Kari Cohen, the founder and principal of Nine Steps Consulting, has worked on environmental markets and conservation finance since he helped fund the first round of USDA’s Conservation Innovation Grants in 2004. Fast forward to 2015 when Kari was part of a small team that helped build the conservation finance practice at USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service. In 2016, Kari was selected to be the agency’s first National Leader for Environmental Markets and Conservation Finance. In this role, he helped Encourage Capital develop a how-to manual for conservation finance practitioners interested in exploring USDA funding opportunities.

Nine Steps can help partners translate their conservation finance concepts and ideas into fundable USDA projects.