Sustainability Conference Speakers

 

Meet this year's speakers.

 

Lina Azuero, Corporate Sustainability Consultant; DELL Inc.

Lina Azuero is a Corporate Sustainability Strategist at Dell. She is responsible for external reporting to CDP and the Global Reporting Initiative, (GRI), Dell's Corporate CSR benchmarking, and for Dell's Sustainable Development Goals strategy among others. Throughout her career Lina has successfully led the implementation of a wide range of sustainability initiatives from conception to end in multiple areas including packaging, logistics, supply chain, and circular economy. She is passionate and deeply committed to advancing sustainability practices. Her expertise focuses in development and implementation of corporate social responsibility and sustainability strategies and programs, social and environmental responsibility in supply chain, social and environmental life cycle assessment and sustainability reporting. Prior to Dell and EMC, Lina served as Sustainability Management Consultant for CDM Smith.

 

Stephanie Barger, Director Market Transformation and Development - TRUE Zero Waste Program; U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC)

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 practice globally and administers all LEED green building certifications. TRUE was acquired by GBCI in 2016 and was previously known as U.S. Zero Waste Business Council, which Barger formed in January 2012.

 

She received her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from San Diego State University. In her spare time, Barger raises guide dog puppies for the blind and advocates for humane treatment of all creatures great and small. She lives in Penryn California.

 

Barger has been dedicated to meeting the growing need for educational resources, peer-to-peer networking and third-party certification for businesses across the nation related to waste reduction and zero waste. She brings over 25 years of experience in environmental stewardship, employee training, management consulting and business development. Prior to forming the U.S. Zero Waste Business Council, Barger spent 15 years leading Earth Resource Foundation (ERF), a dynamic high school environmental leadership program. ERF’s campaigns included curbing plastic pollution through zero waste, promoting native plant restoration, advocating for smoke-free beaches and improving watershed management. In 2009, ERF was awarded a Federal Stimulus Grant (the California Green Jobs Program in Orange County) to provide training for at-risk youth in zero waste and career development.

 

Previously, Barger was a certified trainer with California Resource Recovery Association (CRRA), one of the nation’s largest and oldest non-profit recycling organizations. She taught a class on zero waste businesses. She helped write and administer a $5 million Department of Labor grant that expanded the CRRA training program to over 500 unemployed and under-employed individuals. The grant also developed a recycling, resource management and zero waste certificate and associates degree program at three community colleges in Southern California.

 

Barger has worked with several California counties and cities on waste policies, including the City of Newport Beach’s polystyrene ban at all restaurants; the City of Burbank’s zero waste plan for the restaurant and grocery store sectors; the County of Orange’s pollution prevention initiative through zero waste and many businesses including Whole Foods Market, St. Joseph’s Heritage Health Care, Reel Chefs Catering and Kean Coffee.

 

Fawn Bergen, Global Sustainability Program Manager; Intel Corp.

Fawn Bergen leads Intel's global sustainability programs for water sustainability (conservation and stewardship) and carbon footprint. Fawn has worked in the environmental field for over 19 years with experience in environmental sustainability, compliance program management, strategy development, environmental permitting, regulatory interpretation, auditing and training.

 

Fawn has worked in the environmental field over 20 years with experience in environmental sustainability and compliance program management, environmental permitting, compliance management, regulatory interpretation, auditing, and training Her career has spanned multiple roles in the manufacturing and mining industries (AMCOL International and CEMEX Inc.) as well as environmental consulting (Koogler Associates, Golder Associates, and MACTEC/ESE).

 

Fawn has a BS in Environmental Engineering from the University of Florida Residing in Portland, Oregon, she enjoys the beautiful Pacific Northwest outdoors with her two children and husband.

 

Brooke Barton, Senior Program Director, Water & Food Programs; CERES

Brooke is the senior director of water and food at Ceres.

