Join Beth Richmond and Taylor Black from BSR® as they reflect on their careers and current work focused on providing consultancy services and building a sustainable business network focused on creating a world in which all people can thrive on a healthy planet.

Location: Mignone Center for Career Success, 54 Dunster Street
Time: 6-8pm

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Beth Richmond, Director Transformation, helps companies create a more just and sustainable world through cutting-edge sustainability management. Beth leads BSR’s strategy practice, helping companies understand performance, identify priorities, and design effective sustainability solutions that increase resilience and deliver value for business and society.

Beth is also an active member of BSR’s Sustainable Futures Lab and regularly advises companies on climate change. Beth has led engagements in all of BSR’s major industry groups, touching all of BSR’s focus areas. Prior to joining BSR, Beth served as the director of sustainability for a packaging manufacturer, where she was responsible for corporate-wide sustainability strategy and implementation. Beth also worked as a consultant to the US
Environmental Protection Agency, where she developed benefit-cost analyses of proposed federal regulation and supported industry partnership development. Beth holds a MEM from the Yale School of the Environment and a BA in Economics from Colby College.

Taylor Black, Associate Climate Change, works with BSR member companies across industries on climate change, including science-based targets alignment and climate scenario analysis. She is also part of the Climate Justice Working Group.

Prior to joining BSR, Taylor worked on a variety of research projects and internships, covering carbon accounting, biodiversity metrics, industrials (transportation, extractives), and supply chain human rights. She also worked for the Walt Disney Company in Guangzhou, China as well as the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in the Gulf of Mexico. For her work with FEMA, Taylor received the President’s Volunteer Service Gold Award.

Taylor holds a Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy (MALD) from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, where she focused on Sustainable Business and Environmental Policy. Her BA is from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She received a Fulbright Scholarship to work at an engineering university in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia in 2019.

Join us on Thursday March 28 to hear from Jasmine Graham, Executive Director of Mid-Hudson Energy Transition, Crystal Johnson, Assistant Secretary of Environmental Justice, MA Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, and Oleander Stone, Deputy Director of Climate Equity and Environmental Justice on careers in environmental justice, and Shamar A. Bibbins, MC/MPA student at the Harvard Kennedy School and Senior Program Office for the Environment Program at the Kresge Foundation

Location: Salata Institute, HKS Belfer Floor 3.5
Time: 6-8pm

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Jasmine Graham (she/they) joined Mid-Hudson Energy Transition (MHET) in April 2023 as the first permanent Executive Director. Prior to MHET, Jasmine served as the Senior Equity and Affordability Advisor at the Building Decarbonization Coalition. She previously held roles at WE ACT for Environmental Justice, where she was responsible for strengthening and advancing the organization’s energy policies as their Energy Justice Policy Manager, and Sustainable Westchester, where she managed the first and largest community choice aggregation program in New York State.

Jasmine is appointed to two New York City Advisory Boards – the Climate Mobilization Advisory Board and the Sustainability Advisory Board – where she presents implementation recommendations for the City’s landmark building decarbonization law, Local Law 97, and the long-term sustainability plan for the city, PlaNYC.

Jasmine is currently pursuing an MBA in Sustainability at Bard College, and in her limited free time, she can be found hanging out with her partner, Carolyn, and their adorable pup, Zero.

Crystal Johnson currently serves as the Assistant Secretary of Environmental Justice, Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, Commonwealth of Massachusetts and an astute Senior Environmental Planner, Energy Strategist, and Sustainability Specialist with more than twenty-five years of accomplishments in strategic planning, management, policy, research, and assessment of energy (energy equity, clean energy workforce development, energy efficiency/electrification, energy management, renewables, and emissions inventory), environmental resources (water/wastewater, air, natural resources, food systems, hazardous materials, and other), and sustainability (planning and operations of buildings and best practices for the human element).

She leverages her experience and expertise for climate action and focuses on environmental justice and equity. A graduate of the University of California at Berkeley, Crystal’s illustrious career is marked by numerous accolades, including appointments by former Massachusetts Governor Baker to the Energy Facilities Siting Board and recognition from the United Nations for her Sustainability and Energy Strategist Award.

Notably, Crystal has played pivotal roles in shaping progressive energy and sustainability programs, providing strategic leadership in areas such as energy efficiency, environmental justice, and clean energy workforce development. Her extensive portfolio includes advising Energy Efficiency Advisory Councils, mentoring clean tech startups, and spearheading initiatives to promote sustainability across various sectors, including transportation and education.

