Program

Keiko Niccolini is a marketing, operations and reuse leader currently fighting plastic pollution and disposable waste through strategic partnerships, systems solutions, and industry-changing product innovations. She has extensive experience in both the food & beverage and CPG industries. Her experience with entrepreneurial and more established brands, including Conde Nast, Moët Hennessy, Illy Caffé and others, makes her a key driver of an organization's growth and success. In 2021, Keiko helped to spearhead the delivery of the first public private partnership in reuse in North America with the launch of the Reuse Seattle, a city initiative of Seattle's Public Utilities Department. Keiko now focuses exclusively on working with cities and municipalities to develop and operationalize reuse as a climate, waste and social solution.

Sydney brings a unique blend of facilitation and policy expertise to Upstream. With a foundation in science research and 10+ years of experience in environmental advocacy, Sydney now focuses her time on her true passion: reuse. She enjoys supporting stakeholders across all sectors as they design, introduce, and pass strong policies that drive packaging reduction, reuse, and recycling, and she is recognized for supporting the passage of the nation’s first packaging EPR laws. Sydney now leads Upstream’s engagement with state, federal, and global policy and supports the policy team with local engagement as well. She is also passionate about social and environmental justice and has held many youth advocacy and education positions. In her spare time, she co-leads Reuse Portland – a community reuse coalition in Portland, ME - and enjoys any excuse to get outdoors.

Nicole Bassett is the co-founder of The Renewal Workshop, a circular business that is leading the apparel and textile industry towards circular business models restoring value and reducing waste. Prior, Nicole has applied her passion for environmental responsibility and human rights in consumer products. She has served as Director of Sustainability for prAna, Social Responsibility at Patagonia and Head of Human Rights at Specialized Bicycles. Nicole received her Master’s in Environmental Studies with a focus on Business Strategy and Sustainability from York University in Toronto, Canada.

Currently the Global Lead, Product Circularity at Amazon, formerly a Portfolio Director at IDEO Rhys brings the tools of design and amazing teams to help clients tackle the large systemic challenges of reimagine growth, creating new products, services and ventures that are truly future-fit, and making the transition from the industrial-era model of make, take, waste to a modern one that is circular, regenerative and restorative. Prior to this, he spent seven years at the World Resources Institute (WRI), a global sustainability think tank in Washington, D.C. There, Rhys was the Director of Information and Innovation for the WRI Center for Sustainable Cities where he helped to establish and grow the Center’s global network of organizations, working with cities and national governments around the world to design sustainable solutions for urban mobility. He currently lives in Oakland, California where he gets daily lessons on creativity and curiosity from his two daughters.

Dr. Shyaam Ramkumar is the Head of Growth Strategy in North America at Circularise and has over 10 years of experience in sustainability and circular economy in Europe and the United States. Shyaam has previously worked as the Knowledge and Innovation Manager at Circle Economy in Amsterdam, has interned with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, and was a sustainability consultant with Accenture's Chicago office in the United States. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Economics from Northwestern University, an MSc in Industrial Ecology from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, and a PhD in Economic Sociology at the University of Milan researching the accelerated adoption of circular and sustainable innovations by companies using sociology and social network theories, and one of his papers focused on the REALCAR project by Jaguar Land Rover and its supply chain.

Natasha Franck is Founder and CEO of EON. EON’s mission is to connect every item with a Digital ID to unlock new business models, customer services and yet unimagined Web 3.0 business critical innovations. EON’s technology has been at the forefront of digital transformation in fashion retail, digitizing products for global brands such as YOOX NET-A-PORTER, Target, Zalando and more. In 2021, Natasha partnered with His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales to steward a commitment from the CEOs of leading luxury brands including Burberry, Stella McCartney, Brunello Cuccinelli, Giorgio Armani, Mulberry, and many more, to introduce Digital ID across all products by 2025. Before founding EON, Natasha worked in smart cities and sustainable urbanism at Delos and Jonathan Rose Companies. Natasha holds a Bachelor’s Degree from Georgetown University.

Sarah is the Chief Innovation Officer for The Recycling Partnership, a nonprofit organization solving for circularity by mobilizing people, data, and solutions across the value chain to unlock the environmental and economic benefits of recycling and a circular economy. Sarah leverages her corporate, government, and nonprofit experience to build collaborative, action-oriented initiatives that advance the system. Sarah’s recent efforts have included building the U.S. Plastics Pact, Circular Economy Policy Accelerator, Polypropylene Recycling Coalition, and more with her stellar team and partners.Before joining The Partnership, Sarah led sustainable packaging at Coca-Cola. Prior to that, she worked at the Georgia Department of Natural Resources where she managed the governor’s conservation program.