 

She directs Ceres' strategy for mobilizing leading investors and companies to address the sustainability risks facing our freshwater, food and agriculture systems. In this capacity, she oversees Ceres' research and private sector engagement activities on the financial risks associated with growing freshwater challenges and deforestation.

 

Brooke is the co-author of The Ceres Aqua Gauge: A Framework for 21st Century Water Risk Management and three studies focused on agricultural water risks facing the food sector: the 2017 Feeding Ourselves Thirsty: Tracking Food Company Progress Towards a Water-Smart Future, as well as the first benchmarking analysis that was released in 2015, and Water and Climate Risks Facing U.S. Corn Production. Previously, Brooke directly advised Ceres Company Network members in the food and beverage sector on strategies for enhancing the overall sustainability of their operations and supply chains.

 

Prior to Ceres, Brooke was a researcher for the Harvard Business School's Social Enterprise Initiative, where she wrote case studies and articles on the integration of business strategy and sustainability. She holds a master's degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, and a bachelor's degree in economics from Duke University. She speaks Spanish and Portuguese.

 

Libby Bernick, Global Head of Corporate Business; Trucost - S&P Dow Jones Indices

Libby is the Global Head of Corporate Business for Trucost, part of S&P Dow Jones Indices. Trucost assesses and prices risks relating to climate change, natural resource constraints and broader ESG factors, enabling companies and financial institutions to understand exposure to ESG factors, build more resilient business models, and identify transformative solutions.

 

Libby is responsible for global new product development, research and sales activities for Trucost corporate programs, including Trucost valuation data and analytical tools, impact analysis of bonds, and company ESG disclosure to investors. She has been a strategic advisor to global multinational corporations, development banks, investors, and foundations on sustainability issues. She has worked for over 25 years integrating sustainability information into business decision-making, and has led the development and implementation of numerous decision-support tools and programs. Prior to joining Trucost, Libby was Vice President, Sustainability Services for Underwriter's Laboratory; previous roles included executive positions developing and commercializing greener products, serving as an environmental manager in a manufacturing facility, and managing water and air pollution programs at the US EPA.

 

Libby holds a M.A.S. in Civil (Environmental) Engineering and a B.A. in Chemistry and Biology, is a licensed Professional Engineer and LEED AP accredited by the U.S. Green Building Council.

 

Eileen Howard Boone, Senior Vice President of Corporate Social Responsibility & Philanthropy; CVS Health Corp.

Eileen Howard Boone is senior vice president of Corporate Social Responsibility and Philanthropy for CVS Health, and president of the CVS Health Foundation. Howard Boone also serves as an officer of the CVS Health Employee Relief Fund and CVS Health Charity Classic.

 

Howard Boone is responsible for formulating the strategic positioning of the company's corporate social responsibility platform across three focus areas: building healthier communities, creating economic opportunities and protecting the planet. As the head of corporate philanthropy, she leads a team that directs $100 million in charitable funding for philanthropic programs that support the company's purpose of helping people on their path to better health by increasing access to health care for underserved populations, improving the quality of care and ultimately reducing costs on the health care system. This includes charitable donations, gifts in-kind, customer and colleague fundraising and volunteerism.

 

Howard Boone was instrumental in leading stakeholder engagement around the company's decision to stop the sale of tobacco in 2014 and garnering support from key anti-tobacco NGOs and health care organizations surrounding the announcement and tobacco exit.  Howard Boone and her team also continue to advance the company's commitment to help people lead tobacco-free lives and make the next generation tobacco-free by investing millions of dollars to support smoking cessation and tobacco awareness programs and organizations helping those with tobacco-related illnesses.

 

Previously, she served as senior vice president of Corporate Communications and Community Relations for CVS Health, leading an enterprise team responsible for media relations, internal communications, corporate events and community engagement.

