Speakers

Abby catalyzes regenerative business leaders with human sustainability and helps them to embrace radically collaborative ways of working together, producing strong business results and sustainable cultures. Abby draws from nearly two decades of experience building human-centered design teams and product development processes; co-founding a mission driven and venture funded startup; over 12 years of mindfulness study and teaching; expertise as a Certified Professional Co-active Coach (CPCC) through the Co-Active Training Institute (CTI); and her roots as a trained product designer and strategist. Abby holds an MFA in Product Design from Stanford University and a BFA in Industrial Design from Carnegie Mellon University.

Adam leads the sustainable operations team at World Energy and heads the digital supply chain, transferring emissions benefits to customers. Adam co-led aviation’s first Contract for Differences (CfD) sustainable fuel agreements to solve variable market challenges. He also serves as Board Chair of the Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials (RSB).

In his previous role at RMI, Adam was the chief architect of the sustainable aviation fuel certificate (SAFc) concept, a first-of-its-kind market instrument to address scope 3 (indirect) emissions in the supply chain. He was also a co-founder of the Sustainable Aviation Buyers Alliance (SABA) with the Environmental Defense Fund and now Neoteric.

Ahmad Thomas is the CEO of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group (SVLG), one of the nation’s most dynamic business associations.

He has catalyzed industry-leading initiatives with global technology brands to operationalize change around diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) from the Boardroom to the C-suites and beyond.

As a change agent and next generation business leader, Thomas partners with SVLG’s nearly 400 member companies to promote entrepreneurial solutions to strengthen Silicon Valley business competitiveness, bolster its innovation ecosystem, and create shared economic value throughout the greater Bay Area and California.

A former investment banker and senior Congressional aide, Thomas brings nearly 20 years of experience working both in and on behalf of businesses, social enterprises, and governments, where he has honed a deep understanding of the essentiality of public-private partnerships and the intersection of equity, policy, and technology that drives Silicon Valley’s innovation infrastructure.

Thomas managed over $15 billion in public infrastructure, social impact (ESG), and development project offerings across multiple sectors including most notably executing the first ever Social Bonds issuance for a non-profit in the U.S. municipal bond market.

His cross-functional skill set is grounded in purpose driven growth and strategy, with a deep working knowledge of the practice and application of ESG principles.

Thomas serves on several boards aligned with his core passions around technology, sports and adventure, and helping those in underserved communities.

Alex Smith is a Senior Food and Agriculture Analyst at the Breakthrough Institute, an environmental think-tank in Berkeley, California. Alex works on topics related to agricultural innovation, geopolitics, and decarbonization and has written extensively on U.S. agricultural policy, protein transitions, and global food trade.

Aly is an Investor on the Closed Loop Ventures Group team –– the seed and pre-seed investment division of Closed Loop Partners focused on catalyzing innovations in the circular economy. She leads sourcing, diligence, transactions and portfolio management. Prior to joining Closed Loop Partners, Aly was an Engagement Manager in McKinsey & Company’s Sustainability and Energy practices. She has deep expertise in cross-value chain innovations and cutting–edge technologies supporting circular business models in advanced manufacturing, textiles, building products and consumer goods. Aly has supported companies ranging from early- and growth-stage startups to Fortune 50 enterprises with a focus on operations, investment and top-of-house strategy. Aly earned her Master’s from the London School of Economics and Political Science and her BA from Davidson College. Originally from the Midwest, Aly currently resides in New York City where her love for fresh pressed beet juice may have tipped the scales to an obsession.

Alyssa Rade is the chief sustainability officer at Sustain.Life , where she leads the company’s strategy for customer-facing sustainability content. Her 10+ years of corporate sustainability experience guides the program recommendations, emissions tracking, and third-party certifications featured in Sustain.Life’s software. Before joining Sustain.Life, Alyssa directed the sustainability program at Vornado Realty Trust, where she managed green building certifications, waste and recycling, energy efficiency, health, and wellness for over 30 million sf of commercial office space. Alyssa is accredited as a LEED and WELL AP and holds an MPA in Environmental Science and Policy from Columbia University and a BA in Environmental Studies from Washington University in St. Louis.   

Andrea Learned is a writer and social strategist by way of marketing to women and sustainable business. The thread that has run through her 25+ year career has been building connections in meaningful and human scale ways. No matter the frame, her work has always been about seeing behind the task at hand, and looking beyond the next quarter, to connect people and projects in ways that move the big ideas forward. She's enjoyed a career in writing and consulting on marketing to women that led to a deeper look at organizational leadership and then collided (in a good way) with her personal passion for sustainability.  From there she wrote a Master’s thesis on what makes for good corporate sustainability leadership, and that’s when she jumped into social networking with both feet. Connecting and discovering how social engagement can so significantly amplify ideas and messages – and forward movement scale change – is what now drives her work as both a writer and social engagement consultant.  Learned has written for numerous industry trade publications and regularly writes for the Huffington Post, eBrandingmarketing.com, and Marketingprofs.com, as well as her own blog, Learned On Women. She has presented to international business audiences, from the Gulf Marketing Review conference in Dubai, U.A.E, and the Baltic Marketing & Advertising conference in Tallinn, Estonia, to U.S.-based gatherings, such as: the Pacific Coast Builders Conference, the Photo Marketing Association International and the American Gem Society. Follow Learned on Twitter @AndreaLearned. 

Andreas Aepli has been the Chief Financial Officer of Climeworks since early 2021, leading fundraising, FP&A, accounting, tax and treasury. He holds an MBA from INSEAD as well as a BA in Business Administration from the University of St. Gallen. Prior to Climeworks, Andreas worked for 12 years for Swiss Engineering Group Bühler in General Management & Finance roles across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia, most recently helping to build the world’s first industrial plant for making sustainable proteins from insects.

Andrew brings to Obvious Ventures a lifelong passion for building companies around sustainable systems and people power. For over a decade, Andrew has focused on clean technology and clean energy solutions. He started down the clean tech path with Energy Innovations in 2003, which he grew from a business plan to a major solar developer serving customers like Google, Disney, Sony Pictures, and British Telecom. After selling the company to Suntech in 2008, Andrew served as Chief Commercial Officer at Suntech as well as Vice President of Global Product Strategy. During his tenure, Suntech became the largest solar company in the world. After leaving Suntech, Andrew spent two years as Vice President of Distributed Generation for Nextera Energy, the largest clean energy developer in the US. Before his clean tech career, Andrew spent a decade building companies in the early days of “Web 1.0.” In 1998 Andrew co-founded Bigstep.com, an e-commerce platform designed to serve the needs of small businesses entering the Internet age. He has been supporting the enterprising ideas of people power ever since. Andrew is a member of the Advisory Board for GE’s distributed generation business, Current by GE. He is also a member of the NREL Investor Advisory Board. A graduate from Dartmouth College, Andrew lives in Burlingame, CA with his wife and three children. When he's not helping to build early stage companies, Andrew builds wooden boats and furniture. Andrewwas born in New York City and spent his formative years on an avocado ranch in Ojai, California.

Andrew Chen is the Principal for aviation decarbonisation at RMI, where he leads work to accelerate the path to net-zero air transport through investment and production in high-quality sustainable aviation fuel. Andrew has more than 15 years’ experience in net-zero carbon and sustainability strategy development, environmental impact assessment, and emissions modelling and management. Previously, he was head of emissions strategy at Heathrow Airport, where he developed and embedded climate-change and air-quality strategies. He has also advised global brands in aviation, food production and packaging, and motorsports on topics including net-zero target-setting and SBTi, supply-chain decarbonisation and stakeholder engagement.

