Redefining Corporate Success: Insights from JUST Capital CEO, Martin Whittaker

The Caring Economy with Toby Usnik

Martin Whittaker is a recognized leader with over twenty-five years’ experience at the intersection of global business, finance, philanthropy and social and environmental impact. He is the founding CEO of JUST Capital, the leading nonprofit in the stakeholder capitalism arena, and is responsible for the overall leadership of the organization. He is also a senior advisor to Edelman, a co-founder and Board member of the CREO family office investment syndicate, a board member of H2 Clipper, a member of the Forbes Finance Council and Forbes Contributor, a member of Harvard Business School’s Impact Weighted Accounts Initiative Advisory Council, and a Commissioner to the World Business Council on Sustainable Development’s inequality initiative.

Martin was recently named to the 2020 NACD Directorship 100 – the annual list of the most influential people in the boardroom and on corporate governance – and to Business Insider’s 2020 List of 100 People Transforming Business. Previously, he served as a board member of the Carbon Disclosure Project U.S., and as a member of the G7 Impact Taskforce’s Working Group on Impact Transparency and Integrity, an Advisory Council Member of PayPal’s Employee Financial Wellness Program, and a member of Robin Hood Foundation’s Taskforce on Racial Justice.

Prior to JUST Capital, Martin was a founding partner and investment committee member at Sonen Capital, an impact investing firm, where he led private equity, real asset and direct investing activities. Martin has also served as Director of MissionPoint Capital Partners, a family office-led private equity firm; Senior Vice President at Swiss Re, where he was part of the Environmental and Commodity Markets team; and Managing Director at Innovest Strategic Value Advisors, Inc., a pioneering sustainable investment advisory and ESG research firm.

Martin received his Ph.D. from University of Edinburgh, an MBA from the University of London, an M.Sc. from McGill University and a B.Sc. from University of St. Andrews.

Martin has also served as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Toronto, provided expert testimony on environmental markets to the U.S. Senate, consulted to multiple major corporations on sustainability- and impact-related matters, and been an invited speaker and guest lecturer at business schools including Yale, Columbia, Harvard and MIT, He is a published writer and has presented to audiences at, among others, the World Economic Forum, the White House, CNBC, The New York Times, Bloomberg, Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, the Economist, and the BBC.