Michael Garland

Michael Garland is Assistant Comptroller for Corporate Governance and Responsible Investment in the Office of the New York City Comptroller’s Bureau of Asset Management. In this role, he and his team are responsible for developing and implementing the corporate governance programs for the five New York City retirement systems, which have over $280 billion in assets under management, including voting proxies, engaging portfolio companies on their environmental, social and governance policies and practices, and advocating for regulatory reforms to protect investors and strengthen shareholder rights.  He has spearheaded initiatives that have shaped market practices, including driving the widespread adoption of EEO-1 Report disclosures to improve corporate transparency on workforce demographics and advancing proxy access bylaws, enabling long-term shareholders to more easily nominate directors.

Mr. Garland currently serves on the Grant & Eisenhofer ESG Institute Oversight Board and represents the Comptroller on the board of Ceres, a nonprofit mobilizing investor and business leadership to address climate change and foster a sustainable economy. He has previously served as public fund co-chair of the Council of Institutional Investors’ board of directors and as a member of the SASB Standards Investor Advisory Group (IAG).

Before joining the Comptroller’s Office in 2010, Mr. Garland led corporate governance and sustainability initiatives for the AFL-CIO Office of Investment and the CtW Investment Group, which he co-founded within the Change to Win labor federation. Earlier in his career, he financed middle-market corporations at National Westminster Bank USA and provided financial consulting at Locker Associates.

Mr. Garland holds a Master’s in City Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, with a focus on labor and regional economic development, and a Bachelor of Arts in economics with distinction from the University of Virginia.

Michael Garland

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Michael Garland

Will Farrell

Federated Hermes
Assistant Manager, EOS
London

Will co-leads the climate change theme at EOS, the stewardship arm of Federated Hermes Limited, where his coverage includes companies in Europe and Australia, primarily financial services, energy, chemicals, and materials. Prior to joining EOS, Will worked in the energy and infrastructure investment banking team at Macquarie Capital, where he specialised in renewable energy. Before that, Will held a number of roles across the UK climate policy space, including as a parliamentary researcher for Rt. Hon. Chris Skidmore MP on climate and energy issues, and as a climate and economic policy analyst at a diplomatic institute. He was appointed as a voluntary adviser to Rt. Hon. Alok Sharma MP, President of COP26, on preparations for COP26 after co-founding a Westminster climate policy group in 2019, which engaged MPs and Members of the House of Lords to advocate for more ambition on climate action in public policy. Will has a Bachelor’s degree (1st Class Honours) in Economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science.