Dr James Gifford is a Senior Fellow at the Initiative for Responsible Investment at the Harvard Kennedy School, where he teaches and researches impact investing by family offices, focusing on the next generation of family members.

Dr Gifford is also Director of Impact at Tau Investment Management, a private equity fund that invests in garment and textile manufacturers and transforms them into sustainable, ethical and profitable enterprises.

He was the founding Executive Director of the UN-supported Principles for Responsible Investment, taking the initiative from inception in 2003 and building it, over 10 years, into the pre-eminent global initiative on responsible investment with 1200 signatories representing $40 trillion in assets. Dr Gifford has published numerous articles and book chapters on responsible investment.

He holds a PhD from the University of Sydney on the effectiveness of shareholder engagement in improving corporate environmental, social and governance performance, degrees in Commerce and Law, and a Masters in Environment Management. Dr Gifford is also an Adjunct Professor at Griffith University and was named by the World Economic Forum in 2010 as one of 200 Young Global Leaders.