Providing Packaging Engineering support for Global Sustainability Initiatives at General Mills. General Mills is a U.S.-based food company. We serve the world by making food people love, providing quality brands in more than 100 countries.

Dave Hirschler is ERI's Senior Director for Sustainability and Legislative Compliance. ERI is the largest fully integrated IT and electronics asset disposition provider and cybersecurity-focused hardware destruction company and e-waste recycler in the United States. An expert on green program operations, policy planning, and environmental management and sustainability, Dave is adept at building innovative partnerships and rolling-out programs that increase public awareness and engagement. He holds a Master of Arts in Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning from Tufts University.

As External Engagement Lead within Cisco’s Chief Sustainability Office, Tasha leads stakeholder engagement, industry partnerships and multi-sector collaborations. She is part of the environmental strategy team and represents Cisco on several circular economy-focused consortiums, including the Circular Economy Partnership (CEP). Prior to Cisco, Tasha worked at Ceres as senior program director of the Company Network. While at Ceres, she managed a team of sustainable business strategists working with a diverse portfolio of network member companies on their sustainability strategies, disclosure and performance. Tasha graduated cum laude from Duke University with a Bachelor of Arts in History and Spanish.

Wesley Spindler is Global Circular Economy Lead at Accenture Strategy. Wesley leads circular economy programs globally with cross-industry clients and partners, such as the World Economic Forum.

Stephen Jamieson is Global Head of Circular Economy Solutions at SAP. In his role, Stephen leads the creation and development of the industry solutions needed to keep products in use, design out waste and regenerate natural systems.As founder of the SAP Plastics Challenge, Stephen has been working collaboratively with industry, NGO and regulatory stakeholders to develop design-led solutions aligned to SAP’s 2030 Clean Ocean Vision. This has now culminated with the launch of SAP’s Circular Economy program where Stephen leads the portfolio of solutions that deliver sustainable business processes aligned to global impact.

As Chief Editor of AskNature.org since 2020, Andrew Howley commissions and curates an ever-growing body of stories of life’s innovations and adaptations to inspire biomimetic innovation. Prior to this, for 11 years at the National Geographic Society, he connected audiences with explorers through websites, blogs, and social media, including early-generation live video links from the field. He has also hosted a paleoanthropology podcast and once ran the route of the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland. He lives in Williamsburg, VA with his wife, a children's author, and their 4-year-old son.

Dr. Korena Mafune is a Washington Research Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow in the Winkler Lab at the University of Washington. Over the last decade, Dr. Mafune has designed and taught various courses focusing on sustainability, soil ecology, climate change, and environmental assessment. Much of her research has focused on old-growth forest ecosystems, but she has also been involved various large-scale restoration projects, park management projects, and is currently implementing her knowledge in search of sustainable agricultural practices. Dr. Mafune is fascinated with tripartite interactions among plants, fungi, and bacteria, and aspires to better understand how these drive ecosystem function from small to large scales in a changing climate and how these interactions can be harnessed for a sustainable future. She is an advocate for science communication and education at all levels. Her research and passion for science has been featured across various media outlets including The Seattle Times, RadioLab, National Geographic Magazine, Hulu, The Discovery Channel, and PBS.

Robert is a Sustainability Subject Matter Expert and Program Manager at Google. His core focus is on advancing Google’s Circular Economy mission to maximize the reuse of finite resources across the company’s operations, products, and supply chains - and enable others to do the same. Robert holds a Masters in Environmental Management from the Yale School of the Environment, with concentrations in Industrial Ecology and Business & The Environment. Before his current role at Google, he served as a two-time EDF Climate Corps fellow for both PepsiCo’s and Google’s Global Sustainability teams, and focused largely on circular economy solutions for packaging waste, recycling efficiency, and composting strategy. Robert is a Fulbright Scholar, previously served as the Chief of Staff for Sherwood Design Engineers, holds a BA in Environmental Policy & Sociology from Pitzer College, and is an avid biker & bike mechanic.

