Grace Lam

Grace Lam is an MPP/MBA candidate at the Harvard Kennedy School and the Harvard Business School.  She is also the co-founder of NetaCarbon, an early-stage climate tech startup with the mission to democratize access to the carbon market for all. As the “TurboTax” for carbon credit issuance, NetaCarbon is digitizing and streamlining how carbon projects are created and certified, supporting carbon project developers to better manage their carbon projects. Currently, NetaCarbon is piloting several clean cookstove projects in Mexico and Kenya, partnering with local pro-climate businesses to accelerate climate and social impact in vulnerable and low-income communities. NetaCarbon is incubated by the Harvard Innovation Labs and received support from MIT Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship, the ClimateCAP Fellowship, and the HBS Social Enterprise Accelerator Program. 

Before founding NetaCarbon, Grace worked at KawiSafi Ventures, a climate VC fund based in Kenya. There, she co-authored a whitepaper on the value of the carbon market to emerging market investors. Grace was also previously an Engagement Manager at McKinsey & Company and was an active member of its sustainability practice in Asia. She also helped launch the firm’s global pro-bono commitment to accelerate decarbonization. Prior to that, she worked directly with McKinsey’s global managing partner, Kevin Sneader, as his deputy chief of staff. She is passionate about sustainability, in particular cross-sector climate investments and public-private collaborations towards a zero-carbon economy. Grace holds a BBA degree in global business and information systems from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, where she received full tuition scholarships and graduated with First Class Honors. She was born in Singapore and grew up in Hong Kong.

As a Cheng Fellow, Grace plans to refine and roll out NetaCarbon as a climate social enterprise.