Bigger Than Us

Preston Bryant is a graduate of SMU Cox School of Business with a B.A. in Economics, specializing in energy. In college, he established an oil and gas company in memory of his late father. Preston furthered his expertise in commodities recovery at the firm LPI, where he uncovered a groundbreaking critical materials processing method called Membrane Solvent Extraction. After obtaining exclusive lic...

Riggs Eckelberry is a nationally-renowned entrepreneur who deploys his personal Break To Build™ process to help rebuild the water industry, which has reached a critical breaking point in recent years despite being essential to the planet's survival. As the founding CEO of OriginClear, Riggs has developed innovative solutions to help businesses face rising water bills by tapping into new investment...

John Szoka is a West Pont graduate and served a distinguished career in the United States Army. After retirement from active duty, he founded several successful small businesses and holds two US patents. First elected to the NC House of Representatives in 2012 he served in senior House Republican leadership positions including Chairman of the Energy and Public Utilities Committee, and Chairman of...

Jeff is the founder of the Critical Minerals Associations in the UK, Australia and the U.S. as well as CMIA. He is an internationally recognised critical minerals expert with strong ties to the UK, Australia, across Africa and the Middle East. Jeff is an experienced public affairs and campaign strategist having been a Director at Aspect Consulting and an International Affairs Advisor and Chief of...

Chief Farming Officer, Co-Founder, Carlo Mondavi is a fourth-generation winegrower who has dedicated his life to permaculture, biodynamic and regenerative farming practices, along with a hands-off winemaking approach in the cellar. In 2016, Carlo founded the Monarch Challenge, an effort focused on elevating farming by eliminating herbicides and powerful chemicals from farms in Sonoma, Napa and bey...

Emma serves as the Executive Vice President of Commercial at ClimeCo. She generates new opportunities, supports existing accounts, and explores how to strengthen ClimeCo’s existing Environmental, Social, & Governance (ESG) and Climate Strategy Consulting services. Before joining ClimeCo, Emma built and headed the Impact & Sustainability practice at MSL, a global PR and communications agenc...

Jason Hochman is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Direct Air Capture Coalition. In this role, he leads a growing global, non-profit, multi-stakeholder coalition of nearly 120 companies, organizations, and institutions working to advance and accelerate the deployment of direct air capture technology to help address climate change. Previously, he helped craft the policy and regulatory co...

Daniel has delivered over 3,000 keynote speeches worldwide and is a strategic advisor to executives from Fortune 500 companies, helping them to develop game-changing strategies based on his proven methodologies for capitalizing on technology innovations and their future impact. His client list includes Lockheed Martin, Verizon, Microsoft, VISA, Deloitte, Google, Procter & Gamble, KPMG, Honda,...

Rebecca is the founder and CEO of Glacier, a recycling startup building AI and robotics to help recyclers, brands, governments, and other stakeholders measure and improve recovery rates for their highest-priority recycled commodities. Glacier works with several innovative recyclers across the US, major brands including Amazon, Colgate-Palmolive, Coca-Cola, and AB InBev, and municipal and governmen...

Teri Williams is President, COO and owner of OneUnited Bank, the largest Black owned bank in the country, and supporter of the #BankBlack and #BuyBlack Movement. She is responsible for the Bank’s strategic initiatives, as well as the day to day operations, including all retail branches, marketing, compliance, lending, information technology, customer support, legal, and human resources. Ms. Willia...

The Parrot and the Igloo - A New York Times Editors’ Choice * Named a Best Book of the Year in The New Yorker, Publishers Weekly, Chicago Tribune, and EcoLit Books * A Goodreads and Apple Books Most Anticipated Books of 2023 • A USA Today Must-Read Summer Book • Next Big Idea Must-Read Book • Library Journal What To Read in 2023 Book • An Amazon Best Book of July David Lipsky is the author of the...

Shrikant is business Head and Executive Director at Praj Americas Inc., a role he has held since June 2022. With a rich 23-year history at Praj Industries, Shrikant has risen through the ranks, demonstrating his expertise in biofuels, especially bioethanol. His journey began as a Trainee Engineer at Praj in 2001, evolving through various roles, including Process Engineer, Senior Engineer in Techno...

