Addressing climate change will require an all-hands-on-deck approach that involves every industry and sector. Cameron Ramey BA’09 works at the intersection of finance and environmental activism, using investment as a tool to support sustainability.
After graduating from Willamette University with an Economics degree, Ramey began working as a financial analyst for renewable energy companies. Now, he’s the Chief Operating Officer for Mad Capital, a specialty private credit lender committed to revolutionizing agriculture by providing flexible financing to farms and ranches transitioning to regenerative organic production practices.
“We want to make sure that we’re producing the types of products that we want to have in our communities — from my perspective, that’s chemical-free, nutritious food produced in a way that enhances the ecosystem rather than degrades it,” Ramey shares. “There’s consistent evidence that indicates that much of the conventionally produced products that we consume can have lasting and harmful impacts, so it’s important to me as an individual to ensure access and diminish cost barriers from a production perspective.”
Ramey always knew he wanted to work on sustainability issues after growing up in rural Vermont and attending a high school centered around environmental leadership. Willamette was a natural transition, where he found like-minded innovators among fellow students and his faculty.
“I met some of my best friends who I still look to as role models who have helped me steer my path,” Ramey says. “I also took nearly every course Associate Professor of Economics Nathan Sivers Boyce taught.” Ramey wrote his senior thesis on the Vermont dairy industry, which launched his transition into a sustainability-focused field of economics.
“The economics curriculum gave me a new toolkit to bring into the workforce. I gained a fundamentally different way of looking at and explaining issues like domestic and foreign policy,” Ramey continues. He also minored in Spanish to open doors to the international market and stretch his critical thinking skills. “It’s still there when I travel overseas, and that's a liberal arts education for you. You don’t know how it’s going to be useful, but it is useful to have that broad base.”
Before joining Mad Capital, Ramey built his expertise through roles at The Cadmus Group, a renewable energy consulting firm, and as lead director of operations, finance, and risk at Wunder Capital, which helps businesses, municipalities, and schools access renewable energy.
“The view from where I sit can be a little bit concerning, and I do think climate change is the biggest challenge facing our generation,” Ramey elaborates. “But we have an obligation to look after ourselves, our communities, and the world around us. For me, stepping up is the only option, and I’ve been fortunate enough to align my professional career in the service of trying to do something to create change.”