On February 9, 2021, President Biden appointed Andrew Mayock to serve as the Federal Chief Sustainability Officer. As the Federal Chief Sustainability Officer, Andrew Mayock leads President Biden's efforts to improve the sustainability of the Federal government, including by helping Federal agencies prepare for and respond to the impacts of climate change on their operations and services.

Andrew brings over 25 years of public and private sector experience to the Biden Administration, including service in the Obama and Clinton Administrations. In the Obama Administration, Andrew served as Deputy Director for Management and Associate Director for General Government Programs at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). At OMB, he led OMB's management offices and the President's Management Council with a focus on digital services, cybersecurity, acquisitions, financial management, personnel and performance management. As Associate Director for General Government Programs, he oversaw policy and budget for six cabinet agencies comprising $225 billion of the President's budget and covering over one million federal employees.

Prior to his OMB roles, Andrew served as the Deputy Vice President for Compact Operations for East and Southern Africa at the Millennium Challenge Corporation. He served as Executive Secretary at the U.S. Treasury Department from 2009-2010.

In the Clinton Administration from 1995-2000, Andrew worked at the White House and the U.S. Treasury Department. Andrew was a consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton from 2003-2009 and McKinsey & Company from 2017-2020, where he focused on public sector programs.

During 2019–2020, Andrew served on the steering committee of the Climate 21 Project, which delivered advice for a coordinated, rapid-start, whole-of-government climate response.

Andrew received a bachelor's degree from the University of Illinois, law degree from The George Washington University Law School, and a master in public administration from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

He and his wife have two children and reside in Washington, D.C.

Anna Hammond is the Founder and CEO of Matriark Foods, a food waste startup that upcycles farm surplus and fresh-cut remnants into healthy, shelf-stable vegetable products for institutional foodservice. Matriark is building a circular food future, creating products that solve for inefficiencies in the supply chain while combating climate change—at scale. The first Matriark product to market is a low-sodium vegetable broth concentrate that diverts 1,500 pounds of vegetables from landfill and 1,033.35 pounds of methane gas per pallet sold. Since its founding in 2018, Matriark has participated in the Food Systems 6 Accelerator, the global Huhtamaki Circular Economy Start Up Program, and the Foodbuy Accelerator for Minority and Women Owned businesses. Matriark was featured as a leader and innovator in Tetra Pak’s 2020 global sustainability report. 

Prior to founding Matriark Foods, Hammond spent 25 years as a nonprofit leader at The Museum of Modern Art New York and Yale University, successfully building and scaling programs and teams into dynamic, impactful, stable organizations. Most recently, Hammond was Executive Director for The Sylvia Center, which provides evidence-based food and nutrition education programs to teens and families in public housing community centers across the 5 boroughs of NYC and in all 6 school districts in Columbia County in upstate New York. During her tenure, Hammond grew the program from 300 to more than 25,000 students, reducing health disparities in underserved communities and empowering the next generation to lead healthier lives. Hammond is a founding Board member of the Upcycled Food Association, and she serves as an advisor to The Rockland Farm Alliance and Heroic Food, a nonprofit that trains military veterans for careers in sustainable farming and food entrepreneurship.

Anna Robertson is the co-founder and Chief Content Officer for The Cool Down, the first mainstream climate brand. Anna is an Emmy and Murrow Award-winning executive and producer who has shaped media brands and built content that speaks to Americans. Before The Cool Down, she served as Vice President for Content & Partner Innovation for ABC's Owned Television Stations, prioritizing climate coverage and executive produced the special “Our America: Climate of Hope.” She was a significant contributor to the Yahoo News brand, leading Yahoo Studios and becoming Yahoo's Head of Video. Anna began her career at ABC News, first as Diane Sawyer’s producer and then as a senior producer for Good Morning America. She lives with her husband and two children in Park City, Utah, and is very involved in local sustainability efforts.
 

Founder and principal at White Star Communications, AnnaMaria brings over twenty years of strategic communications experience, spanning a variety of tech and product industries. She was the first in-house communications leader at Relativity Space, and overall all aspects of the company’s brand leading into a $500M Series D. Currently, AnnaMaria serves as a fractional communications partner for early stage climate tech companies, helping them hone compelling branding to reach investors, customers, and employees. AnnaMaria received her BA from Columbia University, and currently lives in the rain forests of Seattle with her husband, two children and their dog, Wash.

Anne is a leader in the emerging insects for food and feed industry. She is the Founder and CEO of Jiminy’s, the market-leader in sustainable dog food using insect protein. Anne led the development of the dossier for crickets as a nutrient source in dog food, which included several peer-reviewed and published studies. In 2021, she was elected to the board of directors of the North American Coalition for Insect Agriculture. Anne was named 2019 Entrepreneur of the Year for her work on Jiminy’s. Prior to Jiminy’s, Anne was a Vice President at Big Heart Pet Brands where she led Strategic Projects. Anne previously founded Secant, which she sold to IRI and has also worked for Accenture, Diageo and Seagram’s. She holds a BA from Washington University and an MBA from NYU. Currently, Anne lives in Berkeley, CA with her husband (Eric), daughter (Boothe) and two big pups (Tuco & Timber).

Anthony Bernheim, FAIA, LEED Fellow, is currently the Healthy and Resilient Buildings Program Manager at San Francisco International Airport, responsible for the management of the Net Zero Energy and the Commissioning, Activation, & Simulation Services programs within the Design and Construction group. On the forefront of sustainability, reimagining the built environment and its impact on human health, Anthony Bernheim is a visionary and respected leader in energy efficient, decarbonized, and high-performance building. Beginning as early as the 1980's he has devoted his career to pioneering the impact of the built environment on the health of people and the planet. He has a record of designing and implementing an integrated approach to sustainability, adaptation, resilience, and regeneration.

Arthur Chow is a Vice President at S2G Ventures. Arthur supports the Food & Agriculture strategy, focusing on consumer brands, marketplaces, and automation across the supply chain. His responsibilities include evaluating and executing investments as well as managing and supporting portfolio companies.

Arthur began his career in investment banking at UBS and later joined Frontenac, a middle market private equity firm, where he focused on food and consumer buyouts. Seeking operating experience, he worked for the Kraft Heinz Company and managed a $2 billion commercial P&L within the Foodservice business unit. Arthur then joined S2G prior to pursuing his MBA, where he primarily spent time working with several early-stage consumer-focused food companies including Tovala, Once Upon a Farm, and Dom’s Kitchen and Market.

Arthur received a BBA from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business with Highest Distinction and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Ashish Gadnis is the Co-founder / CEO of BanQu, which was recently named to the TIME Magazine 2019 Innovations List.

BanQu is the first ever blockchain-based Supply Chain & Economic Passport platform that enables transparency, traceability and sustainability for farmers (especially women), workers, waste pickers living in extreme poverty. BanQu has also become the leading platform for ensuring COVID-19 supplies are reaching to the most vulnerable nations and communities in the MENA region.

BanQu is being used in 40+ countries across half million beneficiaries today.

Prior to his current engagements, Mr. Gadnis was the founder and CEO of multiple technology startups, the last one of which was acquired by a $1.5 billion global consulting firm in 2012.

Over the past 25 years Ashish has been recognized for his private / public sector contributions with awards such as – MIT Innovate for Refugees (Syrian refugees) award, Young Global Leader (World Economic Forum), Minority Business Leader (Twin Cities Business), 40 under 40 (Business Journal), Change-Makers Innovator Award (Coding Schools in Refugee Camps in East Africa) and Battery Ventures Innovation Award – Democratic Republic of Congo (for Asili: a mobile / cloud-based business focused on reducing infant child mortality, improving maternal health and increasing livelihood in conflict zones).

Ashish has a Bachelor’s degree in Systems Engineering from Bombay University, MBA in Finance and Marketing from the Carlson School and Executive Education in Global Leadership and Public Policy from Harvard Kennedy School.

