GreenBiz 23 Program

As the Executive Director of Perpetual, Ellie is focused on facilitating the transition to the reuse economy, starting with foodware in smaller US cities. Ellie has been working on solutions to the plastic waste problem since she was the lead author for Sea of Opportunity in 2017. Since then her work has included 'The Dirty Truth about Disposable Foodware,' commissioned by The Overbrook Foundation, and the development of the Living Landscape of Reusable Solutions (www.reuselandscape.org), also commissioned with Overbrook in partnership with The Plastics Solutions Fund. Other work includes Reducing Plastic Pollution: Campaigns That Work (www.campaignsthatwork.org), advising Morgan Stanley on their Plastic Waste Resolution, and working with the Reusable Packaging Association. Ellie began her work as a strategy consultant with The Boston Consulting Group in 2005 and spent six years with Blu Skye Sustainability Consulting working with companies such as Walmart, Nestle Purina, Energizer, and Microsoft. Ellie has a dual degree in Economics and Public Policy from Brown University and an MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Gaurab is the co-founder and CEO of Solugen. As a physician-scientist, Gaurab took an oath to first do no harm—and for him, that goes beyond patients or medicine. So in 2016, he started Solugen to decarbonize the chemicals industry, one of the most damaging for people and the Earth. Gaurab believes in using biology in unconventional ways to solve incredibly complex problems and is building a world-class team to join him on the journey. Gaurab studied computational neuroscience as an undergraduate at Brown University and received his MD & PhD in cancer biology and enzymology at the University of Texas. He is an author or co-author on more than 20 peer-reviewed publications and patents, and he is a Forbes 30 Under 30 in Industry and Manufacturing.

Senior global executive with more than 25 years of diverse experience leveraging corporate responsibility, sustainability, advocacy and communications to generate business and brand value.

Jennifer holds a M.A. in International Economics and Latin American Studies from The Johns Hopkins University Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and a B.A. with honors in Latin American Studies from Mount Holyoke College. She currently serves on the board of ECPAT and Net Impact and is co-chair of the Sustainability Steering Group of The Consumer Goods Forum.

Julian Moffatt is the Principal Solutions Strategist, ESG for VelocityEHS. Julian contributes his expertise in ESG product creation for VelocityEHS, and oversees the ESG team. Prior to working at VelocityEHS, he has had a multitude of EHS experience, ranging from Vice President of Client Solutions at e3 Solutions, EHS Solutions Manager at Blue292 Inc, and Environmental Health Safety Specialist at Caribou Systems Corporation. Julian studied Environmental Resource Studies at the University of Waterloo in Waterloo, Ontario.

Dr. Spencer Meyer is the Head of Science at NCX and is responsible for ensuring NCX is deploying and advancing the most credible, innovative science on natural capital solutions. He is an innovator and leader with 20 years of experience working collaboratively with NGO, government, private sector, and academic partners to solve natural resource challenges. He is a co-founder of Sebago Clean Waters, an advisor to conservation NGOs and private foundations, and a frequent speaker on forest management, watershed protection, natural climate solutions, conservation finance, and partnership development. 

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.

Prior to designing, implementing and managing thousands of organics recycling programs at Rubicon, I helped develop composting programs for businesses and municipalities at the Sustainable Packaging Coalition. I received my Master of Science in Regenerative Studies at Cal Poly Pomona, where my thesis focused on municipal composting and anaerobic digestion programs. I have written for BioCycle and also established a state permitted composting facility in North Carolina. I am a certified permaculture designer and teacher and enjoy playing music and being outdoors.

As SAC CEO Amina is responsible for the overall leadership and management of the organization. She leads the executive team and works with the board of directors to develop and implement the organization’s strategic plan.
 
Previously, Amina was the Vice President of Membership at the SAC, a leadership role in which she focused on providing exceptional customer service, account management, member value and business development for the organization. Amina worked with global members to increase adoption of the Higg Index and improvement of Higg scores through impact solutions.
 
Prior to joining the SAC, Amina was a senior manager on the Global Sustainability team at Gap Inc. where she led environmental initiatives across owned and operated facilities as well as in their supply chain. She led the development of Gap’s environmental sustainability strategy and the creation, execution and achievement of ambitious enterprise goals on energy and waste at owned and operated facilities. Amina also led the first large-scale deployment of the Higg Index across Gap’s supply chain, and has been involved in the creation, development, piloting and rollout of the Higg since its inception.
 
Trained as an architect, Amina has designed and managed construction of retail stores, skyscrapers, houses, hotels, and museums. She has a B.S. in Architectural Studies from the University of Illinois and a Master of Architecture degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

For over 12 years, Blake has worked with Fortune 500 companies, industry associations, NGOs, foundations, family offices, and governments to develop and execute sustainability leadership strategies.  He advises clients from a variety of industries, including energy; apparel, footwear, and textiles; CPG, retail, and packaging; and food and agriculture, among others.  Blake also works closely with multi-stakeholder initiatives, like the Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC), to help transform entire value chains.  During the formation of the SAC, Blake led the design of the prototype Higg Index.

Before Blu Skye, Blake worked in the Strategy & Operations practice of Deloitte Consulting. Blake holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and BSB from the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota.  Outside the office, Blake enjoys many outdoor activities including paddling, fishing, gardening, road and mountain biking, skiing, hiking, and, America’s newest obsession, pickleball.