Suzanne Shelton is the CEO of Shelton Group, an ERM Group Company, the nation’s leading marketing communications agency entirely focused exclusively in the ESG space. She regularly counsels C-level executives at Fortune 1000 organizations on how to best define and leverage their sustainability approaches to drive business results. She currently serves on the board of the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) and the executive advisory board of Cyclyx, and recently served on the board of the Energy and Environmental Building Alliance (EEBA). Ms. Shelton offers insights and inspiration on conference stages around the country, guest writes for the likes of Fast Company, Green Builder and GreenBiz, and directly manages a team of leaders who, collectively, have made Shelton Group a 30-year success story.

Patrick Gaule is an Xbox ME Sustainability Lead at Microsoft. In his role, he leads strategic Xbox hardware sustainability solutions that align with Microsoft’s corporate goals of carbon negative, waste reduction, positive water usage, and protecting natural ecosystems. Patrick has over 20 years’ experience in leading material design for Consumer Electronics and Automotive industries

Rita M. Barksdale is the Amazon Director for the global Renewed Marketplace helping customers reduce planet impact by purchasing pre-owned product with great quality at a reduced cost; the US Home Entertainment Store providing an excellent customer experience for purchasing TVs, Streaming Media players, Home Theatre projectors, and DVD/Blue-ray players; and the US Video Game Store providing gaming enjoyment through physical and digital media. Rita joined Amazon in November 2020 as the Director of Amazon Renewed and increased her scope to include Home Entertainment in February 2021. Her scope was expanded again in December 2023 with the addition of Video Games. Prior to Amazon, she had a vibrant career with General Electric starting on the Technical Sales Leadership Program and progressing through outside sales and sales management positions. In July 2005 she became the product manager for bottom freezer and top freezer refrigeration and built the bottom freezer business for GE Appliances before moving to Belgium to lead their Europe, Middle East, and Africa Pole. She concluded her GE career with GE Healthcare in March 2019. Rita holds a B.S. in mechanical engineering from the University of Virginia and an MBA from Fuqua School of Business, Duke University. She sits on the Consumer Technology Association Retail Council. Her hobbies include investing, audiobooks, and cycling. She finished her first triathlon in August 2019 and is looking forward to the next. She is a member of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc.

Asha is the Managing Director of Tin Shed Ventures, Patagonia's venture capital fund and corporate development group, through which she invests in regenerative agriculture, apparel innovation, and biodiversity, and runs Worn Wear, Patagonia's recommerce business.

Shela Gobertina von Trapp is Director of Global Relations at the Global Electronics Council (GEC). In her role, she leads several global initiatives, including participation as a founding partner to the Circular Electronics Partnership (CEP). With over 20 years of sustainability experience, her work has covered the nonprofit, government, and corporate sectors. Shela spent a decade at a retail Fortune 500 company—within North America and Europe—where she was recognized for her contributions toward the development of the office supply industry’s first comprehensive product green rating system and first green reporting analysis tool for customers. Additionally, she was a founding member of the European Commission's Organization Environmental Footprint (OEF) Retail Pilot. Shela holds a Masters in Energy & Environmental Analysis from Boston University. She is currently based in The Netherlands.

Yondeen Sherpa is the Circular Economy Associate at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the United Nations specialized agency for information and communication technologies. As part of her role in the Development Bureau at ITU, she supports private and public stakeholders to create enabling environments for a circular economy for electronics. This includes the drafting and implementation of policies and regulations, capacity building, stakeholder engagement, as well as contributing to the research and learning in the field. Yondeen holds a Masters in International Affairs from L'Institut de hautes études internationales et du développement, Geneva and a Bachelor of Arts in Global Affairs – International Security, from Yale University, New Haven. Born and raised in Nepal, she now resides in Geneva, Switzerland.

As strategic initiatives manager in Eastman’s Global Sustainability Organization, Holli Alexander helps translate the complexity of sustainability into tangible and actionable efforts.

For the last 10 years, she has focused on plastics, recycling and sustainability. In 2012, Holli launched and led the Full-Wrap Label Consortium, a group founded by Eastman to address the challenges recycling PET bottles that use shrink labels.  She represents Eastman in a variety of external organizations including the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s CE100.  She serves on the Sustainability Advisory Board for PLASTICS and is leading an emerging work group there exploring chemical recycling technologies.

Holli was born and raised in Indiana and received bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Indiana University. 