Tom Dickson, CEO of New Energy Risk since 2015, has more than 35 years of experience in the insurance and reinsurance industry and finance; including senior executive and underwriting leadership positions in the US, Europe, and Asia; notably as the former CEO and Chief Underwriting Officer of the Centre Group, a $10B reinsurer that pioneered innovative products to address high-value business risks...

Mr. Hubbard is the CEO of Nexus Holdings, a leading infrastructure advisory and project development organization dedicated to reducing carbon intensity and enhancing resource efficiency. Mr. Hubbard cut his teeth managing domestic and international high-profile projects, acting in various roles for a global Engineering & Construction firm. After co-founding Nexus PMG in 2013, Mr. Hubbard devel...

Josh Kaufman is currently the CEO and Co-Founder of Nexus Development Capital, a platform investing development capital in renewable and circular economy projects. Previously he was an energy investor at the Australian fund QIC, and prior to that was on the GE Power M&A team. Josh has a BA in math and economics from Williams College. https://www.nexusdevcap.com/ https://nexuspmg.com/

MICHAEL SHELDRICK is a policy entrepreneur and a driving force behind the efforts of Global Citizen to end extreme poverty. As a Co-Founder and Chief Policy, Impact, and Government Affairs Officer, he leads the organization's campaigns to mobilize support from governments, businesses, and foundations. He is the author of the upcoming Amazon best-selling book, From Idea to Impact: A Playbook fo...

Vince Beiser is an award-winning journalist and author of “The World in a Grain: The Story of Sand and How It Transformed Civilization.” The book has been translated into five languages, was a finalist for a PEN America award and a California Book Award, and spawned a TEDx talk. Vince is currently at work on a new book, “Power Metal”, about how the materials we need for digital technology and rene...

Steve Oldham is a prominent entrepreneur and carbon removal advocate. He currently serves as CEO of Captura where he is leading the commercialization of Direct Ocean Capture – a climate solution that combines innovative technology with the natural carbon removal powers of the ocean to remove CO2 from the atmosphere at scale. Steve’s career has focused on bringing ground-breaking technologies to ma...

Seth Godin is an author, entrepreneur and most of all, A teacher. Seth is an entrepreneur, best-selling author, and speaker. In addition to launching one of the most popular blogs in the world, he has written 21 best-selling books, including The Dip, Linchpin, Purple Cow, Tribes, and What To Do When It's Your Turn (And It's Always Your Turn). His book, This is Marketing, was an instant bes...

Stacy Flynn is CEO and a founding partner of Evrnu, a textile innovations company. An accomplished sustainable systems expert, Stacy is committed to developing innovative fiber technologies that reduce textile waste and preserve natural resources. Under Stacy's leadership, Evrnu is working to solve the most pressing challenges facing the global textile and apparel industry. In 2019 Evrnu debut...

Bernard has over 20 years of public and private experience involving project development. Mr. Brown owned and operated Sustainergy Solutions which was responsible for developing a series of projects in the Cleantech sector. Mr. Brown utilizes project experience to support the company’s vision of bettering the planet by focusing on projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and enhance resource...

Peter Kelly-Detwiler has 30 years of experience in the electric energy arena. He writes for Forbes.com and other publications on topics related to disruptive innovation and its impact on the electricity infrastructure. He provides strategic advice to clients and investors, helping them to navigate this transitional period. Peter is also the author of The Energy Switch - a book about how companies...

Raj Asava, originally from India, enjoyed a successful corporate career in senior/executive roles for renowned companies, including serving as President of two startup organizations. He retired in 2010 as the Chief Strategy Officer at Perot Systems. Aradhana (Anna) Asava, has over 20 years of experience in the Global Information Technology industry, specializing in leading organization-wide transf...

Dip is a technologist, engineer, and entrepreneur. He lives on the beach with his fantastic family (Wife, Daughter, and Dog). He is currently the Chief Technology Officer of Soluna (Nasdaq: SLNH), a company aiming to make stranded green energy profitable using off-grid high-density computing. Before Soluna, he was a co-founder of Ecovent, a smart home technology company sold to ConnectM in 2016. B...

Marcus Lehmann, serves as the CEO of CalWave Power Technologies Inc. Marcus founded CalWave in2014 and uses his experience in systems engineering, energy systems and entrepreneurship, to lead a diverse team of engineers, advisers, and industry partners to unlock the vast and steady carbon-free power from ocean waves. Prior to CalWave, Marcus held research positions at UC Berkeley, Mechanical Engin...