Opportunity Green Business Conference 2010 Speakers
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Andreas Schierenbeck @SiemensII
President, Building Technologies
Siemens Industry Inc.
As President of the Building Technologies Division of Siemens Industry and an expert in sustainable technologies, Andreas will discuss the role technology plays in sustainable urban development—now and into the future. He will address key aspects of sustainable city infrastructure, focusing on buildings—the structures that define our daily lives—and the energy and resources they consume. Energy efficiency is the key to our cities’ sustainable future and Andreas will reveal how smarter buildings, combined with smarter power transmission grids can deliver a cascading array of economic, social and environmental benefits. Siemens is a true leader in sustainability, and through its people, products and solutions it offers answers to some of the world's toughest questions.
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Ashish Malik
Senior Vice President of Global Marketing
AgraQuest
Ashish Malik is Senior Vice President of Marketing for AgraQuest, Inc., a global leader in the discovery , production and distribution of highly effective biopesticide technologies which are accelerating the next green revolution in agriculture through ‘low chem solutions'. Ashish came to AgraQuest in April, 2008 from Syngenta, where he served as Head of Commercial Operations for the Home Care Division. During that time he was responsible for the overall leadership of the newly developed division, where he defined growth strategies, developed go-to-market approaches and identified opportunities for brand value building. Prior to his five years with Syngenta, he worked for Imerys, where he was Business Unit Director, and for BF Goodrich, where he served as Market Manager. Mr. Malik holds an MBA with concentration in Finance and Marketing from Carnegie Mellon University – Tepper school of Business, and a bachelor's degree in Engineering from Swarthmore College.
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Betsy Henning @AHAwriters
Principal
AHA!
Betsy Henning, Principal at AHA!, a marketing communications firm in Vancouver, Wash., helps clients develop compelling corporate responsibility stories and deepen engagement with their brands. She is an expert communications strategist, specializing in business development and consumer marketing. Betsy consults with clients -- from Fortune 100 high-tech giants to startups -- on strategic communication, integrated messaging, and brand voice, tone and manner. For more than a dozen years, Betsy has been a consultant to Hewlett-Packard, Charles Schwab, the annual Pop!Tech conference, Columbia Land Trust and other organizations.
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Bill Kelly @SunPower
Managing Director
Sunpower
Bill Kelly serves as managing director, California, for SunPower Corporation's System's Division, focused on designing and building large scale solar electric systems. He is a professional engineer, with more 20 years of experience in the renewable energy industry, building systems and energy efficiency. Kelly's work includes establishing successful partnerships with the leaders in public education in California, while developing and delivering high performing SunPower solar systems for schools. He is known for his innovation, energy technology expertise and an unwavering commitment to exemplary customer service. Prior to joining SunPower, Kelly worked in energy engineering, project management and operations at a leading energy services company. His work there included integrating solar systems with energy efficiency and demand side management solutions. Kelly is a CA licensed engineer, and holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University.
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Boise Thomas @PlanetGreen
Host
Alter Eco/Planet Green/Discovery Channel
Boise Thomas is the fresh face of Adrian Grenier's Alter Eco, an environmentally-focused lifestyle show on Discovery Communications' eco-focused channel Planet Green. Boise formerly served as the face of G Living, a modern green lifestyle network, where he wrote, produced and hosted over 100 environmentally-focused shows. He stared in G Living's hip, eco-chic online series The Real G, where he interviewed and worked with numerous green personalities and chefs including sustainability expert John Picard and the founders of Method. Boise has interviewed many celebrities and has covered numerous environmental events including the premiere of Leonardo DiCaprio's The 11th Hour and the 2007 Environmental Media Awards presented by E! Boise is no stranger to the green space. Raised in Upstate NY, he learned the importance of sustainability at an early age through parents who encouraged an environmentally-minded lifestyle. In his early years, Boise worked as a leader for AmeriCan Adventures, driving foreigners across the US while camping, visiting and teaching about the country's national parks and resources. Following his adventures, Boise spent 7 years in commercial work, booking a total of 71 television spots for many major brands and advertisers. Boise currently lives in Venice, California where he and his wife practice a sustainable lifestyle and are currently developing an eco-oasis in Kansas that they hope to use as a tool to teach others about the importance of sustainability.
