Climate Change Interviews

Interview with Shaun Paul, CEO of Ejido Verde

February 3, 2020

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Today I am joined by Shaun Paul, CEO of Ejido Verde. Shaun Paul has 30 years of professional and entrepreneurial experience in private finance, philanthropy, and international rural development, leading and supporting the creation and growth of dozens of innovative for-profit and non- profit companies, catalyzing well-being for people and planet.

He currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Ejido Verde, a Mexican forestry company formed through a partnership of the Mexican pine chemicals industry and indigenous communities in Michoacan to reforest 26,000 acres for pine resin extraction, an area the size of two Manhattans. His duties include growing a 300-person workforce to create 12,000 high-paying jobs restoring and protecting forests, along with structuring and securing $35 million of investments in crowdfunding, equity and debt from individuals, private companies, U.S. foundations, and multilateral agencies.

In 2012, he partnered with Good Capital to establish an impact venture fund, Reinventure Capital, where he serves as a General Partner. Reinventure Capital matches capital with technology innovations to invest in growth companies led by women and people of color. In 1992, at the age of 28, Shaun Paul co-founded and for 20 years led the non-profit organization, EcoLogic Development Fund, to empower rural and indigenous peoples to restore and protect tropical ecosystems by providing grants and technical assistance to grassroots organizations integrating community-led development and conservation. In 2006, he founded Pico Bonito Forests, LLC to restore tropical habitats in Honduras through reforestation commercially. Beginning in 1999, Shaun guided the launch and seven-year incubation of Root Capital that has now provided more than $1.1 billion in loans benefiting 637 small and growing businesses in Latin America and Africa.

Shaun’s fundraising assured the design and execution of plans, securing over $80 million from a range of individual and institutional donors, and impact investors, deploying capital mobilization strategies for crowdfunding, annual giving, major gifts, government contracts, foundation grants, corporate royalties, and commercial structured finance. Shaun has worked on every continent with donors, investors, entrepreneurs, non-profit organizations, and social purpose companies to scale catalytic strategies addressing wicked problems. This work has relied on his forging blended finance strategies, business acumen, and social mission, as well as orchestrating international multi-stakeholder partnerships that have included UN agencies, government, multinational companies, and civil society organizations.

Shaun is a Research Fellow at the Global Development and Environment Institute at Tufts University to innovate measuring the social impact of private investments, an advisor to the Mentor Capital Network, a nominator for the Goldman Environmental Prize, and designated as a Next Generation Leadership Fellow by the Rockefeller Foundation. He has served as a board member of Accelerating Appalachia to grow early-stage nature-based companies, International Funders for Indigenous Peoples, and Creative Action Institute. Shaun received his Bachelor’s degree in international development from the School of International Service at American University and a Master’s degree in development economics from the University of Michigan.

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