Natasha Lamb is an investment advisor who is a managing partner at Arjuna Capital, LLC, a left-of-center investment firm based in Durham, North Carolina, that specializes in activist investment strategies in environmentalist and left-of-center social policy causes. Lamb’s work centers around pressing companies to adopt left-leaning Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG) investing strategies as well as to conduct “equal pay”¹ audits. Her firm also engages in shareholder activism to pressure companies to adopt preferred positions on diversity and environmentalism. ²

Background

Natasha Lamb graduated from Mount Holyoke College in 2004 and received an MBA degree from Presidio Graduate School in 2007, where she subsequently was a faculty member teaching about environmentalist-aligned investing. Early in her career, she worked as a consultant on environmental issues and “green” initiatives for companies including Clif Bar and Timberland. ³ Immediately before becoming a co-founder of Arjuna Capital, Lamb worked for Trillium Asset Management where she also worked on ESG and shareholder activism-related projects and investing strategies as an equity analyst and a senior vice president for shareholder advocacy and corporate engagement. ⁴

Lamb has also served on several boards for nonprofits and left-leaning advocacy groups including as a planning member of the Social Venture Network’s (SVN) Green Conference Initiative and a steering committee member for the Boston chapter of Slow Money, an investment organization for environmentalist food sustainability projects. Lamb has also sat on the Climate Change Working Group (CCWG) of United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative, a project of the United Nations designed to push banks, investment firms, and other financial institutions to adopt left-leaning environmental policies. ⁵

Lamb is a trustee of The Food Project, a non-profit that employs teenagers on farms, and chairman of the Crane Institute of Sustainability, an endowment firm that supports colleges, universities, and other mission-driven tax-exempt organizations that align with the firm’s and environmentalist goals. ⁶

Arjuna Capital

Lamb works as a managing partner and director of equity research and shareholder engagement at Arjuna Capital, a left-of-center investment firm based in Durham, North Carolina, that specializes in activist investment strategies in environmentalist and left-progressive social causes. The firm encourages shareholder activism and leads in the development of financial portfolios that promote left-of-center initiatives including gender pay equity, support for environmentalist energy sources, elimination of conventional fuels, and cracking down on alleged internet hate speech and misinformation. ⁷

Arjuna Capital works with high net-worth families, individuals, foundations, and other accredited investors; notable clients the firm has worked with include the Highlander Research and Education Center (a social justice leadership training school) and former Nirvana band member and FairVote chairman Krist Novoselic. ^{8 9}

The issues Lamb is most known for working on within Arjuna Capital include gender pay and environmentalism. In 2014 she led a negotiation with ExxonMobil which led to the company creating a “public report on global warming and carbon asset risk”¹⁰ and led a shareholder campaign around gender pay that received widespread media coverage including her being featured in Fortune as the women behind “convincing Apple, Starbucks, and Nike to close their gender pay gaps.” ¹¹

In 2017, she was listed in Bloomberg Businessweek as a member of the “Bloomberg 50” most influential people who defined global business in the finance category. The listing mentioned her work in influencing business decisions at companies including Costco Wholesale, Facebook, Twitter, and Google. ¹²

1. Zarya, Valentina. “Meet the Woman Who Convinced Apple, Starbucks, and Nike to Close Their Gender Pay Gaps.” Fortune Magazine. Accessed June 3, 2021. https://fortune.com/2018/04/10/natasha-lamb-gender-pay-gap-change
2. “About.” Arjuna Capital. Accessed June 3, 2021. http://arjuna-capital.com/about
3. “Natasha Lamb.” LinkedIn Profile. Accessed June 3, 2021. https://www.linkedin.com/in/natashalamb/
4. “Natasha Lamb.” LinkedIn Profile. Accessed June 3, 2021. https://www.linkedin.com/in/natashalamb/
5. “Natasha Lamb.” LinkedIn Profile. Accessed June 3, 2021. https://www.linkedin.com/in/natashalamb/
6. “About.” Arjuna Capital. Accessed June 3, 2021. http://arjuna-capital.com/about
7. “Press Release: Arjuna and NY State ask Facebook to explain plans for governing content.” Arjuna Capital. Accessed June 3, 2021. http://arjuna-capital.com/news/press-release-arjuna-and-ny-state-ask-facebook-to-explain-plans-for-governing-content
8. “About.” Arjuna Capital. Accessed June 3, 2021. http://arjuna-capital.com/about
9. “Shareholder Engagement Page.” Arjuna Capital. Accessed June 3, 2021. http://arjuna-capital.com/impact
10. “About.” Arjuna Capital. Accessed June 3, 2021. http://arjuna-capital.com/about
11. Zarya, Valentina. “Meet the Woman Who Convinced Apple, Starbucks, and Nike to Close Their Gender Pay Gaps.” Fortune Magazine. Accessed June 3, 2021. https://fortune.com/2018/04/10/natasha-lamb-gender-pay-gap-change
12. “2017 Bloomberg 50: Natasha Lamb.” Bloomberg Businessweek. https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2017-bloomberg-50/#natasha-lamb