Oleander Stone (they/them) is the new Deputy Director of Climate Equity and Environmental Justice with the Climate Team at EEA. In this role, they work to center accountable engagement and equity in the various initiatives of the Climate Team. Prior to this job they were the Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness program Regional Coordinator for the Berkshires and Hilltowns with a technical assistance focus on equity and engagement. They went to graduate school at UMass Amherst where they studied geology with a focus on geologic carbon sequestration. As a teenager, Oleander helped develop a native plant nursery and has continued to collect native seeds for propagation and can often be found giving plant matter to friends and neighbors.

Shamar A. Bibbins is a MC/MPA student at the Harvard Kennedy School. She is an innovative leader who partners with environmental organizations, public sector leaders, and community and grassroots advocates to drive transformative change in environmental and climate justice, public health and climate change, and economic inclusion within the non-profit and philanthropic sectors. Shamar’s work supports efforts that influence local, state, and federal climate change policy development and implementation to directly benefit communities of color and other groups disproportionately burdened by environmental pollution and historically underrepresented in policy development.

Since 2014, Shamar has served as a senior program officer for the environment program at the Kresge Foundation, a private, U.S.-based foundation that works to expand opportunities in America’s cities through grantmaking and social investing. While at Kresge, Shamar oversaw the successful implementation of the Foundation’s Climate Change, Health, and Equity Initiative, a $23 million, multi-year national partnership between Kresge’s Environment and Health programs that addresses the intersecting imperatives of the impacts of climate change on human health. Shamar’s grantmaking also supports efforts that advance diversity, equity, racial justice, and inclusion in the environmental nonprofit and philanthropic fields.

Prior to Kresge, she served as Director of National Partnerships at Green for All, a national, U.S-based nonprofit organization dedicated to building a green economy strong enough to lift people out of poverty. Shamar earned a bachelor’s degree in science, technology, and society from Vassar College, where she received distinction on her senior thesis, Race, Class, and Environment. She was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to Japan, where she conducted field research on the environmental and social implications of unprecedented mercury dumping in Minamata Bay in Kyushu, Japan.

A native of Detroit, Michigan, Shamar is inspired and guided by a deep belief in the power to effect change. She cares deeply about healing people and the planet and is committed to improving the health and well-being of underrepresented groups across the globe by addressing structural changes to environmental and economic policies. She serves on the Board of Directors of Community Wealth Partners in Washington, D.C., and is a Philanthropic Trustee of The Solutions Project in Oakland, California. She is a yogi, and enjoys hiking, running, writing, ocean views, and listening to live music.

Join us on March 7 to hear from Dr. Lea Borkenhagen, Senior Vice President of EDF+Business and Pamela Fletcher, former Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer of Delta Airlines on careers in corporate sustainability and climate action.

Location: Mignone Center for Career Success, 54 Dunster Street
Time: 6-8pm

Dr. Lea Borkenhagen is the senior vice president of EDF+Business, directing EDF’s strategy to catalyze private sector action that accelerates the transition to net zero emissions, creates safer products, and feeds the world without warming the planet. Dr. Borkenhagen brings two decades of experience in driving positive environmental and social outcomes through business leadership by developing future-facing strategies with the top global food, fashion, retail, and tech companies. She served as Global Strategy and Innovation Advisor to the Earthshot Prize, crafting the strategy to find solutions to the world’s most pressing environmental challenges. Prior to that, Lea spent a decade at Nike, where she led a brand-only collaboration of global fashion, retail, and sportswear companies representing over $250B in revenue to deliver accelerated impacts on sustainability industry-wide. Lea headed Nike’s strategy to overturn a decades-old approach to labor and instead value it as a revenue driver, working from factory level to Board.

Before Nike, Lea led Oxfam GB’s global livelihoods work, enabling her team to co-found the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil and the Better Cotton Initiative, to build globally relevant frameworks for understanding business impacts on poverty, and to create accelerator fund mechanisms to support businesses that improved wages for low-income populations.

