A collection of profiles on institutional investors

I figured I’d try to better organize my portfolio of profiles for Pensions & Investments, but through a blog post on my personal website.

Quite frankly, profile or narrative writing was what pushed me to pursuing a professional career in journalism. For a profile I wrote on an artist during my junior year of high school, a former editor for The New York Times gave me high marks — and a first place award at Baruch College’s Newsies program in November 2018.

I thank everyone who has taken the time to let me interview them — and everyone who edited or read what I’d consider art.

Last updated May 1

Endowments and foundations

E&Fs are my main beat. Apologies in advance to foundation PR contacts whose media monitors picked up my blog.

• McKnight Foundation’s Elizabeth McGeveran | How McKnight built a mission-aligned endowment — and what its architect is doing next
• Kresge Foundation’s John A. Barker | Amid diversity pushback, Kresge Foundation’s CIO transformed the team’s approach — this is actually a sidebar to an internship-focused feature
• Knight Foundation’s Rebecca Carland | A year ago, Knight Foundation reopened its in-house investment office. Here’s how its CIO is lighting the path forward.
• Knight Foundation’s Rebecca Carland | What Knight Foundation wants to see when hiring next-generation managers. ‘They’re hungry,’ CIO says.
• Texas Permanent School Fund’s Robert Borden | Meet the CEO-CIO who turns interns into industry leaders — and why he invests in them
• Texas Permanent School Fund’s Robert Borden | Texas Permanent’s Robert Borden says the fund was over-diversified. Now he’s building for a liquidity crisis.
• The California Wellness Foundation’s Rochelle Witharana | How California Wellness built a 92% diverse manager portfolio — and what its endowment chief learned
• University of Illinois Foundation’s Travis Shore | University of Illinois Foundation CIO looks beyond 3.3% return with portfolio overhaul planting the seeds for future improvements
• University of Rochester’s Douglas Phillips — now retired | Prepare before a crisis hits. Longtime University of Rochester endowment chief shares parting wisdom on 43-year career.
• Arizona State University Enterprise Partners’ Jeff Mindlin — now at The Nature Conservancy | Beyond returns: Jeff Mindlin’s dual focus on performance and purpose at ASU

Young talent grows, and if you give it the opportunity, feed it and water it — two years go by, five years go by, and they’re not the interns anymore … I tell interns, your job before you leave is you have to find your replacement that you put your name on, that this person that you’re in class with has what it takes. Once it gets momentum, it’s a wonderful thing to watch. You step back, and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Robert Borden, Texas Permanent School Fund

Emerging and diverse investment managers

Emerging and diverse managers are also my main beat — while diversity more broadly has been a sub beat.

• A Harvard spinout is pushing beyond $4 billion — how Evolution reached escape velocity in private credit
• Here’s how emerging managers are carving niches in real assets — and winning institutional interest
• Texas Teachers embraces innovation in emerging managers as program marks 20 years
• ‘What’s old is new again.’ Private credit veterans bring startup energy to emerging managers.
• A pioneer in emerging managers, Leading Edge CEO says DEI is ‘not focused on anything that resembles entitlement’
• Illinois Teachers sees ‘unlimited opportunities’ in diverse managers as program marks 20 years
• Fairview Capital celebrates 30 years of innovation, allies and diverse talent. Here’s how it got there.

Influential Women in Institutional Investing

I’ve write a lot of the features to tied P&I‘s annual Influential Women in Institutional Investing program. This isn’t everyone, but rather a selection.

