Sustainable Finance Trends to Watch this Fall

The Rev. Kirsten Snow Spalding leads the Ceres Investor Network and all investor initiatives. She also represents Ceres on the West Coast as Director of Ceres' California office. Prior to joining Ceres, she served as Chief Deputy Treasurer under California Treasurer Phil Angelides and Director of the Treasurer’s environmental financing authorities. Prior to her government service, Kirsten worked in the labor movement as Chief of Staff for the California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO. With the California Sierra Club and the Ella Baker Center, she co-founded the California Apollo Alliance. For six years, she chaired the Center for Labor Research and Education at University of California, Berkeley and taught at Boalt Hall School of Law. As a lawyer with the firm of Beeson, Tayer and Bodine she represented unions and their pension plans. In her early career she worked as a community and cultural organizer in Durban, South Africa. She holds a BA from Yale College in music, a JD from Hastings College of Law and an M.Div. from Church Divinity School of the Pacific. She is an Episcopal priest, wife and mother of two college age sons.

Dan Grandage is Head of Sustainable Investing at abrdn. He supports abrdn’s global investments business to protect and enhance investment performance through integrating ESG and sustainability in all elements of the investment process via the creation and oversight of standards and market leading frameworks. Mr. Grandage represents abrdn on the Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB) Standards Committee, plus a number of Investment Association sustainable finance working groups. He is also a board member of the UK Better Building Partnership. Mr. Grandage joined abrdn in 2013 from WSP Group where he had responsibility for the Sustainable Real Estate team delivering practical sustainability solutions for investors. Prior to that, he worked for RPS Consultants with a focus on the environmental management of corporate mergers and acquisitions. Mr. Grandage graduated with a BSc in Environmental Geology from Sheffield University, and holds an MSc from Manchester University in Urban Geoscience.

Christian Schilz is Head Corporate Responsibility of Vontobel, a global investment company specializing in wealth management and investment solutions. He has been actively contributing to the ongoing transition to sustainable development

Kali Taylor is the Community Manager of Sustainable Finance Geneva (SFG) and works as Advisor to Building Bridges. In her role, she supports SFG’s community of professionals and advances sustainable finance impact themes in the Geneva ecosystem.  She also supports Building Bridges on governance and project management, having been involved in the initiative since its inception. Prior to joining SFG, Ms. Taylor was a policy advisor at the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) focused on the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) where she has led the Geneva 2030 Ecosystem and helped to create the SDG Lab at UN Geneva. Prior to coming to Geneva, she co-founded and led a global youth NGO, Student Energy, that engages young people in the energy transition and climate progress.  She has also worked in the energy industry on climate strategy, environmental management, and new ventures.