Sustainable Investing
We help families understand how sustainable responsible investing (SRI) plays an important role in creating a livable climate and empower families to bring their financial investments into alignment with their values.
The SRI group is building off of the FLC-sponsored "Decarbonize Your Money" series of webinars and meetings. We host workshops, meetings and webinars tailored for those interested not only in moving their investments out of fossil fuels, but also reinvesting in industries that are reshaping our economy toward a more sustainable future.
Meet the Working Group Chair
Mike Wood
Mike grew up in upstate New York, where he spent his early childhood playing in the creeks and woods in between fields of corn and cabbage. Later, he spent his time sailing and canoeing on the many lakes of the area and hiking in the Adirondack Mountains. After College, Mike moved to Missoula (1991) and earned an MS in Resource Conservation from UM, followed by a JD with an emphasis in Indian and environmental law.
After several years of environmental law practice in Missoula, Mike switched paths to head up a fledgling Leadership Development program, located within the UM College of Forestry and Conservation and designed primarily around developing US Forest Service and National Park Service employees. Fascinated by leadership development and its potential for individuals and organizations, Mike earned a PhD in Sustainability Education from Prescott College in 2011. In 2014, he founded High Ridge Leadership, a company he and his wife Raquel continue to own and operate, offering leadership development programs and workshops to organizations across the western US.
While Mike’s life has taken many turns, the one consistent element across the arc of his childhood and career to date is an absolute love affair with being outdoors and promoting healthier relationships between humans and the natural world. Mike and his wife Raquel live and play in and around Missoula (or wherever they can get outside). He is an avid trail runner, skier, and general outdoor enthusiast who is happy to be volunteering with the wonderful, dedicated folks at Families for a Livable Climate!
Core Resources
2024 Vote with Your "Investment" Dollar Workshop
Key Advocacy Organizations
US SIF - The leading voice advancing sustainable investing in the US; Our collaborative network works to ensure that the US capital markets play an active role in driving investments toward more sustainable and equitable outcomes. US SIF and its members are the leading voices of sustainable investment. We aim to create a level capital markets’ playing field which includes increased transparency and disclosure across the industry.
As You Sow - It is critical for corporate leaders to address the impact of their policies and actions. By ignoring this impact, they are creating risk for their customers, employees, shareholders, and themselves. Ultimately, companies that view the world not in months, but in years, decades, and generations will be able to reduce their long-term risk and ensure success. Shareholder actions press corporations to undertake this broader risk analysis and make decisions that benefit people, the planet, and profit over the long term.
Additional Resources
Does your 401(k) contribute to fossil fuels? : Article about decarbonizing your 401k
GreenPortfolio audit: For those with a retirement account, you can create a free account via GreenPortfolio and sync your account in order to see how much of your investments support oil and gas companies.