Erika Karp

Whether the subject is climate change, income inequality, healthcare, nutrition & education imperatives, rebuilding infrastructure, or supply chain management sustainable investing and finance can produce tremendous economic value. Governments cannot meet these challenges alone; and the private sector must work to proactively to get the job done. Leveraging the scale and dynamism of the capital markets is essential. Erika sounds the call for corporate sustainability, transparency and governance excellence. She highlights the need for mainstream investors to push for engaging Wall Street and capital markets around the globe. “We’re at an inflection point where we can have a better and more sustainable form of capitalism if we act consciously, pragmatically and systematically,” she says. Participants will come away with a deeper understanding of the tools available to create change, and ways to bring about superior, risk-adjusted, market-rate returns over the long run.

Rising to the top on Wall Street is no easy game. While women have made strides in the past 25 years, wide gaps remain. This is particularly the case with regard to Board leadership and representation in top corporate positions. Erika champions diversity that informs the workplace and improves decision-making by engaging with “new” voices; and she calls on businesses to elevate their commitment to listen. By developing the “soft power” of networks, women can also do better to share lessons learned. Investors are central in promoting more diverse Boards and have a greater voice regarding corporate governance. By repeatedly asking questions, they can advocate for companies to broaden their practices, such as considering skill-sets honed in non-traditional ways. “Activist” investors can play a positive role in promoting diversity and good governance if they take a long-term, constructive view.

Jumping out of a plane, and building the parachute on the way down” is how some people describe entrepreneurship. In leaving the halls of one of Wall Street’s top investment banks to set out on her own, Erika highlights her journey of becoming the Founder of the next generation financial services firm...one which is “purpose built” for sustainable and impact investing. Erika’s offers a compelling tale of seizing opportunities and the need to catalyze change. She talks of ways to stoke business innovation, whether as a standalone company, or from within a large organization to develop models for the future global economy.

A confluence of factors make her new venture, Cornerstone Capital Inc., well-timed: Technology and social media are fueling the rise of impact investors, who have more ways to measure and understand that what is good for society can also be good for business and profitability. Millennials, who are generally more educated, socially conscious and connected, will soon be actors in the largest intergenerational transfer of wealth in history. As such, the next generation of “billionaire investors” will demand not only competitive economic returns, but positive societal impact.