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Eric Garcetti @ericgarcetti
President
Los Angeles City Council
Eric Garcetti is the Los Angeles City Council President and serves as councilmember to the 13th Council District. Prior to his election, Garcetti taught public policy, diplomacy and world affairs at Occidental College and the University of Southern California. In 1998, the Rockefeller Foundation selected him as a Next Generation Leadership Fellow. Garcetti studied urban planning and political science at Columbia University, where he received his B.A. and M.A. in International Relations. He studied as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University and the London School of Economics. He is an avid photographer, jazz pianist and composer. He lives in Echo Park with his partner of 14 years, Amy Elaine Wakeland.
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Fridolin Beisert @ACCD
Associate Professor
Art Center College of Design
Fridolin Beisert is a practicing design professional who also conducts workshops and lectures for global corporations and executive education institutions. He received his Master's of Science in Industrial Design on the topic of “Creative Strategies”, which consists of a set of learning techniques that stimulate and liberate the creative potential of individuals to help them apply new conceptual thinking into their work. Currently, Fridolin is an associate professor at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena with a focus on teaching creative problem solving, design thinking methodologies, cross-disciplinary team projects and sustainable design strategies.
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Gaylon White
Director of Design Industry Programs
Eastman Chemical Company
Gaylon White is director of design industry programs and global promotions for Eastman Chemical Company. White is responsible for outreach and working with designers and brand owners to help advance design through the innovative use of Eastman plastics, chemicals and fibers. Previously, White was director of business promotion for Eastman Specialty Plastics. He assumed that position in January 1999 after serving two years in Singapore as Eastman's manager of communications for Asia Pacific. Prior to joining Eastman in 1992 as manager of executive communications and speechwriter, he held a variety of communications-related positions for Hallmark Cards, Inc., The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company and Control Data Corporation. He is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma, with a bachelor's degree in journalism and broadcasting.
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Heidrun Mumper-Drumm @ACCD
Director of Sustainability Initiatives
Art Center College of Design
A graphic designer and letterpress printer, Heidrun Mumper-Drumm is an associate professor and the Director of Sustainability Initiatives at Art Center College of Design. Since 2003, her focus has been on the incorporation of sustainability principles into design education and the design process. As a former environmental engineer for Bechtel and Parsons Engineering, her background includes nuclear, geothermal, solar and wind energy projects, as well as environmental management for NASA and the US Air Force. She has been applying this experience, as well as current thinking about sustainability, to reframing the design process to enable designers to create more sustainable products and services. This 'lifecycle design' approach expands the definition of design beyond form and function and to the goal of form, function and sustainability.
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Holly Heline Jarrell @GfKAmerica
Group Managing Director
GfK
Holly Heline Jarrell is Group Managing Director of the GfK Roper Consulting and Roper Public Affairs & Corporate Communications practices of GfK Custom Research North America. In this dual role, she directs GfK's syndicated consumer trends and consulting services, including GfK Roper Reports®, GfK Roper Reports® Worldwide and GfK Roper Green Gauge®,™ the nation's longest running environmental survey and consumer segmentation. Jarrell also leads the firm's advocacy, public opinion, corporate reputation and communications research activities. Whether conducting primary research or trend-spotting, exploring consumers' relationship with green issues has consistently been a part of Jarrell's career. An expert in generational marketing, she was Editor of Public Pulse®, the firm's newsletter on what people are thinking, doing and buying today and in the future. Prior to GfK, she was Global Director, Insights and Research for MS&L, a top-10 global public relations firm. In this capacity, she was instrumental in developing insights-based thought leadership for the firm's marketing to women, consumer health, and word of mouth marketing functions, as well as MS&L's Eco Network, the firm's environmental practice. Jarrell is currently an elected member of the Institute for Public Relations Commission on Measurement and Evaluation and the Market Research Council.
