CEO & Founder, JUV Consulting
Ziad Ahmed is a 24-year-old entrepreneur.
He is the CEO of JUV Consulting, a Generation Z company that works with clients to help them connect with young people. JUV has worked with over 20 Fortune 500 companies, has been profiled by the New York Times, and has launched major purpose-driven TikTok campaigns. Because of JUV, Ziad was named to the 2019 Forbes #30Under30 list when he was 19-years-old.
Ziad also just graduated from Yale. Additionally, Ziad is the Founder of Redefy, a youth-run non-profit committed to furthering equality. He speaks often on the power of his generation, and he seeks to use his voice to push the envelope forward wherever/however possible. Overwhelmingly though, he’s just another Gen Zer spending way too much time on TikTok. You can learn more about him via @ziadahmed.
CEO & Founder, JUV Consulting
As an impact-oriented strategist, Kayalin Akens-Irby has spent her career working with investors and companies to improve business operations and sustainability. Kayalin serves as Head of Growth at Planet FWD, the leading carbon management platform for consumer companies to tackle climate change. Previously, Kayalin helped build Malk Partners, as an early employee, into the leading environmental, social, governance (ESG) investment advisory firm for private markets, advising on over $500B in AUM.
Kayalin graduated from Claremont McKenna College, as a Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Interdisciplinary Science Scholar. She's a Board Member for the Upcycled Food Association and a Climate Fellow for Amasia VC.
Head of Growth, Planet FWD
Lucas is Amadeus´ Group Environmental Officer and Head of ESG Reporting. Since 2009, he has shaped Amadeus Group environmental policy and performance worldwide, promoted IT solutions that improve environmental performance and built partnerships with industry stakeholders to address common environmental challenges.
Before joining Amadeus, Lucas worked for American Express and for Dun & Bradstreet, where he led the development and implementation of credit scoring models.
A Spanish national, his education includes a Master of Science on environmental engineering from Stockholm’s Royal Institute of Technology and an economics degree from the Complutense University of Madrid. He has contributed to publications related to resolving disputes and facilitating multilateral cooperation in climate change negotiations.
Environmental Officer and Head of ESG Reporting, Amadeus Group
As the CEO and founder of ScopeFour Capital, Heather Beatty is a next generation thinker and leader in climate and impact investing. Over the last 15+ years, she has held top leadership positions at global financial institutions. In her prior role at First Eagle Investments, she also created and co-chaired the firm's first Climate Council.
Heather’s climate-related philanthropy includes partnering with the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator and serving on the board for One Blue Ocean. Heather also co-founded Women in Institutional Investments Network (WIIIN), a 501c3 as part of her dedication to the advancement of diversity, equity and inclusion.
CEO and Founder, ScopeFour Capital
Josh Benitez is proud to be born and raised in New Orleans, which he exemplifies in his work as co-director of Common Ground Relief, where he is helping to reach drawdown through habitat restoration, ecological education, and community aid in the place he loves. Josh describes himself as “a person who is really in love with the community, and any chance I can have to be a part of it, is what I am leaning into.” Josh cultivates this spirit through his work as a professional musician, making the essential link between ecology and art while he connects with others. Josh’s work at Common Ground Relief focuses on environmental and community stewardship in Southeast Louisiana—namely sequestering carbon through planting thousands of trees, marsh grass plugs, and Louisiana irises every year. Revitalizing native habitats and protecting coastline communities is part of a larger effort to decolonize land so that people and wildlife can thrive amid the climate crisis.
Carmelina Borsellino is vice president, chief engineer at FM Global and is based in the company’s Johnston, Rhode Island, corporate headquarters. Borsellino is responsible for establishing and managing the strategic technical direction and development of engineering expertise and resources, ensuring that it is focused on the most critical hazards, including emerging trends, which can impact the resilience of clients. Borsellino joined FM Global in 1986 as a loss prevention engineer, working with Fortune 1000-size clients across many industries to help them better understand their property risk and make their facilities more resilient to loss. She then went on to accept additional engineering roles, each with increasing responsibility, before her most recent role as vice president, manager cyber hazards, where she leveraged the company’s expertise in scientific research and loss prevention engineering to develop products and services to help clients assess cyber risk. She holds a bachelor’s degree in building engineering from Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Vice President, Chief Engineer, FM Global
Martin Bryan is the Global Chief Sustainability Officer of IPG Mediabrands, overseeing the development of agency processes and products that enable the network and its clients to comply with their net-zero goals.
A graduate of the Yale School of Management’s Sustainability in Business Executive Education program, he is a passionate, proactive and dedicated champion of our Media for Good mission, pushing our industry to create a more sustainable future.
Previously he served in the same capacity at agency UM, and earlier, led the US strategy practice at J3, the dedicated team that services the Johnson & Johnson business.
Global Chief Sustainability Officer, IPG Mediabrands
Principal of award-winning firm Urbanstrong, Alan Burchell is a professional engineer, LEED-AP, and Green Roof Professional. He started Urbanstrong in 2014 with a mission to integrate Nature back into cities in a way that efficiently promotes health, sustainability, profitability, and beauty. Urbanstrong partners with developers, property managers, and building owners to improve energy efficiency, leading to reduced operational expenses, heightened occupant well-being, rejuvenated building assets, minimized environmental impact, and a strengthened environmentally conscious brand image. This comprehensive approach involves a spectrum of services, including consulting, financing, and design-build-maintenance solutions. Urbanstrong’s expertise encompasses living walls and various rooftop development options, such as green (vegetated) and blue (stormwater) systems, solar installations, as well as amenity spaces and farming initiatives. In 2015 Alan co-founded The NYC Agriculture Collective, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, driving the massive and vital change in how food is produced in cities.
Principal, Urbanstrong
Rebecca is the Chief Investment Officer at Builders Asset Management, where she leads a growing, impact-oriented team investing globally and at scale across public and private markets towards a more humane and healthy planet, without compromising on financial returns. Previously, Rebecca was a Managing Director and senior leader on the Walton Investment Team (WIT), where she oversaw the personal and philanthropic assets for multiple generations of the Walton family. Prior to joining WIT, Rebecca managed portfolios for U.S. and international family offices at Cambridge Associates and was a member of the firm’s Mission Related Investment group. She also spent six years as an Advisor with Goldman Sachs Private Wealth Management. Rebecca started her career at the U.S. Department of Justice, focused on international rule-of-law and traveling extensively throughout Latin America to implement bi-lateral programs in coordination with foreign counterparts. Rebecca currently serves on the Investment Committee for Conservation International. She earned an MBA from the Darden Graduate School of Business at the University of Virginia and a BA in International Relations and Spanish from Tufts University.
Chief Investment Officer, Builders Asset Management
Executive Vice President Membership & Destination Services at New York City Tourism + Convention and the board Chair of NYSTIA ( New York State Tourism Industry Association).
Executive Vice President Membership & Destination Services, New York City Tourism + Convention
Dan Darcy is a Principal in Oliver Wyman’s Transportation and Services practice group. He is an expert in guiding organizations through critical transformations, particularly related to sustainability, digital customer engagement, and operational excellence.
Dan is the Climate and Sustainability lead for Oliver Wyman’s Transportation and Services Americas team. His team is currently developing a report with the World Travel and Tourism Council to evaluate the upcoming mandatory ESG reporting requirements in the US, Europe, and internationally, focused on the impact to travel organizations.
Prior to joining Oliver Wyman, Dan held multiple positions in the energy consulting industry, where he advised utility and government clients, experiencing first-hand the sustainability opportunities and challenges facing energy companies and regulators. His work included initiatives related to improving operational efficiency, designing policies to reduce GHG emissions, and the regulatory implications of distributed generation.
Principal in Transportation and Services Practice, Oliver Wyman
Eryn Devola is the Vice President of Sustainability for Siemens Digital Industries, where she leads the Sustainability horizontal market to manage the strategy for profitable sustainability for Siemens and our customers. Eryn has been part of the Siemens team since 2012, most recently as the North America Director of Sales for Siemens Large Drive Applications. Her career includes roles of increasing responsibility across quality, plant management, operations, and sales.
She has long had a passion for sustainable product development and production. Eryn completed an NFS Fellowship focused on Environmentally Conscious Manufacturing and has applied the knowledge she gained there to many roles in her career. Eryn has a bachelor’s and master’s in mechanical engineering from Michigan Technology University, and an MBA from the University of Louisville.
