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Chrissa Pagitsas

CEO, Pagitsas Advisors

Chrissa Pagitsas is a vanguard strategist and senior executive, renowned for her ability to foresee and seize business opportunities and galvanize internal and external stakeholders to meet the moment. As CEO of Pagitsas Advisors, Ms. Pagitsas applies her deep expertise in business strategy, finance, and sustainability to deliver growth, innovation, and impact at global organizations. Her thought leadership on sustainability and business is recognized in her best-selling book, Chief Sustainability Officers at Work (Apress, 2022) and insights shared through global media and publications including Bloomberg Markets TV and Harvard Business Review.

Ms. Pagitsas has served on boards and advisory committee for privately held businesses, national non-profits boards, and international standard-setting organizations. Her current and prior board service includes the Global Impact, US Green Building Council, and NASDAQ.

LEADERSHIP & CAREER

Ms. Pagitsas is CEO and Founder of Pagitsas Advisors. As the former Head of ESG and Head of Green Financing at Fannie Mae, Ms. Pagitsas created business value and impact by launching a new business, the Multifamily Green Financing Business, and the Enterprise ESG Strategy. Her leadership of the Green Financing Business resulted in Fannie Mae issuing $51 billion in Green Bonds through 2018 and becoming the world’s largest issuer of Green Bonds.

A sought-after keynote speaker, Ms. Pagitsas has spoken at the G20 and White House, international conferences, and in closed-door board rooms on creating new business value through sustainability. She shares “incredible insights that are practical, action-oriented and balanced” and create “a real-time conversation on ESG leadership and business.”

Prior to Fannie Mae, Ms. Pagitsas developed environmental sustainability strategies for real estate owners and delivered large-scale financial management solutions for utility companies in the U.S. and Europe. Ms. Pagitsas holds an MBA from the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia and a BA from Johns Hopkins University.

BOARDS AND ADVISORY BOARDS

Ms. Pagitsas currently is a Board Member for Global Impact and serves as a strategic advisor to Clarasight. At the US Green Building Council, she served as a Board Member, Secretary-Treasurer, and member of the Finance & Audit and Compensation Committees.

Ms. Pagitsas’ prior Advisory Board roles span international and domestic standard-setters, governing bodies, and key industry associations including Habitable, NASDAQ, International Capital Markets Association, and Urban Land Institute.

AUTHOR

Ms. Pagitsas is the author of the best-selling book, Chief Sustainability Officers at Work. Through in-depth conversations with Chief Sustainability Officers at Fortune 500 companies such as Coca-Cola, Duke Energy, and BlackRock, she reveals how executives deliver ambitious environmental and social impact while capturing large-scale business opportunities.

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