October 6, 2022
In turbulent times when the nation is increasingly more divided and inflation is weighing on consumers’ minds, where does ESG belong in your portfolio and within your company’s strategy? Measuring success when it comes to major issues, such as climate change and stakeholder capitalism, in a volatile stock market is no easy task, but there are those who have cracked the code.
Join us virtually on October 6th where you’ll meet the business leaders, investors, activists and startups that are solving key ESG challenges and are turning ideas into action to ensure a more sustainable and equitable future for decades to come.
Cambria Allen-Ratzlaff joined JUST Capital on May 31, 2022 as its new Managing Director and Head of Investor Strategies, to oversee the nonprofit’s work in the pensions, investments, and finance industry. In her new role, Cambria will be responsible for advancing JUST’s mission of building a more inclusive form of capitalism by developing and leading JUST’s investor stakeholder and financial markets strategy. She is also responsible for cultivating industry partnerships and initiatives with key market actors, with a focus on the asset owner, asset manager, sustainable and impact investing, and stakeholder communities.
Prior to joining JUST, Cambria was the Corporate Governance Director of the $63 billion UAW Retiree Medical Benefits Trust, the largest non-governmental purchaser of retiree health care benefits in the United States, where she led and executed the Trust’s global liquid markets portfolio corporate governance program and oversaw the Trust’s global proxy voting program. Prior to joining the Trust in 2011, she served as Senior Corporate Governance Analyst for the Office of Connecticut State Treasurer Denise L. Nappier and an Analyst for the Council of Institutional Investors.
Since 2013, Cambria has also led the Human Capital Management Coalition, a cooperative effort among a group of 36 institutional investors representing over $8 trillion in assets to elevate effective human capital management as a critical driver of long-term shareholder value. She is a recognized leader in corporate governance and sustainable investment, specifically board structure and accountability, executive compensation incentives and alignment, governance risk management and mitigation, shareholder rights, the role of transparency and accountability in ensuring efficacy and efficiency in the capital markets, and the relationship between public policy and value creation.
Cambria was appointed to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Investor Advisory Committee in 2019, and is a member of the National Association of Corporate Directors. In 2016, Cambria was named a Rising Star of Corporate Governance by the Millstein Center for Global Markets and Corporate Ownership at Columbia Law School. Cambria previously served as an Officer on the Council of Institutional Investors board of directors. She received her A.B. in Political Science from Bryn Mawr College in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania and her M.A. in Public Policy from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut.
Reginald DesRoches is Rice University’s eighth President. He also serves as a professor of civil and environmental engineering, and professor of mechanical engineering. As president, DesRoches serves as the chief executive officer of the university and its 7,500 students, seven schools and more than 700 faculty. He previously served as Rice's Howard Hughes Provost and William and Stephanie Sick Dean of Engineering.
DesRoches’ top priorities are to enable Rice to reach a new level of distinction nationally and internationally for impactful research, award-winning scholarship and insightful creative work. He also wants to build graduate programs that are of the same distinction as Rice’s top rated undergraduate programs while maintaining Rice’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
During his tenure as provost, DesRoches led the university’s academic, research, scholarly and creative activities through the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, including the sudden suspension of classroom instruction and Rice’s successful conversion to remote learning. In addition, he dramatically increased the university’s research awards, launched several new centers and institutes, and forged new partnerships and programs with institutions and organizations in the Houston area, including the Texas Medical Center.
Under his leadership, several new majors and professional master’s programs were launched, including a new undergraduate business major. Several new online programs were created during his time as provost as well, including the online degrees in the Jones Graduate School of Business and several online master’s degrees in the School of Engineering. During his time as provost, DesRoches made diversity, equity and inclusion a priority, establishing the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, which has been instrumental in dramatically increasing the diversity of Rice’s faculty and graduate student population. He also began leading the first major expansion of the undergraduate body in over a decade.
