Green Champions

Jake Kheel is VP of Sustainability at Grupo Puntacana, one of the Caribbean's most recognized leaders in sustainable tourism. He's also a conservationist, author, and co-director of the award-winning documentary Death By a Thousand Cuts . It started with a boarding school study abroad program Jake applied to on a whim. He had no idea his great-uncle Ted Kheel was one of the founders of G...

In 2023 alone, 235 million tons of food went uneaten or unsold in the United States. The number one item clogging landfills is not furniture, not plastic, not diapers. It is food. And 47 million Americans are food insecure at the same time. Regina Harmon, CEO of Food Recovery Network, returns to break down exactly how that happens, what her organization is doing about it, and how college students...

Regina Harmon is the CEO of Food Recovery Network, the largest student-led movement fighting food waste and hunger in the US. Before she was leading a national nonprofit, she was a kid in Maine with a cloth lunch bag, a working poor family, and a growing sense that the world was not set up fairly. Dominique and Christy sit down with Regina to hear how a life shaped by nature, identity, and literat...

Most people don't think much about what happens to the food that doesn't get sold. Mason McNeill does. As Chief Commercial Officer at Denali, the nation's largest organics recycler, he's spent his career building the systems that catch that material before it hits a landfill and put it back to work. Denali runs routes to grocery stores and food producers across all of the lower...

Mason McNeill is the Chief Commercial Officer at Denali, the nation's largest organics recycler. But before he was thinking about food waste and circular supply chains, he was a young investment banker in Little Rock, learning how to tell the story of businesses that had spent decades building something worth believing in. Mason grew up in the Arkansas River Valley and showed up to college kn...

Elizabeth Schuster and Marissa Ferrari are the co-founders of Sustainable Economies, a research-driven consulting firm working at the intersection of nature and community. They're back together on the podcast to share how they built a business from a single lunch conversation, why strategy and storytelling are stronger when they're developed side by side, and what it actually looks like...

Marissa Ferrari is Partner and Creative Director at Sustainable Economies, where she works with mission-driven organizations at the intersection of nature and communities. Her winding path that took her from a childhood in rural Michigan to a career in brand strategy and communications, and what she's learned about creativity, storytelling, and finding your way when the road doesn't run...

Elizabeth Schuster is the founder of Sustainable Economies, a strategic planning, branding, and communications firm, and a partner in environmental economics. Her sustainability journey started from building forts in the New Hampshire woods to transforming a struggling Peace Corps assignment into a certified organic coffee co-op in Honduras. She grew up on 17 acres in New Hampshire, where early ye...

Did you know that plastics are as different from each other as paper is from metal? Joseph Klatt, founder of Marble Plastics, dives into the complex world of polymer types and how they impact our efforts to recycle plastic waste. Joseph’s passion for sustainability was sparked by an unlikely source - a college job collecting recycling by bicycle. This hands-on experience ignited his fascination wi...

Angela Huffman is the President and co-founder of Farm Action, a nonpartisan, farmer-led watchdog that holds government and corporate power accountable in food and agriculture. She's back to talk about sustainability as it relates to agricultural policy and family farms, and what it really takes to push for change in Washington. Angela is the sixth generation on her family's farm up in n...

Angela Huffman is the co-founder and president of Farm Action, a watchdog organization working to dismantle corporate consolidation across the U.S. food supply chain. In this conversation, she unpacks how a handful of corporations came to shape what ends up on America's dinner plates, and what it will take to shift that power back toward farmers, workers, and consumers. Two hundred years ago,...

Up to a third of all food produced globally is lost or wasted, and up to 10% of greenhouse gas emissions are tied to it. The opportunity to fix that sits largely inside professional kitchens, and most of them have no system for even measuring the problem. That is exactly what Andrew Shakman in Leanpath was built to change. Andrew's reframe for kitchens is simple and a little uncomfortable: th...

Andrew Shakman is the CEO of Leanpath, a company on a mission to make food waste prevention everyday practice in professional kitchens worldwide. Before any of that, he was a child actor, a film school graduate, and a digital marketer selling Cap'n Crunch on the early internet. Andrew Shakman did not set out to work in sustainability. He set out to tell stories that mattered. What drew him, f...