Ashley has 17 years of experience bringing sustainable packaging solutions to market with some of the world’s most prominent brands.  Prior to joining Dow in 2019, she gained diverse experiences from a variety of roles spanning both technical and commercial functions, from start-up to multi-national, in sustainable packaging and consumer goods product development.  She led the development and launch of new packaging and technologies across 5 continents for companies including PepsiCo, Amcor, HAVI Global Solutions, and 915 Labs.  Ashley received a DuPont Packaging Award, R&D 100 Award, Chairman’s Award, and a patent for her work on sustainable packaging at PepsiCo, and a Pinnacle Award for Marketing Excellence at Dow.

 Currently, Ashley is the Sr. Marketing Manager for Value Chain Engagement for Circular Packaging at Dow. Her role focuses on increasing collaboration across the value chain to accelerate adoption of sustainable packaging solutions and to create circular ecosystems for plastic packaging.  She also has responsibility for shaping the commercial strategy and introduction of Dow’s circular products made from advanced recycling processes.  Ashley served on the Executive Committee of the Sustainable Packaging Coalition from 2019-2022.

Ashley holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from Purdue University and is a certified yoga and meditation instructor.

Joe Macleod is the founder of the worlds first customer ending business. A veteran of the product development industry with decades of experience across service, digital and product sectors. Author of the Ends book that iFixIt called the best book about consumer e-waste.

Head of Endineering at AndEnd. TEDx Speaker. Wired says “An energetic Englishman, Macleod advises companies on how to game out their endgames. Every product faces a cycle of endings, from breakage to customer burnout to falling behind consumption trends. It's important to plan for each of them. Not all companies do."

Christina Binkley is an award-winning journalist who writes and chats about the business of fashion and culture. She is editor-at-large for Vogue Business and contributes to WSJ Magazine, The New Yorker, Town & Country, and other publications. She is co-host of the podcast Hot Buttons along with Rachel Kibbe and Shilla Kim Parker.At The Wall Street Journal for 23 years, Binkley covered fashion, gambling. She is the author of the New York Times best-seller Winner Takes All, a chronicle of the rise and fall of Las Vegas titan Steve Wynn. Binkley appears periodically on venues such as the BBC, CNN and NPR. A graduate of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, Binkley was part of a team that won a Pulitzer Prize for coverage of 9/11. She was awarded the Jesse Laventhol Prize for Deadline News Reporting by the American Society of Newspaper Editors.

Ms. Kim-Parker is the Co-Founder of Thrilling, a b2b platform that helps brands, retailers and Hollywood studios source sustainable inventory from thousands of mom and pop shops across the US. Thrilling was ranked by Fast Company as one of the top 10 most innovative retail companies of 2022, and Ms Kim-Parker was named by Inc Magazine as one of the top female founders of 2022.She began her career as an investment banking analyst at J.P. Morgan where she was ranked as one of the top analysts across the firm. She then led Strategy and Business Development at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, where she launched multi- million dollar businesses across fashion, food and hospitality, visual arts, and consulting.Ms. Kim-Parker then served as Chief of Staff for Disney ABC, a $26 billion division which encompassed ESPN, Hulu, Vice, A&E, ABC News, ABC, Disney Channels and Freeform.B.A. 2004, Harvard College; M.B.A., 2009, Harvard Business School.

Christina received a B.S. in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 2015 and promptly began working in the oil and gas industry supporting refinery manufacturing. Christina worked in various roles with responsibilities covering process operations support, mechanical support, and project management. In addition, she worked on sustainability projects primarily focused on the commercial production of advanced biofuels.In 2021, Christina joined Printpack as a Product Stewardship Engineer within the Office of Sustainability. She is focused on film performance across various sustainability platforms, such as recyclables and compostables. In addition, Christina actively researches advanced recycling technologies and ways to incorporate PCR into packaging.

As strategic initiatives manager in Eastman’s Global Sustainability Organization, Holli Alexander helps translate the complexity of sustainability into tangible and actionable efforts.

For the last 10 years, she has focused on plastics, recycling and sustainability. In 2012, Holli launched and led the Full-Wrap Label Consortium, a group founded by Eastman to address the challenges recycling PET bottles that use shrink labels.  She represents Eastman in a variety of external organizations including the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s CE100.  She serves on the Sustainability Advisory Board for PLASTICS and is leading an emerging work group there exploring chemical recycling technologies.

Holli was born and raised in Indiana and received bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Indiana University. 