DesRoches' tenure at Rice began in 2017, when he accepted the post as the William and Stephanie Sick Dean of Engineering at the George R. Brown School of Engineering. As the leader of Rice’s engineering school, he was in charge of nine departments, 137 faculty and 2,500 students. During his time as dean, the school dramatically increased in size, stature and department rankings. It also saw a significant growth in research programs. Several key interdisciplinary initiatives were launched during DesRoches’ time as dean, some of which were neuroengineering, synthetic biology and data science. He also led the establishment of the a collaborative research center in India with IIT-Kanpur, the first of its kind.
Before his appointment at Rice, DesRoches served as chair of the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Georgia Tech in Atlanta. As chair, he led a major renovation of the school’s main research and teaching home, and he spearheaded a major fundraising effort for the school that doubled the number of endowed chairs and professors. During his tenure as chair, the school dramatically moved up in the U.S News & World Report graduate rankings, achieving a ranking of No. 2 in the nation — the highest in the history of the school.
DesRoches’ primary research interests are in the design of resilient infrastructure systems under extreme loads and the application of smart materials. His research is highly interdisciplinary and spans micro- to macro-scales. He has published approximately 300 articles and delivered more than 100 presentations in over 30 different countries. He also has mentored more than 30 doctoral students, many of whom hold faculty positions at top universities around the world.
A fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and the society's Structural Engineering Institute (SEI), DesRoches served as the key technical leader in the United States’ response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake, taking a team of 28 engineers, architects, city planners and social scientists to study the impact of the earthquake. He also has participated in numerous congressional briefings to underscore the critical role that university research must play in addressing the country’s failing infrastructure and enhancing the nation’s resilience to natural hazards.
DesRoches chaired the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) National Construction Safety Team Advisory Committee (NCST), which is overseeing NIST’s investigation of the collapse of the Champlain Towers South Condominium in Surfside, Florida. He is on the advisory board for the Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure (NHERI) Simulation Center, the California Department of Transportation Seismic Advisory Board, the Halliburton Labs Clean Tech Accelerator and the HTX Impact Fund, which is focused on minority led startups.
He previously served on the advisory committee for the Engineering Directorate for the National Science Foundation, the National Academies Resilient America Roundtable (RAR), the Global Earthquake Modeling Scientific Board and the National Science Foundation Engineering Advisory Council. In recent years, DesRoches has testified before U.S. House and Senate subcommittees on the science of earthquake resilience, and he has participated in Washington, D.C., roundtables for media and congressional staffers on topics ranging from disaster preparedness to challenges for African American men in STEM fields.
A member of the National Academy of Engineering, DesRoches’ distinctive research record has been recognized for its impact and innovation. He received the Distinguished Arnold Kerr Lecturer Award in 2019, the John A. Blume Distinguished Lecturer Award in 2018, and the 2018 Earthquake Engineering Research Institute Distinguished Lecturer Award, one of the highest honors in the field of earthquake engineering. He also is a recipient of the 2015 ASCE Charles Martin Duke Lifeline Earthquake Engineering award, the 2007 ASCE Walter L. Huber Civil Engineering Research Prize, and the Georgia Tech ANAK Award, which is the highest honor the Georgia Tech student body can bestow on a faculty member. He received the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) in 2002, the John A. Blume Distinguished Lecture in 2018 and the Georgia Tech Outstanding Doctoral Thesis Adviser Award in 2010. DesRoches is a member of the Academy of Distinguished Alumni in Civil Engineering at Berkeley and was recently named an honorary alumnus of Georgia Tech.
In 2014, DesRoches became Georgia Tech’s Faculty Athletics Representative, serving as the liaison between the university and its athletics department. He worked closely with the athletic director and university leadership — including the president, provost and senior vice provost for academic affairs — to formulate policies affecting intercollegiate athletics on campus. His responsibilities also included representing the institute to the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and the National Collegiate Athletic Association. During the 2016-2017 school year, he was appointed to the ACC leadership team as vice president of the conference.
