News release | Mindy Tirapelle

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (August 21, 2025)—The California State Teachers' Retirement System is pleased to announce the appointment of Kirsty Jenkinson as senior investment director of Private Markets and Sustainable Investment and Stewardship Strategies (SISS).

Jenkinson joined CalSTRS in 2019 as the director of SISS, a position she’s held for nearly seven years.

During her tenure at CalSTRS, Jenkinson has been a key member of the Investments Branch’s senior management team, working closely with Chief Investment Officer Scott Chan to ensure CalSTRS continues to thrive in an increasingly complex investment environment. As the director of SISS, Jenkinson launched and grew the multi-asset class SISS Private Portfolio with a mandate to invest opportunistically in climate solutions across a wide risk-return spectrum, from venture capital to infrastructure. She has also led CalSTRS' net zero strategic priority since its adoption in 2021.

In this new position, Jenkinson reports to Chan.

“Kirsty has a proven track record of leading motivated and high-performing teams throughout her career,” Chan said. “Her international experience gives her a unique perspective, which bolsters her ability to cultivate invaluable relationships with our partners. Her ability to innovate with multiple asset classes on complex, forward-focused projects makes her a great fit for this position.”

Jenkinson is the fourth member of CalSTRS’ team of senior investment directors, which includes Geraldine Jimenez (public markets), June Kim (total fund management) and April Wilcox (strategic operations and management). Mike DiRé, the former senior investment director of private markets, retired earlier this summer, and Jenkinson will absorb his former duties.

Senior investment directors make decisions that significantly affect the Teachers' Retirement Fund, advise the chief investment officer on sophisticated portfolio management strategies and decisions, and make tactical and strategic investment recommendations.

In this new position, Jenkinson’s responsibilities include:

• Providing senior leadership and strategic direction over the Real Estate, Private Equity, Inflation Sensitive, Collaborative Strategies and SISS teams.
• Implementing sustainable investment strategies, stewardship strategies, corporate governance, and engagement of portfolio companies and asset managers to mitigate risk and add value to the total fund.
• Overseeing the management of internal and external investment portfolios and the execution of investment committee policies and the Investment Policy Statement.

"I see this role as an opportunity to expand CalSTRS’ leadership as a global partner of choice in private markets and sustainable investment and stewardship,” Jenkinson said. “We have deep expertise across our teams, and I look forward to collaborating with my colleagues to ensure CalSTRS continues to thrive as a diversified, long-term, global investor.”

Jenkinson has more than 30 years of experience in the global financial services industry spanning investment banking, asset management, policy and asset allocation. Her roles in both the United Kingdom and the United States have encompassed senior leadership, strategy development, portfolio management, and research and analysis.

Jenkinson earned a Master of Arts in international history from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. She is a board member for Ceres and the Business and Human Rights Resource Center; a board observer at Generate Capital; a Management Committee observer at Just Climate; and an investor advisory group member for the International Sustainability Standards Board.

Media contact

Mindy Tirapelle
Phone: 916-414-1440
M-F, 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. PDT
Newsroom@CalSTRS.com

About CalSTRS

CalSTRS provides a secure retirement to more than 1 million members and beneficiaries whose CalSTRS-covered service is not eligible for Social Security participation. On average, members who retired in the 2023–24 fiscal year had 25.2 years of service and a monthly benefit of $5,659. Established in 1913, CalSTRS is the largest educator-only pension fund in the world with $369.6 billion in assets under management as of July 31, 2025.