Key takeaway from the Environmental Fellows Program: “Success is more than a person’s portfolio or a country’s GDP. It comes down to the question ‘Are we investing in sustainable approaches that create a livable world?’”
Spotlight
The Drive to Create a Better World
Pari Kasotia — ’22 MEM (she/her)
“I was in the middle of my career when I decided to apply to YSE. I’ve spent the majority of my professional life working on clean energy policy in public and nonprofit spaces, but I wanted to get exposure to the private financing side of climate change discourse. When I saw that Just Climate was one of the fellowship hosts, I was excited by their mission and decided to apply. They’re one of the first investment businesses dedicated to climate-led investing, meaning they identify and invest in high-impact solutions for climate change mitigation.”
Fellowship host: Just Climate
Next step: Seeking a position in the private or public sector
“As part of my fellowship, I’ve been helping them create a Just Transition Framework for their investment decisions. This involves creating a set of principles they can use for investment purposes, as well as a set of criteria questions they can use to measure a company’s efforts to create an equitable green economy that respects and protects workers, community members, and others.
“When we talk about climate change, corporate responsibility, and clean energy, it really is about people’s lives. I have a daughter of my own and the drive to create a better world becomes more urgent when you have kids.
“It’s easy to become cynical in the working world. For me, the people at YSE and in my fellowship have been so innovative and forward-looking that it’s really helped me recharge my battery. We all need that in order to go into the next chapter of our professional lives with optimism.”
