Namrita Kapur combines a unique mix of traditional finance skills from her time in investment banking with environmental, social and governance (ESG) impact assessment experience as a senior leader in the nonprofit space. She advises the National Geographic Society on its philanthropic impact investing strategy; and, consults to several philanthropists, including founders of one of the oldest venture capital firms and of a Fortune 500 company. She is also a Resident Fellow at the Yale Center for Business and the Environment (CBEY).
Namrita began her capital markets focus by launching and leading the alternative energy franchise at the investment bank Adams, Harkness & Hill, now Canaccord Genuity. She is best recognized for being second-in-command in developing the products and platform of Root Capital – an early leader of the impact investing space. As former Managing Director at Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), she built and led EDF’s Sustainable Finance strategy.
In her entrée to philanthropy, Namrita developed and implemented Eileen Rockefeller Family Foundation’s approach to organizational development. This involved establishing a partnership with the Ford Foundation’s $1 billion BUILD program and working closely with grantees to develop 3-year business plans and organizational strengthening strategies. In parallel, she helped convene and coordinate $75 million of annual global grant-making across 40+ funders worldwide to transition to a clean energy future.
Namrita is an angel investor in the Portfolia fund of funds, which focuses on educating and activating female angel investors. She is also a member of Pipeline Angels, since graduating from their angel investing boot camp.
She serves on the Boards of Environmental League of Massachusetts, Center for Business & Environment at Yale, IE-Brown Executive MBA Program, and the Museum of Science. She holds an MBA and a MA of Environmental Management from Yale University, and a Bachelor’s degree in Molecular Biology from Princeton. As a mother of two strong girls, she enjoys imbuing them with her love of foreign languages and is teaching them Hindi and Spanish.
