WCS Talks Unplugged

This special episode of WCS Talks Unplugged is shared as part of a content exchange with Earthlings 2.0 , hosted by WCS Founder Lisa Ann Pinkerton . The original episode can be found here: #156: Ammonia: The Compound That Could Power a Cleaner Planet with Ammobia In this conversation, Lisa Ann sits down with Karen Baert , Co-Founder and CEO of Ammobia , a Stanford-born climate technology startup r...

In this episode of WCS Talks Unplugged, host Anandi Yadav sits down with Sara Fuentes , Chairwoman of Women in Cleantech and Sustainability and Founder of Smart Waste , for an honest conversation about purpose, leadership, waste, and what it really takes to build a company. Sara shares how her early work in education, her Chicana upbringing, and her deep commitment to service shaped the way she se...

In this special recap episode of WCS Talks Unplugged, WCS Chairwoman Sara Fuentes, Farah Saeed, and Trish Pinnella. reflect on an extraordinary 10-day journey through San Francisco Climate Week 2026. The week was defined by movement-building, deep connection, innovation, and the growing power of community. From Oracle Park’s official kickoff with over 450 climate leaders to hikes through the Golde...

What if something as simple as a small solar light could change a child’s future? In this episode of WCS Talks Unplugged, host Trish Pinnella speaks with Nicole Watson, founder of the Iconic Earth Foundation, about how access to clean light is transforming education, safety, and opportunity for students living in off-grid communities. Through her program Watts On – Lighting Students’ Lives, Nicole...

What if the future of technology wasn’t just about faster systems, smarter algorithms, or bigger data but about supporting life itself? In this episode of WCS Talks Unplugged, host Sara Fuentes, Chairwoman of Women in Cleantech and Sustainability and founder of SmartWaste, speaks with Jessica Groopman, founder of the Regenerative Technology Project. Together they explore how emerging technologies...

In this episode of WCS Talks Unplugged, host Farah Saeed sits down with Susannah Hill, co-founder of Cloud Sustainability Watch, to explore an emerging challenge in climate innovation: the environmental footprint of our rapidly expanding digital world. As climate solutions increasingly rely on AI, cloud computing, and large-scale data infrastructure, an important question arises: What is the envir...

In this episode of WCS Talks Unplugged, host Sara Fuentes, Chairwoman of Women in Cleantech and Sustainability and Founder of Smart Waste, sits down with longtime WCS ally and sustainability leader Michael Kobori. Michael has spent decades shaping corporate sustainability at some of the world’s most recognized companies, including Levi Strauss & Co. and Starbucks, where he served as the compan...

In this episode of WCS Talks Unplugged, host Sadia Raveendran sits down with Veronica Barner, product executive at GE Vernova, to explore an important question facing many professionals today: Are women really less ambitious? Or, are our systems failing to recognize ambition when it doesn’t fit traditional expectations? Sparked by recent conversations around the Women in the Workplace report and t...

How do you build leadership skills when your job description doesn’t give you the opportunity? In this episode of WCS Talks Unplugged , host Farah Saeed speaks with clean tech leader Robin Milshtein about a powerful concept for career growth: developing leadership skills outside the scope of your day job — what Robin calls your professional “side hustle.” Robin shares her journey from engineering...

The Origin Story of Women in Cleantech & Sustainability What started as a simple idea — and a moment of deciding to stop waiting for someone else to take action — has grown into a network that has connected and supported more than 20,000 women worldwide. In this conversation, Sara and Lisa Ann explore the origin story of WCS, the lessons learned from building a mission-driven community over 15...

In this mini-episode, we delve into the transformative power of WCS Talks and the decision to launch this podcast. Join Anandi Yadav, Farah Saeed, Sara Fuentes, and Trish Pinella as they share insights on the impact of WCS Talks, the importance of adapting to new formats, and the collective strength of women in clean tech. Discover personal stories, the significance of individual actions, and the...