Lea holds a PhD in Environmental Science, Policy and Management from the University of California at Berkeley on agriculture in Indonesia and was a Fulbright Scholar in the Cote d’Ivoire. Earlier in her career, Lea focused on biodiversity and forest conservation, contributing to the first WRI-IUCN-UNEP Global Biodiversity Strategy where she pioneered a focus on gender and was awarded by UNEP as a New Generation Leader. Her undergraduate degree from Harvard University in Biological Anthropology examined primate and forest ecology in Indonesia.

Pamela Fletcher is a seasoned executive with over three decades of experience across the automotive and transportation industries, with a proven track record of leading innovation, creating new, high-growth businesses, driving market expansion, and growing new revenue streams.

Currently, Fletcher serves on the Lumentum Board of Directors and on the Board of Advisors for the College of Engineering at the University of North Carolina Charlotte.

Previously, was Senior Vice President, Chief Sustainability Officer and Corporate Innovation at Delta Air Lines, Inc., where she led Delta’s Sustainability and Innovation organizations in service of the company’s net-zero future. Prior to Delta Air Lines, she enjoyed a fifteen-year career at General Motors, where she held senior leadership positions such as Vice President of Global Innovation and Vice President of Electric Vehicles, among other roles.

Fletcher is a well-known innovator in the transportation sector, having been named in Motor Trend’s 2018 and 2019 “Power List;” on Automotive News’s 2020 list of “100 Leading Women in the North American Auto Industry;” and on Crain’s 2021 list of “100 Most Influential Women.”

Fletcher holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree from Kettering University and a Master of Engineering degree from Wayne State University. She has also completed Executive Education programs at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, Harvard Business School, and the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.

Join us on February 21 to hear from Lauren Kiel, General Manager for Bloomberg Green and Susan Israel, Founder and President of Climate Creatives. 

Location: Mignone Center for Career Success, 54 Dunster Street
Time: 6-8pm

Lauren Kiel is the General Manager at Bloomberg Green which includes a website featuring daily editorial coverage, a daily email newsletter, a podcast and radio segments, a magazine, and a weekly television show, as well as integrations across digital video, Bloomberg Quicktake, Bloomberg Television, and Bloomberg Live events. 

Prior to the launch of Bloomberg Green in January 2020, Lauren was director of the Bloomberg Sustainable Business Summits, which bring together senior leaders in sustainable business and sustainable finance across the world for conversations on how sustainability connects to the global economy. Lauren previously lead the editorial and programming strategy for Bloomberg Industry Group’s annual live journalism conferences and managed editorial for Bloomberg Government events. 

Before joining Bloomberg, she was a member of the editorial team for The Atlantic’s live journalism division, AtlanticLIVE. There she led content development and speaker recruitment for more than a dozen events and conferences per year, including the CityLab conference for mayors and city leaders. 

Lauren is also currently a faculty member at Bard College’s MBA in Sustainability teaching courses in Marketing and Stakeholder engagement. Lauren holds a bachelor’s degree in History and Literature from Harvard University and a master’s degree in English: Issues in Modern Culture from University College London. She is based in New York City. 

Susan Israel, an accomplished architect, artist, social entrepreneur, and change agent, embarked on a mission for climate action in 2008. Recognizing the need for inspiration and visible impact to motivate collective action, Susan founded Climate Creatives. This innovative initiative leverages art and design to engage people emotionally, addressing the barriers of fear and skepticism about the significance of individual actions. Drawing on a background in art and design, Susan understands the transformative power of creation, emphasizing its ability to teach, engage, and inspire beyond conventional methods.

Before establishing Climate Creatives, Susan honed her architectural skills at esteemed firms such as Graham Gund Associates and Moshe Safdie Architects, eventually founding her own firm. Committed to fostering environmental initiatives, she serves as a Mentor for the Clean Tech Open NE, contributes to the Friends of UN World Oceans Day planning group, and plays an active role in Harvard alumni leadership. Susan’s engagement includes serving as an HAA Board of Directors member (emeritus), Class Chair, and Co-Founder of Harvard Alumni for Climate and Environment (HACE). Susan Israel is an alumna of Harvard College and Harvard Graduate School of Design.

Join us on February 28 to hear from Jorge Kamine, partner at Willkie Farr & Gallager LLP in the Corporate & Financial Services Department, Co-Chair of the Project Finance & Investment Practice Group and a member of the Latin America Practice Group, Nancy Israel, Senior Legal Counsel, New England Clean Energy at National Grid,  Francesa Reznik, Associate for Energy & Mitigation Policy at the Aspen Institute and Daniel Weeks, Vice President of Business Development at ReVision Energy on careers in energy and climate.

