Virtual Green Drinks November – Responsible Investing

Please Note that with the Covid-19 Pandemic keeping us out of public spaces we continue to deliver Green Drinks in a digital environment. Please register here on Eventbrite to receive the link for the call (will be emailed on the day of the event by 3pm). We will get things going at 615pm with some digital networking and the presentation will start at 630pm sharp.

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Green Drinks November is all about Responsible Investing. How can you make a difference with your dollar? Where do you start and what should you focus on to start making an immediate impact? What exactly is socially responsible investing? Learn the answers to all these and more during our Virtual Green Drinks Novemberwhere we welcome four passionate change makers who are working to make a difference. Learn about thematic investing and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) integration. We’ll also cover what accounts to sign up for, how to pick an advisor and how to avoid some classic mistakes that many make when investing. Finally, learn about different investment models, including co-operativesand how they enable the low carbon transition. Hear about the work that two such cooperatives are doing and find out how you can support their efforts.

For Green Drinks November we welcome Tina Crouse who is CEO and Founder of ANSWER.it, a platform of decision making tools used by governments, foundations and the Nonprofit sector. Tina will start with the basics and offer“how to” for responsible investing including what accounts to choose and what to ask your advisor. She will outline what to look for and what mistakes to avoid when investing with a purpose.

After that, we will hear from John Hastings who is an investment advisor and associate portfolio manager with RBC Dominion Securities. John will talk about the growth in responsible/sustainable focused investment solutions and how this is enabling people to more easily meet their financial and environmental/social objectives. He will also clarify the subtle differences between the various responsible investing strategies (E.g. Socially Responsible Investing v. ESG integration v. Thematic Investing).

Following John, , we will welcome Aaron Thornellwho is the acting general manager for the Ottawa Renewable Energy Co-operative (OREC)and CoEnergy Ontario Co-operative. Aaron will be discussing the co-operative model that OREC & CoEnergy employ, and how it provides a local vehicle for direct investment in the low-carbon transition. He will detail past projects and show how investors in the co-op are directly impacting the energy landscape across Eastern Ontario.

Finally, we will welcome SMARTNet Alliance Member, Marc Goldgrub, lawyer at the Green Economy Law Professional Corporation. Marc will be discussing the lack of uniform ESG standards and what that means for investorslooking to invest their money responsibly. He will dive into the recent proposed US Labour Department regulations and what that means for the broader ESG movement.

Following the presentations we will open it up for questions and a general discussion about how we can have impact through our investments.

Speaker Bios:

Tina Crouse is the CEO and Founder of ANSWER.it, (www.UCanAnswerit.ca)a platform of decision-making tools for government, foundations and the nonprofit sector. She is an innovator and do-er. Her recent list of accomplishments include several ‘first’s”’ in Canada. For the past 3 years, she has beeninvolved in tech startups and expanding her funding and business knowledge in the #tech4good sector. She has continued to coach in social enterprise and social finance furthering her knowledge of 10+ years in the sector.

John Hastings is an investment advisor and associate portfolio manager with RBC Dominion Securities in Ottawa, ON, and has been helping his clients invest for a sustainable future. John has been at the forefront of the responsible investing movement, and given his experiences as a former member of Canadian National Kayak team is focused on finding those solutions to climate change. John is a CFA charter holder, and holds an MBA from the Telfer School of Management.

Aaron Thornell is the Acting General Manager for the Ottawa Renewable Energy Co-operative and CoEnergy Ontario Co-operative. These organizations seek to mobilize community capital to realize local sustainability projects, such as deep energy retrofits and solar installations. Through these parallel co-ops, they have financed and developed $8.5 million in carbon emission abating projects in Ottawa and Eastern Ontario, solely relying on member investment. Aaron is responsible for project development, member & investor relations, and day-to-day administration of both co-operatives. He is a firm believer that the co-operative model will be at the centre of the low-carbon transition.

Marc Z. Goldgrub is a lawyer at Green Economy Law Professional Corporation, a boutique Toronto-based corporate and commercial law firm that focuses primarily on work with green companies and entrepreneurs. He is licensed to practice law in Ontario and New York, and regularly writes about sustainable finance matters for the firm’s blog and newsletter.

**Please Note: We are limiting registrations to one per person/computer. If others in your household would like to join you on the same device that is okay. If they would like to use a different device please register them separately.

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Haven’t been to a Green Drinks event before?  Click here to watch a video and learn more about this event.

Click here to join the Ottawa Renewable-Green Energy Meetup Group and view our upcoming speakers.

If you have any questions about this event please send an email to [email protected].