Nienke Stam is Senior Director of Restoration Finance with the Global Restoration Initiative (GRI) at WRI. At a moment when land degradation is accelerating risks to food and water security, nature and climate, she leads GRI’s investment strategy to help scale a new restoration economy—one that channels private, public, and philanthropic capital into locally led restoration with measurable, verified outcomes.

Nienke oversees WRI’s GRI Invest and Monitoring teams and collaborates across WRI’s global network to bring together capital, partners, and data. She helps build the mechanisms and investable opportunities that can move restoration from scattered projects to repeatable models that scale.

Prior to joining WRI, Nienke was Director of Landscape Finance at IDH, where she pioneered and managed blended finance for nature-based solutions and sustainable agriculture and forestry, and held Investment Committee and Strategic Board positions for investment funds. Throughout her career, she has worked across government, the private sector, and nonprofits, with a consistent focus on inclusive business development and investment that accelerates sustainability transitions in land use and energy.

Nienke holds an MSc from Wageningen University, specializing in rural SME development.