In this episode of Investing in Regeneration, Mónica Altamirano de Jong sits down with Illya Azaroff—architect, educator, disaster responder, and President of the American Institute of Architects—to explore how regenerative design can transform the way we plan, finance, and build for a climate-challenged world.

They explore the evolving role of architects as systems thinkers and conveners, capable of bridging communities, ecosystems, and finance. From indigenous knowledge to ecosystem services, from long-term trust to financial fear, this conversation reveals what it takes to move from sustainable projects to regenerative systems.

▶️ President of the American Institute of Architects: The Role of Architects as Systems Thinkers  and Conveners Bridging Communities, Ecosystems & Finance

00:00:00 Introduction to Investing in Regeneration

00:04:32 Architects as Systems Thinkers and Conveners

00:14:08 Personal Journey and Purpose

00:18:31 Investment Planning and  Urban Transformation Processes

00:29:22 From Planning to Implementation

00:37:50  How Do You Conceptualize and Measure Resilience Impacts?

00:44:32 Empowering Participation: The Key Role of Indigenous Communities

00:49:41 Regenerative Economies and Circular Systems

00:59:01 Where Breakthrough Is Needed

Notable Quote:

“The way that we're doing our work, the teams we're doing our work with, and the type of outcome that we are seeing come forward has never been built on this planet ever. That is what regenerative design is. You're seeing things that no one has ever done before.” - Illya Azaroff

Connect with Illya:

📱 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/illya-azaroff-faia-3b11b08/

💻 Website: https://www.aia.org/

Connect with Monica:

📱 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/altamiranomonicaa/

💻 Website: https://altamira-regen.com/

This episode was produced by Ideablossoms

Welcome to the Investing in Regeneration podcast with Mónica Altamirano de Jong. In each episode, Mónica will be going beyond theory and exploring a real initiative, fund, or investment through three lenses: understanding, planning, and financing.

In this episode, Mónica sits down with Valeria Ramundo Orlando, co-founder of Green Square Ventures, to explore the Equilibrium Climate Capital Fund.

Valeria shares why climate adaptation is not just a risk mitigation strategy but one of the greatest investment opportunities of our time. Together, they explore how private equity can be used not to extract value, but to build companies, strengthen local economies, and future-proof communities.

▶️ Investing in Climate Adaptation: How Private Equity Can Build Companies & Future-Proof Communities

00:00:00 Introduction to Investing in Regeneration

00:03:50 The Equilibrium Climate Capital Fund

00:12:05 The Origin Story: From Data to Decision

00:20:26 The Role of Partnerships

00:32:17 Private Equity Over Credit

00:38:09 Competing with Global Capital Markets

00:42:25 Empowering Local Agency Through Investment

00:50:24 Balancing Local Context with Scalable Finance

00:59:24 Building a Fund That Must Succeed

01:01:38 Fixing the System with two magic wands

Notable Quote from Episode 1: Investing in Climate Adaptation

“We wanted to mainstream adaptation and resilience. We don't want it to be something that is challenging or hard to do. It needs to become something that every single company will build with resilient guidelines, with tools, with the technology that is needed to future proof all assets, infrastructure, and services.” - Valeria Ramundo Orlando

Connect with Valeria:

📱 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/valeria-ramundo-orlando-1796053/

💻 Website: https://greensquare-ventures.com/

Connect with Mónica

📱 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/altamiranomonicaa/

💻 Website: https://altamira-regen.com/

This episode was produced by Ideablossoms