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Irwin Miller @GenslerLfstyle
Principal
Gensler
Irwin Miller is an architectural designer in the Mixed Use/Entertainment practice in Gensler Los Angeles office. He serves on the firm's Retail taskforce and the Southwest Regional Learning Council. Noteworthy projects include The Sales Office for MGM Mirage CityCenter in Las Vegas, The Nomadic Museum in Santa Monica and Majestic Cruises flagship vessel based in Curacao. Miller holds bachelor of arts and bachelor of architecture degrees from the Rhode Island School of Design and a masters of architecture degree from Harvard University's Graduate School of Design.
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Jason Foster @myReplenish
Founder, CEO
Replenish
The life of an entrepreneur is nothing new for Jason. He started working for his father at the family Garden Center at the age of 9 where he learned firsthand the virtues of an entrepreneurial spirit. His own bolt of entrepreneurial lightning happened while over an ironing board and the inspiration to create Replenish was born. Prior to Replenish, Jason caravanned in Equity Research for Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette and Morgan Stanley in NYC and SF, working with some wickedly smart people.
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Jean Marie Massaud
Designer and Founder
Massaud
Designer and founder of Studio Massaud, Jean-Marie Massaud's career is shaped by a quest for synthesis, reduction and lightness. Massaud has worked in design fields ranging from furniture to industrial product and equipment, to architecture and brand development. He collaborates with various brands such as B&B Italia, Axor Hansgrohe, Dedon, Poltrona Frau, Glas Italia and Arper. Beyond his creative talent and unparalleled design aesthetic, Environment CEO, Davide Berruto tapped Massaud based on a shared vision of sustainability as an investment in better life surroundings, merging social responsibility and awareness with elegant functionality and easy-living. "Sustainability is an investment in quality, competence and timelessness for better life surroundings," Massaud noted, "I am thrilled to be working with a brand that has built its name on just such a philosophy."
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Jennifer Orgolini
Sustainability Director
New Belgium
Jenn started on the bottling line at New Belgium over 17 years ago. Subsequently, she became NBB's first CFO and, later, COO. As Sustainability Director, her initiatives include creating a Sustainability Management System, writing the company's first corporate sustainability report, completing a life cycle assessment of the carbon footprint of a six pack of Fat Tire Amber Ale, and securing over $1 million in funding from the Department of Energy for peak electrical load reduction. Jenn received a B.A. in Humanities from Washington College in Maryland. She has an MBA in Finance from Regis University and completed the course work for a Masters in Applied Ethics from Colorado State University.
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Jimmie Stone
Partner and Chief Creative Strategist
Green Team USA
Originally from Venezuela, Jimmie began his career at McCann-Erickson Uruguay as an Art Director, leading the charge on brands such as Nestlé, Coca-Cola and Conrad Hotels. He has won numerous awards throughout his career, including the United Nations Integrity in Advertising Award, and the prestigious International Design Review from ID Magazine. For over a decade, Jimmie has helped shape Green Team's mission of awakening brands – such as Johnson & Johnson, WWF, Lindblad Expeditions, Royal Caribbean Cruises International and KIND Healthy Snacks – and positioning them to succeed in a new world that demands authenticity and responsibility. His most recent projects include a global oceans awareness campaign for National Geographic and a groundbreaking academic partnership with the Minneapolis School of Art and Design that fuses education and sustainability. As a Planetarian, Jimmie understands the urgency of waking up to the interconnectedness of our economy, our environment and our well-being. At his core, he is an insightful conceptual thinker and devout student of Sun Tzu, drawing inspiration from Marcel Duchamp, Marshall McLuhan and Tibor Kalman.
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John Picard
Title
Company
John Picard is a renowned environmental builder and technologist. He began his career in sustainability in the late 1980’s, as one of the first to apply green construction standards to the residential home market. Almost overnight, John became recognized nationally for the design and construction of his own self-sufficient solar houses, his natural systems approach to engineering, and revolutionary concepts for energy-efficiency and business strategy.