DesRoches was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and grew up in Queens, New York. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering, a Master of Science in Civil Engineering and a Doctorate in Structural Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley.
DesRoches is married to Paula DesRoches, a highly accomplished healthcare professional, nurse practitioner and administrator recognized for her leadership in occupational health. The couple has three children, Andrew, Jacob and Shelby, who is a student at Rice.
Abigail E. Disney advocates for real changes to the way capitalism operates in today's world. She has worked with programs supporting low-income families, women's rights, and global poverty for thirty years. She is an activist and Emmy-winning documentary filmmaker. Her latest film, “The American Dream and Other Fairy Tales,” which she co-directed with Kathleen Hughes, made its world premiere at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival. She is co-founder of Fork Films, a nonfiction media production company, which produces the podcast "All Ears," where host Abigail Disney interviews bold, solutions-oriented thinkers from the front lines of America's urgent inequality and race crises. She is the Chair and Co-Founder of Level Forward, a new breed storytelling company focused on systemic change through creative excellence, balancing financial and social returns. She created the nonprofit Peace is Loud, which uses storytelling to advance social movements and the Daphne Foundation, which supports organizations working for a more equitable, fair and peaceful New York City.
Anders is the founder, CEO and Chairman of Heart Aerospace. He founded the company in 2018 together with Klara Andreasson with the aim of electrifying short-haul regional aviation, with an early focus on the Nordic countries.
Before starting Heart, Anders was an aerospace researcher at Chalmers, where he was a driving force behind the research project Elise-Electric Aviation in Sweden, funded by the Swedish Innovation Agency Vinnova. He spent 2013-2014 at MIT, where his work on geometric variation of aerospace components was awarded the Charles M. Manly Memorial Medal. He is also a founding member of the Nordic Network for Electric Aviation.
Anders has a Ph.D. in Aerospace Product Development and a B.Sc. in Engineering Physics from Chalmers. He has a dual M.Sc. in Astronautics and Space Engineering from Cranfield University and Luleå University, as a part of the SpaceMaster program. He is also a member of the Prince Daniel fellowship for young entrepreneurs.
Engine No. 1 has been carving a unique and powerful niche in the asset management space, thanks to its laser-like focus on board strategy and critical engagement with the world’s largest corporations. These days, the firm sees seismic shifts in complex areas like energy transition, agriculture and U.S. manufacturing – all bets they believe offer once-in-a-lifetime investment opportunities. A rare conversation with CEO Jennifer Grancio on how to hold constructive dialogue with CEOs and the importance of accurately valuing public companies.
Jennifer Grancio, Engine No. 1 CEO
Interviewer: Sara Eisen, CNBC “Closing Bell” Anchor
Over the past few years, America’s fourth largest city has withstood devastating storms, relentless infrastructure erosion and sobering upheaval. The upside? H-town’s path to physical, social and fiscal recovery is well underway, with transformative ideas to modernize the city into a greener, safer and more equitable place to live and work. An important and uplifting conversation with two of Houston’s great leaders on resilience, recovery and prosperity.
Reginald DesRoches, Rice University President
Sylvester Turner, Mayor of Houston (D)
Moderator: Contessa Brewer, CNBC Correspondent
In 2020, Amazon created a $2 billion fund to back decarbonization startups. The initial investments focused on greener vehicles, shrinking packing boxes and reducing emissions across supply chains and cargo ships. But given Amazon’s size, scale and capital, things are just getting started. An exclusive glimpse into the newest recipients of the Climate Pledge Fund and where they go from here.
Daniel Gross, Amazon Director of Climate Pledge Fund
Interviewer: Diana Olick, CNBC Senior Real Estate Correspondent
With the ESG investment market now over one-third of total gross assets, many investors are turning to Clarity Ai as a one-stop-shop for all their sustainability data needs. The Spanish startup specializes in aggregating billions of pieces of ESG data and impact measurements, important tools to help build greener and more transparent portfolios.