 

Active in the community, Howard Boone serves on several nonprofit boards of directors, including the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, Crossroads, Easter Seals and the NACDS Foundation. Through her work and expertise, she has earned many professional service accolades, including the CECP's Charles H. Moore Award, which recognizes perseverance in pursuing societal advancement, and the National Child Labor Committee's Lewis Hine Award for service to children and youth. The company's social responsibility efforts have also contributed to CVS Health's place on major public rankings, including Diversity Inc's Top 25 Noteworthy Companies, Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI), S&P 500 Climate Performance Leadership Index (CPLI) and Fortune's annual list of the World's Most Admired Companies, a leading report card on corporate reputation.

 

Howard Boone is a graduate of the College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, Massachusetts, and earned her MBA from Fordham University in New York City.

 

Boma Brown-West, Senior Manager, Consumer Health; Environmental Defense Fund (EDF)

Boma Brown-West is a senior manager at EDF+Business. In her role, she focuses on transforming retail supply chains in order to reduce people's exposure to toxic chemicals. By engaging with stakeholders across the retail supply chain, like Walmart, she works to promote and implement strategies that foster the development and usage of safer chemicals in consumer products. Boma has worked in close collaboration with Walmart on the implementation of their successful sustainable chemistry policy. Boma also leads EDF's initiative Behind the Label: a Blueprint for Safer Chemicals in the Marketplace that lays out a path to corporate leadership for all in the retail supply chain. Prior to working at EDF, Ms. Brown-West worked for a decade at Whirlpool Corporation in product engineering and sustainability. Ms. Brown-West has an M.S. in Technology & Policy from MIT and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Yale University.

 

Cynthia Cummis, Director of Private Sector Climate Mitigation; The World Resources Institute (WRI)

Cynthia Cummis is the Director of Private Sector Climate Mitigation in WRI's Business Center. In this role she manages various projects working with businesses to reduce GHG emissions including GHG Protocol's suite of corporate GHG accounting and reporting standards, the Science Based Targets initiative and the Portfolio Carbon Initiative.

 

Ms. Cummis is a well-known expert in GHG accounting and brings more than 18 years of experience working on the issue of global climate change. Prior to WRI, Cynthia was the Director of Carbon Management at Clear Carbon Consulting where she managed carbon quantification and management projects for multiple Fortune 500 clients as well as large public institutions. Ms. Cummis was the Founding Director of U.S. EPA's Climate Leaders Program, a voluntary program that partnered with businesses to develop corporate-wide greenhouse gas inventories and reduction goals. For more than 5 years, she led the design and implementation of the program and oversaw the growth of the program to more than 90 corporate Partners.

 

Cynthia holds a MPA in environmental policy from Columbia University in New York City and a B.S. from Cornell University in Ithaca N.Y.

 

Jennifer Eastes, Senior Sustainability Consultant; Environmental Resources Management (ERM)

Jennifer Eastes is a Senior Sustainability Consultant with twelve years of experience assisting Fortune 500 companies with the development of their corporate sustainability strategies. Ms. Eastes' particular area of expertise lies in transparency, disclosure and communications, where she helps companies to articulate their sustainability vision, strategy and performance. Ms. Eastes has developed more than 100 sustainability reports using GRI or other industry standards. She has worked with dozens of organizations to help them to understand their stakeholders information needs and respond to requests such as MSCI, Sustainalytics, DJSI, CDP, among others.

 

Kevin Eckerle, Director Corporate Research and Engagement; NYU Stern School of Business

Kevin is a Senior Research Scholar and Director of Corporate Research and Engagement at the Center for Sustainable Business, New York University (NYU) Stern School of Business, where he uses his more than 12 years’ experience working with private and public organizations to develop and implement transformational strategies that leverage sustainability as a driver of value creation. Prior to NYU, Kevin was a sustainability strategist with Accenture Strategy and Esty Environmental Partners (now part of PricewaterhouseCoopers), working with corporate, government and non-profit clients to embed sustainability. Prior to his consulting career, Kevin served in the U.S. Senate as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, where he oversaw several of the nation’s largest scientific agencies, including NASA, NOAA and the National Science Foundation. He began his career as a biologist, studying the unending variety of ornaments, dances and songs that birds use to dazzle their mates.