Head of Sustainability, Siemens Digital Industries
Morten Dyrholm is Group Senior Vice President at Vestas Wind System with extensive experience form the wind industry around the globe and a leading expert in sustainable energy policy and regulation. For more than 15 years, he has played a growing role at Vestas – originally in China and then globally – in government and public affairs and business development, helping Vestas expand into new markets and supporting the development of effective wind and renewable energy policy in countries around the globe.
Group Senior Vice President MarCom Sustainability & Public Affairs, Vestas Wind Systems A/S
Danny Fahey currently serves as US Vice President of Quality and Sustainability for The Martin-Brower Company, L.L.C.
Danny is responsible for driving our Sustainability strategies to achieve our ambitious carbon and waste reduction targets in the US, while developing strategies that exceed our quality expectations, spanning three core customers and servicing more than 13,000 restaurant locations. He also serves as the lead of McDonald’s North America Logistics Council for Sustainability and serves on McDonald’s Global Logistics Council for Sustainability.
Danny holds a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from North Carolina State University and is a certified Lean Six Sigma Black Belt.
Vice President, Quality and Sustainability, US, Martin Brower
Suzanne leads Prologis’ global ESG strategy, stakeholder engagement activities, public reporting, and strategic initiatives to elevate the company's leadership in ESG and logistics real estate. Working with groups across Prologis, Suzanne and her team advance the integration and scale of sustainability and social impact strategies and goals, including the launch of Prologis’ net zero commitment. She proactively engages with investors, customers and other stakeholders on ESG topics, and partners closely with the company's finance, governance and IT teams on integrated ESG reporting and data strategies.
Suzanne has more than 20 years of experience in the fields of corporate responsibility and sustainable investing. Prior to joining Prologis, Suzanne served as global director of corporate responsibility at Intel Corporation where she oversaw ESG disclosure and drove the development and launch of Intel’s 2030 corporate responsibility strategy and sustainability goals. During her tenure at Intel, she also led the company's human rights program, technology inclusion programs for girls and women, and helped build the company's supply chain responsibility programs and disclosures. Prior to Intel, she served as vice president at Institutional Shareholder Services where she led the company’s social investment research division.
VP, Global ESG, Prologis Inc.
Jonathan Foley, Ph.D., is a world-renowned environmental scientist, sustainability expert, author, and public speaker. His work focuses on understanding our changing planet and finding new solutions to sustain the climate, ecosystems, and natural resources we all depend on.
Jon’s groundbreaking research and insights have led him to become a trusted advisor to governments, foundations, non-governmental organizations, and business leaders around the world. He and his colleagues have made major contributions to our understanding of global ecosystems, food security and the environment, climate change, and the sustainability of the world’s resources. He has published over 130 peer-reviewed scientific articles, including many highly cited works in Science, Nature, and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. In 2014, Thomson Reuters named him a Highly Cited Researcher in ecology and environmental science, placing him among the top 1 percent most cited global scientists.
Executive Director, Project Drawdown
Esteban Gast is a former educator turned entertainer and comedian. He is Colombian, was raised in Puerto Rico and Illinois, and lives in LA. He is co-creator and co-host of Identity at Play, a Spotify Original podcast. He was the host of Hyundai Highways, a travel series using only an electric car. He was the star of Jungletown, a TV show airing on VICELAND. He has been profiled in WBEZ, Huffington Post, and VoyageLA.
Comedian-in-Residence, Generation180
Jeff Gitterman is a widely recognized leader in the climate change, ESG, and sustainable investing fields, and the creator of SMART (Sustainability Metrics Applied to Risk Tolerance)® Investing Solutions, a suite of global climate-aware allocation strategies available to financial advisory firms and individual investors.
With over 30 years of experience as a financial advisor, Jeff began realigning Gitterman Wealth Management, LLC towards sustainable investing in 2015. In 2020, the firm launched the Gitterman Asset Management brand to house its rapidly expanding ESG strategies, thought leadership, and practice management offerings for the financial advisory and institutional markets.
CEO, Gitterman Asset Management
Spencer is dedicated to making climate science more accessible, useful, and intuitive so that everyone on Earth can build their climate literacy and mindfully prepare for the consequences that climate change is likely to bring.
Spencer earned a B.S. in Industrial Engineering from Northwestern University and a Ph.D. in Economics from Harvard University, where he focused on the history of urbanization and industrialization. He has extensive training and experience in finance, history, and languages and has worked and lived in Michigan, Chicago, Germany, Russia, China, and Boston.
For 18 years, Spencer was a Macroanalyst, Partner, and Director of Investment Research at Wellington Management, a firm with more than $1 trillion in client assets. In that role, he endeavored to understand issues that could affect markets, but that fell outside of the typical silos in finance, such as the modernization of[...]
Founder, Probable Futures
In McDonald’s Global Impact function, Simone recently took the helm to lead global sustainability strategies related to McDonald’s restaurants, offices and the experience of customers and communities via the restaurants. This includes overseeing the company’s climate target, renewable energy, green design, and circularity strategy for packaging and waste. With McDonald’s for six years, she has held various roles, including ESG Strategy and Sustainability Public Affairs, that leverage her ability to work globally and cross-functionally to demonstrate responsible growth and value creation for the company through positive impact for people and planet. Her background is in sustainable development and diplomacy, and she has worked in various geographies and sectors including with the United Nations in Indonesia and NGOs and businesses in Washington, D.C.
Director, Global Sustainability, Restaurants & Customer Experience, McDonald’s
Bio coming soon.
Senior Manager, External Affairs and Sustainability, Unilever
Erik Hansen is senior director of environmental sustainability at Workday, leading the company’s global environmental sustainability efforts. He is responsible for the development and implementation of sustainability strategies across Workday’s operations, products, and workplace. His responsibilities range from renewable energy procurement, to external sustainability reporting under the GRI framework, to leading a global Green Team program. Prior to joining Workday in 2010, Erik worked at EY for seven years advising clients in IT risk management. Erik holds an MBA in sustainable management from Presidio Graduate School and received his bachelor’s degree in business administration from California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo.
Head of Global Environmental Sustainability, Workday
Isaias Hernandez was born in Los Angeles, California. He grew up in Section 8 housing, was a recipient of food stamps and lived in a community that faced environmental injustice. These firsthand experiences are where he’d eventually find his passion for the environment, social justice and equity.
Isaias earned his B.S. in Environmental Science at the University of California, Berkeley, and began gaining experience in diversity inclusion work in environmental spaces, academic research, and organizing.
Isaias has interviewed Vice President Kamala Harris and was featured on the digital cover of Vogue with Billie Eilish and on the Harvard-C-Change program as Climate Creators 2023 Program. Now, Isaias seeks to help everyone educate themselves on the intersectional nature of the climate crisis. He believes a diversity of worldviews, backgrounds and experiences are essential to achieve success in the environmental movement. He is working on[...]
Climate Media Creator, QueerBrownVegan
Dr. Wayne Honeycutt is President and CEO of the Soil Health Institute, where he leads the Institute’s programs to safeguard and enhance the vitality and productivity of soils. He previously served for 5 years as Deputy Chief for Science and Technology with USDA-NRCS in Washington, DC;and for 10 years as a Research Leader and 14 years as a Research Soil Scientist with USDA-ARS. He has published over 90 peer-reviewed journal articles and 9 book chapters, received regional and national awards for technology transfer, and served on assignments to the USDA-ARS National Program Staff and the United States Senate.
CEO, Soil Health Institute
Veena Jayadeva is a sustainability leader with extensive experience in financial inclusion, corporate social responsibility (CSR), and international development. She serves on the Board of Directors of BRAC USA, the US arm of BRAC, a Global South-led international nonprofit that has reached 100 million people across Asia and Africa to provide vulnerable communities with the tools, opportunities, and skills to lift themselves out of poverty and reach their potential. She also serves on the Advisory Panel of Diversity in Sustainability, the Board of Directors of Global Impact, and the Corporate Leadership Council of CHC: Creating Healthier Communities.
BRAC USA Board Member and Diversity in Sustainability Advisor, BRAC
Britton Jones founded NXT Events Media Group to be a purpose driven producer of world-class events dedicated to making the world a better place. Early in 2020, NXT Events became the producers of The Nest, an event creating a unifying destination for climate action during Climate Week NYC. Britton has grown The Nest, a virtual climate action event, into an in-person, inclusive Climate Campus attracting more than 4,000 attendees in 2022.
