William Morrissey is an environmental science and policy professional who thrives at the intersection of climate, finance, and policy. As an Associate at Responsible Alpha, William leads the US federal and state contracting effort, liaising with federal partners, identifying public partnerships, and opportunities for growth. He also assists on contracts, using his project management, natural resource management, and scientific research experience. 

With 5+ years of experience as a natural resource biologist, William has worked across sectors to solve complex environmental problems. At Versar Inc., he had the opportunity to contribute to many environmental projects, such as freshwater habitat surveys and IDDE inspections. He has managed environmental and wetland permitting for the Maryland State Highway Association and served as a field biologist for the MD Department of Natural Resources.  

Recently, he obtained his MPA in Environmental Science and Policy from Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs, where he studied climate science, environmental policy, and sustainable finance. In his undergraduate career, he studied Biology at the University of Delaware with a primary focus on ecology.  

Outside of the office, William spends a lot of his time with his family, traveling abroad or to the New Jersey shore, and cooking delicious vegetarian recipes. 

Jason Yu is an undergraduate student at Johns Hopkins University with a strong academic and career interest in finance, business strategy, and organizational leadership. He currently serves as Class President at Johns Hopkins University and previously held the position of Student Body President in high school, experiences that have strengthened his ability to lead teams, communicate effectively, and drive meaningful initiatives.

He has been actively involved in business-focused organizations, including Future Business Leaders of America and the American Marketing Association, where he developed skills in financial analysis, marketing, and project management.

Jason is passionate about policy, research, and creating positive impact within his communities. He enjoys collaborating with diverse groups of people, engaging in interdisciplinary learning, and contributing to efforts that promote mutual growth and continuous improvement. 

Outside of his academics and leadership roles, Jason enjoys creative writing, running, and playing the alto saxophone.

Ruonan (Cara) Li is passionate about sustainability and global development, with a interdisciplinary background in public administration, economics, and policy studies. Currently pursuing a Master’s degree in International Relations at Johns Hopkins University SAIS Europe in Bologna, she focuses on how data-driven insights and policy innovation can advance sustainable growth and international cooperation.

Isabella Manzione-Dearborn is a graduate student at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies pursuing a Master of Arts in International Affairs. Isabella currently serves on the project team as an analyst and works extensively with the Business Development and Marketing Team.  

Throughout her education, Isabella cultivated a strong interest in climate and sustainability issues, integrating global sustainability themes into her coursework and study abroad experience. Her professional background includes internships with the Department of Defense and the International Rescue Committee, where she supported federal operations and refugee resettlement efforts. Isabella’s interdisciplinary perspective and commitment to the environment align with Responsible Alpha’s mission to advance climate-conscious financial strategies. 

With over two years of study-abroad experience, Isabella demonstrates strong global citizenship skills. In addition to her passion for travel, Isabella enjoys training for half marathons and collecting many plants. 

Paul is a trained natural resource scientist studying at the School of Environment and Sustainability at the University of Michigan.

Emily's interests lay at the intersection between data, environment, and public health. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Biology, Society, and Environment from the University of Minnesota.

Jimena’s management role includes project tracking and management, team coordination, online marketing, and supporting RA’s participation in working groups and partnerships. She is also an analyst who conducts research and assists in writing reports and deliverables for client projects. 

Jimena has previously interned at A Wider Circle (a social support nonprofit in the DC/Maryland area), and at the Chronicle of Philanthropy (a publication covering philanthropy and nonprofits in the US and worldwide). She has also worked as a summer camp counselor and as a state lead in Virginia for a voter turnout campaign in 2020. 

Jimena attended the College of William & Mary and earned a Bachelors degree in Sociology with a concentration in Social Problems, Policy, and Justice. She enjoys studying intersections between social dynamics, environmental patterns, and economic trends, and using iterative research processes to create lasting solutions that bridge gaps between sectors. She is passionate about translating technical information into clear, compelling narratives. 

Jimena has lived in Mexico City, DC, and Virginia, and is now based in Nairobi, where she enjoys spending time with her family, exploring the city, trying new foods, meeting people from around the globe, and bonding with her cat. 

Dr. Mike Kroll is a risk management and quantitative finance specialist, combining advanced technical capability with deep financial services expertise. Holding a doctorate in Physics from Ruhr University Bochum, Germany, he delivers credit and operational risk frameworks, regulatory compliance programs, and ESG/climate risk solutions for banks, insurers, and institutional investors across Europe, North America, and emerging markets.

