ACG MN Monthly Luncheon - ESG: The New Standard

Daniel P. Nielsen is a managing director in Clermont Partners’ Environmental, Social, and Governance (“ESG”) & Strategic Communications practice where he plays a leadership role in ESG product development, client services delivery, and thought leadership. Dan has been involved in the ESG industry for two decades, spending most of that time working for asset managers and owners helping them to incorporate ESG into their investing practices and engaging portfolio companies on ESG prioritization and performance.

Dan holds an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. He was part of the first cohort to earn the Fundamentals of Sustainability Accounting (FSA) credential offered by the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB). Dan serves as co-chair of the Advisory Board of the Catholic Impact Investing Collaborative (CIIC), on the Advisory Board of the CEO Investor Forum, on the Leadership Council of Loyola University Chicago’s Baumhart Center, and as an adjunct professor at Loyola’s Quinlan School of Business where he teaches ESG investing. Dan lives in Chicago with his wife and two daughters.

Gretchen is a Co-Founder and the Head of Investor Relations at North Sky Capital. She also serves as the firm’s Chief Compliance Officer. She is part of North Sky’s senior management team and is actively involved in strategic planning, fund development and staffing decisions.

From 2000 to 2010, North Sky Capital was the private equity division of Piper Jaffray & Co. (now Piper Sandler), and Gretchen worked in investor relations for Piper Jaffray Private Capital. Prior to Piper, Gretchen served as a marketing and planning coordinator with the PGA Tour and was an original employee of Softspikes, Inc. Gretchen earned a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Ferris State University.

Karla Robertson serves as executive vice president, general counsel, secretary and chief social responsibility officer of Pentair plc, a leading provider of water treatment and sustainable solutions.

Prior to joining Pentair in 2017, Karla served as executive vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary at SUPERVALU Inc. and led the company’s legal, compliance, risk and insurance, food safety, and communications teams.  Prior to that role, Karla held several positions of increasing responsibility at SUPERVALU.  Prior to SUPERVALU, she was in-house employment counsel at Target Corporation, worked in private practice at Faegre & Benson LLP (currently Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP) and served as a judicial law clerk for the United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa.

Karla Robertson holds her J.D. from the University of Denver Sturm College of Law and her B.A. from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.

Kateri Routh joined Great River Greening in 2019 as Director of Finance & Administration, and was appointed Executive Director in May 2022. With two decades of experience in the nonprofit sector, Kateri is responsible for strategy, partnerships, financial planning, fundraising, and operations. Kateri has a Master’s Degree in Public Services Management from DePaul University and a Bachelor of Arts in Marketing from the University of Iowa.

Kateri is an avid birder and if she isn’t working alongside our many volunteers on Great River Greening projects across Minnesota, you can find her with her two children and husband in St. Paul, working on her garden and planning her next hike