advisors

Independent Advisor, Industrial Decarbonization and LCA

Holding a Master‘s Degree in Environmental Sciences and Industrial Engineering at Columbia University, Heather Langsner is a carbon analytics professional with experience in carbon inventory analysis, carbon reporting, carbon displacement analysis, carbon finance, renewable energy financial modelling, corporate decarbonization for compliance and life cycle analysis. Currently pursuing a second Master’s in Chemical Engineering for carbon management at Columbia University, Heather also holds an LCA certification from MIT.

She has worked on Wall Street as a buy-side analyst and portfolio manager specializing in the Industrials, Technology, Energy and Renewables / Cleantech Sectors. She has been a technical and renewable energy consultant in the Middle East. She launched the first Net Zero emissions equity portfolio in Paris in 2015 and the Carbon Resiliency Technology Impact Fund in New York in 2017.

As Vice President, Carbon Action at DriveKey Corporation, Heather’s role is to develop products and services that support enterprises in their decarbonization journey. To this end she works directly with our customers’ internal teams and supply chain to ensure that significant amounts of carbon dioxide is permanently removed from our atmosphere by helping them reduce their carbon footprint and advising on the best carbon removal program they can use.

Independent Advisor, Sustainable Finance and Investment

As BMO’s inaugural Head of Sustainable Finance & Capital Markets ESG Lead, Manju Seal established and led the Sustainable Finance Advisory with corporate and institutional clients, incorporating ESG criteria in investments and financing while charting a path towards improved sustainability. Steered firmwide efforts as a member of Fixed Income Sales Desk and then Debt Capital Markets Desk in preparing the enterprise and Capital Markets Division towards the public adoption of sustainable finance/ESG as a new line of business. Member of the firmwide BMO Sustainability Council. Project Lead for launching BMO’s Sustainable Bond Program (2019), BMO’s sustainability bond issuance USD$500 MM (2019), as well as a key contributor towards BMO’s public sustainable finance commitment (2019).

She advised clients in identifying impactful solutions around sustainable bond underwriting, product development and other sustainable financing activities. She co-authored BMO’s Sustainable Financing Framework (a first for Canada). Her expertise in sustainable finance products, including, Green/Social/Transition Bonds & Sustainability-Linked Loans as well as socially responsible investing positioned her to engage with both issuers and investors. She spearheaded the broader Enterprise-wide strategy and thought-leadership around sustainable finance and ESG investment considerations. She was the original co-host of the award-winning BMO Sustainability Leaders Podcast Series, ICMA’s Transition Finance & Sustainability-Linked Bond Working Groups, and CSA’s Technical Committee on Transition & Sustainable Finance.

Manju extensive leadership experience ranging from institutional asset management, capital markets (investment banking, trading), social/environmental impact organizations to board leadership. Since 2003, she has provided transformative leadership and corporate governance to nonprofits/social enterprises focused on climate change/environment/social impact. Her first leadership engagement with climate change began in 2008. Her investment banking career started in the Structured Finance Group-FICC of Goldman Sachs, then led GSAM’s Fixed Income – Risk & Performance Analytics Team. Later, she was a fixed income portfolio manager at McMorgan & Co. She is an American Marshall Fellow (gmfus.org), Board President Emerita of Narika.org (domestic violence), led LEAP201.org (poverty alleviation) and a board member of Proximity Designs. A polymath, she has master’s degrees in business administration, mathematics and ethnomusicology.

Independent Advisor,
Financial Engineering

William (Bill) Tharp is the founder of Tangerine Tango Group. Founded in 1993, the group has started, or helped to start, over 15 companies, launched over 10 funds (or pools of capital) and, most importantly, backed over 75 entrepreneurs, many providing genuine climate leadership. Bill has successfully pioneered and co-pioneered a series of capital market structures typically striving to advance the flows of risk and growth capital into the entrepreneur: where impact investing lives. The group remains focused on its climate change roots and building value for the transition to a net-zero economy.