Travis is an MBA student at Columbia Business School focused on accelerating the transition towards a green economy through private markets investing. He spent his fellowship working in the Private Credit and Equity (PC&E) division to primarily deepen ESG integrations across the investment life cycle. This included activities such as developing an ESG KPI reporting framework to competitor benchmarking analyses to identifying areas for Morgan Stanley PC&E to improve its ESG integration efforts. He was also able to aid the Impact Investing team directly with live deal climate investment due diligence. His capstone project was to weave the varied PC&E strategies and ESG considerations into the inaugural PC&E ESG report. This role afforded Travis the opportunity to view ESG integration from a strategic, managerial level and work across multiple business units to ensure outcomes were not only impactful, but pragmatic in their implementation in private markets.
Travis most recently spent time as an MBA investment associate with PowerPlant Partners, a California growth equity fund focused on sustainable, consumer industries. There, he primarily aided in market research for live deals and created an industry deep dive report on the blossoming fermented proteins sector. Before Columbia Business School, Travis spent a year as a customer success associate at Eversight where he helped clients like Coca-Cola and Johnson & Johnson leverage Eversight’s AI-based pricing and promotion optimization software to drive improved revenue outcomes. He also spent two years as a financial analyst at Roark Capital Group, a private equity firm with ~$25 billion AUM, where he aided in the over $5 billion worth of take-private transactions of Buffalo Wild Wings and Sonic Drive-in.
Travis serves as the co-president of Columbia Business School’s Green Business Club, where he works to promote and expand the knowledge base of green business within the student body, develop green business career opportunities, and drive increased academic focus within the sustainable business field. Additionally, Travis was a Three Cairns Climate Fellow, where he supported Cyan Capital Partners in identifying key sectors where investments could drive outsized greenhouse gas reductions. He also was an Athena Fellow, where he worked with Columbia Business School’s Lang Fund to deploy venture capital to student and alumni startups. Travis earned his BA in economics from Vanderbilt University and actively supports organizations like the Natural Resources Defense Council.