2026 Virtual Forum
Agenda
June 2–4, 2026 · 12:00 – 3:00 pm ET Each Day
All times listed in Eastern Time. Sessions subject to change.
Tuesday, June 2
System-Level Lenses
| 12:00 – 12:25 pm | Fireside Chat | The Handbook of System-Level Investing Jon Lukomnik, Managing Partner, Sinclair Capital · William Burckart, CEO, The Investment Integration Project "Mitigating systemic risks by acting both within and outside the capital markets is new. It's complex. It's difficult. And it's dynamic over time." So write Jon Lukomnik and William Burckart in the introduction to the Handbook of System-Level Investing. The Handbook aggregates pioneering system-level approaches across asset classes, organizational types, and geographies, offering a unique lens into what works—and what doesn't—for vastly different pools of capital. To open the Forum, Jon and Bill will frame the day's discussions around systemic risks and supporting overall market health, addressing two critical questions: How do macroeconomic and systemic risks impact the long-term performance of your portfolios? And what can—and should—your organization be doing to address those risks and proactively support the health of the systems on which we all rely? |
| 12:25 – 12:45 pm | Dialogue | Dialogue in Breakouts |
| 12:45 – 1:15 pm | Panel | Case Study: Climate Justice Across the Portfolio Valerie Boucard, Senior Director of Environmental Justice, Nathan Cummings Foundation · Brigette Lumpkins, Client Portfolio Manager, Bivium Westfuller At a time when asset owners are navigating increased scrutiny around initiatives to center equity and mitigate climate risks, what can be learned from those spearheading innovative strategies in the face of pushback? Valerie Boucard and Brigette Lumpkins will provide a comprehensive look into NCF's REEJ Portfolio Project, sharing details on the Foundation's investment approach, environmental justice lens, and collaborative work with its consultant for optimal mission-alignment. |
| 1:20 – 1:40 pm | Panel | The Legal Case for Holistic Fiduciary Duty Keith Johnson, CEO, Global Investor Collaboration Services · Susan Gary, Professor Emerita, University of Oregon School of Law The dynamic nature of fiduciary duty will take center stage in this presentation from Keith Johnson and Susan Gary. Participants will learn the importance of overlooked fiduciary principles—the evolution of standard of care, the duty to investigate relevant facts, and the duty of impartiality—while leaving with a deeper understanding of litigation options and the role that litigation could play in protecting fundamental investor rights. |
| 1:40 – 2:00 pm | Dialogue | Dialogue in Breakouts |
| 2:00 – 2:30 pm | Keynote | Closing Keynote Jon Foley, Executive Director, Project Drawdown Project Drawdown is an independent nonprofit organization driving bold, science-based climate action through intersectional solutions touching all parts of society. Dr. Jonathan Foley, a climate and environmental scientist and Executive Director of Project Drawdown, joins us to share more about Project Drawdown's most recent work and the urgency of the climate movement as global temperatures continue to rise at an accelerating rate. |
Wednesday, June 3
Topical Deep Dives
| 12:00 – 12:20 pm | Panel | University of Cambridge: Seeding a Fossil-Free Cash Fund Ellen Quigley, Co-Director of Finance for Systemic Change, Research Professor, University of Cambridge · Mike Pearce, Managing Director, Cambridge Associates How do you move £500 million—and an entire sector—toward fossil-free cash investment? In this session, Ellen Quigley and Mike Pearce share the story behind the Cambridge-led coalition working to seed the first cash fund designed to screen out financial institutions that continue financing new fossil fuel infrastructure. The fund goes beyond excluding fossil fuel companies directly—filtering out banks, insurers, utilities, and other actors enabling fossil fuel expansion—and has already drawn in Oxford, LSE, Edinburgh, UCL, and more than 75 other UK institutions as coalition members. |
| 12:20 – 12:40 pm | Visionary Voices | Visionary Voices: Climate Solutions Sara Murphy, Director of System-Level Investing, Sierra Club Foundation · Scott Hobart, CIO, Mercator · Drake Hicks, Vice President, Head of Impact, Variant Investments · Mike Azlen, Founder and CIO, Carbon Cap Management · Anil Tammineedi, Partner, Angeleno Group These brief, 4-minute presentations will provide attendees with a glimpse into different sides of the climate solutions market. From private credit and venture capital to compliance carbon markets and public holdings, climate solutions can be found in every corner of the market for investors willing to think creatively about driving real-world change and decarbonization. Attendees will have an opportunity to dig into each presentation and ask questions during guided breakout rooms after the session. |
| 12:40 – 1:00 pm | Dialogue | Dialogue in Breakouts |
