Bioneers is a non-profit educational organization with a focus on restoration of people and planet. The theme of the conferences is based in part on the UN Millennium Ecosystem Assessment that concluded: “Human activity is putting such strain on the natural functions of Earth that the ability of the planet’s ecosystems to sustain future generations can no longer be taken for granted.” This year, some of my favorite speakers include Dr. Gretchen Daily (Stanford University), Paul Hawken, and Bill McKibben (350.org). The long list of presenters for the three-day event is always impressive. Kenny Ausubel and Nina Simons founded Bioneers in 1990 with the understanding that, “Taking care of nature means taking care of people - and taking care of people means taking care of nature.”

If you decide to attend, hotel rooms near the venue are not easy to find and public transportation is challenging. That said, the Marin Center is the perfect location with its lake and walking trails. If you can’t make it, live broadcasts of many presentations are online and a DVD set is available each year. You can find me at the Portfolio 21 booth. Hope to see you there.

Carsten is Portfolio 21 Investments' founder and Chief Executive Officer. He has more than 25 years of experience in socially and environmentally responsible investing.

After nearly 17 years, Leslie Christian has transitioned to explore some new projects. She will be continuing her work as Chair of Upstream 21 Corporation and following her deep commitment to investing in regional economies. She will also be continuing her work on rethinking modern portfolio theory and asset allocation.

When I reflect back on Leslie’s contribution, my first thoughts are of enormous gratitude and the greatest respect for what she brought to Portfolio 21 Investments.  In 1998, Leslie and I came up with the concept to launch an investment strategy using The Natural Step principles as a foundation for our investment selection process.  At the time, sustainability was a relatively new and undefined term. While many SRI investment strategies had environmental screens, these screens were primarily used to screen out companies with poor environmental performance. We developed a comprehensive positive screening approach to selecting environmental leaders, which brings us to where we are today.

All of us at Portfolio 21 Investments are thankful for Leslie’s contribution to our success over the years and we wish her the very best in her future work.

The other big news is that John Streur has joined the Board of Directors of Portfolio 21 Investments as non-executive Chairman. John brings 25 years of investment industry and mutual fund management experience to the role, most recently as President and Trustee of The Managers Funds and CEO of Managers Investment Group, LLC. We first met John about four years ago while he was doing research on environmental investing. We were honored that he had identified us as one of the leaders in the field. When we met earlier this year it became clear that John's unique combination of depth of experience with global investment processes, along with his commitment to environmental investment principles, would make him a strong addition to our Board. We are very fortunate to welcome John to Portfolio 21 Investments.

Carsten is Portfolio 21 Investments' founder and Chief Executive Officer. He has more than 25 years of experience in socially and environmentally responsible investing.