Rebeca Minguela, Clarity AI Founder and CEO
Interviewer: Steve Kovach, CNBC Technology Correspondent
ESG Spotlight: Is It Time For a A Worker Disclosure Reset?
As partisan attacks on ESG continue, a healthy economy still depends on transparency, accountability, and human capital. These are the engines that drive markets and businesses. Just Capital’s Cambria Allen-Ratzlaff looks at the evolving dynamic between labor and management, the success, and failures at certain companies to manage its workforce, and the role of ESG to drive quantifiable change.
Cambria Allen-Ratzlaff, JUST Capital Managing Director, Head of Investor Strategies
Interviewer: Frank Holland, CNBC General Assignment Reporter
Shaping the Future of Sustainable Finance
SPONSORED AND PROGRAMMED BY MORGAN STANLEY
Sustainability is now a business imperative and something investors can’t afford to ignore. Even so, the sustainable investing landscape is still constantly evolving to address new global challenges, shifting public sentiment, advancing technologies, and regulatory developments, all while integrating overdue efforts around equity and inclusion. A discussion about the future of sustainable finance, including new opportunities and challenges ahead.
Courtney Thompson, Morgan Stanley Executive Director of Global Sustainable Finance
Interviewer: Rhonda Schaffler, Business Anchor
Meet Abigail Disney, a fearless and outspoken social activist who has made it her life mission to share stories about how inequality is being fought at companies around the world. Disney’s latest warning is aimed squarely at billionaires, plutocrats and overpaid CEOs: Change the way you practice capitalism, right now, or face the consequences. Julia Boorstin sits down with Disney to talk about the reckoning to come around income and wealth disparity, being labeled a “one-percent traitor” and her life-long goal to give away her massive family fortune.
Abigail Disney, Disney Shareholder, Filmmaker and Activist
Interviewer: Julia Boorstin, CNBC Senior Media & Tech Correspondent
United Airlines’ in-house venture arm has earmarked over a billion dollars to directly invest in green-tech that advances the carrier’s decarbonization efforts. One of UAL’s most promising bets is in Swedish startup Heart Aerospace, which is building the first fleet of regional airplanes running on batteries and electric motors instead of traditional jet fuel. Commercial operations focused on shorter routes begin in 2026.
Mike Leskinen, United Airlines Ventures President
Anders Forslund, Heart Aerospace Founder and CEO
Moderator: Phil Lebeau, CNBC Auto and Airline Industry Reporter
With $491 billion in assets under management and portfolio companies generating $223 billion in annual revenues, investment firm KKR has the geopolitical leverage, policy might and resources to make good things happen – and fast – in the world of ESG. Specifically responsible consumption, inclusivity, regulation and accountability.
Ken Mehlman, KKR Global Impact Partner and Co-Head
Interviewer: Leslie Picker, CNBC Finance & Investing Reporter
The German luxury car maker is ready to go all electric by the end of the decade. It’s all part of a greener, digital-forward and emissions-free future. An exclusive interview with Mercedes-Benz CEO Ola Källenius on the company’s electric transformation and why he believes climate change is the most important task of our generation.
Ola Källenius, Mercedes-Benz CEO
Interviewer: Jim Cramer, CNBC “Mad Money” Host, “Squawk on the Street” Co-Anchor & CNBC Investing Club
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Since SABIC’s founding in 1976 by a royal decree, it has exhibited a remarkable ability to do what others said could not be done.
Ranked among the world’s largest petrochemicals manufacturers, SABIC is a public company based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. 70% of the company’s shares are owned by Saudi Aramco, with the remaining 30% publicly traded on the Saudi stock exchange. SABIC’s growth has been nothing short of miraculous. Today, the company has operations in around 50 countries with a global workforce of over 31,000 talented individuals. For more information visit https://www.sabic.com/en