Location: Harvard Center for the Environment (HUCE), 26 Oxford Street Floor 4
Time: 6-8pm

Jorge Kamine is a partner at Willkie Farr & Gallager LLP in the Corporate & Financial Services Department, Co-Chair of the Project Finance & Investment Practice Group and a member of the Latin America Practice Group. Mr. Kamine focuses his practice on a wide range of transactions in the energy and infrastructure sector globally with a particular emphasis on the debt and equity financing of projects and the structuring, acquisition and divestment of investments in a broad array of energy and infrastructure projects and assets. He has broad experience across the energy industry, including specific experience with renewable and conventional power and transmission, LNG, hydrogen, and biofuels, and with public-private partnerships and investments in transportation and other non-energy infrastructure. His geographic experience includes work on matters in over 25 countries throughout the world with significant experience handling matters and transactions across the United States, Latin America and the Caribbean. He is fluent in English, Spanish and Portuguese, and regularly negotiates in those languages.

Mr. Kamine is ranked in the Chambers USA and Global Guides for his work on projects in the energy sector.  He has also been named to Latinvex’s “Top 100 Lawyers” for Latin America and in The Legal 500 Private Practice Powerlist: US-Mexico and recognized by Latin Lawyer 250, Best Lawyers, and The Legal 500: Latin America for his project finance, energy and infrastructure sector work.  He is a frequent speaker and panelist at various industry and academic conferences and seminars on topics related to project finance, energy and infrastructure projects and energy policies in Latin America and the United States. He is also a frequent contributor to the Inter-American Dialogue’s Latin America Advisor and Latin America Energy Advisor as well as Latinvex, LatinFinance and Latin Lawyer magazines.  Further, Mr. Kamine holds a J.D from Harvard Law School and BA from Rice University.

Nancy Israel handles ground-breaking regulatory cases on climate change as a clean energy lawyer at the electric utility, National Grid. Through advocacy and collaboration with counterpart utilities, regulators, renewable energy developers, and clean energy advocates, Nancy works on implementing public policies to transform the electric grid for a clean energy future. Nancy’s current focus is a first in nation case on forward-looking electric system planning to connect the solar energy, energy storage, EVs, and electric heat pumps needed for the state to reach its net zero 2050 goals.

Nancy pivoted to a regulatory clean energy practice after spending most of her career as a business and reinsurance lawyer. Previous positions include international counsel and a partner in EY, in house counsel for Harvard University and positions in every size law firm, including her own. Nancy also worked in clean energy advocacy at the non-profit Ceres and was on the New England Board of Directors of E2, a national nonpartisan group of business leaders and investors advocating for policies that are good for both the economy and the environment. She is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School and a member of the Adams House Senior Common Room.

Francesca Reznik is a program associate for Energy & Mitigation Policy at the Aspen Institute’s Energy & Environment Program. In this role, Francesca assists in the planning and execution of high-level forums on a variety of topics, bringing together experts from both the private and public sectors to discuss the biggest issues facing us today. Prior to joining the team, she worked at All in Energy, an energy justice nonprofit in Massachusetts. A two-time University of Pennsylvania alum, she holds a BA in religious studies and a master’s degree in behavioral science, two unique perspectives which she brings to her climate work. After receiving her MBDS degree, she then pursued a Master of Theological Studies focusing on Religion, Ethics, and Politics at Harvard Divinity School. She believes in aligning people of faith with the existential threat of climate change, and tries to embody this ethic in her own life. Francesca was born in Mexico, raised in New Jersey, and is currently based in Boston.

Dan Weeks is a clean energy advocate and entrepreneur on a mission to transition New England from fossil fuels to renewable energy. As ReVision Energy’s Vice President of Business Development, Dan combines his love of people and the place where he was raised, with a strong desire to see business become a force for good in society. Dan’s responsibilities include developing large-scale solar projects with commercial and institutional partners, promoting policy change to accelerate the clean energy transition, and providing strategic direction in marketing and sales. He is especially committed to expanding access to cost-saving clean energy for low-income communities by partnering with nonprofits and municipalities. He has been named one of New Hampshire’s “Most Influential Business Leaders” by NH Business Review, “Young Professional of the Year” by Stay Work Play New Hampshire, and “Forty Under 40” by the New Hampshire Union Leader.

