Roy Swan leads the Ford Foundation's Mission Investments team, managing approximately $1.35 billion in capital dedicated to advancing social justice and addressing inequality through impact investing. He oversees a robust, global portfolio of impact investments and works to strengthen and encourage impact investing strategies across the philanthropic, corporate, and government sectors.

Before joining the Ford Foundation, Roy was managing director and co-head of Global Sustainable Finance at Morgan Stanley, where he oversaw his team's commitment of more than $13 billion to community development transactions. He was also the founding chief investment officer of New York City's Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone (UMEZ), a federal initiative to bring new resources to distressed urban communities, which played a key role in Harlem's economic rebirth. He also previously served as CFO at Carver Bancorp, the nation's largest African American managed bank, and built deep expertise in investment banking at The First Boston Corporation, Salomon Brothers, and JPMorgan; finance at Time Warner; and practiced corporate law at Skadden Arps.

Roy has served on the boards of nonprofits related to economic development, education, and ESG reporting. He has also served on for-profit corporate and mutual fund boards. He received a bachelor's degree from Princeton University and a JD from Stanford Law School, where he was an editor of the Stanford Law Review.

Most recently, Roy authored "Positive Sum: How Zero-Sum Thinking Broke Capitalism – and How We Can Fix It," to be published by Wiley in July 2026. It reveals why zero-sum thinking continues to cost U.S. businesses $600 billion annually and offers a practical roadmap for recognizing the economic power of fairness to create broadly shared prosperity. Copies are available to order at positivesumbook.com.

Akasha Absher is the Co-President at Syntrinsic and Head of Impact Investing. She has more than 25 years’ experience in investment consulting, investment banking, fixed-income trading, risk management and nonprofit leadership and oversees the firm’s efforts to provide investment advice and strategic consulting to endowments, foundations, nonprofit organizations and philanthropic private clients. Akasha also Chairs the firm’s Portfolio Implementation Committee. Akasha serves as Chair of the Board of Pinnacol Assurance and Chair of the Investment Committee; she is also the Treasurer of the Board of Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce, Management Advisory Committee Member for BH Credit Management LLC, and Investment Committee member for Gary Community Ventures. Akasha was previously Portfolio Manager and Research Analyst at Lucidus Capital Partners and Caxton Associates. Prior to that, she was a Vice President and Senior Publishing Analyst at JP Morgan. Akasha earned her bachelor’s degree in finance from Clark Atlanta University and her MBA from the Ross Business School at the University of Michigan. Akasha was voted one of Colorado’ Women’s Chamber of Commerce Top 25 Most Powerful Women in 2020 and a Girl Scout Woman of Distinction in 2021. When not spending time with family, Akasha can be found practicing yoga and is a certified instructor. She enjoys hiking, reading, and traveling, both domestically and abroad.

William Burckart is the CEO of The Investment Integration Project (TIIP), where he advises a range of clients (including pension plans, investment management firms, private foundations and endowments, government and major industry bodies) on integrating system-level and investment goals through the development and implementation of related strategies. He is co-founder of Colorful Capital, a venture capital firm that brought capital support to enterprises founded and led by members of the broad LGBTQ+ community. William is Adjunct Professor of International and Public Affairs and The Brandmeyer Fellow for Impact and Sustainable Investing at the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA), Columbia University. He is a fellow of the High Meadows Institute, co-author of the book 21st Century Investing: Redirecting Financial Strategies to Drive Systems Change (Berrett-Koehler, 2021), and co-editor of the book New Frontiers of Philanthropy: A Guide to the New Tools and Actors that Are Reshaping Global Philanthropy and Social Investing (Oxford University Press, 2014). His writing has been featured in Chief Investment Officer, Barron's, The Guardian, Pensions & Investments, Forbes, Quartz, top1000funds, Investment & Pensions Europe (I&PE), Benefits & Pensions, InvestmentNews, Stanford Social Innovation Review (SSIR), ImpactAlpha, The Chronicle of Philanthropy, and FundFire to name a few.

Chief ESG and Impact Officer at Fondaction Asset Management, Belissa Rojas has more than 20 years of experience in sustainability and impact management. She advises financial organizations and impact investors on how to optimize their management and impact measurement practices by integrating sustainability into their business strategy, investments and governance.

A certified trainer in the field of impact standards for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and UNDP advisor in this field, she contributed to their adoption and the design of training workshops. Belissa is among the invited members of the Oxford Impact Measurement Programme at Said Business School.

She previously worked as an advisor to executive directors at the Inter-American Development Bank Group (BID, BID Invest and BID Lab) for offices in Peru, Chile and Colombia, in particular supporting the development of the private sector in the strategic areas of innovation, business transformation and impact management.

Belissa holds a master's degree in development management from the London School of Economics, a master's degree in finance, and a bachelor's degree in economics from the Universidad del Pacífico in Peru.