Prior to founding NXT Events Media Group, Britton Jones was the driving force in building the BJI Fashion Group, the Trade Show Division of Business Journals Inc., into one of the world’s leading trade show organizers. Under Britton’s leadership, the BJI grew explosively from one show in 1997 to running 27 events annually by 2015, becoming one of the largest users of the Javits Center in NYC (21 events per year) and 6 events per year at the Sands Expo[...]
CEO of The Nest Climate Campus, Chairman of the Board at Food Rescue US, and Member of NYC & Company's Sustainability Committee
Andrea Kennedy is a designer, educator, and sustainable fashion strategist with 28 years' experience in design, merchandising, sourcing and sustainability. Andrea is the Lead Faculty at Berkeley College's Fashion Merchandising and Management Department, where she is working at reimaging the program, rebuilding many courses, adding sustainability and circularity throughout the curriculum, and bringing future-facing industry partnerships. Until June 2023, Andrea was VP of Sustainability at Material Exchange where she worked to drive measurable and positive change in fabric and garment sourcing for high-profile fashion and footwear brands. Before that Andrea created all fashion-sustainability courses at LIM College, was chair of the Sustainability Task Force, and was sustainability lead at Fashiondex, where she worked with global fashion brands on implementing sustainable practices across all areas of design and sourcing. Andrea is a Climate Reality Leader mentor and speaker, board member at ESRAP- Educators for Socially-Responsible Apparel Practices, and a past[...]
Lead Faculty, Fashion Merchandising and Management, Berkeley College
Nathalie Kiersznowski works as a Senior Associate for Black Bear Energy, the country’s leading owner’s representative for onsite renewables. Nathalie is part of the client operations team at Black Bear and personally leads the solar initiatives for 15 of the largest commercial property owners in the U.S. In 2022, Nathalie and her team issued RFPs for over 1 GW of onsite solar, and 10% of the forecasted U.S. C&I solar capacity comes out of this work. With an impressive track record, Nathalie has successfully awarded and contracted over 50 MW of rooftop solar projects. Nathalie also leads Black Bear’s team in educating clients on how to best take advantage of new incentives and credits available in the Inflation Reduction Act. Before joining Black Bear, Nathalie worked in energy security and climate research roles at The Harvard Belfer Center and the World Bank, researching US-China renewable energy supply chains.
Senior Associate, Black Bear Energy, a Legence Company
Clara Kitongo lives in Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh. She was born and raised in Uganda. Clara has worked in urban forestry for the last three years, focusing on engaging elementary through high school students in climate action through tree planting projects. Clara has expertise in classroom education, environmental conservation, and local government. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Maths from Chatham University and a Master of Science in Public Policy and Management from the Heinz School of Information Systems and Public Policy. She is the Tree Equity Manager at Tree Pittsburgh and focuses on supporting a broad spectrum of environmental justice work and community planning for climate adaptation and readiness. Clara is a musician, too, and has found ways to weave her passion for music and its ability to connect people with her work in the environmental work she does in Pittsburgh.
Tree Equity Manager and Musician, Tree Pittsburgh
Marcus Krembs is Head of Sustainability, USA & Canada, at Enel North America, where he is responsible for sustainability across each of Enel’s business lines, Enel Green Power, Enel X and Global Trading.
Since 2015, Mr. Krembs served as Director of Sustainability for Enel Green Power North America, where he established and led the company’s Creating Shared Value model and community relations efforts across North American operations. These programs played a key role in helping EGP maintain its social license and grow its portfolio to more than six gigawatts, which currently includes 70 plants in 22 states and Alberta, Canada.
Prior to Enel, Mr. Krembs worked in progressive roles in environmental markets, carbon management and corporate sustainability with leading companies across the energy value chain.
Mr. Krembs received his bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Environmental Economics from Colorado State University.
Head of Sustainability, USA & Canada, Enel North America
Denise Lee is Vice President for Cisco’s Engineering Sustainability Office where she leads a team that is defining Cisco’s long-term sustainability vision and roadmap, building new business blueprints and embedding prototype offers across multiple portfolios. She and her team collaborate across every function of the business to develop and create integrated capabilities that serve as the foundation to incubate and scale sustainable products that accelerate the journey to net zero for Cisco, its customers and partners. Denise holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of California Berkeley Haas School of Business and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management.
Vice President, Cisco Engineering Sustainability Office
Claude Letourneau is an industrial projects veteran who brings to Svante a broad range of experience leading large world-class projects. His leadership style is underscored by effort, energy, and excitement – the 3Es of visionary thinkers. At ease bringing about change, Mr. Letourneau will leverage his 30 years’ experience in advanced technology development and commercialization to help steer the company to be a global leader in building a CO2 Marketplace. Previously, Claude held senior management roles with Canam Group Inc., SNC-Lavalin Inc., and Kontron Embedded Computers AG. He also founded two technology companies, Vaperma, Inc. and Avestor Inc.
President & CEO, Svante
Tisha Livingston is the president and cofounder of 80 Acres and CEO of Infinite Acres, two indoor-farming companies dedicated to revolutionizing the way produce is grown and shipped around the globe. Using the latest automation and data technology, Livingston is working to make the world's fruits and vegetables more nutritious, climate resistant, less environmentally taxing, and better-tasting.
Chief Executive Officer, Infinite Acres and Co-Founder, 80 Acres Farms
Read more about Craig's experience here.
Senior Manager, Real Estate & Facilities, The Mathworks
Frank has spent over a decade at Sharethrough conducting research studies to better understand how humans respond to advertising and sharing strategies, insights and best practices that help brands and agencies adapt their unique advertising challenges to ever-evolving media consumption behaviors. He has used that research and strategy background to help build Sharethrough’s sustainability initiatives and has become a leading voice in the digital advertising industry’s efforts to reduce its carbon footprint.
Frank is a digital advertising industry veteran, beginning his career in media buying and strategy at Carat and Zenith, working for clients including Nestle, Pfizer and Wyndham and then opening up and growing Sharethrough's East Coast headquarters in NYC.
VP of Insights, Strategy & Sustainability, Sharethrough
Ariane Mahler is CIO/CEO of Veridien Global Investors and lead portfolio manager for the Climate Action Strategy. Ariane has 33 years of investment experience as a global equity portfolio manager and analyst, focusing much of her time on the energy, utility, mining and technology sectors. She oversaw approximately $10 billion at the peak in assets under management.
While her studies of French mathematician Joseph Fourier and Swedish 1903 Nobel prize physicist and chemist Svante Arrhenius sparked her interest in climate change early on, it was her increasing understanding of environmental issues and her concern for the future of our planet that guided her focus throughout her investment career. In 2015, she launched Carbon Zero, the most ambitious emission reduction fund of its kind for La Francaise Asset Management. In 2018, she started the Climate Action Strategy, with a dual purpose of delivering exceptional risk adjusted returns, while helping drive energy efficiency and global decarbonization.
Ariane’s career began as an analyst at SG Warburg and finance officer at Bear Stearns. Subsequently, she spent 21 years as a lead or co-lead portfolio manager on global equity and sector focused equity portfolios, the majority of which was spent alongside the former CIO and President of Oppenheimer Capital International (at Oppenheimer and the France Growth Fund) and the former CIO of Tradewinds Global Investors (at Tradewinds and Kopernik Global Investors*). Other portfolio management and analytical experience was at Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, Credit Suisse Asset Management, and La Française. Ariane holds a M.S. in Finance from the London School of Economics (1988) studying Capital Market Theory under Mervyn King, and a B.A. in Economics, ESSEC (Ecole Supérieure des Sciences Economiques et Commerciales, 1987).
CIO, Veridien Global Investors
Anna Malhari serves as Chief Operating Officer at Veris Residential. In her role, Malhari oversees operations and supports the Chief Executive Officer. Malhari leads the firm's ESG efforts and has spearheaded a number of initiatives at the property and corporate levels, including cybersecurity programs. Under Malhari’s leadership, Veris Residential became the first U.S. real estate company to endorse the Climate Group’s EV100 initiatives and the first company globally to achieve the WELL Equity Rating[...]
