Maria is the Executive Director of the FAIRR Initiative. She joined in September of 2016 and is responsible for the oversight of the FAIRR strategy and work plans. Maria has over a decade of experience in sustainability and finance, partnering with global institutional investors to address some of the world’s most critical ESG challenges. During her time at FAIRR, the team has ambitiously driven the narrative around the risks and opportunities in the global protein supply chain to direct capital towards a more sustainable and equitable food system. In just over five years, the FAIRR investor network has grown to over $65 trillion in combined assets while its expert projects have expanded across five key pillars: Research, Data, Collaborative Engagements, Policy and Investor Outreach.
Prior to joining FAIRR, Maria worked for the UN-supported Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) where she cultivated and expanded the ESG community, managing the PRI’s Signatory Relations strategy and raising awareness of material ESG issues with institutional investors. Maria started her career in global finance and capital markets, working at both J.P. Morgan and Deutsche Bank.
She has served on the Sustainability Accounting Standard Board Standards Advisory Group. She is also a member of the Intentional Endowment Network’s (IEN) Steering Committee.
Maria is based in London but has lived and worked in San Francisco, New York and Madrid. She holds a MA (Distinction) in Environment, Politics and Globalization from King’s College London and a BA in International Business, Latin American Studies and Spanish from San Diego State University.