Full Name
Ben Cohen
Job Title
Director
Company
Quantified Ventures
Speaker Bio
Ben leads Quantified Ventures' urban and coastal resilience work, as well as transaction structuring and financial analysis across outcomes-based investments. He led the structuring of the first-ever publicly issued Impact Bond with the Atlanta Department of Watershed Management, driving the transaction from origination to close, in addition to other work in urban resilience, coastal wetland restoration, and forestry.
Ben brings a deep understanding of both the impact of environmental projects, and how they can be valued and financed. Having 10 years of experience in green infrastructure, clean energy, and climate and disaster risk reduction projects both domestically and internationally, his passion and commitment to finding creative financial solutions is driven by first-hand experiences working in communities facing environmental challenges. For example, he has conducted critical research as a Fulbright Scholar on vulnerabilities to climate change in the Himalayas of Nepal, developed solar power projects to bring electricity to off-grid areas of Namibia, studied changing glacier and sea ice dynamics in the Arctic, and co-created storm and flood resilience plans with community members in Bridgeport, CT. Ben led new green infrastructure investments at both Encourage Capital and at the UN Development Programme, where he launched a new flood resilience program in northern Pakistan that raised $37M in financing from the Green Climate Fund. He also brings finance experience developing carbon-optimized investment portfolios, conducting research on the correlation between ESG and financial performance of publicly traded securities, and modeling and fund raising for private equity and debt investments in renewables companies.
Ben is a graduate of the dual MBA/Masters of Environmental Management program at Yale, where he focused on sustainable finance. At Yale, he also participated in the MBA Impact Investing Network and Training (MIINT) program, conducted research on the correlation between environmental and financial performance of investments, and developed new quantitative metrics to evaluate the impact of resilience programs. He also holds a BA in Biology from Williams College.
Ben brings a deep understanding of both the impact of environmental projects, and how they can be valued and financed. Having 10 years of experience in green infrastructure, clean energy, and climate and disaster risk reduction projects both domestically and internationally, his passion and commitment to finding creative financial solutions is driven by first-hand experiences working in communities facing environmental challenges. For example, he has conducted critical research as a Fulbright Scholar on vulnerabilities to climate change in the Himalayas of Nepal, developed solar power projects to bring electricity to off-grid areas of Namibia, studied changing glacier and sea ice dynamics in the Arctic, and co-created storm and flood resilience plans with community members in Bridgeport, CT. Ben led new green infrastructure investments at both Encourage Capital and at the UN Development Programme, where he launched a new flood resilience program in northern Pakistan that raised $37M in financing from the Green Climate Fund. He also brings finance experience developing carbon-optimized investment portfolios, conducting research on the correlation between ESG and financial performance of publicly traded securities, and modeling and fund raising for private equity and debt investments in renewables companies.
Ben is a graduate of the dual MBA/Masters of Environmental Management program at Yale, where he focused on sustainable finance. At Yale, he also participated in the MBA Impact Investing Network and Training (MIINT) program, conducted research on the correlation between environmental and financial performance of investments, and developed new quantitative metrics to evaluate the impact of resilience programs. He also holds a BA in Biology from Williams College.
