In this episode of Money Tales, our guest is Janet Brunckhorst. What if your charitable dollars could do more than sit and wait to be granted out? In this episode, Janet shares how she began rethinking her donor advised fund as a giving vehicle and as a tool for investing in climate solutions. That shift opened the door to deeper money conversations about risk, liquidity, partnership and how to assign value to uncertain outcomes.
Janet is a climate tech advisor, investor, and fractional executive. She provides strategic and operational support to climate founders in the US and Australia. Janet has led cross-functional teams building software products for the last 20 years, with her time at Aurora Solar cementing her commitment to the energy transition. She lives in San Francisco with her husband, kids, and cat, writes songs about science, swims in the Bay, and misses Melbourne coffee.
Janet Brunckhorst’s story shows how early experiences with money can shape our comfort with risk and uncertainty. Growing up with financial anxiety and later seeing a family safety net disappear taught her that wealth can be unpredictable. Those lessons helped her take thoughtful risks, from traveling on a loan as a student to moving across the world with a young child and no job lined up.
Her journey also highlights that money conversations are rarely just about numbers. Whether navigating different budgeting styles with her husband or deciding how to think about equity compensation in the tech world, Janet shows the value of curiosity, flexibility and honest dialogue.
Today, Janet is exploring how capital can be used more intentionally for impact through her work connecting philanthropic capital with climate technology startups. For more insights on the economic possibilities that addressing climate change can create, listen to the episode with Tito Jankowski here.
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with Janet Brunckhorst
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