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John Woolard
President & CEO
BrightSource Energy
John Woolard is President and CEO of BrightSource Energy. In this role, John brings more than two decades of experience in the energy technology sector as an executive, entrepreneur and investor. Prior to joining BrightSource Energy, John co-founded Silicon Energy, one of the first successful clean tech companies, and was President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board from 1997 to 2003. John is a Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute, holds an MBA from the Haas School of Business at U.C. Berkeley, a Masters in Environmental Planning from the University of Virginia, and a B.A. in Economics from the University of Virginia. John is a lifetime member of the Sierra Club.
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Julius Wiedemann
Editor
Taschen
Technology, culture, and communication have always been Julius Weidemann's passions. In 2001, he joined TASCHEN in Cologne, Germany where, as editor-in-charge, he has created titles in a wide range of subjects, from design to pop culture, including Digital Beauties and the popular Web Design and Advertising Now! Series. Julius has lectured on digital culture, publishing, design, advertising, communication, and technology. He was a speaker at TED 2007 (Monterey), Art Directors Club (Madrid), Benetton Fabrica (Italy), Institute of Contemporary Arts (London), EFX (Germany), UOL (São Paulo, Brazil), BNDES (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), CMYK Conference (Barcelona), e-DIT (Germany), Plus Design Conference (Birmingham, UK), and Belgrade Design Week (Serbia).
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Katie Fehrenbacher @katiefehren
Editor
GigaOM
Katie has been covering cutting-edge technology, startups and entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley for over 7 years. She founded Earth2Tech for the GigaOM network in July 2007 to cover the emerging greentech ecosystem and is also a Staff Writer for GigaOM. She has been a reporter at Red Herring, an editor at Engadget and began her career as a reporter in the Silicon Valley bureau of the largest Japanese daily newspaper, the Yomiuri Shimbun.
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Laurenz Schaffer
President
BMW Group DesignworksUSA
Laurenz first worked as a product designer with renowned design studios in Stuttgart, Munich, and San Francisco, before joining the Munich Studio of BMW Group DesignworksUSA in 1998. In the year 2000 he took over management of the Munich Studio. From the start, Laurenz was fascinated by the concept of this unique subsidiary which with studios in California, Munich and Singapore, has acquired international renown in the world of design.
In his role as President, Laurenz focuses in particular on the ongoing development of DesignworksUSA as an international consultancy for strategic design, product, automotive and transportation design, and as a specialist in innovation and brand strategy.
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Leonardo Bonanni @amerigo
Founder
sourcemap.org
PhD Candidate
MIT Media Lab
Leonardo Bonanni is a doctoral candidate at the MIT Media Lab where he researches and teaches sustainable design. He is the founder and director of the open source project Sourcemap.org, a social network and tool for life cycle assessment and supply chain transparency. Sourcemap emerged from a curriculum he developed and currently teaches at MIT on radical sustainability in product design. Prior to this Bonanni worked as an inventor and a designer in the MIT Kitchen of the Future and the MIT House of the Future. Independently, he also practices architecture, industrial and interaction design.
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Lex Heslin
President, CEO
Beautiful Earth Group
Lex Heslin is a sustainable energy developer whose goal is to improve the environment by creating reliable sources of clean, green power. Lex worked in power generation finance at Sanwa Bank in Tokyo, then at Goldman, Sachs & Co., before becoming president of a real estate investment firm in New York. He founded Beautiful Earth Group in Brooklyn, NY in 2008 to develop utility-scale solar and wind power generating facilities. Beautiful Earth (BE) develops and invests exclusively in non-carbon emitting electricity generation. BE is committed to helping the world change its dependence on fuels that pollute our planet to the utilization of power sources that lead to sustainable, life enhancing relationships between humans and the earth.