Prior to ReVision Energy, Dan was Executive Director of Open Democracy, where he continues to serve on the Advisory Board, and president of Americans for Campaign Reform (now Issue One). In 2012-13, he traveled the United States by Greyhound Bus on a poverty-line budget of $16/day researching poverty and political exclusion on a fellowship from Harvard. He is the author of “Democracy in Poverty: A View From Below” and has written for The Atlantic, New York Times, Boston Globe, Christian Science Monitor, and other outlets. He continues to write and speak on public affairs and serve on numerous nonprofit boards.

A 12th-generation Granite Stater, Dan left New Hampshire after high school to serve with AmeriCorps and attend Yale and Oxford on scholarships. He was fortunate to live and work on four continents before returning with his South African wife Dr. Sindiso Mnisi Weeks, a human rights lawyer and academic. Dan and Sindiso are the proud parents of three young children and enjoy reading, cycling, and playing music in their church band.

On September 14th, students and alumni heard from Megan Starr, Partner and the Global Head of Impact at Carlyle.

In her role, Ms. Starr works to design and execute Carlyle’s cohesive, long-term impact strategy. She also oversees the dedicated ESG team, which leads the firm’s investment diligence and portfolio company engagement work on material ESG issues.  

Prior to joining Carlyle, Ms. Starr was within Goldman Sachs’ Investment Management Division, where she helped build the ESG and impact investing business. Previously, Ms. Starr served in roles at The JPB Foundation, a $3.8B private family foundation based in New York City. 

Ms. Starr received an M.B.A. and a Certificate in Public Management and Social Innovation from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business, where she was an Arbuckle Leadership Fellow, and an A.B. in Environmental Science and Public Policy from Harvard College, where she graduated magna cum laude with highest honors in field of concentration. 

On October 4th, students and alumni heard from Evan Gordon Greenfield, Rajesh Swaminathan, and Rebekah Emanuel on Impact Investing and Deep Tech Start-Ups. Watch the recording here.

Evan Gordon Greenfield oversees British Columbia Investment Management’s ESG program for its Private Equity asset class. Formerly, Evan was Senior Managing Director, Global Head of ESG at S&P Global where he oversaw ESG strategy, M&A, and operations. Evan helped establish S&P Global as pre-eminent provider of ESG and climate solutions to corporates and capital market participants. Prior to joining S&P Global, Evan helped build and oversee the ESG and Impact Investing Platform for Deutsche Bank’s Asset and Wealth Management vertical in the America’s. Previously Evan was a private equity investor in the States, Europe and Asia.

Evan is a passionate member of the ESG Movement and believe the capital markets can play a critical role in advancing sustainability. 

Evan graduated from Duke University with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics & Markets and completed his MBA at Harvard Business School. 

Rajesh Swaminathan is  Partner at Khosla Ventures. Rajesh has two decades of experience assisting and investing in deep tech startups. He manages many of the firm’s investments across renewables generation, storage, hydrogen, industrial decarbonization, plastics, foodtech, healthcare and advanced manufacturing. 

Previously, Rajesh was the head of Applied Ventures LLC, the venture capital arm of Applied Materials, where he managed a portfolio of 85 deep tech startups globally, as well as two deep-tech funds in Korea and Taiwan. He led investments and helped build companies, many of which had strong exits, including Enphase Energy, Solid Energy, Rockley, Infinite Power Solutions, Adaptive3D, Tango, Inpria, PlayNitride and Norsk Ti. Rajesh was recognized amongst the top 100 global CVCs on the Global Corporate Venture (GCV) Powerlist. 

Earlier, Rajesh worked at Third Point Ventures and at Lucent’s Bell Labs, where he drove technical assessments and partnerships for several optical, MEMS, and RF device startups, and also led DFR programs for the successful deployment of Lucent’s 10Gb/s and 40Gb/s systems. 

While pursuing his MBA at Harvard Business School, Rajesh worked on Deutsche Bank’s cleantech banking team, and also worked with KV on companies in solar and water. Previously, he earned a master of science degree from the University of Maryland and a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras, where he was awarded the Shankar Dayal Sharma (President of India) Medal for overall excellence. 

