Cindy Mercer is an impact investor, philanthropist and collaboration enthusiast. Cindy’s passion is connecting leaders to communicate, synergize and build solutions together. Cindy began her early career as an intern to former President Jimmy Carter, supporting the establishment of the Carter Center. She went on to serve as development counsel for a variety of international charities focused on health, environment and education. As a result, 30+ years of hands-on NGO experience, Cindy prioritizes wholehearted strategic collaboration as the single most important component in building and funding teams that produce spectacular results. She also believes that business CAN be a force for good when an exclusive focus on profit evolves to provide for people and planet simultaneously. In 2008, with entrepreneur and investor Addison Fischer, Cindy co-founded Planet Heritage Foundation (PHF), an impact investing foundation focused on funding solutions to improve environment and health. Oceans 5, a global funders’ collaborative focused on marine protection, is one landmark project launched by PHF in collaboration with partners such as Oak Foundation, Marisla Foundation, Waitt Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Moore Foundation, Packard Foundation, and Vulcan. Cindy has served as a board member of Oceans 5, Virgin Unite Constellation, BIG GREEN, The Jane Goodall Institute, The Philanthropy Workshop (now Forward Global), The National Center for Family Philanthropy, and as an advisor to several donor education initiatives including the Raikes Foundation Impact-Driven Philanthropy Initiative. Cindy earned her JD from Stetson College of Law and her BA in Political Science from Emory University.