About Us

Steve Schueth, Chair

First Affirmative Financial Network, LLC

Steve Schueth is President of First Affirmative Financial Network. For over 20 years, Mr. Schueth has been a nationally recognized authority, consultant, and resource to the sustainable and responsible investment industry. He has been with First Affirmative since 1999. Between 1989 and 1997, he served as Vice President, Socially Responsible Investing at Calvert, and as President, Calvert Distributors. During this time, he led a team that developed the first global socially screened mutual fund in the U.S. and was responsible for Calvert's relationship with over 2,000 broker-dealer firms. Mr. Schueth was awarded the SRI Service Award by his industry colleagues in 1998.

Doug Arent, PhD

National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)

Doug Arent, PhD is Executive Director of the Joint Institute for Strategic Energy Analysis at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). He specializes in strategic planning and financial analysis competencies; clean energy technologies and energy and water issues; and international and governmental policies. Dr. Arent is a Senior Visiting Fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, an author and expert reviewer for the IPCC Special Report on Renewable Energy, serves on the National Academy of Sciences Panel on Limiting the Magnitude of Future Climate Change, and is on the Executive Council of the U.S. Association of Energy Economists. Back To Top

Madeleine Austin

World Business Academy

Madeleine Austin is the Vice President and Executive Director of the World Business Academy. She is the co-author of various articles on energy and climate change, including The Market is Lying: Why We Must Tax Carbon, Not Subsidize It (2011). She is a member of the Executive Committee of the EthicMarkR Award, which recognizes advertising that uplifts the human spirit and society. Ms Austin's previous work as a practicing attorney includes serving on an American Bar Association legal reform project in Macedonia. As both private and government counsel, she has been the lead in nationwide litigation involving large financial institutions. Back To Top

Jan Bryan, CFP, AIF

First Affirmative Financial Network LLC

Jan Bryan, CFP®, AIF, owns and operates an independent financial planning firm by the same name. She is an investment advisory representative with First Affirmative Financial Network, LLC, an independent Registered Investment Advisory firm registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission. She has specialized in Socially Responsible Investing since 1990 working with individual clients and trusts to integrate investment needs and planning goals with client's values. Ms. Bryan is an Accredited Investment Fiduciary (AIF®) professional. She was elected to the Board of Directors of the Social Investment Forum in 2009. She speaks Spanish and currently works to build community investing in impoverished areas such as Guatemala.

Justin Conway

Calvert Foundation

Justin Conway is the Relationship Manager at Calvert Foundation, a national nonprofit managing over $500 million in community development, microfinance, and social enterprise investments. He is responsible for business and industry development, and works closely with the investors and financial advisors that are at the forefront of using investment capital for social and environmental impact. Prior to joining Calvert Foundation, Mr. Conway managed the Community Investing Program of the Social Investment Forum and Green America, where he was instrumental in growing the overall demand for impact investing. Before working in the field of investing, he worked on human rights issues in both Asia and Central America. Back To Top

Eric Fernald

MSCI

Eric Fernald is a Vice President at MSCI ESG Research. He is responsible for maintaining MSCI's various ESG Research product methodologies: MSCI's ESG risk and sustainability ratings, ESG Impact Monitor controversy analysis, and ESG Business Involvement service. Mr. Fernald joined MSCI ESG Research in 2010 when MSCI acquired KLD Research & Analytics. He worked at KLD from 1995 through 2009. Prior to joining KLD, Eric studied and taught Political Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and worked for the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).

Darragh Gallant

Jantzi-Sustainalytics

Darragh Gallant is Director of Jantzi-Sustainalytics' U.S. office. Prior to joining Jantzi-Sustainalytics, Ms. Gallant was Director of Marketing and Client Relations for KLD Research & Analytics, Inc. in the U.S., where she was responsible for client retention and services and external communication. She has extensive experience within the responsible investment industry in the U.S., having also spent over seven years as an environmental, social and governance (ESG) research analyst at both KLD and Citizens Funds, a socially responsible mutual fund company. Ms. Gallant currently serves as co-chair of SIRAN, the Social Investment Research Analyst Network, a working group of the Social Investment Forum.

Elizabeth Glenshaw

Clean Yield Asset Management

Elizabeth Glenshaw is the Managing Director for Clean Yield Asset Management, an asset management firm that promotes societal sustainability in its investment strategy. Prior to joining Clean Yield, she was Senior Vice President, Community Investment and Donor Relations, Calvert Foundation where she led multiple initiatives on both the lending and investment side. Earlier in her career, Ms. Glenshaw managed client portfolios, integrating social criteria into a client's investment objective. She also crafted the Socially Responsible Banking Fund for Vermont National Bank (now Peoples United) which makes flexible loans in the areas of affordable housing, education, sustainable agriculture, downtown revitalization, environment and small business development.