His work spans quantitative management advisory and climate risk modelling, underpinned by proficiency in programming languages and quantitative analytics.

Mike operates at the intersection of risk methodology and data-driven implementation as he translates technical requirements into operational delivery.

Mark Bershatsky, CFA has been at the cutting edge of carbon reduction technologies since 2007. Currently, Mark is a senior credit and risk manager in the renewable energy sector.

Monique Aiken is a strategist, systems thinker, author, founder and podcaster with nearly 25 years of experience in finance and impact.

For the first 12 years of her career in traditional finance, Monique moved between New York, London and Houston, splitting time between Debt Markets at Bank of America and Citi and Commodity Derivatives at Deutsche Bank. Monique then focused her energies on advancing the impact economy, spending ~3 years each at the Clinton Global Initiative, Tideline, a boutique impact investing strategy advisor, and Mission Investors’ Exchange where she led programs for members looking to begin or deepen a practice of impact investing.

In 2020, she joined The Investment Integration Project (TIIP), as Managing Director. TIIP connects systems thinking with investing for institutional investors through custom consulting, applied research and recently launched SaaS platform, SAIL, the Systems Aware Investing Launchpad that allows investors to learn about “system-level investing” at their own pace.

Monique is also co-founder of Make Justice Normal, a growing collective seeking to open space for people working to move capital towards justice, for which she is host of their podcast, "Into the Record", and co-cofounder of the ReStarter Fund, an economic and climate justice initiative aiming to be a small business lifeline in these times of polycrisis.

A Contributing Editor at ImpactAlpha, Monique also serves on the boards of Responsible Alpha and the Institute for Nonprofit Practice. Other advisory board and committee service includes: the Steering Committee for the Intentional Endowments Network (IEN), the NYC Racial Equity Endowment Fund, the Investment Committee for the NYU Impact Investment Fund, the Advisory Board for the Global Bio Fund, focused on gendersmart biotech and wellness, the WELL Certified Sustainable Finance Task Force and the Community Advisory Board for New York Radio (WNYC).

Monique is a proud Toigo, SEO, and INROADS alum and holds an MBA from NYU Stern School of Business and a B.Sc. in Foreign Service from Georgetown University, where she studied Spanish and Portuguese. Her first children's book, a love letter to her son (and all children), was published in January 2024.

Justin who is a CFA holder and leads the ESG research function in an alternative investment firm. He has extensive experience in the financial services ranging from investment banking to asset management and venture capital funds management. Justin has worked on building up business units, ran global business change programs, and built ESG businesses up for multiple asset management. Justin has almost a decade of experience in sustainable investing.

Peter is a New York Times best selling author, global thought leader focused on climate change investment and the Energy Transition for many decades. Since Earth Day 1970, he has been focused on energy & environmental issues that enhance economic development & human health through innovative clean energy technology. He is passionate about ESG & impact investing, particularly in carbon emissions reductions. He has been involved in several cleantech startups as an Advisor, Judge in the Cleantech Open for the Northeast, & Entrepreneur-in-Residence for Columbia Tech Ventures. 

Peter is Founder of the 25th Annual Wall Street Green Summit held on March 10 and 11, 2026 in New York & focused on the nexus of finance and technology. The Summit is one of the longest running & most comprehensive events in the Sustainable Finance in the world hosting over 9,000 participants.

Peter wrote the New York Times best seller, “What Went Wrong at Enron” as well as 16 other books on energy & the environment with noted global publishers such as Wiley, McGraw-Hill, & Oxford University Press. His 900 page book “Energy and Environmental Project Finance Law & Taxation” published by Oxford is used as a primer at graduate school courses throughout the world. 

Peter was a professor at Columbia University creating & teaching a course on Renewable Energy Project Finance to second year graduate students where he taught financial modelling. Peter has lectured at leading universities including MIT, Columbia, Yale, Carnegie-Mellon, Wharton, Northwestern, Univ. of Michigan, Oxford, Univ. of Chicago, Tufts & London Business School. His belief is that economic transformation to sustainability cannot occur without the massive engagement of young professionals & he has mentored over 300 college undergraduate & graduate students on career development & opened doors for their professional careers.

Peter has 50 years of experience in clean energy & environmental innovation, both in the private and public sectors & believes we are in the beginning stages of a Global Energy Transformation into sustainability. He is a recognized expert in ClimateTech, ESG, & Carbon Markets, & recognized with Lifetime Achievement Award in Who’s Who in America. He has a proven track record of sourcing capital from strategic investors, venture funds for revenue-generating companies that want to scale & commercialize their climate change technology. On the advisory boards of ClimaTwins, Global Green Street and Power to Hydrogen.

