In the winter of 2019, between meetings with Senators Chuck Grassley and Bob Menendez, there is a photo, or it could as well be, of Chris Evans strolling through the corridors of Capitol Hill, causing what Roll Call jokingly referred to as a “minor frenzy.” In February, he returned. He had been there the winter before. He traveled nine times in total, interviewing more than 160 members of Congress for a project that wasn’t a news platform, a documentary, or the kind of celebrity political statement that gets two days of media attention before vanishing.
The civic engagement platform A Starting Point, which he co-founded in 2020 with filmmaker Mark Kassen and tech entrepreneur Joe Kiani, was more subdued and focused: legislators from both parties provided succinct, straightforward responses to questions that voters genuinely had, in their own words, without editorial framing.
Evans’ recent involvement in discussions about ethical finance and ESG investing makes the most sense when viewed through the prism of that project, which received the 2024 Spirit of Service Award from the Partnership for Public Service, an honor previously given to individuals like Jeff Bezos and Laurene Powell Jobs. He doesn’t put his name on things for the association and walk away. He has a different kind of credibility in discussions about accountable institutions and how they function because of his constant and, by most accounts, sincere civic work.
Important Information
| Field | Details |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Christopher Robert Evans — born June 13, 1981, in Boston, Massachusetts |
| Known For | Steve Rogers / Captain America in the Marvel Cinematic Universe; Knives Out, Ghosted |
| Civic Platform | A Starting Point (ASP) — co-founded 2020 with filmmaker Mark Kassen and technology entrepreneur Joe Kiani; video-based civic engagement platform featuring elected officials from both parties |
| ASP Recognition | Won the 2024 Spirit of Service Award from the Partnership for Public Service — the same honor previously given to Jeff Bezos and Michael Bloomberg |
| ASP Scale | Over 160 members of Congress interviewed across nine Washington trips; platform features short explainer videos designed for accessibility across the political spectrum |
| Aspiration (Ethical Banking Context) | Aspiration — climate-friendly fintech that ensured customer deposits didn’t fund fossil fuels; reached over 1 million customers; filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy; assets acquired and rebranded as GreenFi |
| ESG Banking Trend | Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) criteria have become a major driver in fintech investment; sustainable banking startups attracted significant capital from Silicon Valley investors through 2022–2024 |
| Evans’ Broader Positioning | Described his civic work as wanting to give Americans direct access to politicians rather than media interpretation; said in 2020: “Why isn’t there a place I can go to hear both sides of an issue in a succinct way that I can trust?” |
The ethical banking movement he has been linked to stems from the same set of issues that propelled A Starting Point: that institutions, whether political, financial, or otherwise, are frequently opaque in ways that disadvantage common people, and that accountability and transparency ought to be the norm rather than the exception gained via advocacy.
The foundation of Aspiration, a climate-focused fintech that rose to prominence as one of the most prominent examples of the sustainable banking model in the US, was the idea that most Americans would decide against using their deposits to finance fossil fuel projects if they were given the choice. The business proved that the market for ethical banking was not a specialized interest by the time it had over a million clients. The conventional banking sector had been reluctant to recognize this genuine customer preference.
That idea applied at scale was the driving force behind the larger ESG investment wave that surged through Silicon Valley between about 2018 to 2024. Climate-aligned portfolios are a commitment made by venture capital firms. Fintech companies developed products centered around impact investment, deposit transparency, and carbon footprint tracking.
One of the more well-known brands in that field was Aspiration, which was certified as a B-Corp and offered cash back incentives for purchases made at eco-friendly companies. It garnered a lot of interest, a lot of money, and eventually a lot of issues. Joe Sanberg, one of its co-founders, entered a guilty plea to counts of wire fraud. The business declared bankruptcy under Chapter 11. After acquiring its fintech assets, the company changed its name to GreenFi, which Coastal Community Bank later purchased.
The larger disagreement persisted when Aspiration’s particular narrative became more complex. The failure of one company hasn’t eliminated the need for financial products that don’t support fossil fuels, reveal where deposits go, and follow a clear ethical framework. Given the GreenFi purchase and the ongoing expansion of climate-aligned fintech in general, it’s plausible that the market Aspiration identified is only going through the inevitable consolidation period that all truly innovative financial product categories go through. Early players don’t usually make it out alive. The category does.
Evans believes that the architecture of values, not money, is what connects him to this planet. He has explained the inspiration behind A Starting Point in words that closely relate to the reason ethical finance has garnered so much attention: institutions have a significant impact on results, and most people have very little insight into how they really function.
His civic engagement efforts have focused on bridging that political divide. Considering how he has developed A Starting Point over the course of five years—methodically, across party lines, without the kind of theatrical posture that burns quickly and fades—it seems likely that anything he does next won’t be for show.