Susan Arterian Chang
My perspective as a writer is informed by my experience as an observer of, and reporter on, both global and local economies, their intersections, their financial markets, and the impacts they have on the finite resources and living communities of our planet.
Visit Hudson River Flows for my most recent collaborative work on the regenerative food economy in New York's Hudson Valley. As Director of Capital Institute's Field Guide to Investing in a Regenerative Economy from 2009 to 2019, I directed digital storytelling about the emerging business models of the regenerative economy, and the urgent need for new, game-changing approaches to finance and investing to support them. The Field Guide was shortlisted for the Guardian Sustainability Awards in 2014 in the Communicating Sustainability category.
Also at Capital Institute, I directed a project called The Year in the Life of a Regenerative Bank, which takes storytelling to a more engaged level in partnership with our collaborator First Green Bank, a local videographer, and selected mentors. The project follows this values-based bank as it faces challenges on its regenerative journey at the intersection of the old and new economy.
Visit Hudson River Flows for my most recent collaborative work on the regenerative food economy in New York's Hudson Valley. As Director of Capital Institute's Field Guide to Investing in a Regenerative Economy from 2009 to 2019, I directed digital storytelling about the emerging business models of the regenerative economy, and the urgent need for new, game-changing approaches to finance and investing to support them. The Field Guide was shortlisted for the Guardian Sustainability Awards in 2014 in the Communicating Sustainability category.
Also at Capital Institute, I directed a project called The Year in the Life of a Regenerative Bank, which takes storytelling to a more engaged level in partnership with our collaborator First Green Bank, a local videographer, and selected mentors. The project follows this values-based bank as it faces challenges on its regenerative journey at the intersection of the old and new economy.
my backstory
Covering the evolution of the global capital markets
I began my career as a financial writer in the early 1980s at Business International, a small business research and advisory firm covering risk management and the development of the global capital markets. (Barack Obama was my colleague there.) It was the early days of the multinational corporation and of international finance. Derivatives and the securitization of financial assets were infant markets.
Analyzing the foreign exchange markets from the inside
I later worked as a foreign exchange analyst and on the strategic trading desk at Manufacturers Hanover Trust, a major money center bank where I had a chance to observe first hand how the global financial system was delinking from the real economy.
Reporting on the risk management practices of institutional investors and corporations
For ten years thereafter I continued to write about risk management for magazines, including Global Finance, CFO, Plan Sponsor, and Derivatives Strategies. I also wrote white papers on performance measurement and international taxation issues for consulting firms.
Observing how local economies really work
I stepped back from the world of global markets, beginning in 1997, to observe a local economy when I founded the White Plains Watch, a community newspaper in a small suburban city 35 minutes from Manhattan. The Watch was twice the recipient of General Excellence awards from the National Newspaper Association. For eight years the paper championed local ownership and quality of life issues in a diverse community struggling to find its identify and preserve its sense of place.
Tracking carbon commerce and climate change
As an expat in London from 2005-2008, I undertook research and wrote a cover story, for Preservation Magazine on the UK National Trust's radical response to climate change, and became a regular contributor and blogger for IEEE Spectrum magazine, focusing on carbon commerce, renewable energy, and the grid.
Digital storytelling
Together with my design collaborator on Capital Institute's Field Guide project, fine and graphic artist Marie McCann, I have crafted stories using immersive digital storytelling techniques.
My most recent story is The Backyard Battle for New York's Climate Future, published by the River Newsroom, an online solutions journalism project covering the Hudson Valley.
My son, Austin Chang, of Creative Class 6 often brings his filming and editing skills to the mix of my storytelling.
I began my career as a financial writer in the early 1980s at Business International, a small business research and advisory firm covering risk management and the development of the global capital markets. (Barack Obama was my colleague there.) It was the early days of the multinational corporation and of international finance. Derivatives and the securitization of financial assets were infant markets.
Analyzing the foreign exchange markets from the inside
I later worked as a foreign exchange analyst and on the strategic trading desk at Manufacturers Hanover Trust, a major money center bank where I had a chance to observe first hand how the global financial system was delinking from the real economy.
Reporting on the risk management practices of institutional investors and corporations
For ten years thereafter I continued to write about risk management for magazines, including Global Finance, CFO, Plan Sponsor, and Derivatives Strategies. I also wrote white papers on performance measurement and international taxation issues for consulting firms.
Observing how local economies really work
I stepped back from the world of global markets, beginning in 1997, to observe a local economy when I founded the White Plains Watch, a community newspaper in a small suburban city 35 minutes from Manhattan. The Watch was twice the recipient of General Excellence awards from the National Newspaper Association. For eight years the paper championed local ownership and quality of life issues in a diverse community struggling to find its identify and preserve its sense of place.
Tracking carbon commerce and climate change
As an expat in London from 2005-2008, I undertook research and wrote a cover story, for Preservation Magazine on the UK National Trust's radical response to climate change, and became a regular contributor and blogger for IEEE Spectrum magazine, focusing on carbon commerce, renewable energy, and the grid.
Digital storytelling
Together with my design collaborator on Capital Institute's Field Guide project, fine and graphic artist Marie McCann, I have crafted stories using immersive digital storytelling techniques.
My most recent story is The Backyard Battle for New York's Climate Future, published by the River Newsroom, an online solutions journalism project covering the Hudson Valley.
My son, Austin Chang, of Creative Class 6 often brings his filming and editing skills to the mix of my storytelling.
