Shiva Rajgopal is the Kester and Byrnes Professor at the Columbia Business School (CBS). He is a world-renowned expert on ESG, financial reporting issues, fraud, executive compensation, corporate culture and corporate governance. Professor Rajgopal has been internationally recognized for his scholarship on several occasions including the prestigious American Accounting Association (AAA) Notable Contribution to the Literature Award (thrice), Graham and Dodd Scroll Prize given by the Financial Analysts Journal (twice) and the Glen McLaughlin Award for Research in Accounting Ethics (thrice). Shiva is passionate about bridging academic theory with policy setting and corporate practice. He writes a regular column for Forbes and has published op-eds in every major outlet. He advises think tanks, asset management firms, advisory firms and professional and trade associations.

Laura Craft is a real estate investment manager with ~$44 billion under management. Laura establishes systematic approaches to embed ESG into investment decision-making and management of investments. Recently, Laura lead the Heitman partnership with the Urban Land Institute (ULI) to publish the report, Climate Risk and Real Estate Investment Decision-Making, which explores current methods for assessing and mitigating climate risk in real estate.

Billy Grayson is the Executive Vice President, Centers and Initiatives at the Urban Land Institute, a nonprofit education and research organization that focuses on land use, real estate and urban development. Mr. Grayson manages a team leading programs on climate risk and resilience, health and wellness, and building energy and environmental performance. ULI works with members, community leaders, coalition partners, and other key stakeholders to build awareness around sustainability issues in the built environment, and to provide our members with the tools and resources they need to cost-effectively drive sustainability into their projects and operations. As EVP for Centers and Initiatives, Mr. Grayson also oversees ULI’s programs on Housing, Infrastructure, and Real Estate Economics and Capital Markets. Prior to ULI, Mr. Grayson led global energy and sustainability initiatives in real estate, distribution, and supply chain operations. As Sustainability Director at Liberty Property Trust, Mr. Grayson led a 400+ industrial and office properties initiative that included green building construction, energy efficiency retrofits, and sustainability-focused property management strategies and tenant engagement. As Vice President, Social and Environmental Sustainability for the Electronics Industry Citizenship Coalition (EICC), Mr. Grayson led a global compliance program working with the electronics industry to identify and mitigate environmental and human rights risks in their shared supply chain, as well as industry partnerships on decarbonization with CDP and the UN Global Compact. As Sustainability Director at WESCO, Mr. Grayson developed an operational sustainability program for an industrial building portfolio that reduced energy, water, and waste, and launched a global marketing initiative for WESCO’s sustainability-focused energy technology products and services. Earlier in his career, Mr. Grayson served as the National Conservation Organizer for the Sierra Club and founded and led two youth voting and civic engagement nonprofits (Project Democracy and Maryland Votes!)