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Liba Rubenstein @NWScorp
Director, Global Energy Initiative
News Corporation
Liba Wenig Rubenstein runs News Corporation's Global Energy Initiative (GEI), the company-wide commitment to reduce the environmental impacts of its operations – including over 100 companies on 5 continents – and to engage with its one billion customers, fifty-thousand employees, and hundreds of business partners on the issues of energy and climate change. Ms. Rubenstein joined the News Corp. family in 2006 when she founded the IMPACT Channel for causes and politics on MySpace and managed its Public Affairs team, launching groundbreaking initiatives around climate change, Darfur, ‘viral' fundraising, and the US Presidential election. Most recently she spent a year in London spearheading the energy, environment, and corporate social responsibility program for News Corp's UK newspaper subsidiary. A native of Brooklyn, NY, Ms. Rubenstein graduated cum laude from Yale University with distinction in American Studies.
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Mark Dwight @markdwight
Founder and CEO
Rickshaw Bagworks
Mark Dwight is the founder and CEO of Rickshaw Bagworks, the San Francisco-based manufacturer of messenger bags, computer carrying cases, lifestyle luggage and accessories for the bicycle, outdoor and urban lifestyle specialty retail markets. Dwight founded Rickshaw in May, 2007.
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Micah Kotch @cleantechNYC
Director
NYC Acre
Micah Kotch serves as Director of Operations for NYC ACRE at NYU-Poly (the New York City Accelerator for a Clean and Renewable Economy). NYC ACRE is seeded by a four year, $1.6M grant from NYSERDA to create a business incubator for clean tech and renewable energy companies. Partners in the NYC ACRE initiative include the New York City Economic Development Corporation, the New York City Investment Fund, Columbia University, Pratt Institute, and NYU. NYC ACRE resides within 16,500 sq. ft. at 160 Varick Street in downtown Manhattan. Micah is helping to build a supportive environment of entrepreneurs who will make NYC more resilient, while facilitating the growth of an ecosystem of small businesses, entrepreneurs, and international companies that view the energy/climate issue as insoluble problems disguised as incredible opportunities.
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Michael Crooke @GraziadioSchool
Distinguished Visiting Professor
Pepperdine University, Graziadio School of Business and Management
Dr. Michael Crooke is a distinguished visiting professor of business practice at Pepperdine University's Graziadio School of Business and Management. Dr. Crooke is coordinating the launch of the school's new Certificate in Social, Environmental and Ethical Responsible (SEER) Business Practice Program, and will teach the capstone course on responsible business practice. He also teaches graduate-level classes on strategy and leadership for organizational success. Crooke is concurrently an independent consultant counseling various high-growth businesses on strategic issues. Most recently, Crooke led the successful turnaround and repositioning of prAna LLC, an outdoor industry clothing company. Previously, Crooke was CEO of Revolution Living, a group of companies working to change the way consumers and brands interact. and President and CEO of Patagonia, Inc., and Patagonia's parent company, Lost Arrow Corporation. He succeeded Yvon Chouinard, Patagonia's founder, in taking the Lost Arrow post. Crooke currently serves as a director on the board of Earth Day Network, founded by Denis Hayes, the co-originator of Earth Day. Crooke holds a Ph.D. in management from Claremont Graduate University.
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Michela O'Connor Abrams @dwell
President and Publisher
Dwell
Michela O'Connor Abrams is the President and Publisher of Dwell, the award-winning design and lifestyle media company. In 2006, Dwell hit the coveted Adweek HotList as well as the Advertising Age A-List, and was a Cappell's Circulation Top Ten Performer for the second consecutive year. In 2005, Ms. O'Connor Abrams helped see Dwell to its first major award when the magazine won General Excellence at the National Magazine Awards.
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Rahul Raj @rwr3peat
Sr. Manager of Sustainability
Walmart
Rahul Raj is a consummate social entrepreneur and sustainable business executive. As Senior Manager of Sustainability of Walmart.com, Rahul pursues the mission of bringing sustainability to the mainstream. He is also the founder of Meal Exchange, an organization that enables student solutions to Canada's hunger problem. Regarded by TIME Magazine as one of Canada's leading social entrepreneurs, Rahul helped Meal Exchange establish chapters on 52 post-secondary campuses, and facilitated the student donation of over $2,400,000 in food. Rahul has been an active volunteer board member with many non-profit organizations and is currently spearheading Compostmodern, a conference about ideas, design and sustainability, as the Sustainability Chair for the San Francisco chapter of AIGA, the professional association for design.
