Mindful Money has been initiated by Barry Coates, with the support of experts in the investment community and sustainability networks. Barry started work on ‘ethical investment’ around the establishment of the UK Social Investment Forum in the early 1990s. He has a Masters in Management from Yale University, majoring in finance, and was a corporate strategy consultant in the US.

Barry’s relevant experience includes leading the mainstreaming of fair trade in New Zealand - fairtrade revenues grew by an average of 45% per annum for a decade. He has managed social marketing campaigns over two decades, most recently as Executive Director of Oxfam in 2003-14. Subsequently Barry developed a sustainability programme at the University of Auckland Business School and served in Parliament as a Green Party list MP in 2016-17. Barry is a member of the expert Technical Working Group of the Sustainable Finance Forum (SFF), a group of the Aotearoa Circle. Barry is steering the development and implementation of Mindful Money.