Ashwani Kumar, Chief Operating Officer of Vanguard Renewables, has a remarkable career spanning over 30 years in the fields of waste management, organic diversion, and renewable energy generation. As a dynamic leader with a hands-on approach, Mr. Kumar has been instrumental in transforming both early-stage ventures and large organizations within the renewable energy sector. Before joining Vanguard Renewables, Ashwani Kumar served as the Senior Vice President of Global Operations for Anaergia, where he played a crucial role in driving the company's success. He has also held key positions as the Vice President of Engineering Operations at Harvest Power and Ovivo, contributing significantly to the growth and expansion of these companies. Mr. Kumar holds an Engineering and MBA degree. Mr. Kumar's expertise and in-depth knowledge in waste management and his passion for research and innovation has led him to publish a Handbook on waste management, further cementing his reputation as a thought leader in the field. Additionally, Ashwani Kumar holds multiple international publications and patents. With his experience and strategic acumen, Vanguard Renewables continues to pave the way for sustainable practices in the renewable energy industry and create a cleaner and greener future for generations to come.

Ashwin builds on his nearly 20 years of clean energy and climate background to advance meaningful technology development and drive commercialization. Before decarbonizing the industrial sector with AtmosZero, Ashwin completed his PhD in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Michigan, studying the thermo-physical properties of nano-carbonaceous layers in heat exchangers and diving into research based in thermodynamics and heat transfer. Ashwin joined ARPA-E at the U.S. Department of Energy as a Fellow in 2013, where he worked on high-risk, high-reward energy concepts related to combined heat and power systems, nuclear fusion, connected and automated vehicles, lightweight high-strength materials, electrochemistry, methane leak detection, and photovoltaics. He helped create and manage over $75M worth of federal programs to de-risk and advance novel energy technologies, and in doing so, fused his technical background with technology commercialization. He then joined Achates Power, where he led customer engagements, won more than $40M in competitive federal contracts, and commercialized novel high-efficiency power generation technology.

Bill Clerico, Founder & Managing PartnerSplitting time between San Francisco and Mendocino County, Bill loves both the forests of Northern California and the energy and pace of Silicon Valley. He is passionate about the potential of startups to create new tools for firefighters, policy makers, utilities, insurance companies, landowners and other stakeholders in order to restore a healthy relationship with fire.Prior to starting Convective Capital, Bill was co-founder & CEO of WePay, a fintech company which was acquired by J.P. Morgan Chase in 2017.

Dr. Cabiyo uses interdisciplinary approaches to investigate nature-based solutions to climate change. He has recently completed his PhD in the Energy and Resources Group at UC Berkeley, where he studied how policy and innovative technology can enable carbon-beneficial forest management. This work bridges industrial ecology, forest economics, and forest ecology.

Dr. Cabiyo's modeling work has focused on the role of innovative wood use in reducing carbon emissions, both in California and East Africa. His applied policy work focuses on improving forest carbon offset protocols. The intent of this work is to promote the more credible translation of carbon dioxide removals to a market context.

Bonnie Nixon, Director of ESG & Sustainability, Long Beach Container Terminal (LBCT), CA. Ms. Nixon leads the Net Zero 2030 Strategy for one of the greenest and safest container terminals in the world and also manages the day-to-day environmental strategies and programs for LBCT’s and the Port of Long Beach’s $3.5B investment in the future. Bonnie is also a Professor of Sustainable Supply Chain at Harvard and UCLA. Her prior experience includes Senior Partner at Environmental Resources Management (ERM); Director of Global Sustainability for Mattel Toys; Executive Director of The Sustainability Consortium (TSC); Director of Global Sustainability and Ethical Sourcing for Hewlett-Packard; Founder and Vice President of Environmental Consultancies BonnEco, Inc. and Circlepoint; and  Director of Public Relations for the Boston Harbor Cleanup Project. Ms Nixon also serves as a present and/or past Board Member for Sustainable Brands, Sustainable Works, Sustainability Roundtable, Sustainable Silicon Valley, Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition, and Responsible Sourcing Network. Bonnie obtained a Bachelors’ from Penn State in Sociology, a Masters’ Degree in Learning Technologies, and is currently completing a Ph.D. thesis on the Intersection of Environmental Justice and Modern Slavery for Complex Supply Chains, both at Pepperdine University

Breana Wheeler became BRE's Director of Operations in the US in June 2016. BRE is a 100-year-old building science research organization focused on making buildings better for people and for the environment. BRE developed BREEAM, the world’s first and leading science-based suite of validation and certification systems for a sustainable built environment.Breana oversees the deployment of the BREEAM family of standards in the US, working national and international clients to scale their sustainability approach using the program. Additionally, she supports technical work on Resilience and Social Impact in BREEAM. Prior to joining BRE, Breana worked for ten years as an internal advisor on environmental and sustainability risk management for large, multinational corporations.

Brenden is a recognized leader with 20 years of experience in built environment sustainability across public, private, and nonprofit sectors. At JLL, Brenden works with both Investors and Occupiers to decarbonize their real estate portfolios. Trained as an engineer, Brenden has deep technical expertise paired with broad experience in business strategy. Prior to joining JLL, Brenden led consulting work at Integral Group, the global leader in Net Zero Energy design engineering. At Integral, Brenden developed sustainable real estate strategy for 5 global technology companies and created the Equitable Climate Action Plan for one of the largest cities in California Previously, Brenden worked in the nonprofit sector. He led US Green Building Council’s operations across California, Washington, Oregon, and Hawaii, leading program development, fundraising, and strategic partnerships. Before that, Brenden created the Urban Land Institute’s climate resilience and adaptation program. This program developed resources for real estate investors to prepare for and adapt to climate risk. Earlier in his career, Brenden led the Green Building Program at the City of Santa Monica. There he developed one of the first green building codes, that became the basis for the statewide CALGreen code that is used today.

Brett Henkel’s unabashed optimism tempered by his mechanical engineering background and gas separation experience combine to bring a rare perspective to his position on Inventys’ executive team and board. Transferring the company’s breakthrough CO2 capture technology to customers’ sites will rely heavily on Brett’s strengths for identifying and understanding the technical and business details and relating those details to partners’ teams, approving agencies, and stakeholders. As co-founder, he was instrumental in creating the process and the hardware used to prove the technology’s effectiveness as well as mobilizing external support throughout the path to becoming a successful innovation. These experiences strengthened his knowledge of business development and program management priorities. Prior to launching Inventys, Mr. Henkel was the program manager for QuestAir Technologies’ fuel cell compact hydrogen production system with its partner, ExxonMobil. Brett received his Bachelor of Science in Physics, with distinction, and a Mechanical Engineering degree from the University of Victoria.

Carrie Song, Vice President for Renewable Road Transportation, Neste US Carrie joined Neste in 2020 and has spearheaded the growth and expansion of Neste MY Renewable Diesel in the North America market since then. Carrie is passionate about renewable fuels and other new technologies and innovations that can help the transport industry cut carbon emissions. Carrie has a track record of success in driving business growth for both Fortune 500 companies and startups in a variety of industries, including global commodity trade, IT, capital goods, retail consulting, energy and oil and gas. Carrie holds a BA in Economics and Public Administration from University of International Business and Economics in China, a Master in Management from London School of Economics in the UK, and a Master of Science in Marketing Research from Texas A&M University in the US.

Chante Harris is a champion of social and financial innovation. Throughout her career. she has successfully scaled nationwide campaigns, technologies, and ideas for the Obama Administration, Fortune 500 companies, and startups. Her writing and work have been featured by ImpactAlpha, Business Insider, The Milken Institute, and other notable publications.

