Investing in Your Sustainability Career
A sustainable planet needs a great finance team. Whether you’re a student wondering about career paths in sustainable investment and finance, or a seasoned professional seeking to change jobs, expand your network, or help foster new talent, this panel is for you.
Held on Thursday, October 8, at the George Washington University's School of Media and Public Affairs, this was an exciting evening of networking and discussion about preparing for, launching, and advancing your career in sustainable finance and business. We talked about career paths, credentials, and other tips for success.
Sponsored by Women Investing for a Sustainable Economy, the GW Alliance for a Sustainable Future, The Conservation Collective, and Compass: Impact Consulting at GW.
Watch the Panel:
Featured Speakers:
Kathryn Kullberg
- Read Kathryn's Bio
Kathryn Kullberg has over 20 years of policy and advocacy experience at animal protection NGOs including the Humane Society of the United States and the Wildlife Justice Commission. She has worked to pass state and federal laws to protect imperiled species and end wildlife trafficking of parts and products such as shark fins and elephant ivory. She is co-founder of the Conservation Collective, which serves to support out of work conservation professionals affected by federal cuts working in the areas of wildlife, forests, and water, who are looking to land their next role.
Sandhya Rao
- Read Sandhya's Bio
Sandhya Rao is an ESG Professional with the World Bank Group's Pension and Endowments Department. Sandhya has more than 15 years of experience across pension investments, treasury operations, and investment management. In her current role, she performs ESG due diligence, manager monitoring, stewardship oversight, and ESG reporting across public and private markets.
PRI courses completed:
Understanding ESG and
Advanced Responsible Investment programs
Tyler Stotland
- Read Tyler's Bio
Tyler Stotland is an environmental scientist who uses and builds geospatial tools to support climate change mitigation and resilience. She is a Research Analyst at the Center for Global Sustainability (CGS) at the University of Maryland. Before joining CGS, she worked at the Data Foundation supporting the Greenhouse Gas Coalition which aims to strengthen and coordinate the U.S. greenhouse gas measurement, monitoring, reporting, and verification ecosystem. She previously worked at the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, where she contributed to Inflation Reduction Act implementation by developing datasets and models to support climate adaptation in U.S. agriculture. She holds a Master of Environmental Science from the Yale School of the Environment, where her research focused on urban extreme heat adaptation using qualitative research, data science, and remote sensing.
Tanay Tatum-Edwards
- Read Tanay's Bio
Tanay Tatum-Edwards is an entrepreneur, impact investor, and data geek dedicated to advancing social change through finance. She founded and previously led FreeCap Financial, Inc. (acquired by Re-Envision Wealth), an ESG data and research company. She is a 40 Under 40 Black Women in Asset Management awardee for her work in public markets — including creating the first and only public equities index tracking corporate leaders in decarceration. At Candide Group, she manages the firm's shareholder engagement strategy.
Tanay’s thought leadership is regularly featured in the media, including MarketWatch, ImpactAlpha, and Fast Company, and is shared at leading convenings such as SOCAP, Confluence Philanthropy, and Stanford University's VIP Series. She is a fellow at Echoing Green, Fulbright, Halcyon Incubator, and Roddenberry. She holds an M.A. from The Fletcher School at Tufts University and a B.A. from Vassar College.
Hollyn Walters
- Read Hollyn's Bio
Hollyn Walters is a conservation finance and environmental strategy leader who has mobilized multi-million-dollar capital and shaped finance mechanisms including Debt-for-Nature swaps, nature credits, and REDD+. Her work spans organizations including Conservation International, the Zoological Society of London, and the US Forest Service, informing capital allocation decisions across 40+ international sites and translating climate and biodiversity policy into investment-ready strategy. She is currently Co-Lead of the DMV Chapter of Women Investing for a Sustainable Economy (WISE), where she builds cross-sector partnerships and community development opportunities for sustainability professionals.