Megan Starr, head of impact, Carlyle
Megan Starr, Carlyle

The Carlyle Group has reorganised its ESG and Impact team as part of a corporate shake-up, CEO Harvey Schwartz has announced in an email to his colleagues that was seen by New Private Markets. The story was first reported by Axios.

Megan Starr, who was global head of impact, has been promoted to the newly created role of global head of corporate affairs. Starr now oversees the firm’s sustainability, corporate communications and government affairs departments and reports to chief operating officer Christopher Finn.

Katharina Neureiter, who was previously head of ESG and impact for EMEA and APAC, and Steve Hatfield, who previously held the corresponding role for North America, have been promoted to global co-heads of sustainability.

Carlyle’s sustainability priorities remain unchanged, a source familiar with the firm told NPM. The only other change is that the team has been rehoused into Starr’s corporate affairs group.

Starr is one of private equity’s most prominent voices for ESG. She led the creation of the ESG Data Convergence Initiative, the most widely adopted programme to standardise and benchmark ESG data in private equity. Carlyle is the inaugural GP co-chair of the organisation’s steering committee, and Starr has been the primary liaison in this role. She joined Carlyle in 2019 after nearly five years at Goldman Sachs’ Investment Management division, where she helped build the ESG and impact department.

“Over the years, Meg has been instrumental in advancing our sustainability agenda, earning the firm widespread respect with core internal and external stakeholders,” Schwartz wrote in the announcement. “She is uniquely equipped to strengthen our brand and solidify our differentiation in the market, building upon her successful track record as a transformative leader.”

The corporate affairs group has been created to better align Carlyle’s sustainability, corporate communications and government affairs functions “to act as a unified enabler of firmwide growth and performance”, Schwartz wrote. “By bringing them together under a single strategic vision, we can leverage their combined strengths to drive a consistent and compelling narrative that multiplies the impact of our incredibly powerful brand.”