Rebekah Emanuel is the senior advisor for social impact at the Harvard Innovation Labs. A McKinsey alum and HBS grad, Rebekah has started flagship organizations across the private, public, and social sectors. While a student at HBS, she incubated a startup at the i-lab, took her startup to a residency at MassChallenge, and was invited to the second class of the Harvard Launch Lab.

Alongside startups, Rebekah has also spent significant time guiding mature organizations. As a director at the City of Boston, Rebekah wrote the long-term growth plan for the city, including exciting plans for the Allston area where the i-lab is situated. The first long-term plan completed in 50 years, she helped solicit and integrate over 14k constituent voices and align the city’s budget against the strategic priorities. The metrics she designed to track progress attracted media attention for their cutting-edge public accountability.

Rebekah holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, an LLM in Law from the National University of Ireland Galway as a Mitchell Scholar, and a BA from Yale University. She also serves as a chaplain.

On October 18th, students and alumni heard from several members of the North Star Asset Management Team, including Julie Goodridge, Founder and CEO; Nimrit Kang, Chief Investment Officer; Michelle Graham, Chief Operating Officer; and Ashley Cohen, Director of Outside Investments. Stay tuned for recording.

Julie Goodridge is Founder and CEO of North Star Asset Management and a pioneer in the field of socially responsible investing. She has been in the investment industry since 1983, including her role as an early member of the Social Investment Forum (now US SIF) in 1984. Julie launched NorthStar Asset Management in 1990, and today stands at the forefront of a more proactive approach to progressive wealth management. Through direct interaction with every client, Julie provides financial planning expertise, drives major investment decisions, and is the final word for all shareholder activism activities. 

 Julie was the lead plaintiff in the groundbreaking case Goodridge v. Massachusetts Dept. of Public Health which won equal marriage rights for same sex couples in Massachusetts, the first state in the U.S. to do so. In 2014, Julie was named one of the 25 Most Powerful Women in Finance by American Banker Magazine. She serves as a Trustee for the Hyams Foundation, a foundation focused on racial justice in Boston. Julie is also a former Chairwoman of the Board of the New World Foundation where she recently concluded a 17-year tenure and served in roles including Treasurer and Vice-Chair. Julie has an Ed.M. from Harvard. 

Nimrit Kang is Chief Investment Officer of North Star Asset Management.

Nimrit joined NorthStar in August 2022 and is the firm’s Chief Investment Officer. Nimrit joined NorthStar to serve high net-worth clients and non-profit organizations via integrative and effective portfolio management by connecting social concerns to security selection, asset allocation, and activism. Nimrit works closely with the equity research, portfolio management, and client service teams to deliver highly personalized portfolios that integrate financial goals while upholding a commitment to social change and environmental sustainability. Prior to joining NorthStar, Nimrit was a partner, Portfolio Manager, and Director of Research at Coho Partners, a long-only investment manager with $10 billion in assets under management and advisement. While at Coho Partners, she championed the holistic integration of material environmental, social, and governance (ESG) perspectives across the research process and led the vision and end-to-end process design for the firm’s standalone ESG strategy. Before joining Coho in 2017, Ms. Kang was the Director of Research and Investment strategy for MissionSquare Retirement where she was responsible for leading manager research and due diligence and ongoing oversight across $10 billion AUM in multi-managed equity strategies. She also spent more than 10 years in various equity research and portfolio management roles at DuPont Capital Management. 

Over the years, Nimrit has been involved with and served on the boards of various nonprofit organizations in the greater Philadelphia area. She currently serves on the Board of Directors and the Audit, Finance, and Investment Committee of the Philadelphia Health Partnership and Samuel S. Fels Foundation and Investment Committee of Salus University. She is a member of the CFA Society of Philadelphia and the CFA Institute and served as a board member for the CFA Society of Philadelphia from 2013-2016 

Nimrit graduated magna cum laude from Virginia Tech with a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering and received a Master of Business Administration from the Harvard Business School. Nimrit lives with her husband, two teenage children, and a golden doodle dog in the greater Philadelphia region. 

Michelle Graham is Chief Operating Officer of North Star Asset Management. Michelle joined NorthStar in October 2022 as its Chief Operating Officer. She has over 20 years of experience in the financial services industry serving both institutional and high net worth clients. Michelle’s background includes building and directing teams from across an organization and globally, overseeing major initiatives, and redesigning workflows and practices. She has a commitment to bringing in tools and solutions that enhance operations and service has resulted in measurable outcomes. Throughout her tenures she has managed strategies yielding millions in sales, as well as millions in savings. 