Chief Operating Officer, Veris Residential
Miranda Massie is the founder and director of New York City’s Climate Museum, the first climate-dedicated museum in the US. The Museum mobilizes the power of arts and cultural programming to invite visitors into climate engagement and to transform our public culture for action at scale. Massie is active within several coalitions focused on climate-oriented work within the cultural sector, serves on numerous international design juries, and speaks frequently on the need to integrate programming on climate across the cultural sector. She is a Public Voices Fellow with the OpEd Project and the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication.
Director, The Climate Museum
Aditi Mayer is a visual storyteller, sustainability activist, and speaker whose explores the intersections of style, sustainability, and social justice. Her work looks at the ways we can use fashion as a tool for climate action-- championing an intersectional lens that champions both people and the planet. In 2020, she was named a National Geographic Digital Storytelling Fellow and spent a year in India documenting the intersections of artisans and agriculture. Her work has been celebrated by the likes of Vogue, National Geographic, The UN, The Guardian, ELLE, and more.
Visual Storyteller, Climate Activist, Imagine 5
After a decade in the mission-driven sustainability sector, Mary joined Levy as Director of Sustainability. She is compelled by the opportunity to create and accelerate meaningful change in the sports and entertainment, events, and conventions sectors. Mary is an experienced sustainability leader, especially with food and agriculture, and she brings expertise in translating between sales and local to national level engagement. She is adept at communicating with diverse audiences, building relationships, and developing the strategies, tactics, and processes necessary to deliver results. Recognized for her exceptional analytical, communication, and teamwork skills, Mary has a strong passion for contributing to a more just and sustainable future for everyone.
Director of Sustainability, Levy Restaurants
Lindsay Rose Medoff's commitment to creating a sustainable future is driven by her unwavering belief in collective action and collaborative leadership. As a co-founder of SUAY, Lindsay has dedicated her career to transforming the fashion industry's unsustainable practices and mitigating the exploitative impact of capitalism on people and the environment.
Lindsay's passion for sustainable fashion and repurposed clothing developed during her punk rock youth, where she became fascinated with cutting and repurposing fabrics and clothing. Her visionary leadership and innovative solutions have enabled SUAY to divert over 3 million pounds of garments from landfills by utilizing new and innovative tech solutions in the sustainable retail space.
At the core of Linday’s work is a commitment to centering and uplifting marginalized skilled manual laborers in the industry, by extending the life cycle of textiles and prioritizing justice. Lindsay believes that by uplifting workers, the industry can create sustainable products that align with ethical practices while being gentle on the planet.
Co-Founder, Lead Designer and CEO, Suay Sew Shop
Dr. Kimberley R. Miner is a Climate Scientist and Program Manager at the NASA Jet Propulsion Lab. Her research on climate risks has taken her to the planet’s extreme environments- from the North Pole to Antarctica and Mt. Everest.
Dedicated to science communication, Kimberley’s research teams have reached international audiences with features in the BBC, NYT, GQ, and a 2020 Guinness World Record.
Before coming to NASA, Kimberley worked on climate security for the Department of Defense in DC, and currently teaches her work at Berkley and Virginia Tech. She is also writing a book on how younger generations can plan for climate change--to be released in early 2024. Kimberley is a Black belt, wilderness Firefighter, and lives in a fishing harbor on the Pacific Ocean.
Climate Scientist, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Aditi Mohapatra directs Expedia Group’s strategy across social and environmental sustainability and oversees efforts to maximize impact while delivering business value. In her role, she designed and launched Expedia Group’s Open World™ social impact and sustainability strategy and priority areas of focus across economic advancement, inclusive travel, and sustainability. Aditi is also one of the executive sponsors for the company's first-ever Accelerator program, designed to advance innovation in the travel industry by supporting startups and small and medium sized businesses (SMBs) to fast track their growth and innovate on Expedia Group’s purpose-built technology platform.
Prior to joining Expedia Group, Aditi spent nearly a decade with Business for Social Responsibility (BSR), where she served as Managing Director and worked with a wide range of global corporations to improve and advance their sustainability strategies. In this role, she also led BSR’s North American technology practice and across industries in the areas in diversity, equity, inclusion and human rights. Prior to that, she spent eight years with Calvert Investment Management, a leading sustainable and responsible investment firm. There, she led strategic planning for Calvert’s executive committee, and held various roles within the sustainability research team.
Vice President, Global Social Impact & Sustainability, Expedia Group
Originally from Cairo, Egypt, Denise graduated from the University of Oregon with a Bachelors of Science in Geography with an emphasis on human impacts on the environment. Denise became involved with Jean-Michel Cousteau’s Ocean Futures Society, implementing environmental education programs around the world. A decade later, Cousteau’s program took her to the Cayman Islands then eventually to Washington, DC as a member of Marriott International’s global operations team. Denise and her team lead the strategy, program implementation, and reporting for both sustainability and supplier diversity for Marriott’s 8000+ hotels around the world. Naguib currently serves as Chair of the Board for WEConnect International, the global organization supporting women businesses around the world. She is also on the Boards of The Ocean Foundation, Arbor Day Foundation, and Sheridan School.
Vice President, Sustainability & Supplier Diversity, Marriott International
Frank Niepold is the Senior Climate Education Coordinator at NOAA's Climate Program Office (CPO) in Silver Spring Maryland, co-manage the NOAA CPO Communication, Education and Engagement Division, co-manage the Climate Ready Workforce program, Climate.gov Education section lead, a co-chair of the U.S. Global Change Research Program's Climate Engagement and Capacity Building Interagency Group, the U.S. National Communications Report chapter lead on Education, Engagement, Training, and Workforce Development for the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), former Action for Climate Empowerment National Focal Point for the United States, founding member of the CLEAN Network and co-chair of the CLEAN Network Leadership Board, a member of the Federal Steering Committee for the Fourth National Climate Assessment (NCA4) and federal lead for the White House Climate Education and Literacy Initiative (2013-2016).
Senior Climate Education Coordinator, NOAA Climate Program Office (CPO)
Danielle Nierenberg is a world-renowned researcher, speaker, and advocate on all issues relating to our food system and agriculture. In 2013, Danielle Nierenberg co-founded Food Tank (foodtank.com) with Bernard Pollack, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization focused on building a global community for safe, healthy, nourished eaters. Food Tank is a global convener, thought leadership organization, and unbiased creator of original research impacting the food system. Danielle has an M.S. in Agriculture, Food, and Environment from the Tufts University Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy and spent two years volunteering for the Peace Corps in the Dominican Republic. Danielle is the recipient of the 2020 Julia Child Award.
President, Food Tank
Dr. Carol O’Donnell is the Senior Executive and Director of the Smithsonian Science Education Center (SSEC), an organization of the Smithsonian Institution dedicated to transforming K-12 Education through Science in collaboration with communities across the globe. In her role at the Smithsonian (a non-profit with quasi-governmental status), Carol serves as the US representative on the Global Council of the InterAcademy Partnership (IAP) Science Education Programme (SEP), an appointment by the US National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; and she serves on the UN Broadband Commission Working Group on School Connectivity: Hybrid Learning. Carol also represents the[...]
Senior Executive and Director, Smithsonian Science Education Center
Mr. Quraishi is currently Chief Growth Officer for Legence and is focused on leveraging ESG advisory, design and implementation services to assist a wide range of customers reduce their building carbon footprint and improve Indoor Air Quality. Arif has over 30 years of experience in overseeing building design, construction and renovation that focus on energy efficiency, clean energy and indoor environmental quality. He and his team have implemented over $5 Billion worth of projects over the last 5 years in the built environment. His past experience with the Institute for Environmental Assessment (CEO), Johnson Controls (North America VP of Energy Solutions) and Philips Lighting (North America VP)
have given him a unique perspective on how to scale and expedite programs to significantly improve
Building Efficiency. Mr. Quraishi has a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Lehigh University in
Bethlehem, PA and an MBA from the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis MN.
Chief Growth Officer, Legence
For more than 20 years, Amina Razvi has worked to transform the apparel and textile industry into one that is more sustainable, equitable, and just. As CEO of the Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC), the leading global multi-stakeholder nonprofit alliance for the consumer goods industry dedicated to transforming business for exponential impact through groundbreaking tools, collaborative partnerships, and trusted leadership for industry sustainability, Amina is responsible for the overall leadership and management of the organization. Under her stewardship, the SAC has grown to represent almost half of the apparel, footwear, and textile industry, including more than 280 retailers, brands, manufacturers, NGOs, academics, and other stakeholders. Their mandate is clear: Transform the industry into a force for good by measuring and addressing social and environmental impact along the entire value chain.