Pete Pearson is  Global Initiative Lead of Food Circularity at WWF, helping businesses understand the vital intersection of agriculture and wildlife conservation. Pete has led local and national sustainability programs within the retail grocery industry, has over 10 years of technology experience with companies including Hewlett-Packard, Accenture and Albertsons, has worked with public schools and hospitals as an independent sustainability consultant, co-founded a sustainable agriculture non-profit, and co-produced a documentary film on local and regenerative agriculture (www.ToLiveLocal.com). Pete currently lives in Washington DC and enjoys fly fishing, boating, and exploring the outdoors with his family.

Rebecca Chesney is a globally recognized food innovation and sustainability expert with over a decade of experience partnering with others to design a more resilient food system.

Building on her experience with the strategic foresight agency Institute for the Future and global design company IDEO, Rebecca inspires others to think critically about the future and equips them with strategies to take action in the present. As a food anthropologist, Rebecca is well versed in issues related to agriculture, nutrition, cooking, and eating—and the underlying systems that lead to waste and exploitation. She is known for balancing analytical rigor with creativity, unearthing patterns to identify innovation opportunities, and asking the kinds of questions that get to the heart of what's needed to drive change.

Rebecca's projects include writing ten-year scenarios for global food security, leading a multi-year collaborative program to create prototypes for a circular food economy, running an global open innovation challenge alongside the first-ever UN Food Systems Summit, and advising a land-grant university's five-year agriculture and life sciences strategy. A natural relationship builder and collaborator, Rebecca's network spans startup founders, academic researchers, farmers, and corporate leaders from California to China. Her work has been featured by CNN, Wired, and The New York Times, and she is a seasoned speaker and facilitator for events such as Greenbiz Verge and the Smart Kitchen Summit.

Rebecca holds an MA in the Anthropology of Food from SOAS University of London and degrees in accounting and finance from Texas A&M University, where she was selected among 11,000 graduates for the Earl Rudder Memorial Outstanding Student Award. A native of Texas, she has lived on three continents and is currently based in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Nirav Patel is the Founder of Framework, where he is rebuilding the consumer electronics industry to be better for people and the planet. He is currently focused on launching the Framework Laptop, a thin, light, high-performance notebook that is easy to upgrade, customize, and repair. Prior to Framework, he was part of the founding team at Oculus, building and leading the hardware team and architecting some great virtual reality headsets.

With more than 15 years of industry experience, Cody has led projects across the recycling supply chain starting with his time managing city and county recycling operations in Orange County, North Carolina, where he saw firsthand how to make a lasting difference in waste diversion at the local level. From there, Cody became a Senior Consultant for sustainability and recycling consulting firm RRS, where he helped build The Recycling Partnership model. At The Partnership, Cody leads a team of experienced problem solvers to provide grants, assistance, and proven technical resources to local and state recycling programs as well as processing facilities throughout the U.S.

Denise has worked for BASF for 25 years. She is currently responsible for the North & South American division of the Dispersions, Resins and Additives Business Unit and is based in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Denise earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Michigan Technological University and an MBA, with emphasis in Finance and Marketing from the University of Michigan.

Michelle Lea is the Vice President of Global Marketing at Nilit, where she leads the global effort to introduce more sustainable Nylon 6.6 yarns to the textile market under the SENSIL® brand.  She oversees the global marketing initiatives to promote solutions which address recycling and waste reduction, water preservation and reduced use of fossil resources, to help move the industry to a more sustainable future. 

Irene leads the Circular Transition Indicators work at the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD). Developed for business, by business, the Circular Transition Indicators (CTI) are paving the way for effective management and scale-up of circularity by business organizations of all sectors and sizes, globally. A Columbia University graduate, she's a circular economy enthusiast with experience in a variety of sustainability topics.

Dr. Cooper is a Scholar at Google for Entrepreneurs and an Adjust Assistant Professor at Northwestern University Department of Physiology. Before Rheaply, Dr. Cooper was a Senior Consultant at Ernst & Young, LLP in the Life Science Advisory practice where he worked in performance improvement and supply chain for biopharmaceutical clients.

