I’ve worked with public sector, private sector, non-profit organizations; federal, provincial, and Indigenous governments leading different portfolios including utility energy generation, distribution, community energy planning, energy efficiency, decarbonization, climate policies, and sustainability, and they all had one thing in common — carbon neutrality is now perceived as an existential threat across the board.
The whole is greater than the sum of its parts
The climate crisis is approaching a global tipping point and multiple stakeholders are racing to deploy climate solutions.
The most important lesson I’ve learned in my two decades of energy and sustainability experience as an engineering and business management professional, is that the climate crisis cannot be addressed with incremental change, focusing on one part of the complex problem at a time.
The role of philanthropy in a carbon-zero future
With a unique approach to complex world challenges, the ability to choose social good over conventional profit and the flexibility around the means of intervention, philanthropic organizations have demonstrated their capabilities to play a central role in redesigning existing systems for a net carbon zero future.
With an investment gap of several trillion dollars to be bridged to meet the looming 2050 net carbon zero target, climate philanthropists are getting better coordinated, pooling more resources to address this challenge swiftly, impactfully, and effectively.
My strategy for the Climate portfolio at The Northpine Foundation
Supporting the highest impact program or venture takes understanding of the magnitude of social change that it will unlock. I am excited to develop my strategy for the Climate portfolio at The Northpine Foundation, to understand how your ventures unlock social change.
Technological solutions, business strategies and climate modeling for social impact are already available. But, as a catalytic investor guided by the core value of kindness, the real challenge is innovative thinking to put together multiple pieces of the puzzle to build solutions that combine the climate lens with lenses of social justice, outcome equity and opportunity to thrive.
With the Northpine Foundation, I am exploring tailored financial solutions to maximize impact for underserved and underinvested climate focus areas. I would love to hear about your ideas, and meet you at our next Open House.
