Growing a Better World Together: Why I Joined the Financial Sector

As a child, I didn’t anticipate I would pursue a career in the financial sector.

I grew up surrounded by nature and animals on a small farm in southern
Missouri. Although I didn’t realize it at the time, my early years gave me
an understanding of hard work, admiration for our agricultural communities,
respect for the environment, and appreciation for where our food comes from.

Now, as the Chief Sustainability Officer for Rabobank North
America, I have the
opportunity to pull together my personal and professional experiences into the
intersection of finance, agriculture and sustainability.

After almost a decade of experience within the food value chain, where I gained
experience across consumer packaged goods, crop inputs and feed divisions, I
realized that how we feed the world holds the key to a sustainable future.

I then evolved my career into the startup ecosystem. I joined and scaled several
sustainability-focused technology startups, and founded one of my own. Most
recently, I was an early employee at a carbon-accounting software startup. This
gave me a deep understanding of carbon, the complexity of environmental
sustainability goals, and the interconnectedness of sustainability factors.

As the company matured, I led our global partnership with a large
management-consulting company and created carbon measurement and decarbonization
strategies for regional corporations, global enterprises and financial
institutions.

That experience showed me that climate risk translates into financial
risk
and that the financial sector has a responsibility and privilege to help clients
transition to more sustainable practices for the benefit of people, planet and
profit. Enter Rabobank.

Rabobank is a leading financial institution with a powerful
mission of Growing a Better World
Together. Founded by Dutch farmers more than 125 years ago, Rabobank has stayed
true to its agricultural roots while growing into a global bank with employees
and clients in 37 countries. Our expert teams combine financing, deep technical
knowledge, global networks and innovation for our clients. Rabobank remains
dedicated to supporting and growing sustainable agriculture and is uniquely
positioned across all aspects of the food value chain.

In my first few months, it became clear that Rabobank is so much more than a
bank. We are a relationship-driven organization, and we are committed to sitting
side-by-side with our food and ag clients to help them stay competitive and
achieve their objectives while minimizing risk and identifying value-creation
opportunities. Our global RaboResearch division is an in-house team of over 140
analysts dedicated to supporting our clients to develop and deepen their
business insights and to make well-informed, strategic decisions based on their
specific area of expertise — from
dairy
to
produce,
farm
inputs,
and consumer foods and beverages.

Additionally, Rabobank started the Carbon
Bank
three years ago to help the food and agriculture value chain reduce carbon
emissions. Our mission is to prevent, reduce and remove emissions; and provide
voluntary, high-quality nature-based carbon
solutions
in food and agriculture supply chains. We lend across the value chain; and our
relationships allow us to connect producers with corporates to work together in
reducing Scope 3
emissions.

We also invest in the future of food with our Sustainability Academy for Young
Producers — during which the next generation of potential producers can
network with industry leaders, gain an understanding of current business
opportunities, and develop an action plan for their own operations — all focused
on the economic and environmental benefits of agricultural production with an
innovative, sustainable mindset.

At Rabobank, we are working to feed our growing population and striving to end
hunger — which is still a reality for millions of people around the world —
while protecting the environment on which we all depend. I am eager and honored
to do my part.