Financing Sustainable Agriculture

There are an estimated 2.2 billion people around the world who make their livelihoods through farming small plots of land. Yet, access to finance for smallholder farmers is limited due to the perception of high credit risk and the longer timeframe for yields. Climate change, droughts and natural disasters increase the vulnerability of farmers in developing countries. Please join us for a conversation about innovative financing mechanisms, including crop insurance, impact investing and cashless banking to create a more sustainable financial model for farming and increasing economic opportunities.

Who:
Everyone

When:
Thursday, November 2
7:30am – 9:00am
Doors open at 7:00am

Where:
Rainier Club
820 4th Ave
Seattle, WA 98104

Price:
$45

PANELISTS

Matthew Arnold
Global Head of Sustainable Finance
JPMorgan Chase

Matt is Managing Director and Global Head of Sustainable Finance at JPMorgan Chase. In that role he leads the firm’s client engagement on sustainability across all sectors globally. JPMorgan Chase helps clients navigate environmental and social risks, engages stakeholders and partners in advancing environmental and social progress, and structures targeted impact investment funds. The firm supports sustainable development through initiatives in global health, natural capital, the future of power, carbon asset risk and sustainable agriculture.

Matt was a Principal and leader of Sustainable Business Solutions at PwC and a founder of Sustainable Finance Ltd, acquired by PwC in December 2008.

He was Chief Operating Officer and acting President of the World Resources Institute and a founder of the Management Institute for Environment and Business, which merged with the World Resources Institute in 1996.

Matt is a Trustee at The Nature Conservancy’s New York Chapter and the Frankfurt Zoological Society.

Matt holds an AB degree in Psychobiology from Harvard College, an MA in International Relations from the Johns Hopkins University, and an MBA from the Harvard Business School.

Steve Hollingworth
CEO
Grameen Foundation

Steve Hollingworth’s commitment through 30 years of work in international development has been to ensure that the delivery of financial services benefits the world’s poorest people and fulfills its promise of alleviating poverty.

Prior to joining Grameen Foundation, Steve was President of Freedom from Hunger for 6 years. Previously, he served as Chief Operating Officer for CARE, where he was instrumental in developing and implementing the organization-wide strategy and was responsible for direct-line management of global operations and programs with a total of 13,000 employees and a budget of $650 million. He has also held senior field positions in Asia (India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh), Africa (Lesotho) and Latin America (Bolivia), building collaboration between practitioners, technical assistance providers, donors and government agencies.

Steve’s roots in financial services for the very poor go back to early days with CARE-Bangladesh, the largest CARE mission in the world.  Based on his leadership in the financial services sector, he also served for many years as a member of the Microfinance CEO Working Group. His areas of expertise include microenterprise and microfinance, education, agriculture, health and civil society strengthening.