Stephanie Phillips, AICP, is an urban planner and policymaker working at the intersection of heritage conservation and the circular economy. In her role as Deconstruction and Circular Economy Program Manager for the City of San Antonio, she administers the largest deconstruction ordinance in the United States, which aims to maximize building material salvage for reuse while advancing the City’s climate action, public health, affordable housing, cultural heritage, and workforce development goals. Her role also leads strategic local partnership development, which has helped forge the Material Innovation Center at Port San Antonio; a research partnership with UT-San Antonio; and the integration of deconstruction contractor training into City workforce initiatives.Outside of the City of San Antonio, Stephanie actively contributes to nonprofits and coalitions that focus on embodied carbon and circular economy policy and advocacy. She is the Waste and Consumption Issue Lead for the Climate Heritage Network and serves on the national boards of Build Reuse and Preservation Action. Broadly, her work aims to foster collaborative, transdisciplinary, silo-busting partnerships that get us closer to creating a truly regenerative built environment. Stephanie holds a MS in Historic Preservation from the University of Texas at Austin and a BS in Interior Architecture from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Yinka N. Bode-George is the Founder and CEO of Sustain our Future Foundation - a national philanthropic nonprofit that transforms sustainability to achieve environmental justice and maximize community impact. In this role, Yinka provides the overall strategy and development for the Foundation. As an environmental health advocate, Yinka works to advance environmental justice and sustainable development through infrastructure development and social impact strategies. Prior to founding Sustain our Future Foundation, she led the strategy and management of Volt Energy Utility’s environmental justice and community impact practice as the Director of Sharing the Power Foundation - Volt’s community impact nonprofit. There, she managed programs associated with Volt’s Environmental Justice Power Purchase Agreement (EJPPA) to assist renewable energy buyers achieve their clean energy goals and commitments to Environmental, Social, and Governance standards. Yinka has served as the Environmental Health Program Manager for the National Caucus of Environmental Legislators. In that role, she facilitated state-level environmental health and justice policies by resourcing and organizing a national network of state legislators around zero waste and circular economy solutions, toxic chemical protections, and sustainable agriculture policies. As the former Public Policy & Program Manager for Maryland Philanthropy Network, Yinka cultivated opportunities for Maryland philanthropists to improve community conditions. Additionally, Yinka has served as program manager for Maryland Environmental Health Network, where she advanced policies that promote environmental health and justice for all Marylanders.Yinka received a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science, and a Bachelor of Arts in Public Health, from the University of Maryland Baltimore County. She received a Master of Health Science degree in Environmental Health from Johns Hopkins School of Public Health.

John Holm is the Vice President of Strategic Initiatives at PYXERA Global where he spearheads the organization’s new ventures in circular economy, last mile energy access, and corporate advisory services. He has spent the majority of his career pioneering new markets for global brands, leading the market entry of the Subway chain in Hungary and Libri in Romania, while also advising Starbucks and IKEA on their respective market entries in Central & Eastern Europe and the Balkans (Serbia, Croatia, and Slovenia). Additionally, John also serves on the Hoops4Hope board and is a senior adjunct lecturer for Maastricht School of Management in The Netherlands on Shared Value and Circular Economy. While facilitating cross-sector partnerships is his primary job function by day, John also enjoys spending time exploring new terrain and kayaking with his wife and dog.

Andrew McCue has been working in sustainable food systems for 8 years, from the farm level up to national and multinational supply chains. He is a co-convener of the Circular City Coalition, guiding its sustainability outcomes strategy. At Metabolic, his work centers on the collaborations necessary to help corporate supply chains work towards becoming circular and/or nature-positive using a robust, science-based approach to prioritizing and taking action.

Mike is Lead for Circular Economy at Google where he is responsible for leading the organization to eliminate waste and pollution, keep products and materials in use, and drive the development and use of safer chemistry and healthy materials across their operations, products, and supply chains and enable others to do the same. While at Google, Mike also led the product sustainability and environmental compliance team in their consumer hardware division.

Prior to Google, Mike led safer chemistry and biocompatibility initiatives at Apple and product sustainability for Haworth Inc, a global contract office furniture manufacturer. Mike has worked in the green building and product design space for 15 years including with renowned green architect Bill McDonough. 

Mike holds a BS in Chemistry from Villanova University. In addition to serving on the board of directors for the Healthy Building Network, he also serves on advisory boards for several organizations including the Green Science Policy Institute, ChemForward, and Materiom.org. Mike previously served as a sustainability advisor to the Department of Homeland Security and National Institute of Building Sciences.