| 1:00 – 1:20 pm | Panel | Investing in the Alternative, Pro-Human AI Stack Paul Fehlinger, Senior Director of Policy, Investment & Innovation, Project Liberty · Mark Surman, President, Mozilla Foundation As AI reshapes the economy and embeds itself deeper into daily life, investors face a choice: pour capital into the concentrated, extractive AI stack—or help build an alternative. In this session, Paul Fehlinger of Project Liberty and Mark Surman of the Mozilla Foundation make the investment case for pro-human AI: open, trustworthy, and user-controlled infrastructure that addresses what three out of four LPs are already concerned about across their portfolios. From identity and data governance to foundation models, assurance technologies, and new application-layer business models, they'll walk through where the opportunities are—and why nine out of ten VCs already see responsible AI as a financial opportunity, not just a values position. |
| 1:20 – 2:00 pm | Workshop | Climate Modeling with En-ROADS Katherine Markova, Partnerships Manager, Climate Interactive What are the levers we have to change the trajectory of climate change? We'll welcome Katherine Markova for a workshop with the En-ROADS platform, a climate simulator that reveals how today's policy and technology choices can shape our planet's future. Through interactive analysis, participants will explore different modeling solutions that reflect very different future-facing outcomes—and answer the question: what needs to change to preserve a future for generations to come? |
| 2:00 – 2:20 pm | Keynote | Closing Keynote: Transforming the Face of Finance Purvi Gandhi, Board Chair, iDAC Foundation How does the pipeline of talent in the largest asset managers and investment banks develop, and who is missing from that table? The iDAC Foundation works to address this directly, activating the pipeline of students from grade school through post-grad to create access and fundamental shifts in the future faces of finance. Purvi Gandhi will share more on iDAC's student initiatives, its support of finance internships, and its emerging manager program—all implemented through the lens of inclusion. |
Thursday, June 4
Implementation Pathways
| 12:00 – 12:20 pm | Panel | Coordinating Consultants for System-Level Progress Max Messervy, Founding Principal, Oakledge Advisors · Lisa Sebesta, Investment Consultant/Principle, Prime Buchholz · Daniel Ingram, Partner, Head of Responsible Investing, AON What should investors seeking system-level support from a trusted advisor actually do? This session provides clear answers. Featuring Max Messervy's distilled insights alongside perspectives from Lisa Sebesta and Daniel Ingram, the panel addresses the core questions of consultant engagement: What specific goals are consultants aiming for? What trade-offs do those outcomes require? And what options do clients have when setting a system-level strategy, with or without a consultant? |
| 12:20 – 12:40 pm | Panel | We'll See You in Toronto: Lessons from Canada's Sustainable Investing Leaders
Wren Laing, Senior Investment Director, McConnell Foundation · Kevin Thomas, Chief Executive Officer, SHARE · Giancarlo Buonamici, Responsible Investment Analyst, McGill University
What does the sustainable investing landscape look like in Canada, and how are its leading asset owners navigating its unique challenges? SHARE's Kevin Thomas leads a targeted discussion on the distinct realities facing Canadian funds. Leaders from the foundation and university endowment spaces share front-line insights on driving real-world impact, including McConnell Foundation's journey toward 100% impact, McGill University's approach to climate targets and proxy voting accountability, and how Canadian asset owners can overcome systemic risks by working together. This session will also build anticipation for IEN's Annual Forum at the University of Toronto, November 18-20th! |
| 12:40 – 1:00 pm | Dialogue | Dialogue in Breakouts |
| 1:00 – 1:30 pm | Visionary Voices | Risk & Reward: Intersectional Approaches to Artificial Intelligence Oliver Nixon, Research Lead, Reframe Ventures · Meredith Benton, Founder, Techforward Investors · Jacob Tate, Manager & Team Lead, Data Structure and Analysis, The GIIN · Steven Rothstein, Chief Program Officer, Ceres · Divya Sundar, Director of Research, Majority Action These brief presentations offer five distinct entry points into one of the most consequential investment issues of the moment. From public equity governance research and venture capital to community impact and emerging impact metrics, AI touches every corner of the market—and every corner of society. Attendees will have the opportunity to dig into each presentation and ask questions in guided breakout rooms after the session. |
| 1:30 – 1:50 pm | Dialogue | Dialogue in Breakouts |
| 1:50 – 2:10 pm | Keynote | Closing Keynote: Harnessing Power for System-Level Change Renaye Manley, CLJE Fellow, Harvard Law School What actually moves systems? Not data alone—but narrative, institutional leverage, and power. In this closing keynote, Renaye Manley draws on her work at the intersection of labor, capital, and systemic change to examine what it really takes to shift markets and institutions at scale. As the definition of acceptable engagement continues to narrow in some quarters, Manley offers a clear-eyed counter-perspective: the business case was never the primary driver of change, and it won't be now. System-level investing is ultimately about who shapes the rules, who decides which risks count, and how investors can act with intention in a market of mixed signals. |