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Raphael Bemporad @rbemporad
Principal and Co-founder
BBMG
Raphael Bemporad is principal and co-founder of BBMG, a marketing agency based in New York and San Francisco dedicated to creating innovative brands that reach, engage and inspire today's increasingly conscious consumers. From mission-driven businesses to global nonprofits, BBMG's clients include ShoreBank, Clif Bar, Luna Bar, UNICEF, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, CERES, SVN, Breast Cancer Fund, Case Foundation, Ocean Conservancy and Harvard Kennedy School, among others. Prior to co-founding BBMG, Raphael served as Communications Director for Do Something and as a press aide to Texas Governor Ann W. Richards. He received his BA in Philosophy with honors from the University of Texas at Austin. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife Paulina and daughter Paloma.
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Rick Ridgeway @patagonia
VP of Environmental Programs and Communication
Patagonia
Rick Ridgeway is currently Patagonia's Vice President of Environmental Initiatives and Special Media Projects. Rick and his team develop, implement and promote the second two of the company's three-part mission statement to make the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, and use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis. In this capacity, his department oversees the company's environmental grant-making, internal and external environmental education, and special multi-year environmental projects including Freedom to Roam, a coalition founded by Patagonia to seek protection for wildlife corridors. Rick is also recognized as one of the world's foremost mountaineers and adventurers, and is known to many through his writing, photography and Emmy award-winning filmmaking. He is the author of six books, including the highly acclaimed Seven Summits, The Shadow of Kilimanjaro and Below Another Sky. Rolling Stone magazine called Ridgeway “the real Indiana Jones”, and recently National Geographic honored him with its “Lifetime Achievement in Adventure” award.
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Rich Steinberg
BMW Group
Richard Steinberg is responsible for leadership of the BMW Group Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) programs in the US market including the MINI E and BMW ActiveE programs. Most recently Steinberg held the position of Manager, Product and Aftersales Strategy for MINI USA. In this role, Steinberg was responsible for strategic planning to determine future product concepts, features and technologies and develop pricing and volume strategies for the brand's model lineup Before joining BMW Financial Services, Steinberg held various positions at Nissan Motor Corporation where he began his automotive career in 1984. Steinberg received a Bachelor's of Arts Degree in Economics from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut.
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Russell Ford
President and CEO
Clear Edge Power
Russell Ford joined ClearEdge Power as President and CEO in May 2009. Mr. Ford has more than 25 years of executive management experience in engineering, product development, manufacturing and operations. Prior to joining ClearEdge Power, Mr. Ford served as CEO of Prestolite Electric, a global tier-one supplier to commercial and military vehicle OEMs; COO of Holley Performance Products; SVP of Operations for Lockheed Martin's Aeronautics Division; General Manager of Allied Signal's Gas Turbine Division; and other engineering and manufacturing assignments. Mr. Ford is a Summa Cum Laude MBA graduate of Duke University's Fuqua School of Business and holds a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology. He also holds Six Sigma Blackbelt and Shingijutzu Lean Expert certifications.
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Sandra Sanchez @orGLAMic
TV Host and Producer
OrGLAMic
Recently featured on The Huffington Post, this seasoned reality TV host and producer combines her television expertise with her lifelong passion for the environment. In 2008, Sandra launched www.orGLAMic.com - the online resource for “sustainable luxury living.” Her involvement in the green community has led to her work as a traveling correspondent on “G Word” and as a producer on “Hollywood Green” both airing on Discovery Channel's Planet Green. Most recently, Sandra hosted “ABC Stars Go Green.” Sandra began her performance training at Washington School of Ballet, The Joffrey Ballet and the Chautauqua School of Dance. At the age of 17, Sandra moved to Los Angeles to attend The University of Southern California. She graduated with a B.S. in Health Promotion and Disease Prevention from the Keck School of Medicine in 2002.
