Program Highlights

Radhika Mehrotra, Associate Director, Capital Markets, CDP North AmericaRadhika leads investor engagement for CDP North America and is responsible for driving capital markets interactions with CDP data through portfolio assessment tools, corporate engagement and thought leadership opportunities. She leads the development of a private market disclosure and data solution, and global financial institution engagement on natural capital themes, primarily soft commodity linked deforestation and water security. Prior to this, as an ESG research analyst, Radhika developed assessment frameworks and ESG ratings, specializing in emerging markets.

At Independence Point Advisors, Chris helps clients drive value in the capital markets through ESG while helping steer the capital markets to drive impact and systemic change in the world. Chris brings more than 20 years of business expertise when working with clients to advance sustainability, impact and Environmental Social Governance (ESG). Chris’ expertise was developed through her years as a leader at EY’s Climate Change and Sustainability Services practice as well as her hands-on experience as an entrepreneur and across multiple functions within the corporate world. Chris is a spouse and mother of two, an avid runner and gardener, a wanna-be skier and chef.

Prior to joining Persefoni, she was Assistant Director in the Office of International Affairs at the SEC where she was responsible, among other things, for the SEC's engagement with international regulators, standard setters, and regulatory bodies on climate-related disclosure issues. Prior to joining the SEC, she was with the law firm Debevoise and Plimpton.

Laura directs the Ambition 2030 initiative at Ceres, working to increase the ambition of corporate uptake of robust GHG emission reduction targets aligned with science, development of strategic plans to meet those targets, and disclosure of progress. Laura provides investors and companies with the business case for setting Science Based Targets (SBTs) and going Net Zero along with technical expertise to address challenges along the way. Before joining Ceres, Laura served as the first Sustainability Director at Amherst College where she successfully developed a plan that commits the college to carbon neutrality by 2030. Prior to Amherst, Laura worked at the World Resources Institute on the GHG Protocol team, where she helped develop the Corporate Value Chain Scope 3 and Product Life Cycle Greenhouse Gas Accounting and Reporting Standards. Laura has been recognized as an expert in life cycle assessment and has had roles supporting life cycle energy systems assessment with the U.S Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Energy.

Ethan Rouen is an assistant professor of business administration in the Accounting and Management Unit, where he teaches the elective course Reimagining Capitalism, and the faculty co-chair of the Impact-Weighted Accounts Project at Harvard Business School.His current research interest focuses on understanding economic inequality and the measurement of human capital. He has been awarded from the American Accounting Association the Competitive Manuscript Award, the Deloitte Foundation Wildman Medal, and the Best Dissertation Award in the Financial Accounting and Reporting Section. His research has been published in The Journal of Financial Economics, The Accounting Review, Management Science, and The Review of Accounting Studies, and his journalism and opinion articles have appeared in the Boston Globe, Le Monde, HuffPo, The Hill, CEOWORLD Magazine, and Fortune.com, among others. He appears frequently in national and international media outlets.Professor Rouen earned a BA in history and English from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and an MS in journalism at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. From Columbia Business School, he received an MBA in finance and accounting, an M.Phil. in accounting, and a PhD in accounting.

Allison Binns joined Angelo Gordon in 2021 as the Head of ESG & Sustainable Investing for the firm. She focuses on ESG integration and sustainable investing approaches across investment verticals, and is responsible for sustainability reporting. Prior to joining the firm, Allison was an Executive Director for Global Sustainability Research at Morgan Stanley, where she headed ESG research across fixed income asset classes and led corporate governance research for equities. Previously, Allison worked for Chevron where she held a number of senior advisory roles in ESG and geopolitical risk.  Prior to Chevron, Allison worked for the Office of the Commissioner of Baseball and the Boston Red Sox, where she focused on salary arbitration and international baseball concerns.  She serves on the boards of the Poetry Society of America, the FDR Four Freedoms Park Conservancy, and the Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowship.  Allison received her A.B. in Sociology and Latin American Studies from Princeton University, and holds an A.M. and PhD. from Harvard University.

