Lee Coker serves as an advisor to private equity firms on matters involving environmental and social issues.  He is the ESG Officer at Oak Hill Capital Partners and also conducts consulting engagements with institutional investors, clean energy companies and NGOs working in the field of sustainable finance.

Previously, Lee served as the Geballe Fellow at Environmental Defense Fund, a two-year competitive program designed to train rising business leaders in Environmental Defense Fund’s approach to achieving environmental solutions with business benefit. Lee managed EDF’s Green Returns initiative with KKR, The Carlyle Group, Oak Hill Capital Partners and other leaders in the private equity sector to identify opportunities to reduce environmental impacts and build more valuable, competitive portfolio companies.

Lee also led the creation, development and communications of EDF’s ESG Management Tool for the private equity sector, enabling users to evaluate and enhance performance across 22 best practices areas. Lee and his work have been featured at leading private equity conferences in the U.S. and Europe as well as many of the sector’s largest trade publications including Private Equity International and Pensions and Investments.

Prior to EDF, Lee worked in Walmart’s sustainability department developing strategies around its sustainability index and supplier greenhouse gas initiative. He has led consulting engagements with Walmart, Ford Foundation, HIP Investor, GoodBank, Investors’ Circle, and Carolina for Kibera. Prior to entering the business world, he worked for several years in environmental education with organizations such as the Headlands Institute and Visions Service Adventures.

Lee earned an MBA at the University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler Business School and also holds a BA in Environmental Studies from New College at the University of Alabama.