Rachel Mattes Greenberg

Biography

Rachel Mattes Greenberg is a business leader and sustainability expert with experience providing thought leadership and driving change within the financial industry. She has created and executed sustainability strategies at JPMorgan Chase and Citizens Financial Group with strong stakeholder support and impact.

Currently, Greenberg is head of sustainability at Citizens Financial Group (CFG) where she was recruited to lead and oversee the bank’s ESG efforts. She is responsible for designing and driving Citizens’ sustainability and impact strategy, including planning, executing and engaging on the bank’s climate work. As the leader of Citizens’ ESG Executive Steering Council and a member of Citizens’ Executive Leadership Group, she supports senior executive alignment on the enterprise-wide approach to ESG topics. Greenberg spearheaded development of Citizens’ inaugural Sustainability Announcement, which includes a series of initiatives designed to elevate and enhance the bank’s commitment to sustainability and impact, including a $50B sustainable finance target, a plan to engage with corporate clients on the lower-carbon transition and a goal to achieve operational carbon neutrality by 2035. She has been cited in American Banker, Fast Company, ESG Dive, Trellis (GreenBiz), Banking Dive and Tearsheet. Speaking engagements include Reuters Sustainable Business USA, Columbia University’s 22nd Annual Social Enterprise Conference Capital for Good, Sustainability LIVE, and Transition & Sustainable Finance USA.

Prior to joining Citizens, Greenberg served as vice president of sustainability at J.P. Morgan Chase (JPM). During her tenure, Greenberg led development of JPM’s $2.5T sustainable financing target and its inaugural green and social bond issuances. Previously, she worked as chief of staff for JPM Wealth Management’s Global Head of Investments, where she developed the business’ sustainable investing platform and built the case for dedicated leadership of it. Greenberg began her career at JPM covering ultra-high net worth clients for the Private Bank.

In 2023, she was appointed visiting lecturer at the Cornell Tech campus in NYC. She developed a course for the MBA program that explores ESG and sustainability and builds the case for them as a business imperative and driver of growth. Foundation-setting classes are followed by a series of case studies and guest speakers. In her first year, Greenberg made the Teaching Honor Roll.

In 2024, she joined the New York Restoration Project (NYRP) Board of Trustees, a 501(c)3 that works across the five boroughs to renovate gardens, restore parks, plant trees, promote urban agriculture, and build partnerships to transform the city’s landscape.

Greenberg's professional career began in the world of global art, both in NYC and Tel Aviv. She worked for the three largest auction houses (Christie's, Sotheby’s and Phillips) as well as an art start-up and not-for-profit.

She earned a BA in government and history of art, cum laude, and an MBA from Cornell University. She lives in New York City with her husband and children.

Recent Courses

• NBAY 6031 - Sustainability in Business and Tech

Academic Degrees

• MBA Cornell University
• BA Cornell University