Currently a first-year MBA student at the Yale School of Management, Lee is on the leadership team for a student-led impact investing venture capital fund at Yale and serves as a research assistant helping the Yale endowment implement its fossil fuel divestment principles. In his pre-MBA career, Lee led the environmental and social impact due diligence process at TPG Rise Climate, a decarbonization-focused private equity fund which invests in sustainable companies across the energy, transport, industrial and agricultural sectors. During his time at TPG, Lee helped develop the Carbon Yield metric to compare the impact efficiency of investing in various climate technologies and conducted carbon impact underwriting for over a dozen major deals. Lee started his career in consulting, first with Deloitte and then as a sustainability topic specialist at Boston Consulting Group (BCG).

Lee holds a dual degree in Economics and History (with honors) from Wake Forest University where he graduated Summa Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa.

Prior to joining Closed Loop Partners, Kara worked for WisdomTree Asset Management, a provider of diversified exchange-traded products, where she focused primarily on the development and implementation of thematic investment strategies. Kara spent the first few years of her career in equity research at Barclays Investment Bank, where she covered insurance companies and asset managers.

Kara received her BA in Finance and Operations Management from Boston College and is a CFA Charterholder. She is currently earning an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

In addition, Mark serves as a managing director and is member of the investment committee for MissionPoint Capital Partners, a private equity firm he cofounded that specializes in clean energy and that is an affiliate of MissionPoint Partners. Mark currently serves on the boards of Hannon Armstrong (NYSE ticker: HASI), ReCommunity Holdings, MPH Energy Holdings, Just Greens (DBA AeroFarms) and is a board observer for OptiRTC.

Prior to forming MissionPoint, Mark served as Chief Investment Officer of Marshall Street Management, a private family office and was a Founder and Managing Partner of MSM Capital Partners, LLC, where he developed and executed the firm’s investment strategy in clean technology and environmental finance sectors. Prior to Marshall Street, he held Chief Financial Officer and operating positions at a retail franchise and at Cannondale Corporation, a publicly traded bicycle manufacturer.

In addition, Mark was with Coopers & Lybrand’s Financial Advisory Services Group where he provided due diligence and transactions services support to Fortune 500 Companies’ mergers and acquisitions activities. Mark has extensive experience in investment management, corporate finance, accounting and business operations. Mark earned an MBA with Distinction from Columbia University and a BA in Accounting and Economics from Fordham University.

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For over 8 years, Tom has actively participated in the Association of Plastics Recyclers. He currently chairs the Olefins Technical Committee, participates on the Chemical Recycling working group, and was an active member of the Rigids Committee leading the Polypropylene Market Development working group. In 2022, Tom was elected to the APR Board of Directors. Tom also represents Technimark on the Healthcare Plastics Recycling Council.

Tom obtained his BS in Polymer Science Engineering from Case Western Reserve University and his MS from the University of Pennsylvania/Wharton School of Business in Technology Management. He is an avid runner and enjoys trail and mountain running.

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She catalyzes creative ideas and is an ecosystem builder. She currently works at the Massachusetts Institute of technology as Program Manager of Fiber Technologies and is the founder of Value of Science. She created DESCIENCE, a global collective of designers, scientists & technologists, connecting the world of science and Design. She was selected as Human of the year by motherhood Magazine in 2018 and received the 2015 Boston Business Magazine “Woman to Watch” Award.

She graduated with a PhD in biomedical Science at University of Massachusetts Medical School and trained at the MIT Sloan School in Technology Innovation & Entrepreneurship. She currently serves as President of the board of the Chile-Massachusetts Alliance to support international exchange of investment, technological business, talent and social impact. She is a past board member of FIT Lab and a current board member of Aji Challenge, a chilean accelerator that fosters the success of technological companies in global markets.

As a member of Women Entrepreneurs in Science and Technology (WEST), she received a Volunteer Giving back award. She is also a member of the innovation committee at MIT’s enterprise forum, a reviewer for MIT’s Legatum Center and an advisor to MIT Delta students’ start ups. During her time as a Ph.D. student, she helped pioneer the International workshop called “Small Brains Big Ideas”. So far, this initiative has successfully trained almost a hundred Latin-American students. Trained as a biochemist at University of Concepcion in her native Chile, she is constantly in search of opportunities to support young talent and technologies to make an impact in global markets.

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Fred believes that business has the unique opportunity to complement its efforts on financial performance with important work in the social and environmental arenas. He has emphasized the key role business can play in building financial, social and ecological capital, often through partnerships with government and community agencies. Business and industry publications regularly feature his innovative management approach and work in advancing sustainability.

Fred recently completed 17 years as a Senior Visiting Lecturer at the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University. He served as an Executive-in-Residence at the University of Michigan – Ross School of Business. He was as a member of the U.S. Department of Commerce Manufacturing Council with two years as chair under Presidents Bush and Obama. Keller also served on the W.K. Kellogg Foundation Board for 14 years with two years as chair. Fred is a trustee for the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation.

