Making the Case: Gaining Investor Support for Sustainable Chemistry

Changing political, economic, and R&D cycles can cause uncertainty and a temptation to shift resources away from sustainable chemistry, but this will hinder long-term business resiliency, increase risk, and hurt human and environmental health. Continuing to prioritize sustainable chemistry and drive the transition to safer and more sustainable solutions in a changing environment requires sustained policy, investment, and market commitments. 

To ensure sustainable chemistry remains a business priority, demonstrating its positive impact on all business functions, and effectively communicating this value through a company and supply chains, is critical. During this webinar series, subject matter experts will share tools and insights to assist champions with effectively "making the case". Structured as a series of discussions, attendees will have the unique opportunity to pre-competitively engage with the speakers as well as other companies facing similar challenges. 

The first webinar in this series will demonstrate the need for continued investment in sustainable chemistry. Alexandra McPherson, director of the Investor Environmental Health Network (IEHN) for Clean Production Action (CPA), Julie Gorte, Senior Vice President for Sustainable Investing at Impax Asset Management LLC, and Bill Walsh, Fund Director at Safer chemistry IMPACT FUND, will highlight the risks of disinvestment as well as how supporting sustainable chemistry provides companies opportunities for growth, competitive advantage, profitability, and higher return on investment in the long-term. 

*This webinar is available to Change Chemistry members only.  

Speakers

 Julie Gorte 

Senior Vice President for Sustainable Investing at Impax Asset Management

Julie is the Senior Vice President for Sustainable Investing at Impax Asset Management. She oversees Environmental, Social and Governance-related research on prospective and current investments as well as Impax’s shareholder advocacy and work on public policy advocacy. Julie is also a member of the Impaax World Gender Analytics team and a Portfolio Manager of the Impax Ellevate Global Women’s Index Fund.

Julie serves on the boards of Ceres, the Sustainable Investments Institute and the Endangered Species Coalition. She has served as the co-chair of the Asset Management Working Group of the United Nations Environment Programme Finance.

Prior to joining Impax, Julie served as Vice President and Chief Social Investment Strategist at Calvert. Her experience before she joined the investment world in 1999 includes nearly 14 years as Senior Associate and Project Director at the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment, Vice President for Economic and Environmental Research at The Wilderness Society, Program Manager for Technology Programs in the Environmental Protection Agency’s policy office and Senior Associate at the Northeast-Midwest Institute. She received her Bachelor of Science in Forest Management at Northern Arizona University and a Master of Science and Ph.D from Michigan State in resource economics.

Alexandra McPherson

Director of the Investor Environmental Health Network (IEHN) for Clean Production Action (CPA)

Alexandra McPherson is director of the Investor Environmental Health Network (IEHN) for Clean Production Action (CPA)—an environmental solutions-based nonprofit. Through IEHN, Alexandra provides expertise, guidance, and counsel to investors on engagement strategies that positively impact corporate behavior on chemical footprinting, more sustainable and safer chemistry innovations and environmental justice.

Alexandra leverages her deep competency in communications and partnership development to build multistakeholder initiatives that motivate change and investment in environmental solutions critical to chemical pollution, biodiversity loss, and climate change. Her work includes convening global leaders from finance, industry, environmental advocacy, and government to influence timebound targets in innovative platforms such as the United Nation’s Global Framework on Chemicals: For a Planet Free of Harm from Chemicals and Waste. Ms. McPherson’s partnership work with academia has resulted in the Collaborative for the Regenerative Economy (CoRE) with the University at Buffalo's Materials Design and Innovation Department and Transition Finance for Sustainable Chemicals and Materials with the Sustainable Chemistry Catalyst at University of Massachusetts Lowell.

Alexandra co-founded Clean Production Action and is a principal of Niagara Share LLC. She is a graduate of the Stanford University School of Business LEAD Executive Education program and obtained her undergraduate degree in Communications at the University of New Hampshire (UNH). She serves on the board of Clean + Healthy NY, UNH’s Sustainability Advisory Board and Change Chemistry’s Member Advisory Committee.

Bill Walsh 

Fund Director at Safer chemistry IMPACT FUND

Bill Walsh has a distinguished career pioneering innovative nonprofit initiatives to reduce the impact of toxic chemicals on human health and the environment and accelerate the adoption of safer chemistry. He is the founding Director of the Safer Chemistry Impact Fund, an innovative blended capital fund for non-profits who are advancing science-based, data-driven solutions to systematically eliminate hazardous chemicals and replace them with verified safer alternatives. Previously, he served as Executive Director of the Passport Foundation, where he oversaw approximately $3.5m in annual grant-making in the field of environmental health and chemical hazard reduction. From 2000-2022 he served in leadership roles with Habitable, which he founded as the Healthy Building Network (HBN) in 2000. Bill and HBN received numerous awards and recognitions for efforts reduce human exposures to chemicals in building materials and create market incentives for healthier innovations in manufacturing.  There he oversaw the development of the Pharos Chemical Hazard Database, and the of the Health Product Declaration.  Bill has been a visiting professor at the Parsons School of Design, serves on the Science Advisory Board of the Marilyn Brachman Hoffman Foundation, and is a Fellow of the Lowell Institute for Sustainable Production. He holds a J.D. from Northeastern University School of Law and LLM in Public Interest Advocacy from Georgetown University.

Don't miss the other parts of this series!

Upcoming: 

• July 16th at noon EST - Making the Case: Supporting Rural Communities, Domestic Manufacturing, and Innovation with Sustainable Chemistry and the Bioeconomy
• August 7th at noon EST - Making the Case: Securing Internal Buy-in for Sustainable Chemistry