Venkat Iyer

Venkat leads strategy development and implementation for the Global Restoration Initiative(GRI) Finance team with a direct focus on the Land Accelerator, TerraMatch, and TerraFund for AFR100. Venkat also identifies thematic investment priorities for the GRI Finance Strategy by exploring knowledge gaps through research and collaboration with key public, private, and multilateral stakeholders.

Prior to joining WRI, Venkat worked at the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) as a natural resource economist with expertise in assessing and managing the environmental and social impacts of agroforestry investments. He has earlier worked with the International Union of Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) leading multi-sectoral task teams to develop sustainable finance solutions for wetlands and forests in Asia, Africa, and South America.