Climate Week Brunch: Family Offices & VCs Investing in Climate Tech
Join us during Climate Week NYC for an intimate brunch bringing together family offices, venture capital investors, and a curated group of climate tech founders for thoughtful conversations on the future of climate investing.
Hear from:
• Lisa Morris, Managing Director of AKS Family Partners LP
• Evan Carmean, Director of Impact Investment at Green Spark Ventures
• Jose Garza, Co-Manager of the Rockefeller Climate Solutions strategy and the Credit Suisse Rockefeller Ocean Engagement Fund
• Elisa Miller-Out, Managing Partner of Chloe Capital
• moderated by Stephanie Downs, CEO and Founder of Uncaged Innovations
The discussion will explore where investors are deploying capital, emerging opportunities across the climate landscape, and what they're looking for in the next generation of companies.
Space is limited to maintain the integrity of the experience.
Our Upstate NY visiting companies include:
Applied Biorefinery Sciences, led by Christopher Wood and Tom Amidon
Benchmark Labs, led by Ulrik Solderstrom
Clean Label Solution, led by Mo Arshadi
CryoBio, led by Murli Manohar
CutPeak Energy, led by Brett Miller
Ecolectro, led by Gabriel Rodriguez-Calero
InteliEQ, led by Christianne Radziewicz
MicroEra Power, led by Ellie Rusling
Overfield Labs, led by Phillip Lanza
RETRN Bio, led by Christopher Thomas
Revora Materials, led by Sravanth Gadikota
Smart Seawall Technologies, led by Pepsy and Natalie Kettavong
Viridi, led by Jon Williams
Panelists:
Lisa Morris is an entrepreneur, investor, philanthropist and family office executive with extensive experience working with family offices and private capital. As Managing Director of AKS Family Partners LP, she focuses on venture investing, strategic partnerships, and philanthropy, with a particular emphasis on growth stage venture. Previously, she served as Director of Philanthropic Services for FORCE Family Office. She founded Road Concierge, an entertainment travel company she built from scratch, scaled and sold within 5 years. A former Broadway actress, Lisa is a frequent public speaker and pitch coach. She is an Entrepreneur in Residence at NYSERDA, an Earthshot Prize nominator, and a committee member for the Queen Elizabeth II Commonwealth Trust. Lisa is on the Advisor Boards of Thrive BioSciences, CellxLife, Coda and Carelink 360. She is on the charity Boards of Vital Options International, Camp Papillon Animal Rescue, and the WiTT Fund Advisory Council. Her first book is coming out in November 2026.
Elisa Miller-Out is Managing Partner at Chloe Capital, a venture capital firm and accelerator operator with a mission of inclusive innovation ecosystem building at scale. She is an experienced serial tech entrepreneur, having founded and led seven companies over 25+ years. Elisa is also a seasoned investor, having invested in 65+ companies and executed twelve M&A transactions including a $100 Million exit. She is an active board director and community builder. As an Innovation Advisor at NYSERDA, she advises on an $800 Million portfolio of climate and workforce innovation. She also serves as a mentor and Entrepreneur in Residence with organizations such as Cornell University’s Center for Regional Economic Advancement, Launch NY and others. Elisa is an instructor with the National Science Foundation Innovation Corps and a guest lecturer at Cornell and Columbia Universities. She serves as a board director at Dimensional Energy, Impact Makers, and Switch. She is chair of the board at Singlebrook, a custom software services firm she co-founded and led as CEO for over a decade, and oversaw the successful acquisition of a division of the company in 2016. Elisa has been featured in the New York Times, the Washington Post, USA Today, Forbes and other publications, and she speaks about technology and entrepreneurship at events across the country. Elisa is a graduate of Columbia University. She is a mother of two
Jose Garza is Senior Vice President, Director of Public Equity Research and Portfolio Manager supporting Rockefeller Global Investment Management’s thematic equity offerings, including the Climate Solutions Strategy, and the Global Innovation Strategy. Prior to joining Rockefeller in June 2021, Mr. Garza served as Portfolio Manager at GAMCO Investors, Inc. from 2018-2021 across energy, utility, and infrastructure funds. Principally, Mr. Garza was co-PM across the Gabelli global utility strategies, with $2.5 billion in AUM investing in products, services, or equipment companies for the generation or distribution of electricity, gas, and water. Mr. Garza began his career at GAMCO in 2007 as a member of the Utilities research team and rejoined the firm upon completing his graduate studies in 2013 as a research analyst covering Water and Infrastructure companies. Mr. Garza earned a dual B.A. in Economics and Biology from Yale University and an M.B.A. from Columbia Business School, where he participated in the school’s renowned Value Investing Program.
Stephanie Downs is the CEO and Co-Founder of Uncaged Innovations with 25 years of entrepreneurial experience. She has founded and built multiple businesses. She launched her first company, a digital marketing firm, in 1999, which she sold in 2014. In 2016, she co-founded Good Dot, India’s largest plant-based meat company. She later co-founded the Material Innovation Initiative in 2019 and established Uncaged Innovations in 2020. Stephanie also spent over a decade as a CSR Consultant for animal welfare groups, advising fashion and automotive brands on alternatives to animal materials. Notably, she persuaded Tesla to adopt vegan interiors and worked on issues concerning the down industry in China. A committed vegan for 15 years, she has leveraged her business acumen to further the vegan movement.
Morrison Foerster (MoFo) is a global law firm with 19 offices across the U.S., Europe, and Asia. Our comprehensive platform includes an award-winning Emerging Companies + Venture Capital (ECVC) practice that combines a deep understanding of market conditions with tailored legal strategies. We advise more than 1,700 entrepreneurs, founders, and venture investors, partnering with clients at every stage of the business lifecycle – from initial formation and financings, through late-stage financings and investments, mergers and acquisitions, and public offerings. In just the last five years, we have guided our clients through venture capital financings totaling over $110 billion and mergers and acquisitions with an aggregate transactional value exceeding $850 billion.