Next Gen in Sustainable Finance
A podcast series by the US Sustainable Investment Forum
Next Gen in Sustainable Finance is hosted by Lamisa Hossain, an Associate at Whistle Stop Capital, and Maria Lettini, CEO of US Sustainable Investment Forum. Our podcast is dedicated to amplifying the voices of emerging leaders, early-career change-makers, and the people building the future of sustainable and impact finance.
The story behind the NextGen podcast is almost serendipitous- The hosts, Maria and Lamisa, met at a sustainable finance conference, the kind of room where the future of the industry was being debated on every panel. But as they looked around, they noticed something: almost no one speaking was an early-career professional. So Maria and Lamisa got to talking about how many brilliant early-career changemakers and emerging leaders are making an incredible impact in sustainable finance, yet their stories often go untold. However, one thing seemed clear - the next generation isn't just the future of sustainable finance; they're the ones shaping it, often quietly behind the scenes. The NextGen podcast is a response to this realization.
US SIF’s NextGen mission is to give young people a voice and to encourage the leaders already at the table to make room for a few more chairs. Maria is building the platform she wishes she'd had walking into this field, and Lamisa is passionate about building community and elevating the voices of her peers. Together, they want to create an authentic space for emerging leaders. If you're just starting out in your career and trying to find your footing, NextGen podcast is for you. If you've been in the sector for a few years and want to expand your network, join us!. And, if you are an industry veteran and seasoned sustainability leader, listen in and listen up, because the voices of the next generation matter more than ever right now.
Episode 6: Mentoring the Next Generation of Impact Investors
In this episode, Lamisa and Maria sit down with Ibrahim Rashid to explore what it means to build a career, and a financial system, around purpose.
Ibrahim shares his journey from working in international development and USAID to impact investing. For young professionals trying to break into impact investing, Ibrahim offers a refreshingly practical piece of advice: write. He explains how developing and sharing a body of work can help clarify your own values, build relationships, find mentors, and create opportunities in a field without a traditional recruiting pipeline.
Ibrahim shared how witnessing the limitations of traditional approaches to solving global challenges led him to ask a fundamental question: How can private capital help address problems that governments alone cannot solve? We discuss the evolving relationship between government, markets, and private capital; the many forms of influence investors can wield beyond writing checks; and why convening, storytelling, expertise, and relationships can be powerful tools for creating change.
5 Sept 2026
Episode 5: Leveraging AI for Portfolio Impact & Returns
In this episode, Daniel Buckman, Founder & CEO of Total Values, joins Lamisa and Maria to explore how AI can change what sustainable investors know about their portfolios. Total Values maps any business model to an evidence base of 100,000+ published studies, estimating any known positive and negative impacts (or externalities) of every holding. Work that once took a team weeks of diligence for a single investment now runs instantly across an entire portfolio, making impact something you can forecast and optimize alongside risk and return.
16 Aug 2026
Episode 4: Who Is Sustainable Finance Actually For?
In this episode, Lamisa and Maria sit down with Tirtha Patel, Director of Investments and Strategy at Intentional Asset Management, whose path has taken her from leading behavioral research programs across India, to sovereign risk modeling at the World Bank and OECD, to structuring a $100 million growth equity vehicle targeting food systems and fisheries across the Caribbean.
The conversation gets into the harder questions that impact investors are navigating today: what does it look like to deploy capital in emerging markets that are most exposed to climate risk but least served by private investment? And how do you diligence a company, build conviction, and structure a deal when the data infrastructure is thin, the comparables don't exist, and 99% of the capital flowing into the region arrives as debt rather than equity? Who is sustainable finance actually being designed for?
Tirtha reflects on what her lived experience growing up in India has taught her about whose needs get centered in impact investing and the assumptions she's had to push back on in rooms dominated by Western capital allocators.
13 Jul 2026
Episode 3: NextGen Leaders in Sustainable Finance - Meet the 2026 Peter DeSimone Scholars
US SIF created the Peter DeSimone scholarship to provide financial support to students who want to build a career in the field of sustainable finance and the goal of this program to create a more inclusive pathway into this field. Welcome to a special episode - we are live at the US SIF Forum with the Peter DeSimone Scholars to learn about their journey in sustainable finance!
21 Jun 2026
Episode 2: Rebuilding Personal Finance for the Next Generation
What if the financial advice reserved for the ultra-wealthy was available to everyone? That's not a hypothetical for our first guest, Chloe Sara Barroukh - it's what they're actively building. In this episode, the hosts sit down with the founder and Chief Innovation Officer of The Zillennial Advisors, Chloe, who spent years inside JP Morgan's Private Bank and Nuveen learning exactly how the wealthy manage their money — and then left to make sure everyday people could access the same tools. In this episode, Chloe talks about the gap they saw in the field and what democratizing financial access actually looks like in practice. Chloe's approach to impact is one of the most refreshing we've heard: it's not about who you screen out. It's about who you finally let in. Through their work, Chloe is dedicated to empowering the next generation with tools that foster financial stability and growth and we are so excited to have them on the podcast!
21 Jun 2026
Episode 1: Introducing the Next Gen in Sustainable Finance Podcast
Every podcast has an origin story — this is ours. In Episode 1, co-hosts Lamisa Hossain (Whistle Stop Capital) and Maria Lettini (US Sustainable Investment Forum) open up about the personal journeys that brought them to sustainable finance, the shared moment that sparked this idea, and and why they believe the next generation of sustainable finance voices can no longer afford to go unheard.
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Spotify
5.0 / 5
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