellows
Manager, Impact Solutions,
Morningstar Sustainalytics
Prior to joining Morningstar Sustainalytics Shannon worked across several non-profits, including sustainable urban agriculture, an environmental business consortium, and the energy efficiency sector specializing in GHG audits, analyzing REC pricing and new energy bills, and corporate sustainability report writing.
Shannon has over 8 years of experience in supporting investors in adopting and integrating ESG insights into the investment process. Aside from her role at Morningstar Sustainalytics, Shannon currently serves as President at a local non-profit, which provides educational events on a range of sustainable investment topics for Boston-area professionals. Shannon holds a Bachelor of Arts in Biology and Environmental Studies from Connecticut College.
Shea Flanagan
Director of Sustainability and Strategy,
Conservation Resources
At Yale, Shea focused on the themes of conservation finance, systems change initiatives and organizational management. She wrote for the Conservation Finance Network at the Center for Business and the Environment, volunteered as a Nonprofit Board Fellow with The Nature Conservancy in Connecticut, worked for the Ucross High Plains Stewardship Initiative, and interned with LegacyWorks Group in the Teton region.
Prior to earning her Master of Environmental Management, Shea worked for The Nature Conservancy in two state chapters on their conservation and stewardship teams. She also worked for the Giraffe Conservation Foundation in Kenya as a field researcher. She is a graduate with honors from Dartmouth College, double majoring in Biology (Ecology) and Environmental Studies.
Thomas Belazis
Director,
The Rockefeller Foundation
Prior to joining the Foundation, Thomas was a Senior Associate at TAU Investment Management, a private equity firm focused on using growth capital to improve the social and environmental sustainability of global supply chains. During his tenure, Thomas played a pivotal role in driving new investment opportunities and developing the firm’s investment strategy in South and Southeast Asia.
Prior to TAU, he served as an Investment Analyst at the GEM Group, a $3.4 billion alternative investment firm that focuses largely on emerging markets worldwide. In his early career, Thomas was a Management Consultant based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil where he oversaw various strategic and operational projects that spanned across North and South America and the Asia Pacific.
Thomas holds a master’s degree in Development Economics and International Finance from Columbia University and BS in Finance from Miami University.
Tristan Reed
Economist,
World Bank Development Research Group
Tyler Blickhan
Associate Director,
Ascension Investment Management
Mr. Blickhan earned a BA degree from Saint Louis University in St. Louis, MO, where he completed a double major in Economics and History. He received his MBA from Indiana University at Bloomington and is a CFA and CAIA charter holder.
JOIN IMPACT
& SUSTAINABLE INVESTING PIONEERS!
A LIMITED NUMBER OF COMPLIMENTARY TICKETS IS AVAILABLE FOR INSTITUTIONAL INVESTORS & ASSET OWNERS
INDUSTRY LEADERS & IMPACT PIONEERS
Anita Bhatia
Former Assistant Secretary - General & Deputy Executive Director,
UN Women
Before that, Ms. Bhatia served since 2014 as the Director for Development Partner Relations at the World Bank Group. Previously, she held the position of Director of Partnerships and Advisory Services Operations (2011–2014) and Global Head of Knowledge at the International Finance Corporation (2010-2011).
Ms. Bhatia also served as Head of IFC’s Latin America Advisory Operations. In addition to Latin America, she has worked in Africa, Europe, Central Asia, and South and East Asia. Ms. Anita Bhatia brings extensive experience in the area of strategic partnerships, resource mobilization, and management. During her time at the IFC, she developed and expanded innovative partnerships with public and private sector partners to support its strategy in key areas, including fragile and conflict-affected states, gender equality, financial inclusion, support to women-owned businesses, and other priorities critical for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Ms. Bhatia holds a BA in History from Calcutta University, an MA in Political Science from Yale University, and a Juris Doctor in Law from Georgetown University.
Matt Damon
Co-founder,
WaterEquity and Water.org
Inspired during international travel with his family throughout Mexico and Guatemala as a youth, Matt has long been devoted to environmental and social issues. Learning about the immense challenges of accessing safe water and sanitation in Sub-Saharan Africa, Matt decided to create the H20 Africa Foundation. In 2009, he teamed up with Gary White to join their organizations and launch Water.org.