Carletta Ooton is the Head of ESG for Private Equity and an Operating Partner at Apollo Global Management, Inc., responsible for advancing the Firm’s ESG integration and operational performance across its private equity portfolio in the areas of energy usage, carbon emissions, water consumption, DEI, and safety. Carletta joined Apollo from Amazon where she served as the Vice President of Product Assurance, Risk and Security since 2014. She was instrumental in Amazon’s foundational sustainability efforts, calculating its initial carbon footprint and launching Amazon’s Climate Pledge. Carletta has held key leadership roles at The Coca-Cola Company, Cott Beverages, Bath & Body Works, Unilever and Tate & Lyle. Carletta holds a BA in Biological Sciences and Chemistry and a MA in Microbiology.

Margot Brandenburg is a senior program officer on the foundation’s Mission Investments team, focused on building and strengthening the infrastructure of the impact investment market—with an eye to shaping the broader capital markets. She has spent two decades working at the intersection of philanthropy, capital markets, and social and environmental justice. Prior to joining Ford, Margot served as founder and CEO of MyStrongHome, a benefit corporation delivering resilience finance services to homeowners across the Southeast and Gulf Coast of the US. Before that, she helped design and lead the impact investing initiative at the Rockefeller Foundation. She co-authored the book The Power of Impact Investing with former RF president Judith Rodin. While at Rockefeller, she also focused on job creation and issues of economic security for low-wage workers. Margot began her career in international microfinance and has worked with several community development finance institutions in the US. She serves on the boards of the Workers Lab, Brooklyn Cooperative Credit Union, and the Woodcock Foundation, and as an adviser to the National Domestic Workers Alliance as well as the National Energy Improvement Fund. She received a master’s in public affairs from the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University and holds an undergraduate degree from Stanford University.

As Director, Land Use Finance with WBCSD, Ryan recently led work developing a set of climate scenarios enabling food, agriculture, and forest products companies to better understand their climate transition risks and opportunities. He has more than 20 years of experience designing and leading complex initiatives in international conservation and corporate sustainable development focused on nature, climate, and energy. He is a former corporate Director of Sustainability for a Fortune 500 technology company and International Development Officer with experience working in East Asia for more than 5 years on oceans, forests, and finance. Prior to his work with WBCSD, Ryan was Managing Director of the Midwest Row Crop Collaborative, a coalition of leading food & agriculture companies and NGOs working together on scalable solutions for regenerative agriculture.

Emilio Tenuta’s 38-year tenure at Ecolab includes 25 years of technical, marketing and business management experience in various industries including Food and Beverage, Pharmaceutical, Lodging, Healthcare, Primary Metals and Automotive. In the past 11 years, Tenuta has led Ecolab’s strategic sustainability journey focused on corporate responsibility, internal environmental stewardship and helping customers operate more sustainably. He is actively involved in advancing global sustainability practices, with a significant focus on water stewardship and climate action. In partnership with Global S&P Trucost – and a multi-stakeholder advisory group – Tenuta led development of the Water Risk Monetizer, industry’s first financial modeling tool to assess water-related risk, and the Smart Water Navigator, a free online tool to help businesses improve water management and achieve their water reduction targets. In recent years, he’s become a leader in environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices and reporting and has collaborated with a number of large impact investors. Partnering with investor relations and Ecolab’s Chief Executive Officer, Tenuta has advanced Ecolab’s reputation as an ESG leading company. Tenuta is actively involved in advancing industry sustainability and corporate responsibility practices. He sits on the board of directors of the World Environment Center, a global non-profit, non-advocacy organization and the leadership council of the Corporate Eco Forum.

Abigail Gampher is a Legal Analyst for Bloomberg Law. Abigail provides practical guidance and data-driven analysis for in-house counsel and law firm attorneys grappling with ESG and activist investor matters. As Bloomberg Law’s subject-matter expert on these topics, she has authored over 35 articles analyzing ESG and investor activism developments for a legal audience. A select few include: ANALYSIS: Green Product Claims Face Growing Consumer Scrutiny; ANALYSIS: Potential Activist Targets Score Low in ESG; and ANALYSIS: Q4 Activism Boosts 2022 Activity to Five-Year High. Abigail is licensed to practice law in the District of Columbia. She holds a J.D. from American University, Washington College of Law and a B.A. in International Relations from Hendrix College.

Veena Ramani is a Research Director at FCLT Global.

