Lead The Change

Growing the Future Through Smart Digital Technology: Molly Brown, Ph. D. Chief Science Officer, 6th Grain Dr. Brown has been a Research Scientist at the University of Maryland since 2015, a job she took after leaving NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. Molly has two decades of experience in interdisciplinary research using satellite remote sensing data and models with socio-economic and demographic...

The Clear Choice for Solar: A Conversation with Veeral Hardev of Ubiquitous Energy Veeral Hardev is VP of Strategy at Ubiquitous Energy . Hardev  has over a decade of experience commercializing novel  nano-materials products for the electronics industry. This  includes his time at Nanosys, Inc. where he led materials and  business development, and product management. Hardev holds an MBA from the B...

Building A Better Working World: A Conversation With Susan Hunt Stevens Susan Hunt Stevens is the Founder & CEO of WeSpire , an award-winning employee experience technology focused on engaging people in environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives. She founded WeSpire to use her digital behavior change expertise to help people embrace healthier and more sustainable lifestyles after her s...

Sustainability Is Beautiful at the Estee Lauder Companies: A Conversation with Al Iannuzzi, VP, Sustainability Al Iannuzzi is Vice President, Sustainability, at The Estée Lauder Companies , where he directs enterprise-wide sustainability efforts and establishes and executes on the Company’s sustainability strategy, goals and objectives. He oversees the publication of the Company’s Corporate Respon...

Improving the Cold Chain to Save & Feed the Planet: A Conversation with Manik Suri of Therma Manik Suri is the Founder and CEO of technology company Therma . Before founding Therma, Manik co-founded the Governance Lab (GovLab), an innovation center at NYU that developed technology solutions to improve government. He is a former Affiliate of Harvard’s Berkman Center for Internet & Society and has h...

Closing the Loop on Commercial Textile Waste: Jessica Schreiber & Camille Tagle, Co-Founders of FABSCRAP Founded by Jessica Schreiber and Camille Tagle, FABSCRAP was created to meet New York City’s commercial textile recycling needs. Materials that traditionally would have gone to landfill are now being properly recycled and made available for reuse. FABSCRAP provides convenient pickup and recycli...

Activism, Leadership & Purpose: Gilles Mesrobian, Professor & Principal at the Red Queen Group In addition to his role as a visiting faculty member of Bard College’s MBA in Sustainability Program, Gilles is an affiliate consultant with the Support Center for Nonprofit Management, a Certified Governance Trainer through BoardSource, and on the National Training Faculty for NeighborWorks America.  Hi...

Building Sustainability into a Legacy Company: Robert Pasin CEO, Radio Flyer Robert Pasin heads Radio Flyer Inc ., the business founded by his grandfather in 1917. Radio Flyer is an iconic brand that holds a special place in people's hearts because it instantly transports them to a happy time — to the best parts of childhood. Robert works with a wonderful group of passionate "Flyers" whose mission...

Committed to Clean Money: A Conversation with Joe Sanberg, Co-Founder of Aspiration Joe Sanberg is a progressive business leader, anti-poverty advocate, and co-founder of Aspiration , a no-fee, socially-conscious financial firm that keeps its customers’ money away from fossil fuels and private prisons. As a steward of the movement to pass the Earned Income Tax Credit for low-income families in Cal...

Turning Up The Heat on Financial Regulators to Combat Climate Change Steven M. Rothstein Managing Director, Accelerator for Capital Markets, Ceres Steven M. Rothstein is the founding Managing Director of the Ceres Accelerator for Sustainable Capital Markets.  Ceres Accelerator aims to transform the practices and policies that govern capital markets in order to accelerate reduction of the worst fin...

How FinTech Can Close The Racial Wealth Gap: Ramona Ortega, Founder, My Money My Future Ramona Ortega is the CEO & Founder of My Money My Future . MMMF is a fintech marketplace helping Black and Latinx millennials save, invest, and build wealth with automated financial guidance and personalized product recommendations. Previously she helped launch Azlo, a small business banking platform as Entrepr...

Rethink. Redesign. Repurpose: Brandi Susewitz Founder & CEO, Clear Office Brandi has been in the office furniture industry for over twenty years.  On June 12th 2020, she woke up with a mission: to create the first online marketplace for companies to buy and sell their pre-owned office furniture.  Clear Office has digitized the pre-owned office furniture industry and is the first online marketplace...

