Robert Eccles describes himself – in a nutshell – as a dedicated weightlifter, capital markets activist and professional committed to improving corporate reporting and enhancing ESG integration by companies and investors. He is the Founding Chairman of the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board, one of the founding members of the International Integrated Reporting Council and a Visiting Professor of Management Practice at the SAID Business School of Oxford University. 

Patricia (Trish) Halper is a member of the Board of Advisors of Ativo Capital, a Chicago-based asset manager. Trish was previously CIO and Partner at Chicago Equity Partners, where she spent 21 years and most recently headed up the quantitative equity investment process.

She is a trustee of the La Rabida Children’s Hospital in Chicago, among other board and volunteer roles. Our conversation covers the experience of women in investing and in financial education, the importance of engagement and authenticity and how to communicate with clients during good and bad times.

Julie Koeninger is Managing Director and Senior Portfolio Manager in Agriculture at Manulife Investment Management, where she serves as the senior agricultural portfolio manager for the Hancock Timberland and Farmland Fund and leads business development for Manulife Investment Management global agriculture strategy.  She has over 30 years of experience in agriculture investing, having worked in a series of roles at other institutions prior to joining Manulife and led the first ever securitization of US Agricultural mortgages. 

“An investment in education gives the best returns” Benjamin Franklin

Tony Miller is managing director of Excolere Equity Partners, a private equity firm focused on the education space.  He holds a number of board roles including Apollo Education group, ACT, Criteria Corp and Go Guardian.  He was co-founder of the Vistria Group, a Chicago based private equity firm and prior to that was Deputy Secretary and Chief Operating Officer in the US Department of Education

Jeanie Coomber is the founder of the Warriors at Work platform, and an executive coach.  Our discussion charts her journey from a corporate career at Alliance Bernstein to becoming a coach. We talk about the personality type necessary to be a coach, and Jeanie Coomber highlighted her unique approach to coaching, integrating her mother’s psychotherapy expertise. There is more information on the Warriors at Work platform here: https://jeaniecoomber.com/warriors-at-work-show/

Jessica Karr is the founder and managing director of Coyote Ventures, an investment firm that focuses on backing founders who are solving problems that disproportionately affect overlooked populations with a foundation in women’s health.  She is also a limited partner of Portfolia FemTech II Fund, designed for women who want to back entrepreneurial companies for returns and impact, among other advisory roles.

Jennifer Devine is Head of Wiltshire Pension Fund, and a thought leader in the field of sustainable investing. I was thrilled to welcome her to the podcast in order to capture some of the vision that she implements at Wiltshire and translates for its members in easy to understand and relatable posts on social media and their home page that highlight concrete examples of impact investments.

Marguerita (Rita) Cheng is CEO of Blue Ocean Global Wealth, based in the Washington DC area, as well as being a Founding Member of Kiplinger Advisor Collective and The Authentic Asian.