A Field Guide to Responsible Investing: Asset Management in the Age of Polycrises

Amy O’Brien is the Global Head of Responsible Investing at Nuveen, the asset management arm of TIAA.

Amy was studying biology as an undergraduate at Boston College when the 1992 Earth Summit sparked her passion for sustainable solutions impacting the environment. She became interested in the role that the private sector can play in advancing sustainability and the connectivity between science, policy, and economics. During a graduate school internship at the Council on Economic Priorities nearly 30 years ago, she was able to apply that early interest at a pioneering company in the field of corporate social responsibility research and ratings.

Amy’s unique perspective is informed as a member of the ＂bridge generation,＂ whose career has spanned collaboration with industry pioneers and early adopters (NGOs, faith-based institutions) in the 1990s and 2000s, and into the current global commercialization wave and expansion into the ＂mainstream.＂ Amy has deep experience in all major facets of the industry including ESG investment data, ratings, and research; shareholder advocacy and stewardship; integration of ESG factors across a wide range of asset classes; sustainable product innovation; and impact measurement and management.

Amy was included among the inaugural list of The 20 Most Influential People In ESG Investing by Barron’s Magazine, and in 2021 was awarded ESG Investment Manager of the Year by Women in Asset Management.