Previously, Amina served as Vice President of Membership at the SAC; while transitioning into her current role, she steered the executive team and liaised with the[...]
Chief Executive Officer, Sustainable Apparel Coalition
Jamie is Director of ESG (environment social governance) for Eva NYC and amika haircare brands. She is passionate on the integration of sustainability and business and believes it is one of many solutions in minimizing climate impacts. She uses scientific data, sustainability metrics, and consumer terminology to give results in an understandable way.
Director of ESG, Amika and Eva NYC
Erin Richmond has over 20 years of experience designing and managing client energy efficiency programs in commercial buildings with a focus on healthcare, senior care, and hospitality buildings for both government programs and real estate owners. As Executive Vice President of RE Tech Advisors, LLC, Erin oversees day-to-day operations, leading an interdisciplinary team of energy and sustainability program experts who help clients design and implement award-winning sustainability programs. Erin began her career supporting EPA’s ENERGY STAR program developing an expertise in public-private partnership programs as well as energy efficiency strategies. As businesses increasingly needed support with their own programs, Erin began developing and managing sustainability programs for real estate owners, such as Wyndham Hotels and Resorts and Blackstone, creating innovative solutions to successfully embed energy saving strategies at the property level, while saving clients millions of dollars in energy and water costs and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. During her career, Erin also led, in support of ENERGY STAR, survey and data collection efforts that resulted in the first ENERGY STAR scores for senior care and multifamily buildings, ensuring these building types could benefit from the ability to benchmark energy performance. Erin also serves on the board of directors for SustainableScoop, a nonprofit working to develop strong, future civic leaders by providing training, programming and production experiences in the media arts, with a lens on sustainability.
EVP, RE Tech Advisors, a Legence Company
Rachel J. Robasciotti is the CEO and Founder of Adasina Social Capital, an investment and financial activism firm that serves as a critical bridge between financial markets and social justice movements. Rachel’s passion for social justice investing is rooted in her background as a Black, queer woman and growing up in a community that struggled for safety and financial security within a rural town that was largely segregated. Rachel is a fierce advocate for social justice in the financial industry and is regularly featured in the media as a leader in the field for integrating issues of racial, gender, economic, and climate justice into investment portfolios.
Founder & CEO, Adasina Social Capital
Favianna Rodriguez is an award-winning artist, cultural strategist, and President of The Center for Cultural Power, a national organization igniting change at the intersection of art, culture and social justice. A strategy advisor to artists of all genres, Favianna is regarded as one of the leading thinkers and personalities uniting art, culture and social impact. She collaborates with social movements around the world to co-create narrative and cultural strategies that are resilient and transformative. Favianna embodies the perspective of a first-generation American Latine artist with Afro-Peruvian roots. As a nationally-celebrated artist known for her leadership, vision, tenacity, and wide-ranging sphere of influence, Favianna also helps lead cultural strategy design and investment by helping to organize the philanthropic sector. Favianna is a recipient of the Robert Rauschenberg Artist as Activist Fellowship, the Atlantic Fellowship for Racial Equity, and the Soros Equality Fellowship.
Co-founder and President, The Center for Cultural Power
As Chief Sustainability Officer, Lorenzo is responsible for Clarity AI’s strategic engagements across the globe to enhance investor value and drive sustainable outcomes. Lorenzo joined Clarity AI after over 20 years of being at the forefront of sustainable investments. He held multiple roles at the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), driving it from about 300 institutional investors to the over 5,000 it has today. As Head of the PRI Reporting and Assessment he launched the first ever in house global responsible investment reporting framework and led the PRI’s Signatory Relations team which supports existing and new signatories globally.
Prior to PRI, Lorenzo held project manager and financial analyst roles at UniCredit and MicroRate, overseeing microfinance initiatives and advising on responsible investments. He also served as an independent consultant for the World Bank and the International Fund for Agricultural Development. He holds a joint MBA/Masters in International Public Policy from SDA Bocconi, Milan and SAIS – Johns Hopkins, Washington, D.C and a BA in Business and Economics from the Università Cattolica, Milan.
Chief Sustainability Officer, Clarity AI
Salah Said has worked in sustainability for 10+ years in companies such as SCHUFA, SAP, Zalando, and now Klarna. Before that, he worked at several nonprofit organizations, including Ashoka and Social Impact. Salah founded Worldcitizen e.V., a nonprofit organization focusing on Diversity & Inclusion and youth education, and has been a member of the Board Member Innovation Committee at Fashion for Good for over two years. He is also currently part of the Advisory Board for Sustainable Consumption hosted by Doconomy. Salah believes in innovative approaches toward ethical and environmental sustainability, and is convinced that the fashion, finance, and tech industries are an extremely enticing and fertile playing field for innovation.
Head of Sustainability, Klarna
Namrata Sandhu is the CEO and Co-Founder of Vaayu, the world’s first automated carbon software for retailers, named one of TIME’s Best Inventions of 2022. A regular contributor to thought leadership panels, Namrata was listed in TechRound’s Top BAME 50 Under 50 Entrepreneurs 2022 and EU Startups Most Influential Women in the Startup and Venture Capital Space. She has appeared on Bloomberg and been featured in Vogue Business, Business of Fashion and Wired. Her 20 year career has spanned the Arcadia Group and leading global retailer Zalando, causing her to find a critical gap in the market for a real-time, carbon-tracking tool to speed up reduction at scale. Since launching Vaayu, Namrata has successfully raised $13 million in funding and onboarded more than 50 global brands including Klarna, Missoma, Vinted, Asket, Ace & Tate and Wunderman Thompson Commerce.
CEO and Co-Founder of Vaayu
A renowned thought leader, international speaker, policy maker, community liaison, trainer, and facilitator, Dr. Mustafa Santiago Ali serves as the Executive Vice President for the National Wildlife Federation. He is also the founder of Revitalization Strategies, a business focused on moving our most vulnerable communities from “surviving to thriving.”
Before joining the National Wildlife Federation, Mustafa was the senior vice president for the Hip Hop Caucus, a national non-profit and non-partisan organization that connects the hip-hop community to the civic process to build power and create positive change. In his role, he led the strategic direction, expansion, and operation of the Hip Hop Caucus’ portfolio on climate, environmental justice, and community revitalization.
Prior to joining the Hip Hop Caucus, Mustafa worked for 24 years at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). He began working on social justice issues at[...]
Cory Sauer is 3M’s Global Carbon Capture Lead for our Safety and Industrial Business Group, where he leads 3M’s efforts to develop and scale materials for Carbon Capture and Carbon Dioxide Removal. He brings a decade of experience in Research & Development, ranging from process engineering to polymers to robotics. Cory holds a BSc in Chemical Engineering from the University of Minnesota.
Global Carbon Capture Lead, 3M SIBG R&D
James Schaffer serves as the Chief Strategy Officer at Worldly, where he oversees business development, client services, partnerships, and corporate development. James brings a wealth of experience in business leadership, growth through innovation and partnerships, and a profound commitment to social impact and environmental sustainability. Prior to his role at Worldly, James co-founded Schaffer & Combs, a consultancy dedicated to serving purpose-driven organizations. During his tenure, he led engagements with leading sustainability organizations, including SAC, AII, ZDHC, BlueSign, WRI, B Lab, Rainforest Alliance, and Outdoor Industry Association, along with numerous social sector organizations.
Chief Strategy Officer, Worldly
Rachel Schneider joined Molson Coors Beverage Company in June 2022 as VP Sustainability & EHS. She leads the company’s global sustainability/ESG strategy and oversees environmental, health & safety for the Americas. Prior to joining Molson Coors, Rachel was at Harley-Davidson for 12 years, leading sustainability efforts and driving business and strategic planning. Rachel made the switch to the corporate sustainability world after a 15-year legal career. She was an equity partner in the Environmental Law Group of Quarles & Brady LLP (Milwaukee office), specializing in environmental and other regulatory compliance matters, with an emphasis on remediation, transactions, and crisis management.
Rachel grew up in Nebraska and has lived in Milwaukee since graduating from Macalester College in St. Paul MN. She obtained her J.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Rachel currently lives in the greater Milwaukee area with her husband and their diva pet, Cat. Their four children currently live on both coasts and in Wisconsin.
