Founder and Executive Director

Fueled by his passion for diving deep into overlooked issues and his conviction that any problem can be overcome, Paul has built a career solving daunting challenges others miss or are unwilling to undertake–a pursuit that has taken him from the marbled halls of Washington, D.C., to salmon rivers in remote Alaska to the heart of the global financial system. Recognizing the need for an organization that could match his desire to blaze new trails, build audacious solutions, and forge transformative impact, Paul founded Topo Finance in 2017.

Paul has built a career replete with professional and academic accolades. However, the thing that brings him the most pride is Topo’s incredible team of like-minded, pioneering experts featured on this page.

Sustainable Finance Analytics

Rebecca is an international climate finance leader with more than two decades of industry experience. Her career includes stints as the chief financial officer of sustainable finance at HSBC Holdings PLC and as the director of sustainable finance at South Pole, where she put her world-leading climate finance expertise to work advising global businesses and nonprofits on all aspects of climate finance. In addition to leading Topo's climate finance data and products work, Rebecca also serves as the co-founder and managing director of Seawolf Sustainability Consulting, a boutique consulting shop that works with accountants, management teams, and finance professionals to provide sophisticated sustainability advice.

Corporate Climate Action

Patrick is a climate change expert who has spent his career at the intersection of business, technology, and sustainability. He spent the previous seven years as head of global sustainability for Salesforce, where he led countless innovative sustainability initiatives and was an early advocate for companies integrating their financial management into their core sustainability objectives. In addition to his work with Topo Finance, Patrick is also an advisor to Watershed Technology, Generation Investment Management, and Humanitas.AI. and serves on the board of the Ocean Foundation. Patrick holds an engineering degree from Stanford and a business degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Equitable Banking

Quinn is an international leader in the field of equitable banking and excels at finding strategic avenues for integrating equity objectives into financial management. Notably, Quinn championed the creation of Beneficial State Foundation’s Equitable Banking Standards, which provide a measurable, step-by-step pathway for all U.S. banks to foster transformational change within their communities by financing an equitable and regenerative future. Quinn is committed to increasing access to capital in Black communities, particularly in the South where he is from, and he is working on various initiatives to drive investment into these historically marginalized communities.

Sustainable Finance Initiatives

James is a strategist and systems thinker with 25 years of senior management experience in sustainable finance as well as a leading global voice for innovative, impact-focused finance. This experience includes serving as group director of strategy for Triodos Bank, where he managed its U.K. investment business as well as working for a broad range of environmental and social businesses. James served on the Global Steering Committee for the UNEP Finance Initiative, was one of the founding developers of the UN Principles for Responsible Banking, and now sits on the advisory panel for the Glasgow Finance Alliance for Net Zero and the U.K.’s Transition Plan Taskforce.

Sustainable Finance Movement

Jamie is a leading expert on climate change solutions, particularly on the role of "growth" in the era of climate change. Prior to joining Topo, Jamie founded and ran Drawdown Labs at Project Drawdown, which pushed the boundaries of corporate climate action. Her TEDx talk "No matter where we work, every job is a climate job now" helped accelerate the green jobs transition, and ushered in a wave of employee climate advocacy inside influential companies. Jamie also led corporate partnerships at the nonprofit Ceres, and was a proud member of the Obama Administration as a civil and foreign service officer at the US Agency for International Development.

Financial Reporting and Analysis

Joel is an experienced financial services professional with deep expertise in international financial control, reporting, and group accounting. During his time with Credit Suisse, Joel served in several senior positions, including as the Chief Operating Officer of Credit Suisse’s global Financial and Management Reporting team. In addition to leading Topo's financial data reporting work, Joel also serves as the co-founder and managing director of Seawolf Sustainability Consulting, a boutique consulting shop that works with accountants, management teams, and finance professionals to provide sophisticated sustainability advice.

Development and Strategic Growth

Susanne has spent the last two decades helping transform organizations into dynamic, strategically focused communications and fundraising machines. Her expertise in strategic communications, fundraising, leadership, and organization growth, coupled with her dedication and passion for doing great good, have led to successful collaborations with a wide range of clients—companies, nonprofits, high-net-worth executives, and family foundations. Susanne is now putting this vast experience and knowledge to work helping guide Topo Finance’s strategic growth and development.

Managing Editor

Joy is an editor and project manager with more than 20 years of experience who has spent her career honing the written word to ensure the right messaging reaches the right audiences on deadline. Her portfolio of work encompasses most types of media and a broad range of subject matters, including multiple climate-related and financial publications, such as “The Carbon Bankroll” report. In addition to her work behind the scenes and behind the words at Topo Finance, she also serves as the founder of STET Editing Services, supporting a variety of social justice communicators and nonprofits in their communication efforts.

Innovation and Design Strategy

Blake is a strategist and designer that specializes in building solutions that benefit people and the planet. Prior to joining Topo, Blake spent a decade at IBM, where he developed expertise in design and innovation practices. During this time, Blake built numerous platforms and tools, including cyberterrorism threat remediation technology, collaborative “work from anywhere” apps with Apple, and scalable data repositories for Fortune 10 consultancies. These experiences have forged a simple and consistent approach that guides Blake’s work: focus on solving people problems first, knowing that great impact will follow.