Jennifer Chang is a Vice President – Senior Credit Officer in Moody’s Environmental, Social and Governance Group, with a primary focus in physical climate risks and materiality as it pertains to credit risks across various industries.

Prior to the ESG Group, Jennifer was the Public Power Sector Lead in the Global Project and Infrastructure Finance Group, and covered a range of infrastructure sectors including transportation, social infrastructure and power projects in the Americas. She also led new power project finance and public-private partnership rating assignments.

Jennifer launched the Infrastructure in Emerging Markets’ series, and is the author of several reports on PPPs, power and drillship transactions including special comments on airport concessions, express tolled lanes, credit enhancements and power project carbon transition. She recently published climate-related reports on physical climate risk assessments and credit impact of urban floods.

She is the receiver of three Moody’s Research Awards, including the report on Hydrogen – Electric Utilities and Power Projects. She is a frequent speaker and presenter at various industry conferences, including the US Department of Energy – Hydrogen Shot Summit in 2021. Prior to joining Moody’s, Jennifer worked at the World Bank as an energy finance specialist in the Latin American and Caribbean and Africa regions where she helped co-author the Brazil Low Carbon Case Study report, and worked on large scale electricity distribution rehabilitation projects in Brazil, Honduras and Malawi. Prior to the World Bank, Jennifer worked at BNP Paribas covering North American utilities, and at the Royal Bank of Scotland and at Credit Agricole covering media and telecom. She has a Bachelor of Science and Business Administration in Finance and Accounting from Drexel University and a Masters from the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University (SIPA) with a concentration in International Energy Management and Policy. She is currently pursuing a Certification in Sustainable Water Management from Columbia University.

Armelle de Vienne is a Principal and Co-Head of ESG Research for PGIM Fixed Income, based in Newark, NJ. Ms. de Vienne is responsible for the strategic integration of ESG research across all elements of the firm, including investment decision-making, and internal and external education and engagement. She also serves as a member of the ESG Policy and ESG Ratings Sub-Committees. Prior to joining the Firm in 2021, she worked at Rockefeller Capital Management as a Senior Vice President and Thematic Equities Analyst within the Asset Management Division. In that role, Ms. de Vienne was responsible for equity and ESG research, stock selection, and ESG engagement for Rockefeller’s environmental impact strategies. In addition to her role as an analyst, she also held the role of ESG Integration Lead. Her responsibilities included working across the global equity team to assist equity analysts in appropriately integrating material ESG risks and opportunities into their investment theses and approving stocks for ESG-designated strategies. Prior to Rockefeller, Ms. de Vienne spent five years at Schlange, Zamostny & Co., a consultancy specialized in Corporate Responsibility. As a consultant, she advised global corporations on sustainability strategy development, supply chain management, ESG reporting and software implementation. Ms. de Vienne received her BA degree in Political Science from Colgate University and her M.Sc. in Sustainability Management from Columbia University.

For purposes of the biographies, the “Firm” is defined as Prudential Financial, Inc. (“PFI”). All PGIM and Prudential named entities are subsidiaries or affiliates of PFI. PFI. of the United States is not affiliated in any manner with Prudential plc, incorporated in the United Kingdom or with Prudential Assurance Company, a subsidiary of M&G plc, incorporated in the United Kingdom.

Nick Samuels is a Senior Vice President for the States and High Profile Ratings Team covering credits for the state of Texas, New York City, and the District of Columbia.

Prior to joining Moody’s, Nick worked for the National Association of State Budget Officers analyzing state fiscal and expenditure trends. Nick holds a BA degree in government from Skidmore College and a Master’s in Public Administration from the George Washington University.

Atsi Sheth is Managing Director and Global Head, Credit Strategy and Research.

Moody’s Credit Strategy & Research group includes global teams focused on Macroeconomic Research, Default & Ratings Analytics and Global Emerging Markets as well as regional credit strategy teams each focused on Asia-Pacific, the Americas, and EMEA.

Together these teams establish and articulate Moody’s house views on the trends that drive risk across countries, sectors and asset classes. They undertake in depth data driven analysis and leverage the expertise of ratings and research analysts across Moody’s to generate global, regional and sector insights on macro-economic, political, policy, technology and environmental, social and governance (ESG) risks.

In her capacity leading the group, Atsi also serves as a spokesperson on Moody’s analytic views, engaging with investors, the media and a wide range of public and private sector stakeholders.

Atsi is a long-time champion of Moody’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I) as well as our Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives. She serves as co-chair of the CSR Thought Leadership & Solutions working group and the Senior Advisor to Moody’s Asian Leadership Initiative – a Multicultural Business Resource Group.

Prior to her current role, Atsi was Moody’s Chief Credit Officer for the Americas and before that Managing Director in Moody’s Sovereign Risk Group. She has also served as Chief Economist at Reliance Capital and taught courses on International Political Economy and Emerging Markets at Columbia University and Northwestern University. Atsi has a PhD from Northwestern University and a B.A. from Bombay University.

Swami Venkataraman, CFA, is an Associate Managing Director in Moody’s Environmental, Social and Governance group. He manages a team of analysts responsible for the development of ESG analytic tools, assessments and the integration of ESG considerations into Moody’s credit ratings and research. He is the primary spokesperson for Moody’s Investors Service on ESG and sustainable finance with regulators and investors. Before moving to the ESG team, Swami was a lead analyst in the North American utilities and infrastructure team, with rating committee chair responsibilities. Prior to Moody’s, he was a project and export finance banker with Standard Chartered bank in Asia.

Swami has broad credit and banking expertise in the power, clean energy and infrastructure sectors over the past 20 years. He has worked in New York, San Francisco, London, Mumbai and Mexico City. Swami is a CFA charter holder, with a B.Tech in Electronics Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Madras and an M.B.A. in finance from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM),Calcutta.