For his work as Co-founder of Water.org, Matt, along with fellow Water.org Co-founder Gary, was recognized as one of the TIME 100 most influential people in the world in 2011 and received the Environmental Media Award from The Environmental Media Association in 2013. In 2014, the World Economic Forum named Matt as the Crystal Award winner for his work through Water.org. Matt’s active participation in his organization’s work, including site visits to multiple countries, strategy development, advocacy, and high-level meetings with institutions like the World Bank and the World Economic Forum over the past decade, has positioned him as one of the world’s experts on water and sanitation issues.
Scilla Elworthy
Peace Builder, Three-time Nobel Prize Nominee
Sir Ronald Cohen
Chair,
The Global Steering Group (GSG)
Fran Seegull
President,
U.S. Impact Investing Alliance
Fran was the Chief Investment Officer and Managing Director of Investments at ImpactAssets where she headed investment management for The Giving Fund—an impact investing donor advised fund. She also oversaw product development for and managed the Global Sustainable Agriculture and Microfinance Plus Notes.
Prior to joining ImpactAssets, Fran was Managing Director at Funk Ventures, an early-stage impact venture capital and acceleration firm. She also served as Vice President of Business Development at Novica, an online retailer of products made by artisans in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Fran has consulted to National Geographic and NPR West as well as a number of family foundations and offices.
Fran has a BS in Economics from Barnard College at Columbia University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. She serves on the Investment Committee of Align Impact. Previously, Fran taught a graduate-level course on impact investing at USC’s Marshall School of Business and served on the Investment Committee of the Goldhirsh Foundation and on the G7 Social Impact Investment Task Force Working Group on Asset Allocation. She tweets on impact investing at @franseegull.
Hazel Henderson D.Sc.Hon., FRSA, founder of Ethical Markets Media, Certified B Corporation. She is a world-renowned futurist, active environmentalist, syndicated columnist, and author of award-winning Ethical Markets: Growing the Green Economy (2006); Mapping the Global Transition to the Solar Age (2014), and other books in 800 libraries, in 20 languages, including “Planetary Citizenship “co-authored by Buddhist leader Daisaku Ikeda. Ethical Markets is the publisher of Henderson’s forthcoming textbook, “Mapping the Global Green Transition: 2009-2020“.
She is the producer of the global TV series “Transforming Finance“ and the Ethical Markets TV series. She created in 2004 the EthicMark® Awards for Communications Uplifting the Human Spirit & Society, showcasing positive messages to raise the ethical bar on global advertising and in 2009 the annual Green Transition Scoreboard®.
She launched the EthicMarkGEMS®.com, the first global standard certifying only gems NOT mined from Mother Earth, to phase out unnecessary global gem mining, now chemically- identical gems are cheaply available worldwide and also co-created Ethical Biomimicry Finance®. Henderson served as a cabinet-level science policy advisor to the US Office of Technology Assessment, the National Science Foundation, and the National Academy of Engineering.
Her over 400 articles appear in Harvard Business Review, New York Times, LeMonde Diplomatique, and journals in Japan, Britain, Venezuela, China, France, Australia. Honorary Member of the Club of Rome, Fellow of Britain’s Royal Society for Arts and of The World Academy of Art & Science, Henderson shared the 1996 Global Citizen Award with Argentinian Nobelist Pérez Esquivel. She has many honorary degrees.
Amit Bouri
CEO & Co-founder,
The GIIN
Eva Halvarsson
CEO,
AP2
Claudia Kruse
Managing Director Global Responsible Investment & Governance,
APG
Ross Piper
CEO,
Christian Super
Jennifer Morris
CEO,
The Nature Conservancy
INTERESTED IN SPEAKING ABOUT IMPACT AND SUSTAINABLE INVESTING?
For more information on speaking engagements, please get in touch with Noémie Metz-Vinez: noemiemetz-vinez@phenixcapitalgroup.com