Prior to NorthStar, Michelle spent 10 years at Goldman Sachs primarily leading onboarding teams in Asset Management, where she focused on improving our client service through process improvements and technology efficiencies. In her last role at Goldman Sachs, she was on the COO team for the Public Equities team, where she was leading acquisition integration and technology strategies for the Quantitative Investment Strategies desk. 

Michelle holds a BS in Accounting and Finance from Georgetown University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. 

Ashley Cohen is Director of Outside Investments at North Star Asset Management.

Ashley joined NorthStar in 2021 and is NorthStar’s Director of Outside Investments. Ashley supports NorthStar’s clients in identifying investment opportunities for social and environmental progress outside of the public stock and bond markets. She has a particular expertise and emphasis on outside investments that advance equity in Black and Brown communities in the US. 

Prior to joining NorthStar, Ashley worked in the sustainable and impact investment division of Cambridge Associates, where she conducted investment due diligence on impact investment funds including early stage venture, real assets, public equity, and fixed income and supported institutional investors on implementing and monitoring the financial and impact performance of investments. Ashley also co-authored reports regarding social equity investing to advise investors on aligning their portfolios with key social equity issue areas. 

She holds a BA from Dartmouth College, where she studied Arabic and Middle Eastern Studies, and an MBA from Harvard Business School. 

• Open to: all Harvard students and alumni
• Time: 6:00 – 8:00 PM
• Location: Mignone Center for Career Success, 54 Dunster St, Cambridge MA 02138
• RSVP

On October 24th, students and alumni heard from Gaurab Basu, MD about careers in environmental justice and health equity. Stay tuned for recording.

Gaurab Basu, MD, MPH is a primary care physician and Director of Education and Policy at the Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment (Harvard Chan C-CHANGE) at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. He is an Instructor at Harvard Medical School (HMS). His work focuses on the intersection of climate change, global health equity, human rights, medical education, and public policy.

Dr. Basu has developed and evaluated numerous innovative health equity curricular programs. He is the director of the HMS Climate Change and Health curricular theme, co-founded the CHA Center for Health Equity Education and Advocacy, co-directed the HMS social medicine curriculum, and co-directs the Climate Health Organizing Fellowship. He serves on the education committee of the Salata Institute for Climate and Sustainability at Harvard University. Dr. Basu has received the inaugural HMS Equity, Social Justice and Advocacy Faculty Award and the HMS Charles McCabe Faculty Prize in Excellence. He has been a HMS Curtis Prout Academy Fellow and a Harvard Macy Scholar.

In 2021, Dr. Basu was named to the Grist 50 list of national climate leaders. In 2018, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation named him a “Culture of Health Leader.” He serves on the Implementation Advisory Committee in the Massachusetts Governor’s Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. He was a part of the city of Cambridge Mayor’s Climate Crisis Working Group and its Net-Zero Climate Task Force. His work has been featured by NPR’s All Things Considered, The Boston Globe, Scientific American, the BMJ, and Grist, among others.

Dr. Basu previously worked for numerous global NGOs including the Gates Institute, Partners in Health, the Child in Need Institute and Last Mile Health. He is on the board of directors of Physicians for Social Responsibility and the Weather Channel’s climate program “Pattrn,” and on the advisory council of the Environmental League of Massachusetts. He served as one of the clinical leads of Cambridge Health Alliance’s COVID Community Management clinical services during the pandemic.

He graduated magna cum laude from Brown University, with a bachelor of arts in international relations. He received his medical degree from the Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont. Dr. Basu was a Sommer Scholar at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, where he studied human rights and received his masters in public health. He completed his internal medicine residency training at Cambridge Health Alliance/Harvard Medical School.

• Open to: all Harvard students and alumni
• Time: 6:00 – 8:00 PM
• Location: Mignone Center for Career Success, 54 Dunster St, Cambridge MA 02138
• RSVP

On October 30th, students and alumni heard rom Ben Webster, Director of Policy at MiQ (Methane Intelligence) and Jason Neff, Soil and Climate Innovation Principal Scientist at Syngenta Group. Watch recording here.