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Seth Farbman @sethfarbman
President
OgilvyEarth
Seth Farbman serves as Senior Partner and Worldwide Managing Director at Ogilvy & Mather, as well as President of OgilvyEarth, its global sustainability marketing group. Based in New York, Seth manages a global portfolio of some of the company's fastest-growing businesses and client accounts. He came to Ogilvy & Mather more than five years ago after a career as a television journalist and a marketing director. Later, he founded OgilvyEarth to advise corporations on 21st Century marketing strategies, which have increasingly included sustainability as a key growth driver and product and brand differentiator. Seth also led Ogilvy's development of “Hopenhagen,” a global campaign which captured popular support for climate change issues and the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen last year.
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Steve Westly
Managing Partner
The Westly Group
Prior to founding The Westly Group, Steve Westly served as the Controller and Chief Fiscal Officer of the state of California - the world's sixth largest economy. As Controller, he chaired the State Lands Commission and served on 63 other boards and commissions, including CalPERS and CalSTRS, the nation's two largest public pension funds, which together invest more than $350 billion. During his four-year term, Mr. Westly spearheaded innovative tax programs that helped close the State's budget deficit and also led an effort to commit more than $1 billion to clean technology investments. In the 2008 election cycle Mr. Westly served as a state co-chair and a National Finance Committee member of the Obama for America campaign.
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Steven L. Kline @PGE4me
Vice President, Corporate Environmental and Federal Affairs and Chief Sustainability Officer
PG&E Corporation
Steven L. Kline is Vice President of Corporate Environmental and Federal Affairs and Chief Sustainability Officer for PG&E Corporation. He is responsible for environmental policy activities for PG&E Corporation, as well as for oversight of the corporation's Washington, D.C., office. Kline also serves as the senior liaison with federal elected and regulatory officials. In addition to his duties at PG&E Corporation, Kline serves on the Boards of the China-US Energy Efficiency Alliance, Advisory Council for Resources for the Future and Executive Leadership Council for The Nature Conservancy.
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Stuart Anderson @UrbanTrans
President
UrbanTrans
Stuart Anderson has 24 years of experience developing successful urban and transportation planning strategies. He has conducted regional corridor planning studies and managed traffic mitigation efforts for highway and light rail construction projects. Mr. Anderson has extensive national and international experience in forming public-private partnership to address transportation and air quality issues including the establishment of over 30 transportation management organizations (TMOs). Most recently, Mr. Anderson has advised on the design of Transit Oriented Developments (TODs) and developed creative parking management strategies for mixed use developments. Additionally, he was a member of the creative team that developed the concept plan for the Boulder Transit Village. He is a published expert in the field of parking demand management and in assessing and implementing parking management strategies in metropolitan and rural communities as well as high density college and medical campuses.
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Stuart Rudick @mindful01
Partner
Mindful Investors LLC
Stuart Rudick has been a practitioner, leader and investor in the health and sustainability-focused community for over 30 years. He is the Founding and Managing Partner at Mindful Investors, LLC, a leading U.S. Private Equity fund focused on investments in healthy and sustainable consumer products companies. Mr. Rudick's sustainable industry Board involvement includes: founding Board member and past Chairman of Waterkeepers (Baykeeper) of Northern California and current Board Member for BluePlanetRun Foundation. Affiliations he is actively involved with include: B Corporation, Environmental Entrepreneurs, Investor's Circle, NRDC, Rainforest Action Network and Friends of the Earth. Mr. Rudick earned a BS in Business Administration from the University of Colorado and attended the University of Lancaster, UK and MBA program at Golden Gate University.
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Terry Kellogg @1percentFTP
CEO
1% for the Planet
Terry has worked and studied at the intersection of business and the environment for two decades. His focus areas have included mining issues at the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, renewable energy and marketing at Green Mountain Energy and sustainable business practices at the Timberland Company. Through work with both for profit and non profit organizations, Terry has gained a deep appreciation for the role that each can play in affecting positive change. In 2000, Terry became the first staff person at Timberland dedicated to minimizing the company's environmental footprint and supporting new markets for sustainable products. As Director of Environmental Stewardship, Terry reduced the company's carbon footprint by more than 15%. In 2005, Terry joined 1% for the Planet, and has since grown membership from 92 to nearly 1400 companies in 38 countries around the world. Terry has a BA in Economics from Middlebury College and a MBA and a Masters of Environmental Management from Yale University.
