Founder & CEO, Empower Co.
Rachel Vestergaard is Founder and CEO of Empower Co., a company building the first global voluntary market to scale women's empowerment. Rachel founded Empower Co. based on her first-hand experience in climate mitigation and adaptation work and witnessing the inextricable link between amplifying women's power and better project outcomes. She believes that scaling women’s empowerment is critical to creating a regenerative future, including ending the climate crisis.
Prior to founding Empower Co., Rachel was Director of Business Development, Americas of Wildlife Works Carbon, on the team that developed the world’s first validated and verified UN REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from forest Degradation and Deforestation) project. She worked with Fortune 500 companies on their sustainability and corporate social responsibility strategies, seeding the initial demand for nature-based solutions in the voluntary carbon market. She later joined Xpansiv as Senior Vice President of the Americas.
Rachel advised the W+ Standard for 8 years, an independent and internationally recognized standard that quantifies women's empowerment. She currently serves as an Advisor to the Amazon Sacred Headwaters Alliance.
Rachel's work has been featured in Forbes, and she has spoken on the topics of climate solutions, women's empowerment, and intersectionality of climate justice at Cornell University, COP22, Summit Impact, Sustainable Brands, Presidio Graduate School, Columbia University, and more.
Rachel resides between northern California and Switzerland with her son and husband, who both inspire her daily.