 

Kevin is a frequent speaker on sustainability and the circular economy, and is the author or co-author of 10+ publications on the circular economy, engaging consumers to promote sustainable decision-making and grow business value, the economics of coal-generated electricity, the impacts of climate change on global biodiversity, and the ecology of birds.

 

He earned his Ph.D. from Illinois State University and MBA from The George Washington University School of Business.

 

James Ewell, Senior Director, Sustainable Materials; GreenBlue

As Senior Director of GreenBlue's Sustainable Materials program, James is responsible for managing the development and practical implementation of its sustainable materials management framework. He has extensive knowledge and experience in sustainable product design and manufacturing, chemical transparency and supply chain management. As Director of Consulting for McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry (MBDC), James developed and implemented Cradle-to-Cradle criteria for designing and manufacturing sustainable products and improving corporate practices. He has worked with numerous corporate clients from a diversity of industrial sectors.

 

Prior to his tenure at MBDC, James has held positions at organizations such as the Piedmont Environmental Council, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the International Center for Development Policy. In addition, James has a long history of advocacy work in social justice and international development issues. He holds an MA in Urban and Environmental Planning from the University of Virginia, and a BA in History from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

 

Taylor Gelsinger, Manager of Research and Analytics; NAEM

Taylor Gelsinger has been with NAEM since 2013. She executes NAEM's research program, specializing in a range of EHS and sustainability topics, including: compliance, environmental information management systems, corporate responsibility reporting, materiality, metrics and professional development. Taylor graduated with a Master of Environmental Management degree in environmental economics and policy from Duke University and a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from Oklahoma State University.

 

Alyson Genovese, Director of Regional Hub; The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)

Alyson Genovese is GRI's Director of Regional Hub: United States and Canada. GRI is an international independent organization that helps businesses, governments and other organizations understand and communicate the impact of their operations on critical sustainability issues such as climate change, human rights, corruption and many others. With thousands of reporters in over 90 countries, GRI provides the world's most trusted and widely used standards for sustainability reporting and disclosure.

 

Alyson leads engagement with GRI's North American network of sustainability reporting organizations, nonprofits, academic institutions, and investment organizations. This includes management of GRI's GOLD Community network and all GRI-led programming in North America. Ms. Genovese is also responsible for raising awareness about GRI's work in the US and Canada.

 

Alyson is an accomplished professional in the corporate and nonprofit sectors with more than 20 years of experience in corporate social responsibility, public affairs, corporate citizenship, sustainability communications and stakeholder engagement. Alyson has worked as an internal executive, a freelance consultant and a trusted advisor.

 

Jennifer Gerholdt, Director of Corporate Engagement; We Mean Business

Jennifer Gerholdt is the Director of Corporate Engagement at We Mean Business, a  global coalition of nonprofit organizations working with the world's most influential businesses to take action on climate change. In her role, Jennifer orchestrates, empowers, and measures the coalition's corporate engagement work to achieve a fundamental shift in corporate climate leadership by 2020.

 

Prior to We Mean Business Jennifer served as Senior Director, Sustainability and Circular Economy Program at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation Corporate Citizenship Center. In her role, Jennifer directed high quality programming for business leaders to help them maximize their positive contributions to society's challenges. This included developing and executing the strategy for CCC's engagement with the private sector on issues including the circular economy, the energy-water-food nexus, and water stewardship. Jennifer directed CCC's signature sustainability conference, workshops, trainings, roundtables, business delegation tours, case study reports, and research.

