Bigger Than Us

Pharr Andrews currently serves as the Senior Climate Coordinator for the City of Dallas, where her primary function is to coordinate the development and implementation of the City’s first Comprehensive and Climate Action Plan (CECAP). Previous work experience includes Environmental Outreach Manager for the City of Richardson and Air Quality Manager for the City of Austin. She has over 20 years of...

Julia is a visionary leader at the center of the transformation underway in the electric power sector to a clean and modern energy future.  For the past 20 years she has been advising and collaborating with utilities, solution providers and government agencies on business models, grid modernization, and clean energy policies, strategies and programs. Julia guides and oversees all of SEPA’s re...

Virginia Emery is founder and CEO of Beta Hatch, a pioneering insect farming company that is industrializing insects for agriculture. Beta Hatch is fueled by a passion to see insects reach their true potential in our food systems. The company has grown to be internationally recognized for its scientific approach to scaling insect production, and operates North America’s largest mealworm farm for a...

Nik's passion for hiking and open water swimming led him into the waste industry, after he kept encountering trash in otherwise beautiful natural areas. Driven to take on the growing problem of waste, Nik realized a crucial piece was missing from zero waste initiatives: data. Specifically, data on the quantity, quality and type of waste being disposed of. In 2016, he founded Zabble Inc. to create...

Vandana is the Managing Director of Investment Strategy for Unreasonable Group, and is focused on driving investment to growth-stage entrepreneurs across the globe. In 2020, she will spearhead the formation of Unreasonable Group’s first Global Growth Fund. Her career has spanned three continents and includes substantive investment management, private equity, M&A and cross-border experience. Va...

Passionate and driven, Holly Elmore is Founder & CEO of Elemental Impact (Ei), a U.S.-based global non-profit committed to bringing regenerative operating practices to the corporate community. Beginning her career as an auditor and CPA with Arthur Andersen, Holly worked nearly seven years in the corporate arena. Within her entrepreneurial spirit, Holly created Executive Catering & Events,...

James Ellsmoor is from Shropshire, UK, and the Director of Island Innovation, a consulting agency he founded not long after graduation while studying for a Masters in Island Studies. He has a passion for sustainable development and renewable energy, particularly applications for rural and isolated communities. Last year he ran the inaugural Virtual Island Summit, which brought together 4,000 parti...

Mike Zelkind, co-founder, and CEO of 80 Acres Farms knew that food wasn’t what it used to be. He wanted to make it better by creating a new kind of farm, one capable of producing an abundance of crop varieties year-round, grown completely indoors.  A farm that can produce 100 times more food than an ordinary farm. Using 100% renewable energy. Without any pesticides or excessive food miles. In...

Dana Gunders serves as ReFED’s Executive Director. Dana is a national expert and one of the first to bring to light just how much food is wasted across the country. For almost a decade, she was a Senior Scientist at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). She then launched Next Course, LLC to strategically advise on the topic. Some of her career highlights include authoring the landmark Wast...

Emma Rose Cohen, 34, is the CEO and founder of Final, the company that created FinalStraw—the world’s first reusable, collapsible straw that raised nearly $2 million on Kickstarter. Prior to launching Final, Emma earned a Master’s Degree from Harvard in Environmental Management and Sustainability and spent four years working in waste minimization at Los Alamos National Laboratory. In the last deca...

With 13 years of communications and public policy experience, Lara is the Chief of Staff of the Administration and Regulatory Affairs Department and the Chief Sustainability Officer for the City of Houston. In addition to leading the Mayor’s Sustainability Office, Lara is the public face of ARA in the media as well as before City Council, industry stakeholders, and customers. Prior to joining the...

Jo has responsibility for the development and execution of strategic direction and programs at VertueLab. With the organization since 2010, she translated her previous decade of experience leading sustainable design at ZGF Architects into the creation of a collaborative research program focused on the sustainable built environment, and then into expanding the set of services offered to cleantech s...

