Richard Raphael

Richard J. Raphael is an independent consultant focusing on sustainable finance. He is currently consulting with Fitch Ratings on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) issues. Rich is also an Adjunct Faculty member of Drew University since January, creating and teaching a course on urban governance and finance with three other industry professionals.Rich brings an extensive background in public finance to these areas. �After 36 years in in the municipal ratings industry, he retired from Fitch Ratings on October 30, 2015 where he was Managing Director and Head of Fitch Ratings’ U.S. Public Finance Group since 2009.�� The US Public Finance Group includes over 100 professionals providing ratings and commentary on municipal securities. Rich was previously responsible for the State and Local Ratings Groups.Rich joined Fitch shortly after its recapitalization in 1989 following 10 years with Standard & Poor’s. Rich started up and managed Fitch’s Local Tax-supported Group and later managed the State Ratings Group. He has produced numerous research and rating guideline reports on state and local tax-supported bonds and is a frequent speaker at industry conferences.��Rich is a member and former Chairman of the Municipal Analysts Group of New York (MAGNY) and a former President of the Municipal Forum of New York.� He is also an associate member of the Governmental Finance Officers Association (GFOA) where he serves as a private sector advisor to its Committee on Economic Development and Capital planning. He previously served two three-year terms in the same role to its Government Debt and Fiscal Policy Committee. Rich has also been a trustee of the Citizen's Budget Commission.Rich has received numerous Smith’s Research and Gradings Municipal All-Star awards and received the Career Achievement Award from the National Federation of Municipal Analysts (NFMA) in 2014. Rich was awarded the Austin Koenen Career Achievement Award from The Municipal Forum of New York in2015. ��