Date: Thursday, November 7, 2019
In this webinar, we learn about how endowments can use a slice of their real-asset allocations to invest in climate-smart strategies right here in the United States. The investor perspective is shared by Sarah Cleveland, a former investment consultant that currently works with mission-oriented investors to ensure they’re prepared to implement their impact investing program. She is also a board member of The Russell Family Foundation (TRFF) and chairs their investment committee. TRFF is a founding member of DivestInvest Philanthropy. Amrita Vatsal, Managing Director at EFM, discusses their climate-smart forestry strategy. EFM is a private real-asset manager that transitions private forests to FSC-certified management while also enabling long-term community based land-ownership in the western U.S. Amrita describes one of their investments and shares how their collaboration with community partners can enable landscape scale conservation, all within the context of a market-rate private real-asset investment. We also hear what this kind of investment makes possible in terms of environmental and social impact, from Erik Kingfisher, Stewardship Director of Jefferson Land Trust. Erik describes their vision for a community forest in Washington, and how the partnership with EFM helped them realize their goals.
Recording:
Additional Resources:
Webinar slides
The Russell Family Foundation Impact Investing Journey - Full Report or Executive Summary
GIIN: Scaling Investments in Sustainable Forestry
Cambridge Associates Benchmarking Study
Speakers:
- Sarah Cleveland, Founder & CEO, Sarah Cleveland Consulting; Board Member and investment committee chair, The Russell Family Foundation
- Amrita Vatsal, Managing Director, Business Development, EFM
- Erik Kingfisher, Stewardship Director, Jefferson Land Trust
- Moderator: Hannah Bowen, Network Manager, Intentional Endowments Network