Bob Helmuth

Pax World Investments

Bob Helmuth is Senior Vice President, Stakeholder Relations, Pax World Management LLC. He is responsible for maintaining and advancing a wide range of relationships with various stakeholder constituencies including financial advisors across the nation who specialize in sustainable investing. Mr. Helmuth is also responsible for the company's presence at events and conferences, and its work with affinity and non-profit organizations. He is a member of Pax World's Corporate Social Responsibility Committee. Prior to joining Pax World in 2001, Mr. Helmuth served in marketing management positions with companies in the cable television industry, including ESPN, Daniels & Associates, Cablevision Industries and more recently the Starz Media Group. Back To Top

Sonya Hetrick

Sonya Hetrick worked as an analyst for Google and has a strong background in both traditional investment analysis and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) analysis. Previously, she worked as a research analyst at KLD Research & Analytics and interned at Calvert Investments, where she wrote briefs for institutional investors in support of Calvert's shareholder resolutions. Ms. Hetrick is the recipient of Amnesty International USA's -"Patrick Steward Human Rights Award" for her volunteer work in India, and Thailand. She first began research on socially responsible investing while attending American University on a full tuition academic scholarship.

Steve Hoffman

Compass Natural LLC

Steven Hoffman is Managing Director of Compass Natural LLC, a full service marketing, communications, public relations and business development agency serving natural, organic and sustainable business. He also is co-owner of Best Organics Inc., a leading provider of premium artisan organic and eco-friendly products and gift collections. In addition, he is the co-founder of LOHAS Journal and the LOHAS Forum annual market trends conference. Mr. Hoffman is the former Rocky Mountain Regional Sales Manager and National Marketing Director for Arrowhead Mills. He has been involved in sustainable food and agriculture for more than 30 years. Back To Top

Krystala Kalil

The SRI Conference

Krystala Kalil is the Conference Coordinator of The SRI Conference on Sustainable, Responsible, Impact Investing. She joined the conference production team in 2004. She has an extensive background in conference planning, choosing to work with conferences that reflect her core values. Just prior to The SRI Conference, Ms. Kalil was the Sponsor and Media Liaison for the International Conference on Science and Consciousness, and the International Conference on Business and Consciousness. Ms. Kalil has been an educator, psychotherapist, project manager and sculptor.

Leslie Lowe

UCI Environmental Accountability

Leslie Lowe, JD, is an attorney who specializes in environmental law, and corporate environmental disclosure and governance. In addition to organizing grass roots and investor campaigns for environmental accountability, her current work focuses on incorporating concepts from ecological and biophysical economics in financial and public policy analysis. For the past seven years, Ms. Lowe directed the Energy & Environment Program at the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR). Previously, she was Executive Director of the New York City Environmental Justice Alliance. Ms. Lowe is a member of the American Bar Association's Committee on Environmental Disclosure.

Dan Porter

IW Financial

Dan Porter is co-founder and Vice President of Marketing at IW Financial, a provider of ESG research, consulting and portfolio management solutions. Prior to IW Financial, Mr. Porter served as President at the Center for Educational Media, a communications firm that served a broad range of clients including PBS, the Houghton Mifflin Company, and the U.S. EPA. He has spent more than twenty years in the communications field. During that time he founded and managed both for-profit and non-profit organizations. Mr. Porter co-founded KIDS Consortium, a leading service-learning non-profit organization. He has lectured extensively on media bias and critical viewing skills.

Judy Seid, CFP

Blue Summit Financial Group

Judy Seid, CFP, is the President and Founder of Blue Summit Wealth Management.

As Branch Manager, she oversees the activities of associates in the firm, while managing a select group of clients; concentrating on wealth management and financial planning strategies for families, business owners, inheritors, and retirees. She has conducted hundreds of seminars & workshops on topics including Socially Responsible Investing, Financial Planning & Investments, Senior Estate Planning, Pre-retirement planning, and Long Term Care Insurance planning, has spoken on the radio, and is often quoted in publications. In 2009, Ms. Seid was recognized as SRI Advisor of the Year by "Boomer Market Advisor Magazine".

Erik Wohlgemuth

The Future 500

Erik Wohlgemuth is the Chief Operating Officer of The Future 500 where he oversees North American operations and corporate-NGO engagements across the organization's core programs of Energy, Water, Recycling & Product Stewardship, and Labor & Transparency. He has focused his career on finding common ground between corporations and NGOs. Mr. Wohlgemuth has worked with a broad range of industries -" chemical, energy, consumer products, automotive, high-tech, clean tech, biomaterials -" and numerous NGOs focusing on a range of social and environmental issues. He is adept at seeing and cultivating opportunities to connect organizations and bring people together to advance innovative approaches toward solving complex sustainability challenges. Back To Top