Madison Condon writes about issues at the intersection of climate science, economics, and financial regulation. Her scholarship has been included in collections of the best articles of the year for several fields, including environmental law, corporate law, and securities law. In 2025, the American Law Institute named Condon a recipient of its Early Career Scholars Medal, which is awarded every other year to “two outstanding early-career law professors whose work is relevant to public policy and has the potential to influence improvements in the law.” At Boston University School of Law, she teaches classes on Environmental Law, Corporations, Law and Capitalism, and Climate Risk and Financial Institutions. Outside of Boston University, Professor Condon serves on the Principles of Responsible Investment Academic Network Advisory Committee, and she is a member scholar at the Center for Progression Reform. Professor Condon’s scholarship has appeared or is forthcoming in leading legal journals including the UC Davis Law Review, the Washington Law Review, and the Utah Law Review. She has written for interdisciplinary publications including Finance & Society, NOMOS, Land Use Policy, PNAS, and the Review of Environmental Economics and Policy. Professor Condon is also a contributor to the Law and Political Economy Blog. Her writing and commentary have been featured in popular media outlets including The New York Times, Bloomberg, NPR, Politico, The Atlantic and The New Republic. Before joining BU Law, Professor Condon was an attorney at New York University School of Law’s Institute for Policy Integrity, where she participated in litigation against federal regulatory rollbacks. She clerked for Judge Jane Kelly of the 8th US Circuit Court of Appeals and was a postdoctoral fellow with the Earth Institute at Columbia University. Professor Condon holds a JD from Harvard Law School, an MALD from Tufts University’s Fletcher School, and a BS in Earth and Environmental Engineering from Columbia University. She was a Fulbright Fellow to the Netherlands where she researched water resources management at the Delft University of Technology.

Mark Surman has spent three decades building a better internet, from the advent of the web to the rise of artificial intelligence. Mark is President of Mozilla, a non profit that works with companies and communities around the world to ensure the internet is built for people, not for profit. Mozilla's double bottom line portfolio includes the public benefit companies that make Firefox, Thunderbird and open source AI developer tools; a venture fund that invests in responsible tech companies; and a global foundation which backs the work of artists, educators and builders. Mark works across this whole portfolio to ensure Mozilla's people and resources are aimed at bending tech — and the tech industry — in a direction that serves all of humanity. Before joining Mozilla, Mark spent 15 years leading organizations and projects focused on building the internet and open source in the public interest.Mark Surman has spent three decades building a better internet, from the advent of the web to the rise of artificial intelligence. Mark is President of Mozilla, a non-profit that works with companies and communities around the world to ensure the internet is built for people, not for profit. Mozilla's double bottom line portfolio includes the public benefit companies that make Firefox, Thunderbird and open source AI developer tools; a venture fund that invests in responsible tech companies; and a global foundation which backs the work of artists, educators and builders. Mark works across this whole portfolio to ensure Mozilla's people and resources are aimed at bending tech — and the tech industry — in a direction that serves all of humanity. Before joining Mozilla, Mark spent 15 years leading organizations and projects focused on building the internet and open source in the public interest.

As Co-Executive Director of the AJL Foundation, Kristi recognizes that working within philanthropy is a privilege and responsibility. She is honored and committed to ensuring John and Amy’s spirit of philanthropy lives on by investing in people, programs and movements that benefit Colorado's youth and families while also acknowledging and addressing the contradictions and power dynamics inherent to philanthropy. Kristi is personally passionate about holding herself and AJL accountable to the communities we serve and the triple bottom line - people, planet and profit. She serves on the steering committee for Colorado Funders for Inclusiveness and Equity and served two terms on the Board of Directors for Philanthropy Colorado. Prior to working in philanthropy Kristi worked for marketing agencies in Denver, Los Angeles and Madrid specializing in digital and print marketing, public relations and events planning for clients ranging from startups to Fortune 300 companies across the nonprofit, tech, consumer goods, healthcare and aerospace industries. She also spent time as a freelance writer and intern for the Steamboat Pilot & Today, a travel guide in Ecuador and various other online and print outlets. Kristi holds a master's degree in Journalism and a bachelor's degree in Marketing both from the University of Colorado - Boulder.

Maurits Dolmans’ practice focuses on EU, UK and international competition law, especially in high-tech and EU intellectual property law, and sustainability. He has extensive experience in information technology, internet, telecom, media and entertainment, as well as in energy and financial services. He has appeared in proceedings before the European Commission and the EU courts, national courts and national competition authorities of several Member States, and ICC and NAI arbitrations. Many of his competition cases involve multi-sided platforms, high-tech products, new economy services, licensing or refusals to license, standardization, IP strategy, access to networks, mergers, joint ventures and other transactions, intellectual property arbitration and litigation, abuses of dominance, vertical agreements and cartels. Maurits joined the firm in 1985, became a partner in 1994, and became senior counsel in 2024.

