Leslie Labruto

Managing Director of Sustainable Finance, Environmental Defence Fund

Leslie Labruto is the Managing Director of Sustainable Finance at the Environmental Defence Fund, one of the world’s leading and cutting-edge environmental NGOs. Leslie leads EDF’s global Sustainable Finance team and strategy – rethinking how the global architecture for the financial sector can be leveraged for good.

Prior, Leslie served as the Founding Director of the London School of Economics’ 100x Impact Accelerator, the world’s largest social impact accelerator backed by £50 million. 100x sources, selects, and scales impact-first ventures in search of creating new classes of social unicorns – organizations driving positive change on the scale of billions. Previously, Leslie was Head of Investment Strategy and Global Head of Energy at Acumen Fund, where she led the creation of multiple funds and initiatives, including its $100M Energy Access Relief Fund, $20M Pioneer Energy Investment Initiative, and its Hardest-to-Reach investment strategy bringing energy access to 16 underserved markets. Leslie also served as Director of Clean Energy for the Clinton Climate Initiative (CCI) and Summit Partners, a $15 billion venture capital firm in Boston.

Leslie holds two degrees in Civil and Mechanical Engineering from Imperial College London and Vanderbilt University, where she served on the Board of Trust from 2011-2015, and serves on the Boards of multiple social enterprises around the world.