“Moving from Kathmandu to Portland, where I am a junior economics major at Reed College, it wasn’t hard to see that there is a drastically different approach to urban planning and land use.”
I’m fortunate enough to call Kathmandu, a city filled not only with a diversity of cultures and people, but with one of the most unique urban makeups in the world, home. Moving from Kathmandu to Portland, where I am a junior economics major at Reed College, it wasn’t hard to see that there is a drastically different approach to urban planning and land use.
I first came across OAT when doing an independent project concerning urban economics and have been enthusiastic about the work the organization does ever since. Over the fall semester I had the opportunity to work with OAT and research funding and impact investment strategies centered around land use and conservation. We worked to compile information to better inform OAT’s future decisions in the impact investment space and analyzed investment strategies from 10 firms across the firm ranging from $1Million to $1 Billion in fund size.
Working with OAT and with Nellie, Marc and Andrea provided me with a lot of guidance and insight into the world of land conservation. It showed me that I could really play a part and make an impact on the conservation process through research and financial modeling. As a student of economics it is extremely fulfilling to find out that you can put into practice the theoretical concepts you learn in class into a real world tangible outcome and I am extremely grateful to OAT for the opportunity.
I will be working with OAT over the course of the summer working on facilitating supply chain investments for sustainable land use processes and I am extremely excited for yet another opportunity to work with the fantastic team at OAT.