An early pioneer in sustainability, Maggie works from the belief that providers of capital can create value for both stakeholders and society. She joined UBC Investment Management earlier this year to lead its responsible investing and stewardship efforts. Armed with a degree in environmental studies, Maggie began her career on a derivatives trading desk, going on to manage the collateral desk for over-the-counter derivatives at RBC Capital Markets through the Great Financial Crisis. After ten years in financial markets and a year-long sabbatical to work on children’s rights in Southeast Asia, she moved into the field of sustainable finance and joined Sustainalytics, a dedicated ESG research provider. From there, Maggie went on to pursue the development of responsible investing and stewardship efforts across various parts of the financial system in Canada, including for asset managers, asset owners, and now UBCIM, an asset allocator. At UBCIM, her focus is on deepening the team’s approach to ESG integration for manager selection, monitoring and assessment, and embed social risk, including human rights, into the investment process. Maggie obtained her Master’s degree in Sustainability Leadership from the University of Cambridge and carries the Fundamentals of Sustainability Accounting Credential, and has studied Finance and Accounting through the Columbia Business School Executive Education program. A late bloomer in sports, Maggie now dabbles in a wide range of activities including snowboarding, marathon and ultramarathon running, powerlifting, and most recently Olympic lifting. She lives with her husband, two boys, and border collie in Toronto.

Kevin joined SHARE in 2013 as a Senior Analyst on social issues and became Executive Director in 2018. Prior to working with SHARE, Kevin was the Director of Advocacy for the Maquila Solidarity Network, a labour and women's rights organization, where he advised companies, governments, and public institutions on the development and implementation of policies and practices to improve respect for worker rights in global supply chains. From 1998 to 2009 Kevin served as a political advisor to the Chief and Governing Council of the Lubicon Lake First Nation in Alberta, Canada, and as Chief Negotiator for treaty negotiations with the Federal and Provincial governments. He also negotiated land use, environmental protection and economic benefit agreements with oil, gas and forestry corporations. Kevin holds a Master of Laws, LLM in international business law (with a focus on securities law, corporate governance, taxation, trade, and arbitration) and an Honours Bachelor of Arts in Environment and Resource Management from the University of Toronto.

At the University of Toronto Asset Management Corporation (UTAM), Nikki is focused on driving the advancement of responsible investing practices and climate commitments across asset classes through manager selection, stewardship, reporting, and industry building. Prior to UTAM, Nikki has worked with social finance investment management firms, intermediaries, ventures, and institutional investors in North America and Asia to design and implement impact investing strategies and product. She holds an Honours Business Administration undergraduate degree with a Sustainability Certificate from the Ivey Business School at Western University.

As Director, Sustainable Investing at OMERS, Lila focuses on advancing and implementing the SI strategy across the portfolio working with different investment teams and stakeholders. Prior to returning to Canada, she spent the bulk of her 20-year career in the United States developing investment solutions and advising different types of institutional investors in the US, Canada and Asia on their investment strategy, asset allocation and portfolio implementation across public and private markets, including ESG/RI/SI work. Some of her current areas of focus for OMERS include leading the strategy work for the ‘S’ of ESG, climate transition risk, and system-level stewardship.

Michael Azlen is a senior investment professional with 25+ years of industry experience. After a 15-year career spanning two Canadian banks and several alternative asset management companies, Mr. Azlen founded his first investment management business in 2005 and grew it to $700 million in assets before achieving an exit to a public company. Mr. Azlen holds a Sloan Masters Degree in Leadership and Strategy from London Business School, is a Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) and has completed the LSE’s “Economics and Governance of Climate Change” course. Following the sale of his business, Michael then focused on research into climate change and impact investment strategies. Michael’s research culminated with a deep focus on regulated carbon markets resulting in the authorship and publication of a full academic paper on carbon as a liquid and investable asset class. Based on this research, Michael formed Carbon Cap Management LLP as an environmental asset manager focused on carbon markets and climate impact and launched the World Carbon Fund in February 2020.

Steven Rothstein is the Ceres’ Chief Program Officer. He served as the founding Managing Director of the Ceres Accelerator for Sustainable Capital Markets. In his new role, he oversees all aspects of the organization’s programmatic work. Steven’s 40+ years of experience are critical to explore the most effective strategies to focus on and move capital markets towards climate sustainability including the remarkable colleagues in the Accelerator and throughout Ceres. Steven has had a successful career starting, managing, and growing several nonprofit, social change, and government organizations. After college he was one of Citizens Energy Corporation’s founding team members. He later started and ran Environmental Futures, a management and market consulting company serving enterprises seeking to grow their environmental work. He also ran the New England market for Constellation’s work as a successful electricity broker, the world-renowned Perkins School for the Blind, Citizen Schools, and the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation. He has worked at local, state, federal, and international levels of government. Steven has served on numerous nonprofit and government boards. He has spoken and written extensively.

Founder and CEO of VentureESG, a global non-profit focused on equipping 500+ VCs and 100+ asset owners and managers with responsible investing and ESG knowledge and tools. Anthropologist and writer. Finishing a manuscript (for Columbia UP) on the Kingmakers of tech, the venture capital investors and their decision making. Last year, I co-authored a book on diversity in VC/tech, published with Holloway. Directing CHIRN (Cambridge Homelessness Inclusion and Research Network) to support meaningful change in the Cambridge homelessness ecosystem. This builds on my PhD research (and monograph) on homelessness in Paris.