VP Sustainability & EHS, Molson Coors Beverage Company
Dr. Gayle Schueller is 3M’s Senior Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer. Gayle started in 3M’s corporate laboratory as a product development engineer and has over 30 years of technical and business leadership experience. Her career spans a broad range of businesses from electronics to healthcare to consumer industries. She has led technical and business teams from around the world including Europe, Asia, Latin America and North America. She is passionate about making a positive impact in the world through science and technology.
Senior Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer, 3M
Shannon is PwC’s US Chief Purpose & Inclusion Officer - a role that brings together unique insights and perspectives from her prior roles as Chief Purpose Officer and Responsible Business Leader to the Chief Diversity Officer role. Her role also includes oversight of this same function in PwC’s Mexico and Asia Pacific America territories, as well as our Acceleration Centers, spanning eight geographic locations. Shannon also serves as the firm’s US and Mexico Climate Risk Leader. Shannon’s work activates PwC’s purpose to build trust in society and solve important problems and to create a fulfilling employee experience.
PwC’s US Chief Purpose & Inclusion Officer
As director of storytelling and engagement at Project Drawdown and founding director of the Drawdown Stories program, Matt Scott (he/him) passes the mic to those who often go unheard in the climate space. Inspired by human-centered design, Matt shapes and implements the organization’s strategy for climate solutions storytelling. He is the host of the climate solutions short documentary series, Drawdown's Neighborhood. Previously Matt worked as global community director and storyteller of the world’s largest global hackathon—NASA’s International Space Apps Challenge— while also collaborating on projects with the Australian Government, USAID, the United Nations, Nike, the White House, and more.
Director of Storytelling & Engagement, Project Drawdown
Marina Severinovsky is the Head of Sustainability, North America, and leads the sustainability and environmental, social and governance (ESG) integration for Schroders investments in North America. She collaborates with senior managers on market strategy, client communications, product development, sales, and investor management.
Head of Sustainability, North America, Schroders
Peggy Shepard is co-founder and executive director of WE ACT for Environmental Justice and has a long history of organizing and engaging Northern Manhattan residents in community-based planning and campaigns to address environmental protection and environmental health policy locally and nationally. She has successfully combined grassroots organizing, environmental advocacy, and environmental health community-based participatory research to become a national leader in advancing environmental policy and the perspective of environmental justice in urban communities — to ensure that the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment extends to all. She has been named co-chair of the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council as well as chair of the New York City Environmental Justice Advisory Board, and was the first female chair of the National Environmental Justice Advisory Council to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. She also serves on the[...]
Co-founder and Executive Director, WE ACT for Environmental Justice
Charlie Sidoti is the Executive Director of InnSure, an industry-funded not-for-profit with a mission to foster innovation in insurance. Charlie Sidoti's 35+ years in insurance includes senior leadership roles with P&C insurance carriers, 10-years leading insurance-adjacent analytics-focused startups and founder and chief executive of InnSure, an impact focused non-profit, since 2019. Charlie is driven to reimagine how the insurance sector can better help society solve the most difficult climate risk challenges via better insurance products and services.
Executive Director, InnSure
Dylan Siegler has spent nearly two decades building better environmental and social impacts in the nonprofit and public sectors and the Fortune 500. Prior to GreenBiz, she was a lead strategist on the social innovation team at Verizon, where she introduced climate justice as a core element of the company’s climate approach and worked to address the rural digital divide. Formerly, at power company NRG, she developed climate and water strategy, and helped conceive and launch a consultancy to help commercial customers navigate climate action, resilience, clean energy and energy efficiency.
She now applies her experience in the field to lead and build upon GreenBiz’s offerings for sustainability professionals, working to support, drive and lift up[...]
Senior Vice President, Sustainability, GreenBiz
Kristen Siemen is Vice President of Sustainable Workplaces and Chief Sustainability Officer at General Motors, leading its commitment to carbon neutrality by 2040. Prior to this, she was executive director of global energy strategy and held senior engineering positions at the firm. Passionate about promoting inclusion and gender equality, Siemen helped create GM’s Take 2 career-reentry program, co-leads the GM Women Ally Program, and is its executive representative for the Society of Women Engineers. Her recognition includes being named to the Crain’s Notable Leaders in Sustainability, Future 50 Tech, and Sustainability Magazine Top 100 Women in Sustainability lists. Siemen is an advisory board member of Oakland University School of Engineering and Computer Science, from which she earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering.
Vice President of Sustainable Workplaces and Chief Sustainability Officer, General Motors
William (Bill) Sisson is presently the executive director for the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) North America, a nonprofit based in New York City, operating as an international office of WBCSD in Geneva. He oversees WBCSD’s regional strategy, relations and growth efforts, sustainability focused member projects and strategic engagements and is a member of the Extended Leadership Group of WBCSD. Bill also supports WBCSD’s work on the Built Environment, working closely with the Geneva based project team. Prior to his role with WBCSD, Bill gained over 30 years of private sector experience with the multi-national conglomerate United Technologies Corporation (UTC), where he capped his career as Senior Executive Director for Sustainability reporting to UTC’s Chief Technology Officer. While at UTC, his responsibilities included directing Carrier’s long-range HVAC research as well as managing Carrier’s Commercial Controls division. Bill is the former Chair of the Board of the Global Building Performance Network (GBPN), was a member of the Technical Review Committee of the Global Cooling Prize, is currently a Board member with the WHC, and member of the 5X Advisory Group for the Clean Cooling Collaborative with RMI and Climateworks. He holds advanced degrees from Virginia Tech, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan School of Business, where he is a Sloan Fellow alumnus.
Executive Director, North America, World Business Council for Sustainable Development
As Executive Director of Probable Futures, Alison is committed to providing opportunities for people around the world to deeply understand climate change and take actions to prepare for and mitigate its impacts. In her role, she convenes leaders across science, design, technology, business, and culture, to develop useful, resonant, and beautiful climate change tools and resources.
Alison’s previous roles have included Vice President for Development and Marketing at the New Bedford Whaling Museum, where she oversaw a massive capital expansion and helped broaden the Museum’s programs and exhibitions to promote ocean science and whale conservation. She has also served in several fundraising and community-building roles in south Florida: the Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach, Ballet Gamonet in Miami, and the Jerry Herman Ring Theater in Coral Gables. Alison earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theater Arts Management from the University of Miami (FL).
In addition to her[...]
Executive Director, Probable Futures
As Senior Director of Global Market Development for the Real Estate sector, Janera Soerel advises global real estate owners, developers, and operators on the best ways to embark on the WELL journey and achieve optimal health and wellbeing for their communities. She provides her clients with Environmental Social and Governance (ESG) solutions through WELL to meet their corporate objectives and reporting requirements. Additionally, she gives strategic direction to the development of the LATAM, Senior Living, and Multifamily markets. She leads the execution of sector specific marketing campaigns, and the distribution of WELL thought-leadership.
Before joining IWBI, Janera was VP of Business Development and Client Management at BetterSpaces, a tenant amenities and workplace wellbeing company. Her interest in the wellness space was sparked as the Program Director at Urban Zen, Donna Karan’s foundation. Janera started her career in corporate finance at ABN AMRO in Amsterdam (NL) and Milan (IT). She has an MBA from Columbia Business School and is fluent in English, Dutch, Italian, and Spanish.
Senior Director Global Market Development, Real Estate, WELL
Alan Steel is the Chief Executive Officer of the New York Convention Center Operating Corporation, which operates the Javits Center on Manhattan’s West Side. Under Mr. Steel 's leadership, the Javits Center recently completed an historic expansion project that added more than 1 million square feet of state-of-the-art space, including more exhibition and meeting room space, a rooftop pavilion and a one-acre rooftop farm. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Mr. Steel played a pivotal role in New York’s response and recovery, overseeing the design, construction and operation of the nation’s largest field hospital and vaccination center. Upon his appointment in 2012, Mr. Steel led the completion of a comprehensive renovation and operational overhaul at the Javits Center that included significant investments in energy efficiency, security and technology. As a result, the convention center has emerged as a nationwide model of sustainability, partnering with research institutions and community groups to study and reinforce the building’s positive impact on the local environment. Prior to the Javits Center, Mr. Steel spent more than 30 years as an event management executive. He is the former President of George Little Management (GLM), a major producer of trade shows in the United States and Canada and was active in developing domestic and international markets[...]
