Kellogg-Morgan Stanley Sustainable Investing Challenge: Meet the 2026 Winner

Apr 28, 2026

The Kellogg Morgan Stanley Sustainable Investing Challenge brings together graduate students from around the world to pitch financial solutions to environmental and social challenges. This year, a joint team from the University of Chicago and Duke University earned the top prize.

Key Takeaways

 
  • Graduate students from the University of Chicago and Duke University have won the 16th annual Kellogg–Morgan Stanley Sustainable Investing Challenge.
  • Their team, AAA Fund, proposed an idea that addresses the degradation of Indonesia’s coastal mangrove ecosystems through a blended finance credit facility that generates returns from blue carbon credits.
  • Students from Duke University placed second with their pitch to scale district‑level geothermal heating and cooling infrastructure for energy-insecure, low-income communities in the United States. A team from Imperial College London finished third with its proposal to finance agroforestry in the Brazilian Amazon through a securitization structure that helps avoid deforestation.

After a day-long final at Morgan Stanley’s European headquarters in London, graduate students from the University of Chicago and Duke University won the 16th annual Kellogg Morgan Stanley Sustainable Investing Challenge. Their proposal aims to restore Indonesia’s degraded coastal mangrove ponds through a blended finance credit facility that works with community cooperatives and generates returns from blue carbon credits and aggregated silvofishery shrimp sales.

 

A team from Duke University placed second with its pitch to de risk and scale district level geothermal heating and cooling infrastructure for energy insecure, low income communities in the United States. Students from Imperial College London came in third place with their proposal to finance agroforestry in the Brazilian Amazon through a securitization structure that aggregates asset backed loans and generates returns from carbon credits and sustainable timber.

 

A Record Year for the Challenge

The Challenge, hosted by Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and the Morgan Stanley Institute for Sustainable Investing, invites graduate students from around the world to develop and pitch creative financial approaches that tackle pressing environmental and social challenges. The competition facilitates connections with leading industry professionals to identify and empower the next generation of sustainable finance leaders.

 

This year’s competition drew a record 618 students from 107 schools—compared to last year’s 545 students from 89 schools—forming 186 teams with proposals targeting impact in 65 countries. The 12 finalists were selected by a group of sustainable investing professionals, who also served as mentors throughout the program. After traveling to London to pitch their ideas to a senior judging panel, three teams were ultimately selected as winners.

 

This year’s 12 finalist teams pitched ideas on topics ranging from maritime decarbonization to climate-resilient development to showcase how innovative finance delivers measurable impact across global regions.

 

“The Sustainable Investing Challenge is a vibrant platform for the next generation of finance leaders to pitch financial solutions that target sustainability issues in economies and communities around the globe,” said Jessica Alsford, Morgan Stanley’s Chief Sustainability Officer and Chair of the Institute for Sustainable Investing. “The commitment and creativity of this year’s graduate students are inspiring, and we’re eager to see their bold ideas in action.” 

 

AAA Fund Wins the 2026 Kellogg-Morgan Stanley Sustainable Investing Challenge

Afgan Gradiyanto, Aulia Ampri and Audrey Surya Prameswari Kharisma of the AAA Fund team from the University of Chicago and Duke University secured the top position and claimed the $10,000 prize.

Khushboo Garg, Ozioma Ozigbo, Amanda Murray and Lakshya Jain of the GeoServe team from Duke University placed second, winning a $5,000 prize.

Greta Grote, Carl Klein von Wisenberg, Carl Witthoefft and Jonathan Wachsmuth of the Amazonia Yield Bond team from Imperial College London placed third and received a $2,500 prize.

2026 Sustainable Investing Challenge Snapshots Total of 618 students From 107 schools From 65 home countries Forming 186 teams Targeting impact in 65 countries

“Since 2011, this competition has showcased the ingenuity and determination of students addressing some of the world’s most complex sustainability challenges, and 2026 was no exception,” says Dave Chen, Adjunct Professor of Finance at Kellogg Management School, CEO of Equilibrium Capital and founder of the Sustainable Investing Challenge. “The finalists’ ability to translate innovative ideas into real-world solutions underscores the kind of practical thinking and leadership required to drive measurable impact.”

The other nine finalists were:

 

Blue Barrier Capital

  • Proposal: This proposed blue bond converts sargassum seaweed overgrowth offshore in the Caribbean into saleable bioproducts, funding operations through a tourism levy that turns an ecological liability into a revenue-generating solution.
  • School: INSEAD

 

Everflow Capital Africa

  • Proposal: An evergreen private credit fund would provide short-term receivables factoring to NGOs in Sub-Saharan Africa to bridge donor payment delays, enabling development programs to continue uninterrupted.
  • School: Columbia University

 

Frontline Capital

  • Proposal: Using loans and shared-savings agreements to help expand local health clinics in underserved US communities, this blended private credit proposal earns returns as better primary care reduces costly emergency visits.
  • School: Cornell University

 

Mahila Textile Accelerator

  • Proposal: A blended private credit fund would use India’s Trade Receivables Discounting System (TReDS) to provide collateral-free working capital to women-owned textile micro-enterprises, shifting credit risk from sellers to institutional buyers.
  • School: Tufts University

 

Mekong Resilience Fund

  • Proposal: A blended finance vehicle would fund climate-resilient infrastructure in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta through performance-linked “success fees” from global corporate off-takers whose supply chains depend on the region.
  • School: Nanyang Technological University

 

NO3 Impact Fund

  • Proposal: This pay-for-success structure is designed for farmers in Germany’s Rhineland-Palatinate to adopt precision agriculture and reduce nitrate groundwater contamination, with investor returns tied to verified environmental and health outcomes.
  • School: EDHEC Business School

 

Nusantara Resilient Capital

  • Proposal: Utilizing a fully collateralized parametric catastrophe bond, this proposal transfers flood risk in Sumatra, Indonesia to capital markets while ring-fencing excess margins for upstream reforestation.
  • School: Columbia University

 

Re-Husk Fund

  • Proposal: Creating a circular economy to benefit farmers and consumer packaged goods companies, this fund would finance construction facilities in the Midwestern US that convert excess corn husks into sustainable fiber packaging.
  • School: Northwestern University

 

Sea Change Capital

  • Proposal: A closed-end blended finance vehicle would simultaneously fund port bunkering infrastructure and vessel retrofits on the Singapore–Shanghai corridor, contractually locking both together to remove barriers to maritime decarbonization.
  • School: INSEAD