Fred serves on the boards of Paragon Die & Engineering of Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Balcones Resources of Austin, Texas. He has previously served on the boards of the Meijer Corporation and Fifth Third Bank, West Michigan. He is currently an advisor to several startup companies around the country. He has been active with many community organizations and change initiatives. He is co-founder and chair of Talent 2025, a catalyst for the development of an integrated talent system to meet employer needs throughout 13 West Michigan counties. He served as co-chair of K-Connect, a Kent County Collective Impact Systems Change Collaborative. A Grand Rapids, Michigan native, Fred earned his B.S. in materials science and engineering from Cornell University and
an M.S. in business management from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Fred is an accomplished public speaker frequently asked to talk about the Triple Bottom Line culture he has instilled at Cascade Engineering, including their “Welfare to Career” and “Returning Citizens” programs. These programs have provided career opportunities for hundreds of employees formerly on welfare, or a second chance to those formerly incarcerated. His TEDx speech “Why Business, Why Now”, has been a common theme in many of his public speaking engagements. Fred believes that the power of collective business is the only force capable of solving the world’s toughest problems.

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She is an established industry strategist in the fashion, beauty and lifestyle arenas, helping brands to set and realize sustainability goals while maintaining growth and profitability.  Her background in marketing married with her deep sustainability knowledge are a crucial to companies trying to do the right thing while not greenwashing.

Carrie’s commitment to creating business opportunities that reverse our impact on the planet through the principles of the circular economy and an empowered workforce have led her to become a mentor within her agency and a trusted industry collaborator for the c-suite. She is passionate about the potential for technology, traceability and soil health to bring the fashion industry into planetary alignment.  She helped Kelly Slater start Outerknown, works with MycoWorks on their Made with Reishi technology and has spearheaded an effort by Longchamp to move production of their famous “Le Pliage” bag to 100% renewable resources.

One of Carrie’s most passionate subjects is the waste that we needlessly create and how simple reductions in the way we use and dispose of things can have great benefit to the planet.  Carrie is a frequent speaker on the subject of sustainability and one of her favorite things is speaking to citizen audiences on the empowered consumer and their potential to instigate change around the world.  She is an advisor to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation on their Make Fashion Circular initiative and a lecturer and advisor to the Bard Center for Environmental Policy and their Sustainability MBA, a Founding Partner of the US Coalition on Sustainability at the United Nations and a policy advisor to the New Standard Institute.

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He serves multiple chairmanships and board memberships in European fashion and consumer companies, and he is a Director Emeritus & Senior Advisor at McKinsey & Company, with a special focus on Jewelry, Fashion & Luxury and Consumer.

Thomas has been building and leading McKinsey’s global Fashion & Luxury Practice for many years. He has published numerous articles and is a frequent speaker, panelist and moderator at Jewelry, Fashion, Luxury and Consumer Goods/Retail conferences. Today, he serves/has served on supervisory boards in Germany and Denmark as a Chairman/board member.

In addition, he has a special passion for the topic of Sustainability in Fashion & Luxury, where he has been advising the World Economic Forum and currently serves as the Vice-chairman of Global Fashion Agenda, a non-profit organization based in Copenhagen. In these roles, his ambition is to help mobilize fashion and luxury companies and the industry at large to reduce the negative impact on the world and transform the way fashion is produced, marketed and consumed.

Thomas earned a Dr. rer pol. from the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich in business administration.

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He has over 25 years of experience in the environmental field in a variety of applications, from regulatory and litigation work to program and policy development. He currently serves as VP, Mid-Atlantic Region for the Trust for Public Land, where his team works with communities to protect land, create parks and greenways, and build green infrastructure, and where he advocates for natural climate solution policies and funding.

Carter previously served as Commissioner of the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, where he oversaw the largest municipally-owned water agency in the country, developed the country’s largest green infrastructure program, launched a pilot to process food waste at the utility’s anaerobic digesters, led the response to Hurricane Irene and Hurricane Sandy, developed resiliency, water efficiency, clear air, solid waste and sustainability strategies and policies, and implemented capital programs. Earlier in his career, he served as a sustainability advisor to former NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg, an environmental litigator and professor at Rutgers Law School, an Assistant New York Attorney General, and a board member of several environmental organizations in New York City.

Carter also helps develop the next generation of sustainability leaders through teaching graduate students about environmental infrastructure for sustainable cities at Columbia University’s Earth Institute (Master’s in Sustainability Management) and NYU’s Wagner School of Public Policy (Master’s in Public Policy).

Carter is an avid hiker, skier, gardener and paddler in the Hudson Valley on a regular basis, and in more far-flung destinations whenever he can. He is a resident of Brooklyn, where he lives with his wife and raised his two children.

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Prior to his work at Columbia, Professor Usher was CEO of EcoSecurities Group plc, which developed greenhouse gas emission reduction projects in developing countries. EcoSecurities was acquired by JP Morgan in 2009. Professor Usher was previously the co-founder and CEO of TreasuryConnect LLC, which provided electronic trading solutions to banks and was acquired in 2001. Prior to that, he worked in financial services for twelve years in New York and Tokyo. Professor Usher is an active investor and advisor to entrepreneurial ventures focused on climate change and clean energy (UsherWorks.com). He is a board member of Community Energy, OptiRTC, and CapShift, and is Chair of the Tamer Fund for Social Ventures. Usher earned an MBA from Harvard Business School.

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