As an operator, she has secured and effectively deployed millions of dollars for the implementation of climate projects and energy-efficient technologies. In 2020 she built a $10 million early stage climate tech venture studio in the U.S. focused on global companies deploying technologies across mobility, buildings, agriculture, waste, water, materials, and carbon. Chante recently completed a residency with Schmidt Futures and is now developing new financial and deployment models with a broader group of catalytic funders to address the funding gap for hard tech and material science climate technologies at the critical early infrastructure project stage.

Named by Forbes as a 30 Under 30 in the Energy Category, Nasdaq as a Woman to Watch in 2022, ACEEE as a Champion for Energy Efficiency, GreenBiz as 30 Under 30 Leader, America on Tech as an Innovator and Disruptor, and Women Enews as a Pioneering Woman in Sustainability, Chante is at the helm of driving climate innovation and advancing the energy transition across the globe. Chante has traveled the world to speak at global events like COP, GreenBiz, and TechStars.

In addition to her work leading in climate tech and investment, Chante launched and built the only global digital collective and community that is 100% dedicated to advancing women of color working across the sustainability industry. Since its launch in the summer of 2019, the community has brought together over 5,000 women of color through virtual and in-person events, social media channels, a digital community, and online publication. 

Chante is on the advisory committee for the first-ever global Climate Center being built on Governor's Island in NYC and sits on the Board of Summit Impact. She is a lover of nature and music, an avid meditator, and a poet.

Christopher Cayten has more than 10 years of experience in building sustainability, architecture and real estate development in the U.S. and around the world. In addition to overseeing CodeGreen’s operations and business development, Cayten manages energy efficiency, LEED and corporate sustainability projects for portfolios and Fortune 500 companies. Cayten also works with state agencies and local utilities to develop and maximize financial incentives for energy efficiency upgrades. He is currently working with the NYC Mayor’s Office of Long Term Planning to develop and communicate the goals of the City’s ambitious energy efficiency legislation, The Greener, Greater Buildings Plan. This plan aims to reduce the carbon footprint of New York City buildings by more than 10% by 2030. He is an active member of the Urban Green Council, and serves on the sustainability committees of REBNY and BOMA-NY. Cayten holds a BA in architecture from Yale University and a Masters of Architecture from the Yale School of Architecture.

Chris Magwood is obsessed with helping reverse climate change by making carbon-storing buildings that are also healthy, beautiful, efficient and inspiring. Chris has authored seven books on sustainable building, including Essential Sustainable Home Design (2017). He is co-editor of the Sustainable Building Essentials series from New Society Publishers, and recently, he contributed a chapter to the book The New Carbon Architecture.

In 1998 he co-founded Camel’s Back Construction, and over eight years helped to design and/or build more than 30 homes and commercial buildings, mostly with straw bales and often with renewable energy systems.

Chris has completed an MA at Trent University. His thesis, Opportunities for Carbon Removal and Storage in Building Materials which was published in the fall of 2019. Chris is an active speaker and workshop instructor in Canada and internationally.

Chris Wu is Vice President at Impact Engine, an institutional investor managing venture capital and private equity strategies that drive positive impact in the areas of economic opportunity, environmental sustainability, and health equity, where I focus on investing in sustainability and climate tech.

Prior to joining Impact Engine, he was an engineering consultant providing structural engineering services for the design and construction of municipal water infrastructure and green buildings, including the world’s first skyscraper to earn LEED Platinum certification. Previously, he was the owner and head baker of a bakery.

Chris holds a BS and MS in Structural Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.

Dan Connors is the CEO of and co-founder of Green Impact and an Accredited Net Zero Cloud Professional. He is an accomplished IT executive and team leader with over 15 years of consulting engagement experience. Dan has led large-scale implementations across various platforms at enterprise organizations. As CEO of Green Impact, he directs the organization's exceptional skills toward the greater cause of benefitting both customers and the planet. This dedication not only exemplifies his leadership prowess but also epitomizes his relentless pursuit of a sustainable and greener future for all.

Celebrating a decade in the solar industry, Dana Clare Redden is a passionate solar professional dedicated to the development of distributed generation solar globally. Growing up in a small rust-belt town in western Pennsylvania, the environmental impacts of fossil fuels shaped her perspective, particularly for disenfranchised communities and those most vulnerable. Realizing this need for environmental justice and greater resources, Dana founded Solar Concierge in 2012, a consultancy dedicated to helping communities and businesses go solar. In 2016, she founded Solar Stewards, a third party solar program directly connecting corporate social responsibility initiatives with impact capital to develop solar on universities, affordable and senior housing, places of worship, and non-profits. Dana holds a Bachelors of Science degree from Drexel University as well as an Executive MBA from IE Business School and Brown University. She currently resides in Atlanta, GA where she continues to work at the intersection of impact capitalism, environmental justice, and social entrepreneurship for communities worldwide

Daniel L. Sanchez is an engineer and energy systems analyst studying the commercialization and deployment of energy technologies that remove CO2 from the atmosphere. Sanchez’s work and engagement spans the academic, nongovernmental, and governmental sectors. As an Assistant Cooperative Extension Specialist, he runs the Carbon Removal Lab, which aims to commercialize sustainable negative emissions technologies, and supports outreach to policymakers and technologists in California and across the United States. Prior to joining the faculty of UC Berkeley, Daniel was a AAAS Congressional Science and Engineering Fellow serving in the Office of Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO). He has previously held positions with the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, Green for All, and the California Public Utilities Commission. He holds a PhD and MS from UC Berkeley’s Energy and Resources Group, and a BSE in chemical and biomolecular engineering from the University of Pennsylvania.

Danielle Conkling is the director of corporate social responsibility and ESG (environmental, social and governance) and serves as the ESG program office lead for Silicon Valley Bank. Her unique role at SVB combines her passion for giving back to the community with her extensive experience in advising entrepreneurs and leaders in the innovation economy. Based in Menlo Park, California, her leadership of program office ESG efforts advances the sustainability and ethical impact of the company’s investments and operations. Danielle’s responsibility over corporate citizenship guides oversight of the many ways in which SVB strives to be a catalyst for doing good in the world through corporate philanthropy, employee giving and volunteering, and community engagement. In addition, she directs compliance with the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA), which encourages banks to help meet the credit needs of low- and moderate-income individuals. Before her current position, Danielle focused on the financial needs of high potential growth clients, including founders, executives and investors. Before joining SVB, she worked at JPMorgan Chase, where she managed an affluent private wealth client base, as well as in private banking positions at Citigroup and Bank of America. Danielle holds a master’s degree in business administration from the Jones Graduate School of Business at Rice University and a bachelor’s degree in finance and international business from Georgetown University. Giving back both on and off the job, Danielle is a regional board advisory member of BUILD, which provides entrepreneurial experience to young people in underresourced communities, and of Girls Leadership, a nonprofit organization whose workshops and training programs equip young girls to develop the power of their voice. Outside of the office, Danielle enjoys skiing, hiking and whitewater rafting. An avid traveler, she prefers off-the-beaten-path destinations — her travels have taken her to Japan, Icela

David Felix is Vice President of Energy Development and Strategy and Head of Charging at Inspiration Mobility (“Inspiration”), the first Electrification Accelerator offering turnkey solutions to decarbonize commercial transportation at scale. Inspiration was founded in 2021 with one goal in mind: dramatically accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles by quickly and easily delivering the outcomes that matter to businesses: lower costs, higher reliability, improved safety and driver satisfaction, and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. To achieve these outcomes, Inspiration invests in, finances, builds, and operates whatever assets and solutions organizations and their employees need along every mile of their electrification journeys. Leveraging nearly 20 years of clean energy project development and finance experience, David leads energy and charging strategy, site acquisition and project development for the company. Passionate about accelerating the development of clean energy projects, David’s career spans the cleantech space, including experience in biofuels, renewables, vehicle electrification, and more. Prior to joining Inspiration, David led site acquisition and project development for TeraWatt Infrastructure, an electric vehicle fleet charging company. He was an early member of the Tesla Supercharger project development team, where he energized routes across the United States that had previously never been traveled by electric vehicles. David also led the financing, development and construction of utility-scale solar projects for MMA Energy Capital and NorthLight Power. David holds a MS in Environmental Science and Management from University of California, Santa Barbara and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Arizona.