Gwen Bridge is an Indigenous consultant specializing in Indigenous-led conservation, natural resource management, and policy development. A member of the Saddle Lake Cree Nation, she brings a deep cultural perspective to her work, emphasizing the advancement of Indigenous knowledge within a transforming Western legislative context.

Gwen excels in facilitating collaboration between Indigenous communities, governments, and organizations to create sustainable land management solutions. With a Master of Science from the University of Alberta, her expertise extends to collaborative policy-making, Indigenous strategy, organizational reform, and community engagement. She is dedicated to empowering Indigenous communities to take leadership roles in conservation and to shape policies that reflect their cultural values and sustainable practices.

Gwen has worked with Tribal Nations in the US and First Nations in Canada and with national and international environmental NGOs to advance Indigenous led natural resource management projects and policy development. Gwen is the co-founder of the Indigenous Engagement Institute, an initiative to share knowledge and skills with those seeking to improve indigenous relations.

Musa has been engaged with a broad range of sustainable finance and development, climate resilience, and related thematic areas for the bulk of his career.  His sustained commitment traverses his lengthy tenure with the World Bank Group overseeing a multi-billion-dollar portfolio of diverse sustainable development projects to U.S.-based entrepreneurial and green bank endeavors across diverse asset classes at the intersection of climate finance, renewable energy, real property, and impact capital. 

Additionally, the following highlights some of his unique contributions and capabilities based on relevant leadership roles in diverse organizational contexts:

• Inclusive Prosperity Capital -- as CIO and a core member of IPC’s leadership team, roles included oversight of all capital formation, investment strategy and transactions, risk-portfolio management, team expansion and a $10M OpEx budget, for a ~$350M blended finance investment platform.

• Montgomery County Green Bank and MD Clean Energy Center -- MCGB roles include BoD, Investment Committee, and Fin-Ops Committee; MCEC roles include Advisory Council (Governor's Office Appointment) and Energy Innovation Accelerator Exec-in-Residence.

• Quantified Ventures -- led teams in an entrepreneurial culture to deliver environmental impact bond and fund solutions resolving climate resilience, water quality, and sustainable land use.

• World Bank Group -- led numerous multidisciplinary teams for a multi-billion dollar portfolio of diverse sustainable development and Global Environment Facility programs delivering long-term impactful results.

• High-Level Professional Network -- cultivated an extensive network of government, business, banking, NGO and academic leaders in the U.S. and globally who are deeply engaged with an array of renewable energy, climate finance, economic development, and impact investments.

• Relevant Academic Background -- includes a J.D. (environmental law), an M.B.A. in Finance, and Harvard Executive Management Program.

Neil Hyman is the General Council at Responsible Alpha and the founder of the Law Office of Neil S. Hyman, LLC, where he practices employment law, commercial litigation and civil litigation. Neil represents workers and employers alike, in state and federal trial and appellate courts. He has argued on behalf of his clients before the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Maryland Commission on Human Rights and the Montgomery County Office of Human Relations. He provides legal counsel to clients who wish to reduce their liability as employers. In service of this goal, he can draft protective contracts, employee handbooks, noncompete agreements and other documents that help shield employers from potentially damaging litigation.

Steve Zwick produces the popular Bionic Planet podcasts and serves as director of media relations for standard-setting body Verra. Before this, he served as chief business correspondent for TIME Magazine from 1998 to 2006.

He built Ecosystem Marketplace into the world’s leading provider of freely available news and analysis on payments for ecosystem services covering all aspects of environmental finance – including carbon markets, but also mitigation banking, green bonds, and performance-based payments. He launched Bionic Planet in 2016 explicitly to break down information asymmetries among those on the front lines of the climate challenge.

Previously, he was the radio host and producer at Deustche Welle Radio reaching over 20 million listeners, a contributing writer to Time Magazine, and a futures trader and broker in Chicago.

Ashley Fritz has over 15 years of experience in the asset management industry, focusing on sustainability, global markets and data analytics. 

Most recently, she was a Senior Investment Analyst on the Emerging Markets Debt investment team at Loomis, Sayles & Company where she helped develop, implement and execute the team’s sustainability framework covering the investable universe.  Her work included aggregating relevant third party data to evaluate current and prospective holdings for portfolio inclusion as well as meeting with portfolio company management to learn more about sustainability efforts. She constructed several portfolios aligned to the International Energy Agency (IEA) climate scenarios using both current and projected industry relative carbon emissions.

