Tejal Patel

Tejal is the Executive Director of the SOC Investment Group, which works with pension funds sponsored by unions affiliated with the Strategic Organizing Center (SOC), a coalition of unions representing more than two million members, to enhance long-term shareholder returns through active ownership.

Tejal joined the SOC Investment Group in 2016 as Corporate Governance Director, leading shareholder advocacy efforts on key issues including human capital management, executive compensation, and human rights. In her current role, she has worked with other investors to advance strategies for issuer engagements, shareholder proposals, director accountability, and asset manager outreach. Tejal has a proven track record of developing innovative shareholder strategies, having helped lead on the Investors for Opioid and Pharmaceutical Accountability coalition, the civil rights audit shareholder proposals, and most recently the Starbucks’ proxy contest.

Prior to the SOC Investment Group, she worked at a major proxy advisory firm and practiced law as a transactional attorney, representing institutional lenders in a variety of commercial finance transactions and advised public and private companies on securities law related matters. She currently serves as a director and the Labor Constituency Co-Chair for the Council of Institutional Investors (CII) and previously served on CII’s U.S. Asset Owners Advisory Council from 2019-2021.  She also serves as a member of The Civil Rights Audit Standards Committee. She holds a J.D. from the University of Connecticut School of Law and a MSc. from the London School of Economics. 

Tejal Patel

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Tejal Patel

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.