Bryony leads ICMM’s work on circular economy, working with many of the largest mining and metals companies in the world and a range of external stakeholders to drive action within the industry and across metal value chains. This work focusses on both identifying ways to make the mining process more circular, as well as ensuring that metals stay in use for as long as possible and never become waste. She also works on standards and reporting, including working with investors and downstream buyers of metals on the information they need to have confidence in their supply chains. She currently sits on the expert working group developing the new GRI Sector Standard for Mining. Bryony holds a BA in Geography from the University of Oxford and is a fellow of the Institute of Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability.

Dr. Priscilla Johnson is a Mom, water resources engineer, and educator. With an enduring passion for the environment and 25 years in the chemical, water/wastewater, energy and tech industries, she believes that our planet can thrive without depleting natural resources. In 2022, she joined Upstream as Chief Strategy Officer where she inspires leaders to ideate, accelerate, and scale circular strategies that create thriving communities and build the reuse service infrastructure of tomorrow. She now serves as Interim CEO.Prior to arriving at Upstream, Dr. Johnson led one of the most aggressive water reduction strategies for Microsoft Cloud as Director of Water Strategy and co-crafting Microsoft’s net positive water strategy. Dr. Johnson holds degrees from New York University (B.S.) in Communications, Purdue University (M.S. and Ph.D.) in Civil and Environmental Engineering (Water Resources), a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Accredited Professional in Operations and Maintenance and a certified Datacenter Energy Practitioner (DCEP) and Heating, Ventilation and Cooling (HVAC) expert.

Agustina Mir, Co-Founder and COO of Sortile.Economist and Master in Public Administration from Columbia University. After working at the Central Bank of Chile and in impact consulting for financial inclusion issues, she founded Sortile with her co-founder Constanza Gómez to develop solutions to enhance circularity in the textile industry. Sortile develops technology for textile waste sorting and management. Sortile’s device identify the fiber composition of items allowing for a more efficient sorting process, and the software leverage data to provide transparency and traceability tools to the industry. Founded in 2021 and being winners of Circularity22 startup competition, Sortile currently has more than 15 clients in the US, has been recognized by numerous competitions in the North American, and actively collaborate in the discussions generated around the textile recycling industry.

As co-founder of the Bank and Vogue family of companies, Steven Bethell has been a thought leader and pioneer in the post-consumer textile space for over 20 years. He has dedicated his work life to innovative and relevant solutions to the crisis of stuff. Steven and his team have traveled to over 30 countries working extensively amongst the robust second-hand markets of the world.Steven is also the brainchild behind the largest remanufacturing plant in the world, where the circular economy for textiles is brought to life. Taking post-consumer waste and transforming it into relevant products, Steven works with big brands to help them bring their sustainability platforms to the next level.In his spare time Steven lives off the grid in the Canadian wilderness. He is an avid woodsman: fishing, paddling and learning about the outdoors and its many wonders.

Emily McGarvey is the Director of Sustainability at Room & Board. She is responsible for implementing social and environmentally-sound strategies that further advance Room & Board's mission of delivering built-to-last furniture through sustainable practices that prioritize American craftsmanship. Emily brings 20 years of experience spearheading social and environmental strategies with a focus on product, supply chain, operations, and branding. As Target's Director of Corporate Social Responsibility, she played an integral role in developing the corporation's sustainability program, rolling out enterprise-wide initiatives including the company's chemical management and transparency policy and their Car Seat Trade-In program. In 2018, she founded Star Impact Consulting, where she provided purpose-driven strategy and branding for both for-profit and nonprofit business sectors such as Apparel Impact Institute.Before leading social and environmental initiatives, Emily held various roles in buying, sourcing, and product development where she drove positive financial results through global product management, category management, financial analysis, vendor negotiation, market & trend analysis, and cross functional teams.Emily received her Bachelor of Arts from Concordia College where she studied business and English writing.

Terry Campbell began his career in the sustainable wood products industry in 2000 with the Certified Forest Products Council. In 2004, he started a consulting practice focused on training, certification expertise and marketing for sustainable wood product companies. Joining Sustainable Northwest Wood in 2014 he now works on creating markets for wood products that protect ecosystem services, provide rural economic development, and connect people to place. In his spare time, he co-created a weeklong series of events in Portland, OR called Sustainable Building Week that is attended by hundreds of design and construction professionals who want to learn, connect, and collaborate.When he is not talking about sustainable wood or buildings he enjoys going on trips with his wife, rock climbing and cycling.