Rekha Vaitla is an Investment Officer with the California State Teachers Retirement System (CalSTRS) and prior to that was the Director of Public Market Investments at the Office of the Illinois State Treasurer. In both of these roles, Rekha has led and supported sustainability and investment stewardship on behalf of large institutional investment portfolios while simultaneously working to foster a business community more attentive to sustainable long-term growth. Rekha is deeply passionate about sustainability and her prior experience at the local and federal levels of government has led her to focus her career around the intersection of impact, sustainability, and government.

Rekha was born and raised in Chicago, IL and is an alumna of Carnegie Mellon University, with a Master of Science in Public Policy and Management and University of Pittsburgh. She’s excited to be involved with Cool Davis to play a more active role in the community and leverage her experience to further the mission of Cool Davis.