Governance
The ERT Board of Managers, all members of Winrock's Board of Directors, governs ACR and ensures focus on its mission of harnessing the power of markets to improve the environment.
William Bumpers, Winrock Honorary Director, practiced as an environmental lawyer in the Washington, D.C., for 34 years, retiring recently from Baker Botts LLP, where he headed the firm’s global Climate Change Practice. Mr. Bumpers has been involved with climate change issues for over thirty years and has been a frequent speaker regarding national and international climate policy. He was part of the team that undertook the feasibility study for the Prototype Carbon Fund established by The World Bank Group. He advised multiple companies regarding emissions trading under the Kyoto Protocol and related national action plans. He has been involved in GHG-related projects and transactions under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) in Malaysia, China, Liberia, Brazil and Equatorial Guinea. Mr. Bumpers has helped multiple companies in developing responsible climate and energy policies, including the development and use of GHG offsets through forestry practices, renewable energy projects and destruction of CFCs. He represented companies involved in the capture and storage of GHG emissions, helped structure some of the first contracts regarding use of anthropogenic CO2 for oil production. Mr. Bumpers currently serves as a Board member of the Architecture for REDD+ Transactions (ART) and is a Board member of Neighborhood Sun, a Maryland community solar company.
Michaela Edwards is a partner at Capricorn Investment Group, one of the largest mission-aligned investment firms in the world. Capricorn is part of the Jeff Skoll Group, which manages the investment portfolio of Jeff Skoll, the Skoll Foundation, and other institutional clients. Prior to joining Capricorn in 2019, Michaela spent nine years as a senior portfolio manager with Norges Bank Investment Management, the sovereign wealth fund of Norway, where she managed a multi-billion-dollar portfolio. She has over a decade of experience investing for impact, including incubating the Norges Bank environmental strategy. Before joining Norges, Michaela worked as a research analyst for Russell Investments in London and New York. She started her career on the trading desk of DNB in Oslo. Michaela is a member of the board of directors of both Lafayette Square and Osmosis Investment Management, and sits on the advisory board of Ecofin Investments. She is a Chartered Financial Analyst charterholder, and a graduate of Oslo University College and the Cass Business School in London. Michaela has roots in the Cape Verde Islands, and grew up in Norway. She has lived in England and Nigeria, and now resides in Brooklyn, N.Y.
John Nees, Founding Partner of the Getty Land Company, has a broad background encompassing finance, agriculture, infrastructure and energy. He has conducted business throughout the world, including Russia, Venezuela, India and Indonesia, where he managed complex energy projects, as well as eastern and southern Africa where Nees participated in one of the premier eco-tourism companies. Nees has been actively engaged in agriculture since 1995 as a co-founder of the Plump Jack Winery in the Napa Valley. He organized an investment fund to acquire and develop vineyard properties, where he has introduced best farming and viticulture practices. Nees is currently developing Kukio Golf & Beach Club, a residential resort community located on the Big Island of Hawaii and manages a privately held energy company with operations in the Gulf Coast, Mid-Continent and Appalachian regions. Nees earned his Bachelor of Science in geological engineering from Purdue University, his Master of Business Administration from Emory University, and his Juris Doctor from the University of San Francisco School of Law. He is an active member of the California Bar and serves on the advisory board of As You Sow, an environmental advocacy organization.
Rodney Ferguson, Winrock President and CEO, is responsible for the strategic, programmatic, financial and management operations of Winrock International, a $100 million nonprofit organization with over 1,000 employees in more than 40 countries. Ferguson ensures that Winrock fulfills its mission to empower the disadvantaged, increase economic opportunity and sustain natural resources through its 100-plus projects managed from offices in D.C., Arkansas, California, Kenya, the Philippines and project offices around the world. Before coming to Winrock, Ferguson worked for 20 years as one of the country’s leading consultants on communications and strategy for the nonprofit sector — most recently with Lipman Hearne, Inc., the largest marketing firm in the U.S. that exclusively serves nonprofits. There he helped the MacArthur Foundation manage its $15 million MacArthur Fellows — a.k.a. “genius” — awards portfolio. Ferguson also worked with other major foundations, service providers and philanthropic organizations, including the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Pew Charitable Trusts, the National Children’s Medical Center, and with international aid and development projects in Iraq, Slovenia and Qatar. He assisted dozens of colleges and universities, including Seton Hall University and the State University of New York (SUNY), the nation’s largest state education system. There he helped develop and execute the SUNY strategic plan “The Power of SUNY” to leverage the $5 billion-a-year system’s economic development for the benefit of New York’s students and taxpayers. Born and raised in Alabama, Ferguson graduated summa cum laude from Birmingham Southern College. He attended the University of St. Andrews in Scotland as a Rotary Foundation International Scholar, and graduated from Harvard Kennedy School with a master’s in public policy.
