Sustainable Nation

Kim Holmes is Vice President of Sustainability for the Plastics Industry Association (PLASTICS). The sustainability team provides support for all sustainability and recycling related work undertaken by the councils and committees at PLASTICS. The association is committed to maximizing the recovery of all plastics, both post-industrial and post-consumer, across all product categories. PLASTICS has...

Nancy Mancilla is recognized is the CEO and Co-Founder of ISOS Group, a GRI and CDP Certified Training Partner. In this capacity, Nancy has orchestrated 100+ Certified Trainings and assisted some of the world's biggest brands through the complicated sustainability reporting process. Prior to starting ISOS, Nancy assisted Winrock International in developing their sustainability services and led num...

In the five years since USGBC has launched Education USGBC, they have been committed to continuous improvement. Along the way, USGBC has expanded to over 700 courses, diversified the topics and types of education content available, launched curated playlists and created knowledge-based badges to recognize deeper expertise. USGBC has also begun hosting the annual Green Schools Conference and Expo,...

Alan is a "semi-retired" consultant in Packaging and Sustainability and has recently re-activated his connection with PAC The Packaging Consortium as their PACNEXT US and Food Waste Director. Alan also has 20 years experience with Procter & Gamble in Package Development & Design and was the Corporate leader for their global Packaging Sustainability program. He has been a board member of PAC, of th...

Josh Prigge speaks about the business benefits of a commitment to sustainability at the annual Global Best Practices Conference in Dallas, TX in January, 2019.

Rhonda Sherman has been an extension waste management specialist with North Carolina State University since 1993. She is the founder and director of the Composting Learning Lab (CL2), which has 26 types of vermicomposting and composting bins. She gives about 40 presentations annually and has authored over 65 publications on these topics. Her new book is The Worm Farmer's Handbook: Mid- to Large-Sc...

Kunal Merchant is Managing Director of Lotus Advisory. In this capacity, Kunal provides strategic advisory, project management, public affairs, and communications support to a select portfolio of clients in sports, technology, real estate, politics, and philanthropy. Kunal previously served as Vice President of Strategic Initiatives for the Sacramento Kings, where he oversaw several strategic, pol...

Karissa Kruse is President of the Sonoma County Winegrowers. Sonoma County Winegrowers (SCW), was established in 2006 as a marketing and educational organization dedicated to the promotion and preservation of Sonoma County as one of the world's premier grape growing regions. SCW has oversight by California Department of Food and Agriculture which supports producer regions. With more than 1,800 gro...

Cathy Resler is the Head of Global Sustainability for Ocean Spray Cranberries - a Farmer-Owned Cooperative - where she leads sustainability strategy across the Cooperative, with Ocean Spray farmers and business partners. Her work on environmental and social responsibility initiatives focuses on building value across sustainable agriculture, operations, supply chain, sales, marketing, and customer...

Dr. Rafinejad has had over 30 years of experience as a senior executive in high-tech industries in Silicon Valley. He was a Corporate Vice President at both Applied Materials and Lam Research, both multi-billion dollar semiconductor equipment companies. Prior to PGS, he was Associate Professor, Consulting at Stanford University. He has also served as adjunct faculty at Haas Business School at Berk...

In The Battle to Do Good, former McDonald's executive Bob Langert takes readers on a behind-the-scenes eye witness account of the mega brand's battle to address numerous societal hot-button issues, such as packaging, waste, recycling, obesity, deforestation, and animal welfare. From the late 80s, McDonald's landed smack in the middle of one contentious issue after another, often locking horns with...

Brittany Bennett is the Executive Director of Engineers for a Sustainable World (ESW) where she leads an international organization, tackles messy sustainability challenges, and uses data science as a tool to drive social change. A firm believer that people can engineer change, Brittany uses her data analytical know-how to uncover valuable insights behind the need and impact sustainable projects h...

Nick Martin is a senior sustainability consultant at Antea Group and the executive director of the Beverage Industry Environmental Roundtable (BIER). Nick is dedicated to supporting clients with assessing, prioritizing and managing sustainability-related business risks and opportunities. He has extensive experience supporting private and public organizations with translating sustainability aspirat...