Ben Webster is Director of Policy at MiQ (Methane Intelligence), a not-for-profit climate tech foundation undertaking cutting-edge work to reduce methane emissions in the oil and gas sector. has an extensive background in environmental policy and government relations. Most recently, he served in the leadership of the University of Colorado Boulder’s graduate programs in sustainability and environmental management. Prior to this, he served as the Managing Director of the Sustainability Innovation Lab at Colorado – an innovative co-working space at the University of Colorado driving sustainability solutions between NGOs, start-ups, and the university. 

Before moving to Boulder, he advised senior members of Congress on water resources, infrastructure, sustainability, and public health issues while working as a staffer for the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure in the U.S. House of Representatives. He was very involved in legislation and administrative oversight concerning the Clean Water Act, water infrastructure, and other water resources policies. In addition, he also participated in the legislative response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, as well as developing elements of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. 

Ben has worked at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the National Academy of Public Administration, and the National Center for Atmospheric Research. Ben has recently worked with the BlueGreen Alliance on the scope of oil and gas operations in Colorado and New Mexico. He received his PhD and MA degrees in Government and his Master of Public Policy degree from Georgetown University, and his BA in Political Science from Bates College. 

Dr. Jason Neff is the Soil and Climate Innovation Principal Scientist at the Syngenta Group headquartered in Basel, Switzerland.  In this role, Dr. Neff leads efforts to identify and deploy new technologies that reduce agricultural greenhouse gas emissions and improve soil health and agricultural productivity.  From 2003 to 2023, Dr. Neff was a Professor at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and the founding Director of The Sustainability Innovation Lab at Colorado (SILC) created to accelerate the development of use-inspired sustainability science and technology. In recent years, Dr. Neff has led efforts to develop new analytical tools to support smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa and served as the Chief Scientist for a startup company focused on natural carbon sequestration solutions.  Dr. Neff has a Ph.D. from Stanford University and a B.A. Summa Cum Laude in Environmental Biology from the University of Colorado at Boulder.  He is the author of more than 100 academic publications and an introductory environmental science textbook called ‘A Changing Planet’ and has raised more than 30 million dollars in funding from government and non-profits to support research in sustainability science. 

• Open to: all Harvard students
• Time: 6:00 – 8:00 PM
• Location: Harvard University Center for the Environment, 26 Oxford St, Cambridge, MA 02138
• RSVP

On November 7th, students and alumni heard from Sanjay Seth, Chief of Staff and Senior Advisor for Climate and Equity for US EPA Region 1. Watch recording here.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Region 1 is a 550-person unit of EPA focused on the New England region. In this role, he supports the Regional Administrator to craft and implement policy, planning, operations, and personnel strategies across all programs, with a focus on climate change, environmental justice, and regional implementation of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act programs. 

Previously, he served as Climate Resilience Program Manager for the City of Boston, where he managed the Climate Ready Boston program, which focuses on implementing a multi-billion dollar resilience plan to help prepare Boston for the impacts of climate change. Prior to Boston, Sanjay worked on an interdisciplinary consultant team on behalf of the City of New York to support a plan for a multi-billion dollar investment to protect New York from the impacts of climate change. 

While at Harvard, he founded the Climate Leaders Program, a year-long interdisciplinary program for students with a professional interest in climate action, which is based at the Harvard University Center for the Environment. He was also co-founder and co-president of Harvard Alumni for Climate and the Environment, a non-profit with approximately 2,000 members affiliated with the Harvard Alumni Association. 

Previously, Sanjay has served as a fellow of New Urban Progress, a program focused on transatlantic relations among metropolitan regions focused on developing more sustainable and just cities. He served on a teaching team at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government for a hands-on course focused on building effective, values-driven organizing campaigns. He served as a Fellow of the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative, developing tailored management, leadership, and decision-making programs for mayors and their senior staff. And he has served as a Research Analyst at Regional Plan Association, focusing on climate adaptation, climate mitigation, and international forums for sharing best practices among global cities and regions. 

Originally from Bismarck, North Dakota, Sanjay has a background in community and political organizing. Sanjay is a dual-degree graduate in the Master in Urban Planning program at the Harvard Graduate School of Design and the Master in Public Administration program at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. He also holds a Bachelor’s in Economics, Politics, and Public Policy from Goldsmiths’ College, University of London. 

• Open to: all Harvard students and alumni
• Time: 6:00 – 8:00 PM
• Location: Harvard University Center for the Environment, 26 Oxford St, Cambridge, MA 02138
• RSVP