Chief Executive Officer, Javits Center
Clay Stranger is a Managing Director at RMI where he leads the Carbon Free Transportation Program, co-leads the India Program, and serves as Chair of RMI’s Portfolio Management Group. Through global engagements with the public and private sector, he works to establish and implement ambitious decarbonization plans.
Clay has worked on energy transition strategies in more than two dozen countries and serves as an advisor to central and state governments around the world on clean energy policy and technology. He co-founded the Urban Mobility Lab, a platform that supports a replicable process for identifying, integrating, and implementing electric mobility solutions in leading geographies, called Lighthouse Cities.
Previously Clay served as the Director of the Office of the Chief Scientist, where he oversaw diverse research and collaboration engagements both within and outside RMI. From 2013-2015 he served as the[...]
Managing Director, RMI’s Carbon Free Transportation Program
Elaine Strunk, Sr. Director Global Sustainability at McDonald’s, has 18 years of experience utilizing strategy, policy, design, and change management to address advance sustainability, address climate change, and improve human health in the private sector, hospitality, and higher education. She leads a team responsible for global strategy and public commitments addressing climate change, circularity, and nutrition as part of McDonald’s Global Impact function.
Elaine holds a master’s degree in Adult Development and Organizational Change from Harvard University and a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Policy from Michigan State University.
Senior Director Global Sustainability, McDonald’s
Journalist Jennifer Sullivan co-hosts the podcast Fat Mascara and is a columnist for New York Magazine’s The Cut. In her quest to uncover beauty stories, Jenn's gotten tattooed by a Maori artist in New Zealand, harvested salmon eggs in Norway, and picked shea fruit with a women’s collective in Ghana. Her writing has been featured in publications such as Allure, Elle, Esquire, and Marie Claire. If she’s not recording or editing audio from her home studio in Brooklyn, she’s probably on a hiking trail with her husband, Eric, and their hairless dog, Wolfgang.
Journalist and Co-host, Fat Mascara
Alpa Sutaria is the Senior Vice President of Strategy and Sustainability, responsible for leading WestRock's enterprise strategy development work and company-wide strategic initiatives while strengthening WestRock's position as a leader in sustainability.
Prior to joining WestRock, Alpa served as the Vice President and General Manager of Sustainability, North America at the Coca-Cola Company leading efforts to advance the company's sustainability objectives. She also previously held a strategy and operations role at Deloitte.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in Operations Research and Industrial Engineering from Cornell University and an MBA from the Goizueta Business School, Emory University.
Senior Vice President, Strategy & Sustainability, WestRock
Stacy Swann is the CEO and Founding Partner of Climate Finance Advisors, a benefit LLC based in Washington, DC, and has more than twenty-five years’ experience in project finance, investment, climate change, and sustainability. Her executive experience includes both climate investments, as well as building and shaping organizations, leading teams, and delivering practical approaches to organizational and operational management, primarily for financial institutions. As CEO and Founder of Climate Finance Advisors, she led the firm through its early establishment, achieving more than 100% average annual growth since its founding in 2015, and in 2022 she[...]
CEO and Founding Partner, Climate Finance Advisors
Harry Tannenbaum is the President and co-founder of Mill, where he’s built an entirely new system to prevent waste, starting with food. Mill is a practical and impactful way to take steps at home that are good for your kitchen and our planet. Mill’s approach recycles the food you can’t eat at home, conserves the nutrients, and sends it back to farms as food for chickens.
Prior to Mill, Harry led the centralized analytics group and ecommerce business at Nest, which launched the first learning thermostat and became the leading brand for the connected home. During his time at Nest, Harry helped to scale the business to more than $1B in annual revenue. Following Nest’s acquisition by Google, he was a director in Google’s hardware organization focused on ecommerce and subscription offerings. Before Nest, Harry briefly worked at an investment bank, before deciding he wanted to work in climate.
He received his bachelor’s degree in Economics from UCLA. Harry is a surfer, and was raised in San Francisco.
Co-Founder and President, Mill
Emilio Tenuta’s nearly 40-year tenure at Ecolab includes 25 years of technical, marketing, and business management experience in various industries including food and beverage, healthcare, automotive and more. Since 2009, Tenuta has led Ecolab’s strategic sustainability journey focused on corporate responsibility, internal environmental stewardship, and helping customers operate more sustainably.
He is actively involved in advancing global sustainability practices, with a significant focus on water stewardship and climate action. In recent years, he’s become a leader in environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices and reporting, and has collaborated with a number of large impact investors.
He is chair of the board of directors of the World Environment Center, a global non-profit, non-advocacy organization, and the leadership council of the Corporate Eco Forum, a membership organization for Fortune and Global 500 companies that demonstrate a serious commitment to sustainability as a business strategy issue.
Senior Vice President & Chief Sustainability Officer, Ecolab
Scott Tew serves as vice-president of sustainability and co-founder of the Center for Energy Efficiency & Sustainability at Trane Technologies. Additionally, he leads the Center for Healthy & Efficient Spaces. Tew is responsible for forward-looking sustainability initiatives without compromising health or resource impacts. Tew serves as a thought leader in linking public policy, economic impacts, and a value-stream approach to sustainability. His recent efforts include introducing the company’s comprehensive 2030 targets, an SBTi validated Net Zero target, the creation of the EcoWise™ portfolio, and the launch of the largest customer-facing commitment to combat climate change with the Gigaton Challenge.
Vice-President, Sustainability & Managing Director, Center for Energy Efficiency and Sustainability and Center for Healthy & Efficient Spaces, Trane Technologies
Julia Thayne is Senior Principal of Climate-Aligned Industries at RMI, founded as Rocky Mountain Institute, where she leads efforts to build out Clean Industrial Hubs in Los Angeles, Houston, and the U.S. Gulf Coast. Her projects include renewable electricity, clean hydrogen, and low-carbon fuel investments to decarbonize industry and aviation, shipping and trucking. An expert in accelerating equitable climate action in cities, Julia helps companies, governments, and NGOs translate ambitious visions into programs with positive community impact. She served as an executive officer at the LA Mayor’s Office, where she oversaw 8 City of LA Departments, including airports, ports, and city planning. During COVID-19, she helped disburse $150 million in financial assistance to businesses and NGOs, including 50 miles of Slow Streets, donation of 1 million N-95 masks to 400+ NGOs, and 20,000 restaurant-cooked and taxi-delivered meals per week for homebound seniors. Previously, Julia consulted on technology, innovation, and sustainability initiatives for 35+ cities across Asia, Europe, Latin America, and North America. She hosts a YouTube channel on micromobility, called Ride On!, and founded a transportation technology NGO, called Urban Movement Labs. She holds a Master’s in Science in City Design from the London School of Economics, and a bachelor’s in economics from Emory University.
Senior Principal, Climate-Aligned Industries, RMI
Arsema Thomas (she/they) recently made their television debut as the coveted co-lead role "Young Lady Danbury" in Netflix's highly anticipated QUEEN CHARLOTTE: A BRIDGERTON STORY. Previously, Arsema appeared in DJ Caruso's REDEEMING LOVE. Arsema earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Physics from Carnegie Mellon and a Master's in Chronic Disease Epidemiology/Public Health from Yale University. In 2022, Arsema graduated from the prestigious London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA). Arsema's diverse linguistic abilities in English, French, Spanish, Yoruba, and Amharic can be attributed to their innate passion for travel and immersion in different cultures. Throughout their life, Arsema had the privilege of living in several countries, including South Africa, Uganda, Kenya, Togo, Comoros, Benin, and India. These experiences fostered a deep appreciation for the continent of Africa, drawing inspiration from their Ethiopian and Nigerian background. Arsema's journey is a testament to their talent, resilience, and compassion, and it leaves an indelible mark on both the artistic and humanitarian realms. Their strong philanthropic ties to Africa further highlight their commitment to making a positive impact on the world.
Dr. Michelle Tuveson is Chairman & Executive Director at the Cambridge Centre for Risk Studies at the University of Cambridge Judge Business School. During Dr. Tuveson's tenure, the Cambridge Centre for Risk Studies has become a world leading provider of research and thought leadership in scenario-based modelling of multi-disciplinary risks to society and businesses.