Prior to this, she was a Vice President and Senior Portfolio Analytics Specialist at FactSet Research Systems, where she served as a subject matter expert in portfolio level products across the system. Her responsibilities during this time included assisting large asset managers, endowments and foundations create and analyze custom sustainability reports on the platform.

She is passionate about sustainable investing and has written several frequently cited blog posts detailing her work.

Ashley earned a BS from Bentley University. She is a CFA® Charterholder and holds a certificate in Sustainable Investing from the CFA Institute. She is active in her community and serves on the Board of Directors for her town’s Green Committee.

Chris thrives at the intersection of sustainability, communications, and business development—helping companies and investors grow, fund, and demonstrate their impact. With 20+ years’ experience across Asia, Europe, and the Americas, he excels at translating complex climate, sustainability, and ESG requirements into clear, compelling strategies that secure financing from investors and contracts with Fortune 500 companies. His track record includes $50 million in contracts and funding across corporates, governments, and investors.

Chris' core strengths:

• • Strategic communications & investor relations (impact storytelling, stakeholder engagement).
  • Fundraising & business development (winning contracts and funding at scale).
  • Sustainability, climate, and ESG reporting & regulatory alignment (CSRD, ISSB, GRI, TCFD).

Chris has an MBA (ESCP Business School) and Postgraduate Diploma in Digital Business (Columbia × MIT).

Peter Graham is a Director at Responsible Alpha, where he focuses on climate transition, nature-based solutions, sustainable finance, and ESG risk and opportunity. He supports clients and partners in developing strategies that enhance valuation, reduce risk, expand market opportunities, and contribute to a resilient, nature-positive circular economy.

Peter has more than 20 years of experience across government, international NGOs, consulting, and multilateral climate diplomacy, including roles with Climate Advisers, WWF, Natural Resources Canada, and Verdant Futures LLC. His work has focused on forest and land-sector climate policy, carbon markets, climate finance, corporate sustainability, nature-related financial risk, REDD+, and international negotiations, including chairing UNFCCC negotiations that produced the Warsaw Framework for REDD+.

Peter holds a Master of Forestry (Economics) degree from the University of British Columbia and a Bachelor of Science in Forestry (Forest Resource Management) from the University of New Brunswick. He has authored and contributed to peer-reviewed publications on forest carbon, climate policy, REDD+, nature-based solutions, and the role of forests and land use in climate mitigation.

Liesel D’Souza is a seasoned Risk Management and Sustainable Finance Strategist with over 20years of experience spanning global financial institutions and regional markets. She has held leadership roles at Standard Chartered Bank in Singapore, including Regional Director for ESG & Climate Risk, and previously worked at Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank in New York and London.

Liesel graduated from New York University with a degree in Finance and International Business and is certified by the Global Association of Risk Professionals in Sustainability and Climate Risk. She is passionate about enabling organizations to navigate the evolving sustainability landscape, and excels in driving Sustainability Policy, ESG Governance and leading cross-functional teams to deliver complex Decarbonization Strategies, Climate Scenario Analysis, and Regulatory engagement aligned with TCFD, ISSB, and Net-Zero frameworks.

Liesel D’Souza is a Managing Director at Responsible Alpha, where she leads Energy Transition and Natural Capital advisory work focused on climate riskand supply chain resilience. She guides corporates, investors, and financial institutions on integrating climate and social risk into decision‑making, shaping resilience strategies, and mobilizing capital toward high‑impact outcomes. Her work spans risk diagnostics, portfolio‑level analytics, and executive‑level narrative development for clients across global markets.

She previously served as Head of Climate and ESG Risk at Standard Chartered Bank, where she built and implemented operationalized frameworks across multiple jurisdictions and asset classes. Her broader career includes deep Asia‑Pacific experience in banking, policy, and sustainability, with specialization in climate‑related financial risk, transition finance, and impact‑aligned capital allocation. She has advised multinational corporates, asset managers, and development institutions on risk transmission, regulatory alignment, and long‑term value creation.

Liesel holds degrees in Finance and International Business from New York University, along with certifications in Sustainability and Climate Risk management. Her academic background reflects a focus on financial systems, development, and environmental governance.

Outside of work, she is engaged in community‑focused environmental initiatives and enjoys travel, contemporary art, and exploring nature across the Asia‑Pacific region.