Before this, Veena Ramani was a senior director at Ceres, and led Ceres’ work on governance for sustainability. Veena managed the relationships with a wide portfolio of Ceres network companies as a part of the Ceres Corporate Program, including the financial services sector and the electric power sector. As a part of this, Veena worked with senior company management and boards on opportunities to integrate sustainability into their business structures and decision making, including policy and program development, disclosures and stakeholder engagement processes.

Prior to Ceres, Veena worked as a Management Consultant with CDM, an environmental consulting firm and focused on providing a variety of sustainability services to clients in the public and private sectors. Prior to that, she spent three years with Integrative Strategies Forum, a Washington DC based NGO, working on developing national and international policy solutions on sustainable development, building consensus and coalitions among civil society groups on these issues and lobbying government representatives. Veena has also practiced law in India.

Veena has an LL.M (Masters in Law) degree from Washington University in St. Louis and a B.A. LL. B (Hons) degree from National Law School from India University, Bangalore.

Helle Bank Jorgensen is an internationally recognized expert on sustainable business practices, with a 30-year record of turning environmental, social, and governance (ESG) risks into innovative and profitable business opportunities. She works with many global Fortune 500 board members and executives, as well as smaller companies and investors.Helle is the founder and chief executive of Competent Boards, which offers online climate and ESG programs that draw on the experience of over 180 renowned board members, executives, and investors. Hundreds of directors and senior executives have enrolled in these programs to mitigate the risks and seize the opportunities presented by ESG and climate change.Helle serves at:-Nasdaq Center for Board Excellence’s Sustainability & ESG Insights Council;-World Economic Forum (WEF) Expert Network for Corporate Governance, Leadership, and Emerging Multinationals;-His Royal Highness Prince of Wales A4S (Accounting for Sustainability) Global Expert Panel;-The Non-financial Digitisation Working Group of the Impact Management Project (IMP);-The Reuters Panel of Expert Judges for the Responsible Business Awards;-Canadian Climate Governance Experts –- a Commonwealth Climate & Law Initiative;-Chair of the Advisory Committee of the ESG Exchange.In 2020 she was awarded the Global Impact Award and named one of "5 people in ESG to look out for." She was also selected as one of LinkedIn's Top Voices in the Green Economy in the US and Canada for 2022. Ms. Bank Jorgensen is the author of the newly published book Stewards of The Future: A Guide for Competent Boards, an Amazon bestseller.

Sara brings 25 years’ experience in sustainable investment, systems-level investment, corporate responsibility and governance, environmental and social advocacy, and related research and strategy across three continents. Sara joined The Shareholder Commons (TSC) in 2020 as the Chief Strategy Officer. TSC is a non-profit organization that addresses social and environmental issues from the perspective of shareholders who diversify their investments to optimize risk and return. TSC addresses the divergence that often emerges between a company’s interest in maximizing its cash flows over the long term and its shareholders’ interests in optimizing overall market returns. TSC believes that in a free-market system, investors must establish universally applicable minimum standards for portfolio companies, so as to preserve essential social and environmental systems that undergird diversified investment portfolios. TSC promotes system stewardship through four interrelated initiatives: public advocacy, engaging investors, policies, and litigation. Sara began her career working for NGOs in the international development and disaster response fields. In 2001, she transitioned into Sustainable and Responsible Investment (SRI) research for the Investor Responsibility Research Center (IRRC), where she specialized in bioengineering and defense contracting research. After leaving IRRC, Sara spent several years at The Cadmus Group, an environmental consultancy. In 2005, Sara moved to Frankfurt, Germany to work as a Senior Sustainability Analyst for Fortis Investments’ SRI fund management team. Fortis Investments was acquired by BNP Paribas Asset Management during Sara’s tenure. Sara transitioned back to Washington, DC in 2011, where she launched her independent consultancy on sustainable investing and corporate responsibility.

Ellen has worked at the intersection of sustainability and human resources as a recruiter and consultant for 25+ years. A super connector, Ellen’s passion for sustainability and ESG was sparked while obtaining her MBA from Yale and interning at L.L.Bean. Ellen is a regular speaker at industry events, and pens a column with GreenBiz entitled “Talent Show.” She frequently shares her perspective with global media outlets, including Marketplace, the Wall Street Journal and Barron’s.