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Tim Kenyon @GfKAmerica
Manager, Consulting
GfK
Tim Kenyon is a Manager for GfK Roper Consulting, a unit of GfK Custom Research North America. In his current role, Tim supports a variety of clients who subscribe to GfK Roper Consulting's premier consumer trends services -- Roper Reports® and Roper Reports® Worldwide. Tim is also Director for Roper's Green Gauge Study, the longest running study of consumer environmental Attitudes and Behaviors. Prior to joining GfK, Tim was a Research Analyst for the New Jersey Department of Agriculture (NJDA). At the NJDA, he spearheaded many research initiatives concerning agribusiness and the environment. Tim has also worked as an analyst for the New Jersey Solid Waste Policy Group at Rutgers University. Within this role, Tim helped to influence recycling policy within the state of New Jersey. Tim studied Environmental Economics at Rutgers. During his graduate studies, Tim was an instructor for the undergraduate class "Economics, People, and the Environment." Tim was also a fellow at The Eagleton Institute of Politics where he studied issues surrounding the environment and agriculture in New Jersey.
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Tony Huffman
Director, Strategic Cooperation
BP
Tony is a dynamic, self-motivated leader with a passion for developing B2B and B2C opportunities including: corporate strategy; design led innovation, marketing, branding, and sustainable business models for leading energy and retail brands including BP, Arco, Amoco, Castrol and AMPM. In 2001, he utilized his expertise to create BP's Bluesky Innovation program, a grassroots movement that led to the development of a formal global innovation team that focused on ideation, concept development and rapid prototyping of new ideas to accelerate the offer development process. In his current role as Director of Strategic Cooperations, Tony is responsible for evaluating and developing low carbon business models by working closely with strategic customers, partners and nascent industry experts, to help accelerate the transition and “jump the gap” to a low carbon economy.
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Yalmaz Siddiqui
Director, Environmental Strategy
Office Depot
Yalmaz Siddiqui, is Office Depot's Director of Environmental Strategy. He is responsible for setting strategic direction and integrating a wide range of environmental programs into the global organization. Yalmaz's internal role is to initiate, facilitate and communicate environmental programs that are then implemented through Office Depot's core functions such as merchandising, purchasing, construction and marketing. He also helps educate suppliers and customers on environmental issues and opportunities. His goal is to help improve the environmental performance of Office Depot and its range of stakeholders. Yalmaz came to Office Depot from IBM Business Consulting Services where he was a Senior Consultant in Customer Relationship Management, and author of the first global study on environmental purchasing of wood and paper products. He is on the Board of Advisors of EPEA, the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool); Chairs the Green Board of Delray Beach; is on the Steering Committee of the Green Products Roundtable and was the only Private Sector recipient of the Responsible Purchasing Network's 2009 Responsible Purchaser of the Year Award.
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Yves Behar @yvesbehar
Founder
fuseproject
Yves Behar is the founder of the San Francisco design studio, fuseproject. Yves focuses on humanistic design and the "giving" element of his profession, creating projects that are in tune with sustainable practices and mindful of human emotions and the enablement of self-expression. He is the recipient of numerous awards including the prestigious National Design Award for Industrial Design, which celebrates design as a 'vital humanistic tool shaping the world' - awarded by Cooper-Hewitt, Smithsonian National Design Museum. He has also received the INDEX: Design to Improve Life, "Community" award for his role in creating the "XO" laptop.
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Zem Joaquin @zem
Founder and Editor in Chief
ecofabulous
Inspired and mentored by William McDonough and a cadre of deep, but optimistic, environmental thinkers, Zem has developed a lens that makes it impossible to view products as she once did. As a board member of Global Green, Healthy Child, Healthy World and Teens For Safe Cosmetics and applies her knowledge in her eco-consultancy business, as green contributing editor at Domino Magazine, on television and radio spots and, most emphatically, on www.ecofabulous.com.
