Katherine Blue
Principal and Americas Sustainability Services Network Leader, KPMG LLP
Katherine Blue is a Principal at KPMG LLP and is KPMG’s Americas Sustainability Services Network Leader. She has over 20 years of advisory experience focused on corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting strategy, ESG advisement, and EHS regulatory compliance. She also manages KPMG’s services including strategy development for CSR reporting and assurance, carbon/energy management, social impact assessment, and non-financial valuation services. As part of KPMG’s global energy practice, she serves clients in the power utility and oil and gas industries and leads KPMG’s southeast Major Projects Advisory services. Katherine is also the Co-Chair of the Atlanta Chapter of Women Corporate Directors.
Max Dulberger
Director Corporate Governance and Sustainable Investment, IL State Treasurer Michael W Frerichs
Max Dulberger serves as the Director of Corporate Governance & Sustainable Investment at the Illinois State Treasurer’s Office. This entails leading investment stewardship, corporate engagement, and proxy voting activities on behalf of the Treasurer, all of which advance the Office’s mission to protect and grow its $35 billion investment portfolio and simultaneously help foster a business community more attentive to sustainable long-term growth. Max also manages several of the investment division’s programs and policy initiatives, including the Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Program, which seeks to increase the use of investment firms owned by minorities, women, military veterans, and people with disabilities. Max has built his career around public service. He has over 13 years’ experience working for public institutions in Illinois and Wisconsin, including five years at the Illinois State Treasurer’s Office. Max holds a Master of Public Administration degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago and a Bachelor of Arts in Communication Studies from the University of Iowa.
Marija Kramer
Head of ESG Analytics, ISS-ESG
Marija Kramer is Head of ISS’ ESG business unit, overseeing the unit’s core Data & Analytics, Research, and Index offerings. She leads a team of more than 400 professionals assisting clients in developing and integrating responsible investing policies and practices, engaging on responsible investment issues, and monitoring portfolio company practices through in-depth research, ratings, screening solutions, and ESG data. Marija also oversees ISS’ dedicated climate team which provides data, analytics, and advisory services to help financial market participants understand, measure, and act on climate-related risks across all asset classes. In addition, Marija manages ISS’ financial intelligence unit, EVA, which enables investors to uniquely measure, analyze, and value corporate performance and inform investing decisions. She is responsible for new ESG product development, working closely with industry constituents and partners to advance ESG solutions for the benefit of institutional investors and to bring ESG transparency to all market stakeholders. As a member of ISS’ Leadership Team, Marija has been instrumental in identifying and securing external growth opportunities, globally, for the ISS ESG business. She is also a frequent speaker at industry events covering topics ranging from ESG integration to climate impacts across industries and sectors. Before joining ISS in 2003, Marija was with Thomson, where she was responsible for the design and implementation of Thomson’s flagship investment management and banking portals. She holds an M.B.A. from American University’s Kogod School of Business.
Kathy Wanner
Head of Investments, Fairway Capital
Kathy Wanner is a Founding Partner of Fairway Capital Management. Ms. Wanner has served as an Operating Partner and Advisor at Abundant Venture Partners from 2016 to 2020. Ms. Wanner spent 22 years at Adams Street Partners, a global private markets investment management firm and its predecessor organizations, where she made 100+ primary and secondary investments in venture capital, growth, and buyout funds around the world. Ms. Wanner managed the US Primary investment team and oversaw deployment of client’s capital into US primary investments, annually totaling between $800 and $1 billion into 20+ funds. She served on the firm’s Global Primary Investment Committee, which was responsible for sourcing, analyzing and monitoring investments in private equity partnerships, implementing strategy and approving all global primary fund investments. Ms. Wanner served on many private equity and venture capital advisory boards and her team was responsible for monitoring all US private equity and venture capital general partner relationships. Before joining the Adams Street Partners Private Equity Group in 1998, she was at Brinson Partners for five years and served in various roles within the finance, communications and business development groups where she was responsible for the revenue cycle, statistical analysis and market research. From 1989 to 1993, Ms. Wanner earned experience in statistical modeling, reporting, tracking and analysis as a Senior Financial Analyst at Frontier Risk Management, Range Wise, Inc. and Morgan Stanley & Company. Ms. Wanner received a Bachelor of Science in Finance from Binghamton University and a Master of Business Administration from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. Ms. Wanner is a founding board member at DCALTA, a 501(c) non-profit organization created to educate the community on the benefits of including alternative investments within a defined contribution framework to better secure retirement outcomes for plan participants. In addition, she is a board member at CureSearch, a national non-profit foundation that accelerates the search for cures for children’s cancer. Ms. Wanner serves on the board and is the audit committee chair for New Fortress Energy (NASDAQ: NFE).
Leah Yablonka
ESG Research Analyst, Ariel Investments
Leah works closely with Ariel’s domestic research analysts to analyze the ESG risks and opportunities in current and prospective investments. In addition, Leah leads the tracking and reporting of Ariel’s ESG research and engagement activities for both internal and external stakeholders. Prior to joining Ariel in 2019, she was a management consultant at PwC. Leah is an FSA Credential holder, which is administered by the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB). She graduated cum laude from the University of Maryland with a BS in Environmental Science and Policy and a Minor in Sustainability Studies, and received a Master of Environmental Management with a focus in ESG and climate finance from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.
Jessica Wirth Strine
Managing Partner and CEO, Sustainable Governance Partners
Jessica Wirth Strine is managing partner and CEO at Sustainable Governance Partners (SGP). She advises public companies on corporate governance, ESG strategy, and investor engagement. With nearly twenty years of experience in active equity fund management and passive fund stewardship, Jessica has unique insights into the practices of both fundamental active investors and passive stewardship decision makers. Prior to forming SGP, Jessica was a senior director of Investment Stewardship at Vanguard, overseeing proxy voting decision- making and leading engagement with directors and executive leaders at public companies across the U.S. While at Vanguard, Jessica also led an interdisciplinary ESG working group, focusing on the research, policy and market implications of ESG issues. Prior to serving passive investors in a stewardship capacity, Jessica worked in active equity portfolio management, most recently at BlackRock and previously at Putnam Investments and Wellington Management Company. While on the buyside, she directed global investments in securities within the energy sector, managed natural resources sector funds, and oversaw a team of equity research analysts covering all industries, market capitalizations and regions. In merging her experience as a governance leader and an active equity investor, Jessica sees the significant opportunity to directly empower public companies to drive long-term shareholder value by applying a broad and long-term lens to the bottom line. Jessica holds a B.A. from Dartmouth College, and an M.B.A. from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. She lives in suburban Philadelphia with her husband and their five children, and serves on the board of Trustees for Tyler Arboretum and the Philadelphia Committee for UNICEF USA.