This TRUE Zero Waste presentation was conducted in Las Vegas at the Venetian Hotel on December 7th, 2018. The presentation talks about the benefits of zero waste for organizations, walks you through the various aspects of TRUE Zero Waste certification program, discusses the requirements for becoming TRUE Zero Waste certified and insights from the first TRUE Zero Waste certified business facility i...

Kendra is a licensed Mechanical Engineer with over 15 years of experience in the corporate, nonprofit, and government sectors and is currently serving as the Chief Sustainability & Resilience Officer for the City of Boulder. In that role, she oversees the city's climate, energy and zero waste policies and programs and leads a city and county wide Resilience team. Her current work includes explorin...

Saskia Feast is VP of Western Region at Natural Capital Partners. Saskia works with companies in the Western Region of North America to ensure they have access to the right mix of market-based solutions to meet their sustainability objectives. Prior to joining Natural Capital Partners, she helped launch a new class of offset into the voluntary and compliance market at EOS Climate. Saskia has an MB...

Gary Liss has over 45 years of experience in the solid waste and recycling field. Mr. Liss is a leading advocate of Zero Waste and has helped more communities develop Zero Waste plans than anyone else in the U.S. including: City of Los Angeles Palo Alto, Oakland, Burbank, San Jose, Castro Valley Sanitary District, City of Alameda, Oceanside, Glendale and Del Norte County in CA; Austin (TX); Nelson...

Beth Vukmanic Lopez manages the Sustainability in Practice (SIP) certification program. Beth Vukmanic Lopez graduated from California Polytechnic State University with a Bachelors of Science in Agribusiness, Marketing Concentration and minor in Music. Beth joined the Vineyard Team in July 2009 and has thoroughly enjoyed overseeing the development and growth of the SIP Certified program. Sustainabi...

Michele is a Managing Principal of Sustainability Services at Waste Management and has 20 years of experience in the environmental field helping customers obtain their sustainability objectives, concentrating on the triple bottom line while ensuring brand and quality is not compromised. Since joining Waste Management in 2009, she has supported a diverse portfolio of projects, sharing best practice...

Dr. Julie Newman joined MIT as the Institute's first Director of Sustainability in the summer of 2013. She has worked in the field of sustainable development and campus sustainability for twenty years. Her research has focused on the intersection between decision-making processes and organizational behavior in institutionalizing sustainability into higher education. In 2004, Julie was recruited to...

Richard V. Anthony began his career in Public Administration in 1971 as a manager of the California State University Long Beach Recycling Center. He received a MS in Public Administration in 1974. Rick has worked his entire career in environmental program management positions. As a Manager he wrote and then implemented Solid Waste plans for Fresno and San Diego counties. He has participated in dev...

As director of market transformation & development for the TRUE Zero Waste certification, Stephanie Barger is responsible for the growth and development of the TRUE program. Barger helped launch TRUE, which is owned and administered by Green Business Certification Inc. (GBCI) in 2017. GBCI is the premier organization independently recognizing excellence in green business industry performance and p...

Episode Transcript Meghan Fay Zahniser – AASHE Executive Director This is always an exciting time for me and I hope for all of you as well. To start off, I wanted to offer a special recognition of the land and acknowledge that the history in Pittsburgh started with centuries of native American civilization throughout this region. Thank you for having us. We are grateful to be here and excited to b...

Vicki Bennett is the Sustainability Director for Salt Lake City, working with both city agencies and the public to create a more livable community. She holds a degree in Chemistry from the University of California at San Diego, and an Executive MBA from the University of Utah. Vicki's experience includes sustainability program management, climate change mitigation and adaptation, energy policy, fo...

Certified B Corps represent a new type of company. B corps are not only concerned about generating a profit, but also about making our world a better place by focusing on the positive social and/or environmental impacts of their business. Sensiba San Filippo (SSF) clearly embodies the B Corp spirit in its mission to enhance the lives of its employees and make positive impacts in its community. In...