Ellen Kennedy

Ellen writes about environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing, as well as sustainability in personal finance. She has worked on sustainable investing for over 20 years. Ellen was an ESG manager and analyst at Calvert Investments, focusing on climate change, water, and consumer staples. She served on the sustainability councils of several Fortune 500 companies, led corporate engagements, and filed shareholder proposals. She also alerted investors to emerging issues at the time, such as deforestation from palm oil plantations, and the use of toxic chemicals in consumer products. As a consultant, Ellen advised start-up funds and non-profit groups on how to best measure sustainable investments for impact. Before that, Ellen was a program officer for Winrock International, managing loans to alternative energy projects in Latin America. Ellen also directed a program that provided scholarships in agricultural science to women in Angola.

Ellen earned a master’s from the University of California Berkeley in international relations and Latin America. Her research focused on the role of migrants’ remittances on local economic development in rural Mexico. Ellen earned a B.A. in Philosophy and Spanish from Haverford College. She is fluent in Spanish and Portuguese.