• Global Endowment Management’s Stephanie Lynch, 2025 | Energized by her ‘real calling,’ Stephanie Lynch is on a mission to support endowments
• Pivotal Ventures’ Erin Harkless Moore, 2025 | Erin Harkless Moore wants to align her investing ‘with the world I want to be’ in
• Cambridge Associates’ Jasmine Richards, 2025 | Jasmine Richards multiplies success by empowering diverse — and emerging — managers
• Blackstone’s Monica Issar, 2025 | Monica Issar lives to learn — from the kitchen table to Blackstone
• The Kresge Foundation’s Venus Phillips, 2024 — now at the Freedom Together Foundation | Venus Phillips, managing director, Kresge Foundation
• Trinity Church’s Sophia Tsai, 2024 — now at the Wallace Foundation | Sophia Tsai, managing director, Trinity Church Wall Street
• Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation’s Shannon O’Leary, 2024 | Shannon O’Leary, chief investment officer, Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation
• Callan’s Lauren Mathias, 2024 | Lauren Mathias, senior vice president, global manager research, and diversity, equity and belonging champion, Callan
• Smithsonian Institution’s Amy Chen, 2024 | Amy Chen, chief investment officer, Smithsonian Institution
• Allspring Global Investments’ Ann Miletti, 2024 | Ann Miletti, chief diversity officer and head of active equity, Allspring Global Investments
• State of Wisconsin Investment Board’s Anne-Marie Fink, 2024 — now retired | Anne-Marie Fink, private markets and funds alpha chief investment officer, State of Wisconsin Investment Board
• NEPC’s Krissy Pelletier, 2024 | Krissy Pelletier, partner, head of endowments and foundations, NEPC

Other profiles

These are other features — including one I wrote for P&I‘s annual Best Places to Work in Money Management program.

• Fidelity revamps OCIO business to capture endowment market. How the investment giant plans to compete with industry titans.
• Builders Vision hires public, private markets heads to advance sustainable strategy
• Bailard CEO Sonya Mughal shares what’s kept her there for 30 years

Features that I’m generally proud of

On talent development, recruitment and retention:

• Asset owners are building talent through internships. What Texas Christian University and peers have learned.
• Endowments’ missions, new challenges and impact enticing some pension fund staffers to make leap
• In the age of AI, money managers foster creativity to promote innovation
• Embracing the power of authenticity, Influential Women rewrite the rules — of finance and leadership
• ‘Not finished yet’: On the top rung, Influential Women keep evolving with institutional investing
• In their own words: Rising Stars talk up inspiration, impact and the future of asset management
• Wellness, development among priorities of managers enhancing future of work
• As 2024 comes to a close, Best Places to Work winners celebrate a key reason for success — their employees
• Mentors helped Influential Women along the way. Honorees pay it forward.
• Leaning on self-advocacy, Influential Women honorees stay resilient through markets, workplace and self-doubt
• Meeting employees where they’re at is key to talent attraction and retention
• Sabbaticals give employees chance to rest, recharge. Workers love the perk.
• Inclusivity, work-life balance top of mind for young talent
• The importance of a ‘pawsitive’ environment at the office
• Managers boost financial wellness to ease stress, support productivity

On industry trends, retrospects and outlooks:

• Healthcare assets under OCIO management are set to surge. The complexity is keeping all but a few firms away.
• Endowments, foundations to double down on missions while ‘riding the fog’ of 2026
• Private universities, foundations to face new tax provisions, but experts see little change in 2026
• Calls for divestment consume endowments, but the noise outweighs the impact
• With AI driving public — and private — equities, university endowments return higher for fiscal year
• Institutional investors see ‘blue ocean’ opportunities through diverse private market managers
• CIOs rethink public-private market divide, pursue diversified credit strategies amid economic uncertainty
• ESG at 20: The idea that started an investing revolution is now at a crossroads
• 2024 proxy season sees investors embrace the ‘G’ in ESG
• ‘Mother Nature is slapping us in the face,’ CalSTRS’ Ailman says

On broader diversity, equity and inclusion:

• From diverse backgrounds, Influential Women see opportunity through international lens
• Despite challenges, DCIIA honorees embrace, speak up about importance of diversity, equity and inclusion
• After BlackRock scraps DEI, expect continued progress but less noise amid legal uncertainty
• Don’t lose sight of the power of DEI, women urge ahead of International Women’s Day
• Amid DEI pushback, pension funds, diversity advocates bolster inclusion of emerging managers
• Firms taking steps to support female employees’ life journey
• Money managers enhance parental leave policies, benefits to support new, diverse families
• Among the most Influential Women are champions of diverse — and emerging — managers 
• Investment pros sound call for protecting DEI as Toigo Foundation celebrates 35 years
• ‘Every dollar matters’ for diverse managers raising capital
• Named trailblazers, 20 Chicago women are setting the pace for improving diversity
• How they got there: Senior women leaders at Natixis talk career trajectories
• Diversity kept in mind, but not a priority, among pension plans in manager hires