Improving the Lives of Pets, Pet Parents & the Planet: A Conversation with Francesca Mahoney of Petco An accomplished retail leader, Francesca Mahoney leads Petco’s sustainability strategy and works with business leaders across operations, products, and supply chain to advance sustainability and drive strategic growth. She is passionate about creating a better planet for pets and pet parents alike...

Touching the Future of Textiles: Nicole Meier, Director of Branding at Ultrafabrics Ultrafabrics is reshaping the world of leather-free performance fabrics.  Operating on three continents with over five decades of expertise, Ultrafabrics innovates in sync with emerging customer needs to create versatile solutions for any surface, and for a multitude of industries. Every fabric coming out of their...

Population empowers home and fashion brands to embed an integrated approach to sustainability into their business models, brand strategy and marketing. As consultants they blend the creative and strategic to build authentic narratives, safeguarding against performative marketing and greenwashing. From widespread extraction and pollution to over-consumption and waste, industries had been reckoning...

Strategy As A Service: Gary J. Nix, Founder and Chief Strategist, The BRANDarchist Gary J. Nix is a strategy executive who earned his stripes as a disruptor, innovator, and predictor in the entertainment, magazine publishing, and marketing industries. Known for merging traditional marketing principles with modern marketing techniques, he has used his in-house and agency experience with Fortune 500...

Addressing Embodied Carbon's Role in Climate Change: Stacy Smedley, Executive Director of Building Transparency Building Transparency, a 501(c) nonprofit organization that provides open access data and tools that support broad and swift action across the building industry in addressing embodied carbon’s role in climate change. Formed in 2020, Building Transparency hosts, manages and maintains the...

Investing for Good: Peter Krull, CEO & Director of Investments, Earth Equity Advisors Peter Krull is a well-known leader in the green business community and a long-time advocate for fossil fuel free and sustainable, responsible and impact (SRI) investing. He was selected to the 2018 Investopedia 100 list of the one hundred most influential financial advisors in America, and was one of the first in...

Media as a Mode for Social & Environmental Good:Jessica Thurston, Director, ESG Strategy at ViacomCBS Jessica Thurston leads ViacomCBS’ environmental, social, and governance strategy. She oversees the development and implementation of key ESG programs across the global company, including ESG reporting and engagement with rankers, raters, and investors. Jessica’s background is in ESG and sustainabi...

Making Cities More Resilient By Eliminating Food Waste: A Conversation with Natasha Dyer, Senior Recycling Program Coordinator for the City of Atlanta In her role with the Mayor’s Office of Resilience , Natasha Dyer  focuses on creating municipal programs that increase wasted food diversion from landfill as part of the City’s Climate Action and Food Access plans.  This includes programs that recov...

The Future of Agriculture is Local and Greenhouse-Grown: A Conversation with Paul Sellew Paul Sellew , founder and chief executive officer of Little Leaf Farms , had a vision to grow lettuce in New England year-round after mastering the growing and distribution of greenhouse-grown tomatoes with his previous company, Backyard Farms. Founded in 2015, Little Leaf Farms grows flavorful, crisp, leafy b...

Reducing Risks for Responsible Mining: A Conversation with Karen Chovan, CEO & Founder of Enviro Integration Strategy Enviro Integration Strategies is focused on helping leaders to rapidly integrate sustainable choices and practices into mining designs and operations.  After 20 years in mining, CEO and Founder, Karen Chovan has gained a breadth of experience and knowledge working as a geological e...

Collaborating to Accelerate the Textile Industry's Move From Linear to Circular: A Conversation with Karla Magruder, Founder & President of  Accelerating Circularity   Karla Magruder has 35 years of global experience from fiber to finished garments. Accelerating Circularity is a 501(c)3 with a mission to divert textiles from landfill and incineration for textile-to-textile circular supply chain sy...

The Great Pivot: A Conversation with Ben Vandenwymelenberg, Chairman & Founder, WOODCHUCK USA WOODCHUCK USA manufactures technology-driven wood products and specializes in customization. WOODCHUCK USA was founded with a simple mission: putting nature back into people's lives. Their passion is to be a daily reminder of our planet's vulnerability by using real wood products and planting a tree with...

Purpose, Prosperity & Priorities: A Conversation with Jane Lawrie, Global Head of Corporate Affairs at KPMG International . Jane Lawrie joined KPMG International as the Global Head of Corporate Affairs in late 2019. With more than 30 years’ communications experience, Jane has worked for global brands including Coca-Cola, Diageo, Boots and most recently Tesco.  A member of the Tesco Executive Commi...