This strategic appointment underscores The Nature Conservancy's commitment to scaling conservation through innovative finance and strategic collaboration.
NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESS Newswire / November 20, 2025 / Catherine Burns, PhD, has been named Managing Director of The Nature Conservancy's impact investing and sustainable finance team, NatureVest. Cat joined TNC in 2010 and has held increasingly strategic roles with NatureVest and TNC's California and North Carolina chapters. In recent years, Cat led the development of NatureVest's Impact Management Team, building capacity and expertise to ensure measurable outcomes aligned with TNC's 2030 conservation and climate goals. Cat has also served as Interim Managing Director for the past eight months, guiding the team through a period of strategic growth and collaboration.
As Managing Director, Cat will oversee NatureVest's teams that work to structure, close and implement impact investments across a range of structures, including private equity, sovereign debt, and other mechanisms. Cat applies her deep conservation science background and market-facing experience to drive market solutions for climate action and nature protection.
"Now more than ever, the private sector must play an active role in supporting the transition to a more sustainable future," said Burns. "I'm honored to lead this team of talented, dedicated, and strategic individuals working at the forefront of impact investing and other market-based solutions to deliver solutions that generate environmental, social, and financial returns."
Since 2014, NatureVest's portfolio has grown to represent USD $4 billion in committed impact capital, with projects spanning four continents and covering a variety of asset types and financial structures. These projects focus on delivering impact alongside financial returns in the realms of forestry and carbon, water and agriculture, fisheries and aquaculture, infrastructure and renewable energy, and conservation tourism, and on creating sovereign debt solutions that enable countries to stabilize their debt while creating impact on a national scale.
"This appointment reflects our commitment to building a leadership team that can connect financial innovation with real-world conservation outcomes," said Matt Arnold, Global Head of Impact Finance and Markets at The Nature Conservancy. "Cat's deep experience and collaborative approach have already made a lasting impact, and we're thrilled to see her lead this next chapter of NatureVest advancing nature-positive investment strategies."
For media enquiries or further information about NatureVest's projects and impact, please contact media@tnc.org
About The Nature Conservancy
The Nature Conservancy is a global conservation organization dedicated to conserving the lands and waters on which all life depends. Guided by science, we create innovative, on-the-ground solutions to our world's toughest challenges so that nature and people can thrive together. We are tackling climate change, conserving lands, waters and oceans at an unprecedented scale, providing food and water sustainably and helping make cities more resilient. The Nature Conservancy is working to make a lasting difference around the world in 83 countries and territories (39 by direct conservation impact and 44 through partners) through a collaborative approach that engages local communities, governments, the private sector, and other partners. To learn more, visit nature.org or follow @nature_press on X.
About NatureVest
NatureVest is the impact investing and conservation finance team of The Nature Conservancy (TNC), one of the world's leading environmental organizations. The team designs and executes innovative financial products and provides advisory services that align private capital with measurable conservation outcomes. Since its founding in 2014, NatureVest has helped mobilize over $4 billion in committed capital for projects that address climate change, biodiversity loss, and community resilience. Across more than 25 countries, these projects have collectively avoided or sequestered 5.1 million metric tons of CO2e, improved management on over 7 million acres of land, and protected 172,000 square miles of ocean. For more information, visit www.naturevest.org
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SOURCE: NatureVest
View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire:
https://www.accessnewswire.com/newsroom/en/business-and-professional-services/the-nature-conservancys-naturevest-appoints-dr.-catherine-cat-bu-1105216