Lizzie Marsters is the Senior Manager of Environmental Finance with the Cities4Forests and Natural Infrastructure Initiatives. She leads the delivery of nature-based solutions (NBS) and green-gray infrastructure (GGI) project preparation in the United States and Sub-Saharan Africa, while also supporting Cities4Forests member cities globally. Lizzie co-manages two regional portfolios: the U.S. Lands portfolio, which works with cities, utilities, and federal, state, and local land managers to finance NBS that improve water security, reduce wildfire risk, and enhance infrastructure resilience; and the GGI Accelerator, which partners with African cities to institutionalize NBS and GGI, develop innovative financing approaches to unlock capital, and implement proof-of-concept projects that can be replicated and scaled.

Her work focuses on building the enabling environments—through policy reform, partnership-building, community engagement, and financial innovation—that allow NBS and GGI to move from concept to implementation and long-term maintenance. Lizzie helps cities and partners design bankable, climate-resilient projects that reduce disaster risk, strengthen water security, and deliver co-benefits such as job creation, biodiversity protection, and community safety. She focuses on blending public and private capital through innovative financing instruments, including Certified Green Bonds, Resilience Funds, and State Revolving Loan Funds.

In addition to project development, Lizzie has led research efforts to identify financing mechanisms that can be adapted and deployed in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) and Sub-Saharan Africa to scale investment in NBS and GGI. Her work provides funders, policymakers, and implementers with practical pathways to mobilize diverse funding sources and strengthen the financial viability of these approaches across regions.

Lizzie earned a Master of Business Administration and Master of Forestry from Yale’s School of Management and School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, respectively. She graduated from Carleton College with a major in International Relations and a minor in French and Francophone Studies. She lives with her husband and daughter in beautiful Portland, Oregon.