Nature Conservancy Nabs New CIO From ASU Enterprise Partners

Jeff Mindlin

Jeff Mindlin, who has managed the endowment, sustainable investing and other assets of the Arizona State University Foundation and ASU Enterprise Partners since 2017, will join the Arlington, Virginia-based Nature Conservancy in mid-December to manage its $4 billion portfolio.

Jennifer Kilpela began serving as interim CIO after former CIO Bola Olusanya left in May to become vice president and CIO of the $9 billion portfolio at the MacArthur Foundation. According to her LinkedIn profile, she completed the interim stint in October.

Mindlin was hired as the inaugural CIO at ASU Enterprise Partners, where he managed about $2 billion of investments for the ASU Foundation and ASU Enterprise Partners, including the endowment, operating pool and balance sheet investments.

At the Nature Conservancy, he will take over the organization’s investment team of 15 operations and investment professionals, which was first formed by Olusanya. The conservancy has a total of $9 billion in assets, $4 billion of which the investment office manages, according to the information from the conservancy. The investment office manages the group’s endowment and other long-term investments.

“The Office of Investments’ mission is to support the funding of TNC’s global conservation priorities by increasing the organization’s purchasing power through prudent and sustainable investment management,” the conservancy stated on its website.

Mindlin won CIO’s 2023 Industry Innovation Award in the environmental, social and governance investing category. In 2019, he was recognized as a CIO NextGen leader.

At ASU, the endowment grew by roughly $1 billion under Mindlin’s leadership. For fiscal 2024, the endowment reported 11.3% returns, outperforming other similarly sized endowments. Over the longer term, the endowment posted annualized three-, five- and 10-year returns of 5.9%, 9.3% and 7.2%, respectively, through June 30, 2024.

Mindlin has been responsible for aligning the investment strategy with ASU’s leadership in sustainability. In 2025, Mindlin has also served as director of the investment committee for the Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Phoenix.

He earned bachelor’s degrees in economics and finance from the W. P. Carey School of Business at ASU.