 

Prior to CCC, Jennifer was Senior Manager of Conservation International's Business & Sustainability Council (BSC), a forum for influential companies that are committed to business and environmental leadership. In her role Jennifer managed corporate partnerships, planned and executed BSC's annual event and oversaw delivery of additional membership benefits, and directed BSC marketing and communications efforts.

 

Prior to Conservation International, Jennifer was the Program Officer with WWF's Global Forest & Trade Network-North America program, working with global companies including Avon, Capital One, Domtar, Johnson & Johnson and Tetra Pak on responsible wood and paper sourcing issues. In her role, Jennifer assisted these companies in understanding the sources of their forest products, developing and implementing responsible purchasing policies, and increasing the proportion of credibly certified material in their supply chains. Jennifer also managed special projects and events, communications products, research and reporting.

 

Prior to WWF, Jennifer served as the Outreach Coordinator for Green America's Better Paper Project, providing technical assistance and expertise to U.S. magazine industry leaders to help them incorporate credibly certified and post-consumer recycled content sources into their magazines to drive responsible paper industry best practices.

 

Jennifer previously served as a Member, Board of Directors, of the U.S. Water Alliance, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit working to advance holistic, watershed based-solutions surrounding complex water sustainability issues.

 

Jennifer holds a Master of Science degree in Environmental Sciences and Policy from The Johns Hopkins University, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biology from New Mexico State University.

 

John Holm, Vice President of Strategic Initiatives; PYXERA Global

John Holm is the Vice President of Strategic Initiatives at PYXERA Global. Specializing in cross-sector engagement and shared value creation in emerging markets, He led the successful market entry and expansion of the Subway Restaurants in Hungary while advising both IKEA and Starbucks on their respective market entries into Central & Eastern Europe and the Balkans (Serbia, Croatia, and Slovenia). In the foundation space, he has developed partnership engagements with the Sustainable Development Philanthropy Platform and the Diaspora Investment Alliance respectively.

 

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John is also a member of the Helvetas USA board, A Swiss Inter-cooperation focusing on global poverty reduction and water rights and is also is an advocate on the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals.  John received an MBA with Distinction from Central European University in Budapest and is also a certified Shared Value consultant.

 

Johanna Jobin, Director, Global EHS & Sustainability; Biogen Inc.

As Biogen's new Director of Global EHS & Sustainability, Johanna will work to promote the company's culture and vision on corporate citizenship by helping to implement global sustainability programs and initiatives, such as energy improvements to waste reductions, as well as driving employee and stakeholder engagement. She is also responsible for the corporate citizenship reporting and carbon neutrality strategy.

 

As the former Head of Corporate Responsibility & Community Affairs of EMD Millipore, the life science business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, Ms. Jobin led their corporate responsibility efforts, including the vision and strategic direction for environmental and social responsibility. Her responsibilities centered around strengthening the organization's business performance by embedding sustainability into key business practices and overall culture. Key programs she managed and supported included greenhouse gas management and energy, Design for Sustainability, community engagement, and access to health and shared value initiatives.

 

Prior to joining the former Millipore Corporation in 2008, she served as a Management Consultant, working with public and private sector clients in developing and implementing EHS and sustainability management systems. She received her Master of Environmental Management degree, with a certificate in Energy and Environment, from Duke University and is also an ISO 14001 trained auditor.

 

She is involved in a number of sustainability related organizations, and is currently a Board member of the National Association for EHS & Sustainability Management (NAEM), Board member of the USGBC Massachusetts Chapter, Co-Chair of the Association Industries of Massachusetts (AIM) Sustainability Roundtable, and on the Advisory Board for the Center for Sustainability in Business at WPI and Advisory Committee Member for the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, Marine Safety and Environmental Protection. She also serves on the City of Cambridge Climate Protection Action Committee and is a Board member of "e" inc., an organization focused on environmental and STEM education for children. 