Dr. Tuveson chairs the Centre's Advisory Board, is a former advisory board member to the World Economic Forum's Global Risk Report and former IEEE Standards Committee Member on the General Ethical Principles for Artificial Intelligence. Dr. Tuveson’s research focuses on the intersection of risk and sustainability including sustainable growth and transition to a lower carbon economy. She is a frequent commentator and speaker and her articles have been published in reports such as Banking & Financial Services Policy Report (Wolters Kluwer) and Financial Times Special Report on Risk Management. She earned degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Johns Hopkins University, and University of Cambridge.
Chairman & Executive Director, Cambridge Centre for Risk Studies at the University of Cambridge Judge Business School
Dan Ufnar currently serves as the State Soil Scientist of New York for the USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). He received his B.S. degree from the University of New Hampshire in 1999 double majoring in Soil Science and Environmental Science, and a M.S. degree in Soil Science from Washington State University in 2004. While in graduate school he worked for the Wenatchee and Okanogan National Forests as a student career intern. His thesis project focused on the development of a digital landtype association map, which was then used as a pre-mapping tool for the development of a digital soil map of a watershed on the Mount Baker Snoqualmie National Forest in the Cascades of Western Washington. He’s been a professional soil scientist in the private and public sectors for over twenty years working in the states of Arkansas, Washington, Michigan, and now New York. Dan has worked for the past 13 years with USDA-NRCS in various capacities as a soil scientist, from career intern to Soil Survey Project Leader, Area Resource Soil Scientist, and State Soil Scientist.
Melissa is Chief Growth Officer at Elemental, a global climate innovation investor and non-profit impact organization. She has helped build the organization since 2015 incubating and launching Elemental’s 5 Year Strategy, Equity & Access track, and Policy Lab. In addition to Elemental, Melissa is part of Emerson Collective and a founding board member of Earthshot Ventures, an early-stage venture capital fund that she helped develop and spin out of Elemental. Melissa also serves as an advisor to a number of start-ups and non-profits including Hohonu and the Maui Council for the Hawaii Land Trust. Prior to Elemental, Melissa practiced commercial litigation, real estate, and municipal project finance law. She has also worked for the Environmental Working Group, the United Nations Development Program, and the Natural Capital Project.
Chief Growth Officer, Elemental Excelerator
Caroline serves as ReFED's Capital, Innovation, & Engagement Director, working on initiatives that drive more investment into solutions to food waste. Prior to joining ReFED, she spent 12 years in the impact investing unit of Deutsche Bank and its asset management firm, DWS, where she managed portfolios of investments in microfinance institutions and social enterprises operating in the developing world. She currently serves on the Board of Upaya Social Ventures, a non-profit organization that makes seed-stage investments in companies that provide dignified employment to the lowest-income members of society in India, and she is a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Director of Capital, Innovation and Engagement, ReFED
As the Clippers’ Chief Communications Officer, Wallace oversees the organization's communications strategy and narrative development across basketball, business, broadcasting, innovation, and ownership. He supervises all Clippers' communication functions, including media relations, marketing, and corporate communications, along with social media, video content and broadcasting. He currently serves in a leadership role for the development and construction of Intuit Dome, the Clippers new $2.8B home, and the LA Clippers Foundation.
Wallace's career spans over two decades of strategic communications and marketing experience in the sports, entertainment, and media industries.
Before joining the Clippers, he served in leadership roles with Harris-Blitzer Sports and Entertainment, Translation, the ATP and the WTA. Wallace also spent six years at the NBA, split between the League's New York and London headquarters, and earlier in his career, he spent more than five seasons with the Philadelphia 76ers.
Chief Communications Officer, Clippers
Michelle Waring is the Steward for Sustainability and Everyday Good at Tom’s of Maine. In her role she develops strategies to enhance and elevate sustainability and social impact. She also manages key strategic partnerships and initiatives with 3rd party validators and nonprofit organizations. Most recently, Michelle was named one of GreenBiz’s “10 Badass Women centering environmental justice at work.” Michelle formerly led Communications Partnerships for the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and was the Deputy Director of Corporate Partnerships at UNICEF USA.
Steward for Sustainability and Everyday Good, Tom's of Maine
Alison Weber is Chief Creative Officer for Levy. In her role, Alison inspires the vision for the company’s industry-recognized experience design capabilities, future forward pipeline, as well as Levy’s culture of innovation. She leads a team of creative strategists, brand specialists, graphic designers and culinarians to experience solutions for food and hospitality business challenges.
During her two-decade plus career, Alison has had a seat at the table crafting the revolution in sports food and pushing for continual relevancy around the fan experience.
Alison started as a hot dog and beer vendor at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. In 2014, she was recognized as[...]
Chief Creative Officer, Levy Restaurants
Award-winning journalist Arnie Weissmann has worked in virtually every aspect of travel media for the past 30 years. He created the industry's first destination information service (Weissmann Travel Reports), authored a best-selling textbook and served as publisher of critical hotel and destination guides for the travel industry in the U.S. and U.K. He was named editor in chief of Travel Weekly–USA in 2001, and also serves as executive vice president/editorial director for Travel Weekly’s parent company, Northstar Travel Media, the largest business-to-business travel media company in the world, serving audiences in the Americas, Asia and Europe.
Weissmann’s travel coverage began in consumer media, writing for dozens of news outlets, from[...]
Editor in Chief, Travel Weekly and Executive Vice President / Editorial Director, Northstar Travel Group
Esther Whieldon is a Senior Writer on the S&P Global Sustainable1 Thought Leadership Team and co-host of the S&P Global podcast ESG Insider. Esther has worked at S&P Global for 14 years and was previously a Senior Reporter in the S&P Global Market Intelligence newsroom where she wrote about climate change, ESG and energy issues. Prior, Esther worked two years as a reporter at Politico and spent several years before that in the S&P Global Platts energy newsroom in Washington, D.C. Esther earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Washington Adventist University in Takoma Park, Maryland.
Senior writer and Co-host of ESG Insider podcast, ESG Thought Leadership Team, S&P Global Sustainable1
Martin Whittaker is a recognized leader with over twenty-five years’ experience at the intersection of global business, finance, philanthropy and social and environmental impact. He is the founding CEO of JUST Capital, the leading nonprofit in the stakeholder capitalism arena, and is responsible for the overall leadership of the organization. He is also a senior advisor to Edelman, a co-founder and Board member of the CREO family office investment syndicate, a board member of H2 Clipper, a member of the Forbes Finance Council and Forbes Contributor, a member of Harvard Business School’s Impact Weighted Accounts Initiative Advisory Council, and a Commissioner to the World Business Council on Sustainable Development’s inequality initiative.
Martin was recently named to the 2020 NACD Directorship 100 – the annual list of the most influential people in the boardroom and on corporate governance – and to Business Insider’s 2020 List of 100 People Transforming Business. Previously, he served as a board member of the Carbon Disclosure Project U.S., and as a member of the G7 Impact Taskforce’s Working Group on Impact Transparency and Integrity, an Advisory Council[...]
Chief Executive Officer, JUST Capital
Dounia Wone joined Vestiaire Collective as Chief Impact Officer in March 2020, and is a member of the company’s executive committee. With focused experience at the highest levels, Wone has tackled sustainable development issues for some of France’s biggest institutions, including the Ministry of Housing, Ministry of Ecological Transition, National Assembly, and Paris’ City Hall.
Working with Cécile Duflot at the Regional Council of Ile-de-France, and later at the Ministry of Housing, Dounia directed communications for the parliamentary environmentalist group. As Chief of Staff to the Deputy Mayor for the Social and Solidarity Economy of Paris, she helped create the Paris Good Fashion movement, focused on supporting the industry’s efforts around environmental responsibility.
Committed to constructing effective public policy, Dounia has always sought to build bridges between the public and the private sectors, key institutions and major brands. It was only natural that she bring her initiative, high standards, and ecological and societal vision to Vestiaire Collective, making a profound impact on the way its community of millions of fashion activists think and act.
Chief Impact Officer, Vestiaire Collective
Los Angeles-based advocate for sustainable creativity and media activist Nelson ZePequeno, is the founder of viral Instagram account @BlackMenWithGardens and cofounder of the new outdoors foundation 'The Nature Hood L.A.'. His advocacy largely centers around cultivating progressive masculinity and combating misrepresentation of Black and Brown communities throughout digital media. As an artist and scenic designer he's focused on supporting the industries surrounding media productions, transition toward sustainable creativity.
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