A Director and Shareholder of Artemis Technologies, David is a founding member of Artemis Technologies and the Marketing Director. Prior to that, David was Commercial Director for Artemis Racing. A former international hockey player and law graduate from the University of Birmingham, David has a wealth of experience in Sales and Marketing. Having previously worked at IMG and Havas Media, David founded Tyler Sports Management in 2009, representing an impressive portfolio of clients including Mo Farah, Mike Brown, Iain Percy OBE, Christine Ohuruogu MBE, and Allan Wells MBE. After Tyler Sports Management was acquired in 2014, he joined Artemis Racing to lead the Swedish America’s Cup team’s commercial programme, before co-founding Artemis Technologies.David is also a founding trustee of the Andrew Simpson Foundation. He is responsible for marketing and product development strategy at Artemis Technologies.

Dick Cameron is the Vice President of Science at Pachama, a technology company using remote sensing and machine learning to scale nature-based solutions to climate change. He leads a team of forest ecologists, policy experts, and earth observation scientists developing tools and research that promote integrity in carbon markets through transparency and standardization.  Before Pachama, he was the Director of Science for the Land and Climate Programs in the California program of The Nature Conservancy. There he led research efforts to integrate natural climate solutions and biodiversity conservation into California’s land use and climate policies. His research has been published in journals such as Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Climatic Change, and Global Change Biology, and covered in media outlets such as the New York Times, NPR, and the Associated Press. He has a B.A. from Middlebury College and an M.A. from University of Colorado, both in Geography.

Dimitry Gershenson is the CEO and Co-Founder of Enduring Planet, a fintech platform offering fast, flexible, founder-friendly credit to all climate entrepreneurs.

Dimitry started Enduring Planet building on his 10+ years of experience across climate tech, operations, and impact investing.

Prior to Enduring Planet, Dimitry led M&A and served as COO for Rango Wireless, an Enduring Ventures portfolio company. Before that, Dimitry built Meta’s Energy Access program, a $15M+ investing initiative that enabled energy access for 3M people and unlocked nearly $500M in additional capital in underserved markets like Kenya and India. While at Meta, Dimitry also led the development of multiple predictive ML products in the cleantech space and built corporate accelerator programs for impact startups in India and Puerto Rico.

Outside of Enduring Planet, Dimitry sits on the board of Ecosafi, a Lowercarbon-backed climate startup enabling clean cooking in emerging markets. Dimitry holds an MS in Energy and Resources from UC Berkeley, a BS in Natural Resource Management from Rutgers University.

Doug Park, Ph.D., is a Partner at ERM with over 15 years of technical experience supporting clients on their decarbonization journey. He leads ERM’s strategic climate change partnerships and oversees all ERM’s activities related to Net Zero Cloud implementation and adjacent climate advisory services. Doug came to ERM from academia with a scientific focus on advanced geospatial technology, climate modeling, and the social impacts from climate change.

Drew Wilkinson is an experienced sustainability professional with a specialization in employee engagement and community organizing: his mission is to make sustainability part of everybody’s job. He founded and leads the employee sustainability community at Microsoft which now includes 8,000 members, 35 chapters around the world, and is a core part of Microsoft’s strategy to become carbon negative, water positive, and zero waste by 2030. 

Dylan 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 sustainability practice in business. A former music journalist, she lives in Brooklyn, NY.

Bringing 25 years of industry experience leading, managing, and consulting on a wide range of sustainability, green building, clean energy, and technology issues, Elaine is passionate about the power of multi-stakeholder alignment and helping people understand and respect the interconnectedness of our world. Elaine is currently focused on scaling up Third Derivative (D3) — a vertically-integrated global climate tech accelerator program founded by RMI and New Energy Nexus. D3 has been building an inclusive ecosystem to rapidly find, fund and scale climate tech innovation globally. By uniting and aligning committed investors, global corporates, and RMI's market, regulatory, and policy experts — all the stakeholders needed to bridge gaps faster — supported by financing and insights along the way, D3 increases the rate at which climate innovations can help us achieve a prosperous, equitable, and inclusive 1.5-degrees C world. Prior to joining the D3 leadership team, Elaine was widely recognized as the program director for VERGE at GreenBiz — the premier global event series focused on scaling solutions that bridge technology, sustainability, and systems-thinking across cities and industries. She has also had careers as a green building consultant, utility business strategist, engineer, and technologist. Elaine graduated from Duke University with a Master’s degree in engineering management and a Bachelor’s in biomedical engineering.

Emily Bass is the Federal Policy Manager for Food and Agriculture at the Breakthrough Institute, a global research center that works to identify and promote technological solutions to environmental and human development challenges. At Breakthrough, Emily focuses on coalition building and advocacy to implement policies that advance agricultural innovations to decarbonize the sector. Emily holds a BA in Public Policy and Economics from the College of William and Mary and she lives is Washington, DC.

Emma Armstrong is Executive Director at Anthesis Consulting Group. Her focus is in assisting corporations to derive tangible business value from the integration of environmental sustainability to their strategies, products, operations and communications.

Littlefoot Ventures represents a culmination of knowledge and experiences from Eva’s 15 years as a food systems practitioner driving change on global agriculture and food issues within the foodservice, restaurant, and retail industries. As an internationally recognized food systems expert, she has spoken at 30+ conferences reaching thousands of people across the globe. 

Eva was a founding team member of ReFED, the leading non-profit dedicated to reducing U.S. food waste, serving in multiple roles. She secured the initial funding from the Rockefeller Foundation, General Mills Foundation, and Walmart Foundation to establish the organizational framework for ReFED, helping it become the food waste leader it is today. She was also responsible for the wide distribution of the original ReFED Roadmap report which continues to influence corporate and philanthropic food waste strategies, and policy agendas.

Previous to ReFED, she worked at the World Economic Forum serving on the food and agriculture team. There, she supported multi-stakeholder partnerships in 12 countries across Southeast Asia, Africa, and South America to mobilize investment and coordination amongst global food companies (Cargill, Mondelez, Nestle, SABMiller, Syngenta, Unilever, Yara amongst others), heads of state (including the G7), UN agencies (EDP, FAO, WFP) and farmer organizations. She started Littlefoot to provide more dedicated support and services to food businesses, foundations, and nonprofits focused on creating positive environmental, social and economic impact. In becoming a mother (and thus creating “little feet” of her own), Eva has more urgency to ensure we leave a better, safer food system for her children, and yours. She also uses her expertise to serve as President of the Upcycled Food Foundation Board of Directors.

She is based in Boulder County, Colorado with her husband and two beautiful, goofy children.

