Esther Pan Sloane, a U.S. national, joined UNCDF as the Head of the Partnerships, Policy and Communications in October 2016.

Prior to joining UNCDF, Esther was a U.S. diplomat for 10 years. As Adviser at the Permanent Mission of the United States to the United Nations in New York, she was on the U.S. team that negotiated the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals. She also served on the Executive Boards of UNDP, UNICEF, UNOPS, and UNFPA, pushing the agencies to become more efficient, effective, and accountable for results.

Esther previously served as a U.S. diplomat in China and the United Kingdom, as well as at the State Department Operations Center in Washington.

Prior to joining the U.S. Foreign Service, Esther worked as a journalist in print, radio, and magazines. Esther graduated from Stanford University with a BA with honors in English and International Relations and earned an MA in Theater and Performance from the University of Cape Town, which she attended on a Fulbright Fellowship.

As the Director of the Inflation Sensitive asset class for the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS), Paul Shantic manages a team of 10 investment professionals responsible for the management and gathering of assets with a close linkage to inflation. Current commitments total $11.1 billion. Commodities, infrastructure, agriculture, timber and U.S. TIPS are part of that mandate. Total unit AUM is $11.0 billion.
Mr. Shantic has been with CalSTRS for just over 25 years. He has served as Acting Co-Director of Fixed Income and was also the Portfolio Manager for the $7.2 billion Investment Grade and High Yield portfolios along with a team of five trader/analysts. Mr. Shantic has also managed the System’s MBS and Liquidity Portfolios. He assisted with the start-up of the CalSTRS’ Credit Enhancement Program and has worked as a public funds manager for a number of public agencies throughout the State of California.
Mr. Shantic holds advanced degrees in Business, Portfolio Management, Public Administration, Conflict Resolution, and Government. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Philosophy from the University of Redlands.

Anne is CalPERS’ Managing Investment Director for Board Governance & Sustainability, responsible for strategic initiatives across the total fund where she is a member of the Investment Management Committee and reports to the CEO.  Anne leads CalPERS’ Sustainable Investment Strategy, which focuses on long term value creation through the effective management of three forms of capital: financial, human and natural.

Anne currently chairs the Steering Committee and Asia Advisory Group for Climate Action 100+, a global investor alliance of $54 trillion which CalPERS convened and co-founded. She is a member of the California Governor’s Climate Risk Disclosure Advisory Group and the Advisory Council of the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum (OMFIF). Anne was recently appointed to the board of Ceres and is a Lecturer in Sustainable and Impact Finance at the University of California, Berkeley, Haas Business School.

Anne is the author of  “The Financial Ecosystem: The Role of Finance in Achieving Sustainability” (Palgrave MacMillan) with Satyajit Bose and Dong Guo of Columbia University,  “Fair Shares: The Future of Shareholder Power and Responsibility” with Jonathan Charkham (Oxford University Press) and “The Greening of Global Investment: How the Environment, Ethics, and Politics are Reshaping Strategies” (The Economist). She is an editorial board member of the journal Directors & Boards.

She sits on the strategy group for the UN Secretary General’s Global Investors for Sustainable Development, and steering committee for the UN Net Zero Asset Owner Alliance. Anne is a member of the Leadership Council at the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights.

Anne was recognized in 2019 by TIME Magazine as one of 15 women globally leading the fight on climate change and as one of the 100 Most Influential Women in US Finance by Barron’s in 2020. She is cited by the National Association of Corporate Directors as one of the 100 most influential leaders in the boardroom.

In roles prior to joining CalPERS, Anne served as the first Executive Director of the International Corporate Governance Network, and as the head of the World Bank-OECD Global Corporate Governance Forum. Previously she was Joint Managing Director of Pensions & Investment Research Consultants Ltd. Anne was formerly Senior Faculty Fellow and Lecturer at the Yale School of Management, where she taught with Ira Millstein on ‘The Role of the Corporation in Society’.

Anne read Philosophy, Politics and Economics at St Hilda’s College, Oxford University, where she was awarded a BA and MA, plus a Slater Fellowship at Wellesley College, Massachusetts.

Magnus Billing is the CEO of Alecta. Alecta provides collectively agreed occupational pensions, and is owned by approximately 2.4 million private customers and 34,000 corporate clients. Alecta’s assets under management amount to approximately USD 90 billion.

In 2016 Mr. Billing was appointed to be member of the European Commissions’ “high-level expert group” on sustainable finance. In January 2018, the group delivered their final recommendations for “a comprehensive EU strategy on sustainable finance as part of the Capital Markets Union”, which informed the Commissions’ Action plan on Sustainable Finance launched in 2018.

Prior to joining Alecta, Mr. Billing was the CEO of Nasdaq Nordics, and Head of Fixed Income Nordic and Baltic Markets. Within Nasdaq he previously held the position as Chief Legal Counsel and Senior Vice President of Nasdaq Group, Inc.

Mr. Billing has served as director of Federation of European Securities Exchanges, Swedish House of Finance and as an alternate director of the Swedish Corporate Governance Code Board of Directors. He holds a degree in Law from Stockholm University.

Chris heads-up the Bank’s climate hub, which has responsibility for developing and implementing the institution’s strategic approach to climate change and he is a Bank representative in the NGFS.  Chris has been particularly focused on the PRA’s supervisory statement on financial risks arising from climate change and the development of a system-wide climate change stress test.

Beyond climate, Chris has responsibilities spanning the authorisation, supervision and analysis of firms operating as investment banks in the UK.

Prior to working at the Bank, Chris held roles at HM Treasury and Ernst and Young, where he qualified as a Chartered Accountant.

Vikram S. Gandhi is a senior lecturer at Harvard Business School, where he developed and teaches HBS’s first course on impact investing. He brings 23 years of experience in investment banking to influence and inform the ways that impact investing is shaping investors’ responses to global markets. He is the founder of Asha Impact, an impact investing platform set up by socially conscious individuals to leverage combined capital, networks and expertise to address critical development challenges facing India and other emerging economies. He is also a senior advisor to the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB).

During his previous 23-year career in investment banking at Credit Suisse and Morgan Stanley, Vikram focused on advising Boards of Directors and CEOs around the globe on strategic direction and the implementation of major mergers, acquisitions, and capital raising initiatives, and helped establish Morgan Stanley’s presence in India. He holds an MBA from the Harvard Business School, and a B.Com from the University of Mumbai. He is a member of the Young Presidents Organization (YPO) since 1997 and is a qualified Chartered Accountant.

Megan Starr is the Global Head of Impact for The Carlyle Group. She is based in New York. In her role, Ms. Starr works to design and execute Carlyle’s cohesive, long-term impact strategy. She also oversees the dedicated ESG team, which leads the firm’s investment diligence and portfolio company engagement work on material ESG issues.

Prior to joining Carlyle, Ms. Starr was within Goldman Sachs’ Investment Management Division, where she helped build the ESG and impact investing business. Previously, Ms. Starr served in roles at The JPB Foundation, a $3.8B private family foundation based in New York City.

Ms. Starr received an M.B.A. and a Certificate in Public Management and Social Innovation from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business, where she was an Arbuckle Leadership Fellow, and an A.B. in Environmental Science and Public Policy from Harvard College, where she graduated magna cum laude with highest honors in field of concentration.