Dan Miller is the Founder and CEO of Steward , an online platform for investing in sustainable farms. Unlike traditional funding methods, Steward’s crowdfarmingä model creates a healthy yield for both farmers and investors: farms are able to purchase land and equipment, and investors earn projected returns while making a positive impact. From 2010 to 2015, Miller was Co-Founder, President and Dire...

Walter L. McLeod has more than 25 years of executive experience in business development, strategy and government relations in the energy and mobility sectors.  He has been actively engaged in clean technology deployment and finance for over a decade.  Mr. McLeod is the Founder and Managing Director of Eco Capitol Companies, where he has served as a senior advisor to energy companies, sta...

Mr. Best is the founding CEO of Syzygy Plasmonics. He has a demonstrated track record of success in a corporate setting, from management to intrapreneurship. His skills in launching special projects, project management, and supply chain management will be essential for success of this early-stage venture. He graduated from Texas Tech University in 2007 with a triple major in International Business...

Julia Craighill provides sustainability strategy development and execution plans that enable clients to improve financial and environmental performance. She is a driven, award-winning sustainability expert committed to helping organizations build value through green strategies. With more than three decades of experience in architecture, construction, and sustainability, she provides pragmatic guid...

Amy is the Co-Founder of Good Coworking in Dallas, TX, the first coworking space in the world focused on inclusive sustainability, powered by solar. As an evangelist for the triple bottom line, Amy champions entrepreneurs who are building profitable businesses that allow people and the planet to thrive. Her flagship space in Dallas is pursuing LEED and WELL building certification, as well as JUST....

Joan Michelson is an award-winning, marketing communications leader, journalist, trainer, speaker and coach who brings 20+ years of experience  in the media and leading ground-breaking communications and marketing in Fortune 50 companies.  She is host of the acclaimed podcast Green Connections Radio, which was chosen by USA Today as one of the top six podcasts for business travelers, and...

Kenny Green is a CPA who assists organizations in the integration of ESG principles and sustainability reporting. In addition, he is the founder of Green Passion Projects, an organization that consults with professional athletes and entrepreneurs to create effective business strategies.   Kenny’s background includes working with NBA star and Heisman trophy winner Charlie Ward on a community f...

Louisa Ulrich-Verderber is an artist, engineer, inventor, and founder of Undula Tech, a company dedicated to making renewable energy more accessible to those who need it most by taking inspiration from nature. She is currently a Senior Engineering and Management major at Clarkson University and has been a welding artist since age 12. Her dual passions for art and science have to lead her to the fi...

A true visionary, Chris’ passion is driven by an obsession with problem solving, and deep seated frustration with the every-day waste and inefficiency that characterizes modern business and consumer lifestyles.  Having spent his career listening to magical solutions that might solve problems “later,” you could say that Chris is a visionary with no time for vision, instead choosing to focus hi...

Sanya Detweiler is Associate Director of the Clinton Climate Initiative’s Islands Energy Program, which provides technical assistance to island nations to advance their transition to renewable energy. The Islands Energy Program has worked in fifteen islands in the Caribbean and Indian Ocean. Sanya has been spearheading the team’s solar microgrid projects in Puerto Rico since the devastating 2017 h...

Meghna Tare is UT Arlington's first Chief Sustainability Officer, Meghna works collaboratively to foster partnerships among academic, research, and operational departments at UT Arlington. She leads institutional sustainability efforts in support of the UT Arlington 2020 Strategic Plan- Bold Solutions | Global Impact that is enabling a sustainable megacity that centers on four themes: health and t...

Jake Rozmaryn has spent the past decade advancing cleantech industries through marketing innovation. He has helped launch dozens of cleantech and smart mobility startups, is a trusted advisor to CEOs and VCs, and was recognized on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list in 2018. As Antenna's Senior Vice President of Strategy and Business Development, Jake leads strategic growth, service expansion and client s...

Jessica I. Marschall, Co-President and CEO/CFO, has a Masters in Accounting from the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee and an undergrad from the University of Virginia. She has been a practicing CPA for 18 years and also runs a small accounting and tax practice. Her background includes public accounting consultancy and internal auditing. Jessica currently works as an adjunct professor in tax and a...