On November 4th, the Green Chamber hosted the 7th annual Sustainability Interactive in partnership with the RCE Greater Atlanta. The event kicked off with a welcome by new Board Chairman Michael Shoemaker and Vice Chair Amanda Lucey with The Partnership with an update from the Green Chamber. We also got a summary of the RCE and the seven United Nations Sustainable Development Goals the RCE focuses on.
SI7 featured Amber Fairbanks, Portfolio Manager with Mirova in a fireside chat with Past Board Chair Scott Sadler. Amber manages Mirova’s Global Sustainable Equity Fund, which combines ESG research with sustainable development trends and their International Sustainable Equity Fund using ESG principles across the investment process. Their discussion revolved around sustainable investing and the connections between corporate sustainability, the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and investing performance. There was great engagement from our student audience, asking engaging questions about how companies are evaluated for funds and how the SDGs are leveraged in those evaluations.
The interactive portion of the event featured Table Hosts representing 20 different companies and their sustainability initiatives. Companies included Delta Air Lines, Georgia Power, Cox Automotive, Goodr and RaceTrac to name a few. Attendees had four 15-minute rotations to sit and talk with the high level sustainability officer Table Hosts on any topic they like.
Thanks to everyone who was able to attend 2019’s SI7! We had a great turn out with over 75 attendees, including students from at least four local colleges and universities.
We look forward to seeing you in 2020 for Sustainability Interactive 8!