Audrey Choi
The Catalyst
Ideas with a spark, energy, range and the ability to start things.
Audrey Choi exemplifies The Catalyst archetype through her career-long drive to unlock systemic change by connecting capital markets to social and environmental outcomes. In this interview, Choi articulates a deliberate theory of change: that business and finance, not government or philanthropy alone, hold the scale and speed to address global challenges. She recounts founding Morgan Stanley's Global Sustainable Finance Group in 2009, a bold move against market sentiment, and building the Institute for Sustainable Investing to generate rigorous data displacing reflexive assumptions about ESG return trade-offs. Choi consistently frames sustainable investing not as values-driven constraint but as superior analytical completeness, persuading investors and CFOs alike. Her arc from journalism to the Clinton White House to Wall Street reflects a Catalyst's pattern of entering systems to accelerate change from within rather than from the margins.
“If you can figure out that strategic overlap between positive social change, policy goals, and business and growth and make that an attractive case for business leaders and investors, that's where you can really get the flywheel going.”
“Would you like me to help you manage your portfolio with 90 out of 100 data points, or would you like me to look at a hundred out of 100 data points? I've never yet seen a trader or analyst who says, I don't want data that might be material to the upside opportunity and downside risk.”
“Be open to serendipity, because none of those things could have been planned. Opportunities presented themselves and those have always led to really some of the most wonderful adventures.”
Money Maze Podcast: “Audrey Choi - Morgan Stanley’s Chief Sustainability Officer”
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