Blackstone Taps SASB Founder Jean Rogers as ESG Head

Jean Rogers

Blackstone has named Jean Rogers, founder and former CEO of the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB), as its global head of environmental, social, and governance (ESG). Beginning in January, Rogers will oversee Blackstone’s corporate ESG team, leading strategy, integration, reporting, and engagement.

Rogers founded the nonprofit SASB in 2011 to develop sustainability accounting standards and served as its CEO until the organization was restructured in May 2017. Rogers then assumed the role of chair of the nine-member SASB, leading its technical standard-setting efforts as it codified its provisional standards.

Under Rogers’ stewardship, the SASB developed sustainability accounting standards for 79 industries and raised more than $25 million for ESG research on materiality. She also launched an education program in sustainability accounting and began an investor advisory group made of asset owners and managers with more than $33 trillion assets under management (AUM) in aggregate who backed market standards.

“Jean’s significant domain expertise will be invaluable as we work to advance diversity, decarbonization, and good governance across our portfolio,” Jon Gray, Blackstone’s president and chief operating officer (COO), said in a statement. “ESG initiatives are integral to how we drive value for our investors, and we look forward to partnering with Jean to advance these important efforts in the years ahead.”

Prior to founding SASB, Rogers was a principal at engineering consultancy firm Arup, where she worked for more than nine years directing teams and projects for clients in the real estate, utilities, infrastructure, and manufacturing sectors. And before joining Arup, Rogers was director of strategy for marketing company Razorfish.

“Resilient companies are at the heart of resilient portfolios that can outperform in a diverse society and decarbonized economy—and this helps deliver strong returns for clients,” Rogers said in a statement. “I look forward to working with Jon, Christine, and the talented Blackstone ESG team to integrate consideration of ESG factors to drive strong performance through better social and environmental outcomes.”

Rogers’ hiring is the latest in a slew of ESG-related appointments the private equity giant has made over the past year. In April, the company created five new senior positions to become part of its ESG team, and in June the firm named Devin Glenn as global head of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I). Just last month, Blackstone named Amisha Parekh as its global head of ESG approaches for private equity.