Faraz Ahmad serves as Amazon’s Head of Net Zero Electricity and leads strategy and implementation across Amazon’s worldwide operations. In this role, Faraz partners with Amazon’s business and regional teams to formulate the strategy and implementation approach for electricity in support of Amazon’s overall sustainability goal of reaching net zero by 2040. Amazon is the world’s largest corporate buyer of renewable electricity.Previously, Faraz led strategy, business development and M&A for NextEra Energy’s Retail division which serves residential, commercial, industrial and institutional energy users across the US. In this role, Faraz was responsible for driving strategy and profitable growth, evaluating all venture capital investments and executing all acquisition transactions. During his tenure, he oversaw launches of new business ventures in home energy optimization and energy consulting.Faraz held a series of senior roles with General Electric (GE) focused on the energy sector. His global experience covers working in emerging markets, Europe and North America. In 2012, Faraz was seconded to an internal startup venture for GE Distributed Power, which was mentored by Eric Ries, Harvard Business School's entrepreneur in residence. He has experience in engineering, strategic planning, product management, P&L management and operations. Prior to GE, Faraz was a management consultant at the Boston Consulting Group in London serving government, utility and technology clients. His prior professional experience consists of engineering roles at British Nuclear Fuels, bp plc and Cambridge Silicon Radio plc. Faraz has authored a number of publications related to UK energy policy. Faraz is a Fellow of the Energy Institute and a member of the Institute of Engineering & Technology. He holds a First Class Bachelors and Masters degree in Electrical and Information Engineering from Cambridge University and MIT.

Gabriel Kra co-founded Prelude Ventures in 2013, after almost 25 years as an investor, entrepreneur, scientist, and activist. He is responsible for overseeing the firm’s investments in advanced energy, food and agriculture, transportation and logistics, advanced materials and manufacturing, and advanced computing. Gabrielserves on the Board of Directors for Renew Financial, Ripple Foods, Sense Labs, PLANT PV, Natron Energy, ClearMetal, Raxium, and Form Energy, and is active with Metalenz, Zymergen, Planet, QuantumScape, Catalog, Emergy and Spark Thermionics. Gabrielalso serves on the Board of Directors of Activation Energy and The CREO Syndicate, and on advisory boards for Cyclotron Road, Prime Coalition, and Carbon180.

Gesina Beckert is Director of Operations at Food for Climate League. She has a degree in International Business and holds multiple design-thinking certificates. Over her career in food supply chains, circular economy, and renewable energy organizations, she implemented social and environmental impact on four continents, recently as the Global Sustainability Project Manager at the Future Food Institute and the Food Program Lead at Fair Trade USA. She is dedicated to developing and implementing behavior change interventions and narrative strategies that inspire climate-friendly food behaviors.

Gregory, from Saint John, New Brunswick, has a youthful passion for aircraft and aerospace. Having first earned his Glider Pilot License (GPL) at the age of 16, he then followed that up by earning both his Private (PPL) and Commercial Pilot Licenses (CPL). As an experienced aerospace executive, Gregory holds both a Bachelor and a Master of Aerospace Engineering from Carleton University, and an MBA from the Haskayne School of Business. Gregory started his engineering career in repair design and then moved into the development of modifications and upgrades for the C-130 Hercules at Marshall Aerospace Canada. After working at Viking Air Limited as their Production Engineering Manager, and Plant Manager at the Twin Otter’s final assembly plant, Gregory led the product support team for the Canadair CL-215 & CL-415 and the organisation’s aftermarket support for a variety of other aircraft.

Gus is dedicated to driving an equitable clean energy transition. Currently, he supports Siemens Energy Ventures as they conduct corporate venture clienting, a process to assess, pilot, and scale startups to solve energy industry problems. He brings experience from Deloitte Consulting and a mechanical engineering undergrad, and in his free time enjoys instructing group fitness classes, hikes with his dog, and spending time on the lake in Austin, TX

Hannes is CEO and co-founder of climate tech start-up Carbonfuture, the Trust Infrastructure for durable carbon removal, offering products that seamlessly connect the entire carbon removal lifecycle.With a broad professional background in Financial Engineering, Hannes has worked for various financial institutions and is deeply knowledgeable about financial services and risk management. Before founding Carbonfuture, he ran the risk management unit of a mid-sized Swiss bank as well as heading consulting and audit projects for large banks globally at EY. His strong business background combined with his dedication to the environment have led him to create one of the world’s only platforms to focus exclusively on high durability, verifiable carbon removal, already boasting a market share of over 25%.Next to hosting Carbonfuture’s own Carbon Removal summit, Hannes has broad speaking experience as an expert guest in panels, podcasts, Fortune 500 company conferences and features regularly in publications such as the Wall Street Journal, Business Insider and Sifted or industry insight news outlets ranging from GreenBiz, over Carbon Herald and Carbon Pulse to Clean Technica.Hannes holds a PhD in mathematics from the University of Freiburg.

Hasitha is a highly skilled strategic leader and problem-solver with an unwavering passion for empowering businesses to leverage technology to solve the global climate crisis, while also unlocking economic opportunities. With over 10 years of experience in business development and management consulting, Hasitha has become an expert in delivering on targets and increasing client value, efficiency, and growth at purpose-driven organizations. Her expertise in strategic, large-scale, and complex business transformations has been invaluable to the clients she has worked with. In addition, Hasitha takes great pride in building meaningful professional relationships with his clients, which only serves to enhance the quality of his work.

Heather Clancy, vice president and editorial director at GreenBiz, specializes in chronicling the role of technology in enabling corporate climate action and transitioning to a clean, inclusive and regenerative economy. An award-winning journalist, she started her journalism career on the business desk of United Press International, and her articles have appeared in Entrepreneur, Fortune, The International Herald Tribune and The New York Times.

Clancy was the launch editor for the Fortune Data Sheet, the magazine's newsletter dedicated to the business of technology. She co-authored the Amazon best-seller for entrepreneurs, "Niche Down, How to Become Legendary By Being Different." She is proud to serve on the boards of the WSLA Alumnae Group, a mentorship organization dedicated to nurturing feminine leadership in the corporate sustainability movement, and EcoAthletes, a collective of collegiate, professional and amateur athletes dedicate to using their voices to surface solutions to climate change.

As a senior analyst at WattTime, Henry enables partners and collaborators to understand how they can affect the electric grid and achieve greater reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, whether through location-based renewables siting (Emissionality) or by incorporating load flexibility into their solutions. Henry specializes in carbon accounting, building performance, emissions-focused load shifting, and energy storage integration.

Husein Kitabwalla is CEO of Food Transformation and Tech & Services, North America, for Sodexo. As CEO of Food Transformation, he is responsible for carrying out Sodexo’s strategy for expanding our food services including food platform, convenience, digital & innovation, finance, M&A, marketing and strategy. As CEO of Tech & Services, he is responsible for a portfolio of activities including operational efficiency and growth, IT, facilities management services, foodservice program development, safety and supply management. Mr. Kitabwalla is a member of the North America Regional Leadership Committee for Sodexo, the global leader in Quality of Life services. Operating in 64 countries, Sodexo’s 420,000 employees serve 100 million consumers each day through On-site Services, Benefits and Rewards Services, and Personal and Home Services. Sodexo is committed to supporting diversity and inclusion and safety, while upholding the highest standards of corporate responsibility and ethical business conduct. Mr. Kitabwalla has a proven executive management track record and over 20 years of experience leading highly engaged teams that have developed and implemented award winning branded solutions and marketing strategies to drive Sodexo’s performance. Prior to his current position, he was the Global Head of Marketing for Sodexo’s Corporate Services segment, where he was responsible for creating and ensuring the execution of the company’s marketing vision. Before that, he established and led a global pricing team, responsible for coordinating Sodexo’s research, development and deployment of consumer pricing. He was named a “Mover and Shaper” in Restaurants & Institutions magazine as well as a national Finalist for the 2009 National Association Faces of Diversity Award. He serves on multiple advisory boards including the Conference Board, Founding Member of Fast Casual Executive Alliance and Technomics. He earned his BS degree from The College of Wooster, Wooster, OH.

