Apollo Taps Amazon’s Carletta Ooton to be New Head of ESG for Private Equity
Global alternative investment manager Apollo announced today the appointment of Carletta Ooton as Head of ESG for Private Equity. Ooton will also serve as an Operating Partner within Apollo’s Portfolio Performance Solutions (APPS) platform. In her new role, Ooton will advance ESG integration and performance across Apollo’s private equity portfolio.
Matt Nord and David Sambur, Co-Heads of Private Equity, said:
“ESG continues to be a critical component of our investment process and a significant value driver for our managed funds’ portfolio companies. We are excited to welcome a dedicated operator of Carletta’s caliber to accelerate the great work our teams are already doing as we look to help management teams build better, more sustainable companies and generate exceptional returns for our investors.”
Ooton joins Apollo from Amazon, where she served as Vice President of Product Assurance, Risk and Security, responsible for overseeing international teams focused on safety, compliance, product quality and global operations. At Amazon, Ooton helped to calculate the company’s carbon footprint for the first time, and enabled the launch of the Amazon Climate Pledge. Ooton also established Amazon’s sustainability capabilities, including Energy & Environment, Transportation Sustainability, and Sustainability Science.
Prior to her role at Amazon, Ooton held various operations and sustainability-focused leadership roles at the Coca Cola Company, including VP & Technical Operations & Capability Development Officer. Her responsibilities included leading led the development and execution of all quality, safety and environmental policies and practices across the company and the Coca-Cola system. Prior to this, Ooton also served at Cott Beverages, Bath & Body Works, Unilever and Tate & Lyle.
Aaron Miller, Head of APPS, said:
“Carletta’s incredible track record of building industry-leading ESG programs across large and complex organizations will help to unlock tangible, differentiated, and operational performance across our portfolio. As importantly, her experience will help to drive positive social and environmental impact, as we improve operational inefficiencies, such as energy usage, carbon emissions, water consumption, and others. We look forward to working with Carletta as we continue to position our Firm as an industry leader in ESG and further scale our APPS platform.”
The asset manager also recently announced the appointment of Michael Kashani as Principal and Head of Credit ESG. Kashani joined the firm from Goldman Sachs, where he served as the Global Head of ESG Portfolio Management within the Asset Management Fixed Income Division, with responsibility for coordinating the ESG integration efforts across all fixed income teams, as well as serving as the lead portfolio manager for ESG dedicated mandates. In his new role, Kashani will help accelerate ESG integration across the Firm’s Credit platform.