Williams College invites public to free sustainable-investing symposium on Wednesday and Thursday

SOURCE: Media contact: Noelle Lemoine, communications assistant; tele: (413) 597-4277; email: Noelle.Lemoine@williams.edu

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass.​ -- ​A two-day symposium on sustainable investing will take place at Williams College on Wednesday and Thursday, Jan. 18-19. The symposium, which is free and open to the public, is part of the college's Confronting Climate Change year of inquiry.  All events at the symposium will be held in Griffin Hall, room 3.

 In a series of interactive discussions, experts and practitioners from a range of disciplines will offer perspectives on trends and opportunities in sustainable investing and will share successes and highlight emerging opportunities in green finance. The symposium is designed to bring leaders in the field together with students, faculty, and administrators to learn about emerging best practices in responsible capital deployment and the issues faced by investors who have a duty to deploy capital responsibly.

 The symposium gets underway at 2 p.m. Jan. 18 with Williams President Adam Falk speaking about the importance of educating the community about positive responses to climate change, followed immediately by a "keynote conversation" with Valerie Rockefeller Wayne, chair of the Rockefeller Brothers Foundation; and Jameela Pedicini, director of asset management at Perella Weinberg Partners.

 Other sessions offered on Jan. 18 include a panel discussion on intentional investing at market rates and a panel on sustainable investing for endowments and foundations.

 Starting at 10 a.m. on Jan. 19, there will be panel discussions on emerging investment opportunities, green finance, and investment strategies for renewable energy. Speakers include Jigar Shah, founder of Sun Edison and Generate Capital; David Hang, Senior Vice President of DE Shaw; Eron Bloomgarden, a partner with Encourage Capital; and Sarah Kearney, CEO of Prime Coalition. The event concludes with a dinner discussion on healthy land and food featuring alumni Elisabeth Keller '79 of Inglewood Farm, Jacob Israelow '01 of Dirt Capital Partners, and Reggie Hall '98 of The Conservation Fund.

 The event was organized by a group of faculty, students and alumni led by Don Carlson '83, adjunct faculty in Environmental Studies, and T. L. Guest '17, student co-chair of the Advisory Committee on Shareholder Responsibility.

 The symposium is part of Williams' Confronting Climate Change year of inquiry. Throughout this academic year the college will host a series of speakers, events, and programming planned to shed light on the issue of climate change and how we should respond to it as individuals, as an institution, as a nation, and as a member of the global community.

For building locations on the Williams campus, please consult the map outside the driveway entrance to the Security Office located in Hopkins Hall on Main Street (Rte. 2), next to the Thompson Memorial Chapel, or call the Office of Communications (413) 597-4277. The map can also be found on the web at www.williams.edu/map

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