Ingrid Irigoyen serves as the Associate Director, Ocean and Climate, for the Aspen Institute Energy and Environment Program (EEP) where she leads EEP’s work on ocean and coastal sustainability and decarbonization of the ocean economy. She is also Director of the Aspen Institute Shipping Decarbonization Initiative (Aspen SDI), which partners with leading organizations and companies to drive the transition to zero emission maritime shipping. She is the lead facilitator for Cargo Owners for Zero Emission Vessels (coZEV), a coalition of major multinational consumer products companies and other freight buyers working to accelerate the pace of decarbonization in maritime shipping and is the President and CEO of the Zero Emission Maritime Buyers Alliance (ZEMBA), a non-profit organization and coZEV initiative to enable companies access to zero-emission shipping solutions that are not currently available. Ingrid holds a Masters of Environmental Management from the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University and a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science from the University of New Hampshire.

As the director of buildings at GreenBiz Group James brings his passion and expertise in sustainable buildings to the mission of accelerating the just transition to a clean economy. For 15 years James has pushed the building industry to accelerate the creation of healthy, carbon-free beautiful spaces for all people to work and live. James built the first LEED Platinum Habitat for Humanity home and has consulted on award winning sustainable buildings throughout the US. James volunteers as the Chair of the Net-Zero Energy Coalition, on the Advisory Board of DC’s Building Innovation Hub and on his local Hyattsville Environmental Committee. He holds a Masters of Environmental Management from Yale and Bachelors of Industrial Design from Pratt Institute. When not trying to transform the building industry you are likely to find him dancing or playing with his kids.

Jan Hagen Andersen has over 30 years of experience in the maritime industry with a broad technical knowledge and business development understanding. After graduating from engineering college in Norway, he completed a Bachelor and a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington. He then joined Trans Marine Propulsion Systems, Inc. in 1991, a marine engineering and service company in Seattle with a focus on marine propulsion and ship machinery systems. In 2005, he joined DNV in Norway in the Machinery Section of Maritime Technical Advisory. The advisory group in DNV provides consultancy and non-class support services to ship owners, shipyards, manufacturers, designers, and other stakeholders. In 2010 he moved to DNV Maritime in Houston, Texas and is currently a Business Development Manager and the Regional Director for Maritime Decarbonization. The role focus on performance management, energy efficiency, environmental compliance, and service development for DNV’s maritime and shipping clients. He has been engaged with several projects and studies on alternative fuels and new technologies for ships and offshore units. He is a member of the SNAME M-16 Panel on Propulsion Shafting and is on the North America Marine Environmental Protection Association (NAMEPA) Board of Directors.

Jane is an Associate at RMI on the Clean Industrial Policy Team, where she works on heavy industrial decarbonization and hydrogen policy at both the federal and state levels. Before coming to RMI, she worked with Meta Platforms, Levi Strauss and Co., and the City of Alameda on sustainability and emissions reductions projects as a graduate student. She has also worked as a researcher at the Center for Law, Energy and the Environment at Berkeley Law and at the California China Climate Institute.Prior to graduate school, she served in the administration of California Governor Gavin Newsom in the office of First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom, and as a campaign consultant in Northern California before that.She holds a Bachelor's degree in Political Science and a Master's degree in Public Policy from University of California, Berkeley.

Janet Pogue McLaurin is a leader in Gensler’s global workplace practice areas and research initiatives. She is the Global Director Workplace Research which is one of six areas of focus within the Gensler Research Institute. Janet has been instrumental in leading Gensler’s award-winning workplace research advancing the science of workplace design as well as the WPIx client survey which measures space effectiveness, workplace experience, and what employees value on projects. An influential thought leader on the future of work, Janet shares her workplace expertise and research across the industry including CoreNet Global, IFMA World Workplace, ULI, Harvard LILA, SXSW, and WSJ Future of Everything; and with major media outlets including The Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, BBC, CNBC, CBS, NPR, Business Talk Radio, and Freakonomics.Janet, a Principal at Gensler, has spent four decades in both the Denver and Washington, DC offices. She co-founded Gensler’s Shanghai and Beijing offices and was Managing Director of the Denver office for over a decade. A registered Architect, she has served on the Gensler’s Board of Directors and currently serves on the Practice Area Management Committee for the firm. Janet was elevated to Fellow in the International Interior Design Association (IIDA) in 2017 and was recently elevated to The College of Fellows of The American Institute of Architects (AIA) for her notable contributions to the advancement of the profession of architecture.

Jason Salfi is co-founder and CEO of Dimensional Energy, a novel solar fuels platform technology. In addition to leading Dimensional Energy, Salfi serves as an Innovation Advisor for New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). Salfi's past experience includes consulting on product design standards and acquisition strategy to build profitable and regenerative business models for a market-leading, fortune 500 company (2015-2017). He has served as a mentor and EIR for the NYSERDA EIR Program, NEXUS-NY Clean Tech Accelerator, and 76 West Economic Development Competition. Salfi cofounded founding B Corporation - Comet Skateboards in 1997. The Comet Skateboards core mission is to inspire creativity through skateboarding, community, and optimism for the future. Salfi has a BS in Natural Resources Management from Cornell University.

Jason has 15+ years of operations and project management experience related to energy policy and sustainability management. His global management experience spans geographies and industries, and Jason particularly has expertise in helping manufacturing clients initiate, implement, and navigate their facilities’ energy management programs and policies. His senior leadership positions and guidance has resulted in significant reductions in energy consumption, energy spending, and emissions for organizations he has advised or been directly responsible for Jason holds a Master’s degree in the Business of Energy at Clarkson University as well as a Lean Black Belt and is a Certified Energy Manager, C.E.M.​ Jason is based in Northern New York.

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.

Jennifer Place is a Principal on the Climate Tech Investment team at Fifth Wall—the largest asset manager focused on improving, future-proofing, as well as decarbonizing the built world—where she focuses on investments in technologies that decarbonize the built world. Prior to joining Fifth Wall, Jennifer was an Investment Director at Finistere Ventures where she led thematic coverage and investment efforts in companies driving innovation across the agri-food value chain, powering the future of food commerce & next-generation sustainable food products. Prior to joining Finistere, Jennifer was a private equity investor at Energy Capital Partners, focused on existing and new-build energy projects within renewable energy & infrastructure services. Jennifer began her career as an investment banker at Credit Suisse. Jennifer grew up in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and currently lives in San Diego, CA. She graduated from Stanford, receiving her BS in Energy Resources Engineering.

Jerome Foster II is an environmental activist, voting rights advocate, and emerging technology engineer. He sits on President Biden’s White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council. Based in New York City, but born and raised in Washington DC, he served as intern for the late Honorable John Lewis and served as Board Member for the DC State Board of Education. He now serves as Executive Director of OneMillionOfUs which educates and mobilizes young people to register and turn out to vote.

He studied International Environmental Governance, Policy, and Social Justice at Harvard University and was invited to speak at the United Nations High Commission on Human Rights. Jerome helped to pass the Clean Energy DC Act (one of the most comprehensive decarbonization bills being implemented in the nation). He is one of the lead organizers of the Fridays For Future youth climate strike movement holding weekly climate strikes in front of the White House and Harvard University for over 80 weeks. For the first climate strike in February, 2019, he mobilized 400 students from his school and took a citywide leadership role in organizing climate strikes and speaking out about climate justice issues in rallies and town halls. Later on, he began working alongside Jane Fonda to kickstart Fire Drill Fridays in front of the U.S. Capitol.

His experience in climate activism extends further via his work with National Geographic, where we journey across the island of Iceland as a Climatology Researcher and Virtual Reality Developer.

Before his time as an activist, he coded civic-based 3D Virtual Reality Environments. Later winning the World Series of Entrepreneurship for creating a civic-based virtual reality organization called TAU VR.

