Deborah Spalding

Deborah is Co-Chief Investment Officer of Commonfund Asset Management, where she directs all investment activities, leads the organization’s ESG and sustainability efforts, and serves on the Investment Committee of Commonfund Environmental Sustainability Fund. Common Fund is a mission-based investment organization that works with clients that are serving higher purposes. Initially founded in 1971 to provide non-profits with professional investment management services, today it also serves institutions with similar long-term goals, including public pension funds, insurance companies, family offices and trusts. Deborah previously served as both Chief Investment Officer and Deputy Chief Investment Officer in the Office of the Connecticut State Treasurer. In that role, she worked closely with the state treasurer to develop and implement investment policies and strategies for the Connecticut Retirement and Trust Funds, which collectively oversaw more than $31 billion in assets.

Earlier in her career, Deborah co-founded and served as Managing Partner of Working Lands Investment Partners, LLC, an asset management firm that invests in working forests and agricultural lands and operates them with a strong stewardship ethic. She also served as Executive Vice President and Head of International Equity Investments with Schroder Investment Management and as both Managing Director and Head of International Equity Investments and Co-Manager of the U.S. Growth and Income Product Group with Scudder Kemper Investments.

A Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), Deborah also holds several degrees. She earned a BA in International Relations with a concentration in Asian Studies from Tufts University; a master’s in East Asian Religion from Harvard University; an MBA from the University of California at Berkeley; and, a Master’s of Forestry from Yale University. She is a past chair and member of the Investment advisory committee of the National Wildlife Federation and has served on the boards of several charitable and non-profit organizations that are involved in environmental protection and land conservation.