Laura Bremmerkines

Theory to Practice: A New Generation Transforms Impact Investing

Dave Chen, Nicole Chavez, Laura Bremmerkines, April Mendez, Alex Friedman

Co-hosted by the Milken Institute and Morgan Stanley, the 2023 Sustainable Investing Challenge narrowed 39 global business schools to four finalists who presented impact investing strategies evaluated by hundreds of industry professionals. The winning team, a joint submission from Yale's School of Forestry and Business School, proposed the Fresh Coast Forest Fund to generate 6–11% returns by planting hybrid poplar tree farms on 5 million acres of U.S. brownfields for phytoremediation. The 10-year project targets $50 million in initial capital to remediate soil at 80–90% lower costs than traditional methods while producing timber and carbon credit revenue, with the team currently seeking mentors and strategic investors to launch a pilot site.