Jesse Simons is Co-Founder and Chief Commercial Officer at SOLARCYCLE, a tech-driven solar circular economy platform. Prior to founding SOLARCYCLE, Jesse served on the Executive Team of the Sierra Club as Chief of Staff and National Program Director where he led climate and clean energy strategy. He brings in-depth knowledge on climate and the circular economy and has extensive experience scaling and managing large teams in both entrepreneurial and established environments.

Jesse is Director of Global Sustainability at Delta Air Lines, overseeing the company’s decarbonization strategy and building solutions that integrate sustainability throughout the company’s operations. At Delta, Jesse was a co-founder and served as the President of business resource group Green Up, helping to connect employees passionate about environmental sustainability to drive positive change and add value to Delta’s business. Jesse has also worked with Delta’s Fleet Strategy team, driving detailed financial, operational and strategic analyses and recommendations to optimize the airline’s fleet of aircraft.

Jessica has spent her career creating system change through partnerships, focusing on elevating the voices of those with lived experiences to serve the broader needs.AS the Director of the Soil & Climate Alliance her focus is on engaging with those across the food and agriculture supply chain to shift toward whole scale regenerative transition to rebuild soil health, restore climate balance, and revitalize farmers, farmworkers, and rural communities. Bringing together expertise in small grains agriculture, children’s nutrition, and global politics Jessica is able to lead initiatives focusing on connecting agriculture, food, and health, while supporting policy initiatives to ensure investment to move projects to scale.Prior to her work with the Soil and Climate Alliance Jessica collaborated on the creation of market opportunities for famers while educating consumers on the value of locally sourced products in the Mid-Atlantic Region through her work with FRESHFARM.Over the course of her career Jessica has built relationships across Central and South Asia, as well as Latin America to support resources flowing to and through communities on the front lines of development across the energy and health industries.

Joel Makower is a well-respected voice on business, the environment, and the bottom line. As a writer and strategist on corporate sustainability practices and clean technology, he has helped a wide range of companies align environmental goals with business strategy. Joel is a bestselling author or co-author of several books on business and sustainability, including his latest, The New Grand Strategy: Restoring America's Prosperity, Security, and Sustainability in the 21st Century (St. Martin's Press).

He is a frequent commentator in print, broadcast and online media, and a sought-after speaker to companies and business groups around the world. In 2012, Joel was awarded the Hutchens Medal by the American Society for Quality, which cited “his ability to tell compelling stories that both inform and inspire business leaders toward profitable action.” From 1991 to 2005, Joel was editor of The Green Business Letter, an award-winning monthly newsletter on corporate environmental strategy. He is a graduate in journalism from the University of California at Berkeley and is an advisor to both for-profit and non-profit organizations. The Associated Press has called Joel "the guru of green business practices."

With over 25 years of global experience in aligning strategy and execution, Johanna is a seasoned leader now working in the field of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) strategy. As the Vice President of Professional Services at Measurabl, the world's leading ESG SaaS platform for real estate, she has built and continues to lead a fast-growing team of consultants who help clients set and act on their ESG data, goals, and reports.Johanna has broad expertise in global corporate real estate, including managing with direct P&L responsibility. She has worked with clients in various sectors, such as healthcare, technology, building systems, and government, providing innovation, location, and data strategy services. She holds a LEED AP credential and a Master of Science in Foreign Service from Georgetown University. She is passionate about driving business towards the sustainable development goals and advising the Energy 2040 Commission on energy efficiency and a just energy transition.

John Boesel is the President and CEO of CALSTART, a national organization with more than 175 member companies that is dedicated to the growth of the clean transportation technology industry. John joined the organization as Vice President and was promoted to his current position in 2001. Prior to joining CALSTART, John worked as a legislative aide, focusing on environmental and energy policy, in the California State Assembly as well as being a commercial banker for Wells Fargo. In 1987, John taught English to graduate students at the Yunnan Institute of Technology in Kunming. John has an MBA from the University of California at Berkeley and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Davis. He currently serves as a member of the Advisory Board of the Precourt Energy Efficiency Center at Stanford University and a member of the California Plug-in Electric Vehicle Collaborative.

John Shegerian creates profitable impact companies that make the world a better place. Shegerian currently serves as co-founder, Chairman and CEO of ERI, the largest recycler of e-waste in the United States.

John leads 3Degrees’ global agriculture strategy and brings over 15 years of experience in the agriculture and climate technology space. John has led a variety of projects including the development of regenerative agriculture programs and measurement scorecards that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and drive improvements in soil health, irrigation management, fertilizer use efficiency, and pesticide management. Additionally, John helps clients reduce their agriculture emissions through turnkey or co-developed supply chain intervention projects. John’s expertise in agriculture data management, remote sensing, and nature-based MRV technology, helps clients scale program management across diverse geographies and agricultural production systems. Prior to joining 3Degrees, John was Senior Vice President at Ceres Imaging, the leading data analytics and imaging company for the agriculture industry. In his role he helped CPGs, agriculture retailers, agriculture insurers, and large farming operations reduce risk and improve sustainability outcomes. Prior to Ceres Imaging, John was a Venture Partner at Piedmont Partners Group Ventures (PPGV), where he led diligence for PPGV’s agriculture investment strategy.

John Farner is Executive Director of the Babbitt Center for Land and Water Policy. Bringing more than 25 years of experience as a leader in sustainability, focusing on water, land use, and agriculture, John currently serves as the Executive Director of the Babbitt Center for Land and Water Policy. Throughout his career, John has been at the forefront of promoting solutions to global environmental challenges. Speaking before the United States Congress, the United Nations and various other national and global organizations, John is recognized as one of the leading experts on global water challenges.Part of the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, the Babbitt Center advances the integration of land and water management to meet the current and future water needs in the Colorado River Basin and, ultimately, around the world.Prior to joining the Babbitt Center, John served as the global chief sustainability officer of Orbia Precision Agriculture - Netafim, where he oversaw all corporate social responsibility, regenerative agriculture initiatives, water replenishment activities, and circularity programs.John’s background is rooted in water and land policy. Having served as a presidential appointee, working for two members of Congress, and for the United States-based Irrigation Association, John continues his commitment to sustainability, water use and sound policy in his position with the Babbitt Center.John holds a B.A. in political science and communication from Virginia Polytechnic Institute University, in Blacksburg, Virginia. John is also a graduate of the Leadership Development Program from the Center for Creative Leadership in Greensboro, North Carolina.

Jon earned his BS in Chemistry from the University of St. Thomas and a PhD in Inorganic Chemistry from the University of California – San Diego. After graduate school, Jon joined Steelcase Inc. as their environmental chemist and eventually moved into a role as a leader in sustainable design and development. He joined Andersen Windows & Doors where he served as corporate sustainability manager and was responsible for product lifecycle assessments, material ingredient transparency, and preparing Andersen for a future in the circular economy. Jon is now the VP of Circularity and Senior Analyst at GreenBiz Group, a media and events company that works to accelerate the just transition to a clean economy.

Jordyn Dahl is a Senior News Editor at LinkedIn News, covering sustainability and the green skills workers need as industries continue to transform. Before joining LinkedIn, Jordyn lived in Beijing, China for five years, where she worked as a tech reporter and later in foreign policy. She now lives in San Francisco with her two cats.

Dr. Allen researches community and occupational exposures and health risks related to a broad range of chemical, biological, physical and radiological stressors. In particular, he focuses on the built environment, emissions from building materials and consumer products, and building system performance, each of which has the potential for both positive and negative impacts on human health, well-being and productivity. He is the Director of the Healthy Buildings program at the Harvard Center for Health and the Global Environment and faculty director of the Harvard Sensors for Health research group. Dr. Allen teaches a class on the Impact of Buildings on Human Health, and is the faculty advisor for a new initiative out of Harvard's Office for Sustainability - the Harvard Healthier Building Materials Academy.