 

Stephen Jordan, Co-Founder; IO Sustainability and CEO; Institute for Sustainable Development

In 2000, Stephen Jordan founded and served for 12 years as executive director of the Business Civic Leadership Center, a not-for-profit 501(c)-3 affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce focused on corporate social responsibility and public-private partnerships.

 

He is the author, co-author, or editor of numerous publications on corporate responsibility, business ethics, and global development, including "One Step Forward, Two Steps Back: A Brief History of Corporate Citizenship and Corporate Social Responsibility" and the "Role of Business" series of reports on corporate contributions to various social and environmental issues.

 

Before founding BCLC, Stephen served as executive director of the Association of American Chambers of Commerce in Latin America. Previously, he worked in the publishing industry and as a legislative assistant in the U.S. Senate.

 

Stephen serves on the Board of Directors of the Center for Policy on Emerging Technology, the Board of Advisors of the Corporate Responsibility Officers Association, the U.S. Commission for UNESCO, and is a fellow of the Caux Roundtable. Stephen holds an MBA from Georgetown University and an MA in Political and Social Thought from the University of Virginia with high academic honors from both institutions.

 

Alan Kao, Principal and Global Lead for Compliance, Strategy and Transaction Services (CST); Ramboll Environment & Health

Alan Kao is a Principal and Global Lead for Compliance, Strategy and Transaction Services (CST) at Ramboll Environment & Health.  The CST service line supports clients involved in the acquisition, operation, growth, and sale of companies and properties. These include Transactional Due Diligence, Compliance Performance and Assurance, and Sustainability services.  He has more than 25 years of experience in corporate sustainability, compliance auditing, strategic regulatory compliance assistance, permitting, and environmental due diligence for mergers and acquisitions.  He helps clients develop ESG and corporate sustainability programs that align with their core business strategies in order to maximize the business value.  More recently, Alan has been assisting clients evaluate business risks and opportunities through the lens of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

 

Nicole Labutong, ‎Technical Manager, Science Based Targets; CDP

Nicole Labutong is Technical Manager at CDP and a member of the Science Based Targets initiative's Technical Working Group. Nicole is passionate about enabling companies to achieve their sustainability goals by implementing innovative solutions. The focus of her work is to provide advisory services and develop resources for companies looking to set their greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets in line with climate science. Nicole led the development of CDP's first-ever science-based targets scoring method, to which over 6,300 global companies respond annually. She also regularly presents on science-based targets to a broad audience, including companies, investors, and other stakeholders. Nicole holds a M.S. in Sustainable Systems from the University of Michigan, and has a background in renewable energy and life cycle assessment.

 

Mindy Lubber, CEO and President; CERES

Mindy S. Lubber is the CEO, President, and early board member of Ceres, a non-profit organization that is mobilizing many of the world's largest investors and companies to take stronger action on climate change, water scarcity and other global sustainability challenges. She directs Ceres' Investor Network on Climate Risk and Sustainability, a group of 146 institutional investors managing over $22.3 trillion in assets focused on the business risks and opportunities of climate change. Mindy also oversees engagements with 100-plus companies, many of them Fortune 500 firms, working towards improving their commitments to sustainable business practices and the urgency for strong climate and clean energy policies.

 

Under Mindy's leadership, Ceres launched The 21st Century Corporation: The Ceres Roadmap for Sustainability and The 21st Century Investor: Ceres Blueprint for Sustainable Investing, visionary guides highlighting environmental and social performance improvements companies and investors must achieve to succeed in the resource-constrained 21st century global economy.

 

In 2016, Mindy received the Climate Visionary Award from the Earth Day Network, and the William K. Reilly Award for Environmental Leadership from the Center for Environmental Policy at American University. The December 2015 online edition of Vogue Magazine featured Mindy as one of their "Climate Warriors", one of the top 13 women advancing the Paris Climate Agreement at the UN Conference at COP21.In 2010, Mindy was honored by the United Nations and the Foundation for Social Change as one of the "World's Top Leaders of Change" for her work in mobilizing leading companies to integrate environmental challenges into core business strategies. She is a recipient of the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship and was named one of "The 100 Most Influential People in Corporate Governance" by Directorship magazine.