Jay Watson leads efforts to advance progress on General Mills global impact initiatives, notably the 2030 regenerative agriculture commitment and enterprise climate ambition. In his role, Jay collaborates with farmers, farm advisors, NGOs, suppliers and retailers to deploy programs seeking to improve ecological and economic outcomes of agricultural systems in targeted supply sheds.

Prior to joining the Global Impact Team in 2017, Jay spent 10 years in a variety of buying roles within the company’s global sourcing organization. Jay holds B.S. in Finance and a B.S. in Economics from Arizona State University and a MBA from the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management.

Emily grew up in rural Northern California in a sustainable subsistence farming and ranching environment. She attended Connecticut College where she double majored in Environmental Studies and Anthropology. After college she attended Flinders University of South Australia where she obtained a Masters Degree in Environmental Management and a second Bachelors Degree in  Education. Emily has worked in a variety of jobs related to natural resources including nine years managing Tribal Environmental Programs in California and Nevada and assisting other Tribes in a variety of capacities related to Natural Resources, Hazard Mitigation, and Environmental Sustainability. Through Intertribal Agriculture Council Emily works to assist Tribes and Tribal Producers with regenerative practices, soil building, soil health knowledge, climate change challenges, drought, water quality, pest management, habitat protections, riparian buffers, pollinator protection, and other natural resources related inquiries.

David is a Product Manager at C3 AI, where he focuses on designing AI-enabled enterprise sustainability software. Prior to joining C3 AI, David was the Director of Research – Projects at the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (now part of IFRS) where he co-led the team that developed the SASB sustainability disclosure standards. David also led efforts at SASB to drive convergence among ESG reporting standards, working extensively with other standard-setters, regulators, investors, and companies. David has an MBA from UC Berkeley – Haas as well as undergraduate degrees in Chemical Engineering and Materials Science & Engineering from UC Berkeley.

Rob oversees the development and establishment of Aspiration’s global carbon portfolio as well as the Aspiration carbon credit quality standards. He’s been a leader in the climate change and carbon business for over 12 years, pioneering the very industry standards in carbon markets at the foundation of Aspiration’s business.

Sheila Bonini leads the private sector engagement team at WWF, overseeing a team of sustainability professionals supporting the organization’s conservation mission. WWF works with more than 100 companies and that works spans from sustainability sourcing to awareness-raising, all with the goal of harnessing the power of the private sector as a force for conservation.

Sheila joined WWF from The Sustainability Consortium (TSC), a global organization focused on making consumer products more sustainable, where she served as Chief Executive Officer. In that capacity, she focused the organization on developing strategies and tools across the full product lifecycle that help to transform consumer goods supply chains. Prior to joining TSC, Sheila spent more than 15 years with the global consulting firm McKinsey & Company in the US, Europe and South America. Sheila served as senior expert consultant and co-leader of McKinsey’s Sustainability Transformation Service, and her work focused on the link between social and environmental impact and financial value creation. Prior experience includes investment banking at Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs.

Sheila received an AB degree in Applied Mathematics from Harvard University and an MBA from Stanford University Graduate School of Business.

Dave is the founder of [OPLN] Ocean Plastics Leadership Network. The OPLN, made up of 130+ organizations, is an activist-to-industry network dedicated to solving the ocean plastics crisis. The OPLN launched the Global Plastics Treaty Dialogues series with WWF and Greenpeace in March 2020, an ongoing multi-stakeholder series engineered to build capacity and understanding around a Global Plastics Treaty, with global, regional, and country level tracts. Participants include over 400 organizations from 40 countries across the vast plastic stakeholder spectrum.

Nellie Cohen is the Director of Circular Revenue Models at Anthesis. Nellie holds over 15 years of sustainability experience and is widely recognized as a leading figure within the circular economy movement. She spent nearly a decade at Patagonia as the architect of the brand’s precedent-setting and award-winning circularity program, Worn Wear. Prior to joining Anthesis, Nellie founded Baleen. There she consulted with notable apparel brands to develop circular business models, product systems and the related marketing and communications. A former lecturer in Industrial Ecology at UC Santa Barbara, she holds a BA in Environmental Systems from UC San Diego and a MS in Biological Oceanography from Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

Matt Prindiville is a recognized thought leader in the circular economy space in the United States and globally. He's currently the CEO of CLYNK, a circularity solutions provider making it easy for consumers and brands to do the right thing. Matt is focused on scaling solutions to complex environmental problems and has helped establish four major sustainability movements: 1. safer chemicals in products and packaging; 2. extended producer responsibility (where producers pay to take back their products or packaging for reuse or recycling); 3. plastic pollution reduction; and 4. reusable packaging as a transformative solution to waste. Matt helped found the global Break Free from Plastic Movement, the Cradle2 Coalition, the Make It Take It Campaign, the Electronics Takeback Coalition, the Multi-State Mercury Campaign, and the Safer Chemicals and Healthy Families Coalition. Matt has advised the United Nations Environment Program, World Economic Forum, and Urban Sustainability Directors Network on their plastic pollution and circularity strategies and written for the Guardian, GreenBiz, Resource Recycling, Waste Dive, and Sustainable Brands among other publications. His work has been featured in the Economist, the Washington Post, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, National Public Radio, 60 minutes, and several documentary films.