Zach Knight is the Co-Founder & CEO of Blue Forest. They are a mission-driven, non-profit organization, leveraging financial innovation to create sustainable investment solutions to environmental challenges. He will walk us through how Blue Forest came about, the details of the FRB, and discuss their asset management arm.

Joe Flores is a Managing Director at TortoiseEcofin, a sustainable investment firm that strives to make a positive impact on clients and communities by investing in energy infrastructure, the transition to cleaner energy, and by providing capital for social impact projects focused on education and seniors housing. While the firm has a variety of offerings, this episode is focused on water.

We're kicking off this season with the former founder of an impact investment, Laura Kimes. Laura shares how she first heard of impact investing and ended up co-founding Greenprint Partners, a project developer of green stormwater infrastructure in at-risk communities. She has since exited the firm and is moving onto new and exciting projects, including building out an ESG program for a PE-backed cleantech company.

The Jersey shore needed a longer-term solution to address systemic issues, such as a lack of affordable housing, that persisted well after Sandy hit. Ms. Maria Farhat Tanzola was an integral part of the team that created Impact New Jersey, an impact investment that generates market-rate returns while focusing on affordable housing in Sandy-devastated areas. She reflects on this successful partnership and innovative investment strategy 6 years after it was created.

Learn how Morningstar is helping investors make better-informed decisions and invest in ways that are meaningful to them. We also hear from a portfolio manager that is applying a gender lens to her investment process and why the “S” component of ESG is so important. This episode features Dr. Jon Hale from Morningstar and Ms. Diane Sobin from Cary Street Partners.

Learn about real assets, including farmland investing. We highlight an Organic Farmland REIT that is filling a need by helping finance and transition conventional farmland to organic, which has been proven to make farms more productive, and even more profitable. The Director of Impact of Wetherby Asset Management also joins us to discuss what they are doing with regards to real assets and impact investing.

For as little as $20, you can make your first impact investment. Learn about the Calvert Community Investment Note, its holdings, and how Calvert is working to democratize impact investing.

We interview an organization linking up Philadelphia’s small businesses with local investors to generate a win-win for the community. Learn how they do it and how you can get started with local investing in your area.