Moderator: Laurie Havelock, editor-at-large, IR Magazine
Laurie Havelock is a journalist, writer and podcaster who has been working on financial titles for more than 5 years, dabbling with commercial property finance, responsible investment and investor relations as his main areas of focus. Outside of that he also writes about music, with a predilection for independent and emerging artists, has worked on a number of comedy projects, including a podcast he makes with musical comedian Paddy Gervers called Podshambles, and hosts a weekly show on Shoreditch Radio. Laurie has been published in the Independent, the Guardian and Q Magazine.
Jyoti Chopra, chief people, inclusion and sustainability officer, MGM Resorts International
Jyoti Chopra is the Senior Vice President and Chief Diversity & Sustainability Officer for MGM Resorts International. In this role she drives social impact and sustainability programs and is responsible for directing enterprise-wide initiatives and serving as staff liaison to the Board of Directors’ corporate social responsibility committee.
Ms. Chopra is an award winning diversity, inclusion and sustainability leader. Prior to her role at MGM Resorts, she was Senior Vice President of Global Diversity & Inclusion at Pearson Plc., an education technology and UK FTSE 100 company, where she was a member of the senior leadership team.
Earlier in her career, Ms. Chopra served as Chief Diversity Officer and Managing Director of Global Citizenship and Sustainability for BNY Mellon as well as the global leader for communications and public relations at Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited and as a Managing Director at Merrill Lynch & Co.
Ms. Chopra holds an MBA with distinction from the Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford and a bachelor’s degree in Journalism from New York University. She also serves as a member of the Diversity Advisory Board for Toyota Motor North America and serves as an advisor to the Global Talent and Diversity Council for the Asia Society.
Karen Greene, vice president of customer experience, Q4
Karen is an Investor Relations Partner at Q4, working closely with clients as an advisor. Bringing close to 30 years of experience as a senior executive overseeing investor relations and marketing communications for large to small cap and newly public companies, Karen has managed organizations through a wide range of hurdles, milestones and challenges. Karen’s career in Investor Relations includes time at CIGNA Insurance, Safeguard Scientifics, Internet Capital Group (rebranded to Actua), and Hamilton Lane.
Karen has demonstrated success in targeting and transforming the investor base of publicly traded companies, helping them gain a broader, more aligned following. She has also led IR teams through the IPO process, helping them establish IR plans, budgets and workflow required as a public company. Additionally, Karen brings first-hand knowledge and best practices for how to successfully navigate through a wide range of investor relations issues such as missed earnings guidance, M&A, activist activity, restructurings, strategic shifts, rebrands and corporate governance.
Karen has an MBA from Temple University Fox School of Business/Boston University School of Business and a BA in Economics and Political Science from the University of Rochester.
Lauren Smart, managing director, global head of ESG commercial, S&P Global Market Intelligence
Lauren is Managing Director, Global Head of ESG Commercial at Trucost, part of S&P Global. A leader in carbon and environmental risk analysis, Trucost assesses risks relating to climate change, natural resource constraints and broader ESG factors, enabling companies and financial institutions to understand their ESG exposure to these factors, inform resilience and identify transformative solutions for a more sustainable global economy.
Lauren is an expert in sustainable finance and, over the last decade, has advised leading fund managers, pension funds, banks and DFIs globally on how to integrate climate change and natural capital analysis into their investment decision making.
Prior to joining Trucost, Lauren was a Senior Investment Associate in Global Equity Research at Putnam Investments specialising in Pharmaceuticals, Chemicals and Aerospace & Defence. She was also a consultant at DFID (UK Department for International Development), working on the Millennium Development Goals for Girls’ Education.
Lauren holds a BA (Hons) and MA from Cambridge University in Archaeology and Anthropology and an MSc in Anthropology and International Development from the London School of Economics. Lauren is a member of the Decision Maker Panel of the Bank of England and is also a regular speaker and respected commentator on environmental finance issues.
