In conversation with Tom Steyer

Join us for this conversation about sustainability and economics with climate investor, businessman, hedge fund manager, philanthropist, environmentalist, political candidate and liberal activist, Tom Steyer.

Meet our speakers and chair

Tom Steyer (@TomSteyer) is the Co-Founder and Co-Executive Chair of Galvanize, alongside Katie Hall and Secretary John Kerry. Tom has been a professional investor for more than 40 years. I 1986, he founded Farallon Capital Management and at the same time, served as a partner and member of the Investment Committee at Hellman & Friedman. In 2012, Tom stepped down from Farallon to dedicate his life to climate action. He is the Co-Founder of Beneficial State Bank and the Founder of NextGen America. Most recently, Tom was a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate and, beginning in April 2020, served as Co-Chair of Governor Gavin Newsom’s Business and Jobs Recovery Task Force. Tom is also Chair of the Stanford Climate Accelerator Working Group and a member of the Advisory Council for Stanford’s Doerr School of Sustainability. He also co-chaired Vice President Joe Biden’s Climate Engagement Advisory Council, helping to mobilize climate-focused voters.

Larry Kramer has been President and Vice Chancellor of LSE since April 2024. A constitutional scholar, university administrator, and philanthropic leader, he was previously the President of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and the Dean of Stanford Law School.

Jonathan Pershing is the inaugural Dean of the Global School of Sustainability at LSE. He has extensive experience at the highest level of US climate policy and has played a key role in creating international climate agreements. He has held significant positions in the US Department of State — including as the US Special Envoy for Climate Change — and at the US Department of Energy. Most recently, he was the Director of the Environment Program at the Hewlett Foundation.

Nicholas Stern is IG Patel Chair of Economics and Government and the inaugural Chair of the Global School of Sustainability at LSE. His forthcoming book A Growth Story for the 21st Century: building sustainable, resilient and equitable development will be published by LSE Press in 2025.

More about this event

Launched in 2025, the Global School of Sustainability at LSE (GSoS) is the centre of social science expertise for sustainability impact at LSE. We work in partnerships across the LSE community and beyond to advance pioneering sustainability research and global policy engagement.

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