Nancy Zavada returns for part two of her Green Champions conversation, this time pulling back the curtain on the actual work behind sustainable events. As president of MeetGreen, Nancy has saved clients $7.8 million in sustainability-driven decisions and cut $2.5 million in aisle carpet alone from a single event last year. This episode is a masterclass in making the business case for doing things...

Nancy Zavada is the founder and president of MeetGreen, a sustainable event agency that has spent over 30 years helping organizations design and deliver events that are both environmentally responsible and genuinely exceptional. Nancy grew up on the Oregon Coast, where recycling wasn't a trend but a way of life. She never set out to start a company. She was simply an event planner who noticed...

Karimah Hudda, founder of Illumine Earth, returns for part two of her conversation with Dominique and Christy. After exploring her roots, Karimah dives into her "champion story." From the mountains of Indonesia to the boardrooms of global giants, she shares the tactical moves and mindset shifts required to rebalance power in global supply chains and lead with purpose. Karimah recounts a...

Karimah Hudda, founder of Illumine Earth, has spent two decades working where sustainability, leadership, and global systems meet. She discuss how her multicultural upbringing and work across 50 countries shaped her approach to equity. Karimah shares how she navigates the complexities of power to turn core values into real-world action. Why do we introduce ourselves by our titles instead of our ro...

Season 5 is here, and we have some exciting news. Christy Cook is officially joining Green Champions as co-host! You may already know Christy from her previous guest appearance, and now she's here to stay. If you're missing the voice of former co-host Adam Morris, don't worry. You can still catch him on his podcast, People Helping People, on all listening platforms. So who is Christ...

Lauren Koch, Sustainability Senior Program Manager at Mars Veterinary Health, is a passionate advocate for purpose-driven work and a champion for sustainability in the healthcare sector. She delves into her impactful work, sharing how she has successfully navigated the complexities of both human and animal healthcare to create lasting, sustainable change. Lauren gives us an inside look at her pass...

Lauren Koch, Sustainability Senior Program Manager at Mars Veterinary Health, is a passionate advocate for purpose-driven work and a champion for sustainability in the healthcare sector. Lauren shares the story of how a viewing of Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth" during a moment of career uncertainty ignited her passion for environmental action. She recounts her decision to return...

Brody Olson, the Sales Development Manager at Two Men and a Junk Truck, is here to prove that "junk removal" is about much more than just a trip to the dump. It's about empathy, community, and finding a second, third, or even fourth life for the items we no longer need. Brody pulls back the curtain on the often-misunderstood world of junk removal. He challenges the very notion of &q...

Brody Olson, Sales Development Manager at Two Men and a Junk Truck, may not have dreamed of a career in junk removal, but his journey is a powerful testament to the value of service, adaptability, and finding purpose in unexpected places. Brody shares his story, which began with a love for fishing and hunting and a dream of becoming a park ranger. He recounts his zig-zagging career path, from a br...

Can a neighborhood thrifting initiative make a dent in the massive problem of fashion waste? Lisa Goldsand, the founder of Circular Thrift, shares her mission to valorize post-consumer textile waste and scale the reuse of clothing and accessories at a hyperlocal level. Through her unique collection bins, swap events, and mobile trike sales, Lisa is revolutionizing the way communities approach sust...

John Seryak, the founder of Go Sustainable Energy, believes that real change in the energy sector starts with listening to the people on the ground. In this episode, he shares the origin story of his company, the evolution of its mission, and the powerful "aha!" moments that drive his team to create a more sustainable and equitable energy future. John offers a refreshingly honest and mul...

John Seryak, founder of Go Sustainable Energy, believes the biggest hang-ups in sustainable energy aren't about technology or money, they're about listening. In this deeply honest conversation, John explores his journey into the world of sustainable energy, which began not with a grand vision, but with a childhood attempt at a perpetual motion machine (turning a bicycle into a helicopter...