 

Josef Lukan, Senior Manager, Global Policy and Advocacy; Levi Strauss & Co. 

Josef Lukan is a Senior Manager with Levi Strauss & Co. where he leads the Company's global advocacy efforts on social and environmental public policy issues critical to its business. Focused on human rights, labor and environmental sustainability, Josef leads global stakeholder engagement efforts to advance the Company's sustainability strategy and strengthen the Company's reputation.

 

Prior to joining Levi Strauss & Co., Josef was a Manager at the Estée Lauder Companies in New York City where he supported the establishment of the Company's Corporate Sustainability function. In this role, he developed a comprehensive sustainability strategy that integrated the Company's economic, environmental, social and governance impacts into its business strategy and operations, across the organization globally. Josef has also worked in strategic planning for the New York City Department of Education and in education policy development at the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), a Latino advocacy organization in Washington, DC.

 

Josef earned an MPA from Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs with a focus in International Energy Management and Policy, as well as a BA from the University of California, Davis where he studied International Relations and Spanish.

 

James Margolis, Senior Partner; Environmental Resources Management (ERM)

James Margolis is a Senior Partner with ERM and a nationally recognized expert in environmental, health, safety and sustainability (EHSS) governance and management systems.

 

Jimmy has helped numerous companies develop and implement EHSS strategies, design and implement EHSS organizations, develop and roll out corporate EHSS policies and standards, define EHSS metrics and set EHSS goals, develop sustainability reports, become listed on the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, conduct product lifecycle assessments, implement EHSS information technology solutions, and develop more sustainable supply chains. During the course of his career, he has visited hundreds of industrial sites and developed and led hundreds of EHSS management training courses, seminars and workshops. Jimmy also leads ERM's GRI-certified training partnership.

 

Prior to joining ERM in 2001, Jimmy spent eleven years with Arthur D. Little and six years with Deloitte. He started his career as an engineer at an oil refinery and petrochemical plant.

 

Nick Martin, EHS & Sustainability Consultant; Antea Group USA

Nick Martin 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 their sustainability-related aspirations into successful strategies and measurable objectives. Specific areas of expertise include global water resource management, risk assessment, process improvement systems (ISO 14001/ OHSAS 18001/ SA8000), and stakeholder engagement. Much of his strategic support involves researching leading practices in Corporate Responsibility (CR) and utilizing this knowledge to assist clients with benchmarking against peers and developing viable and differentiating strategies.

 

Nick leverages a unique combination of environmental engineering and business administration expertise to partner with multinational clients in developing and implementing fit-for-purpose programs that integrate sustainability into core business practices. Nick also has professional experience working in the non-profit sector which he leverages in support of community and stakeholder engagement initiatives.

 

His client accounts include Cummins, Inc., Heineken, The Kellogg Company, Diageo, Morgan Advanced Materials, Constellation Brands, ABInBev, SPX Corporation, and the Beverage Industry Environmental Roundtable.

 

Jacob Madsen, Director of Sustainability; S. C. Johnson & Son

Jacob Madsen is Director of Sustainability at SC Johnson with more than 19 years of experience in sustainability strategy and execution including product sustainability and green chemistry. Jacob helps set the company's industry-leading agenda on transparency; ingredient disclosure, the SC Johnson Greenlist™ program and the commitment to creating winning products, ensuring less waste, reducing the carbon footprint and making life better for families around the globe. Prior to joining SC Johnson in 2016, Jacob worked at Deloitte Consulting, managing sustainability challenges for high-profile clients in consumer products, retail and other industries. Previously, Jacob was a senior consultant with ERM in Oxford UK and Chicago. Jacob earned his master's degree in environmental engineering from Aalborg University in Denmark. He lives with his wife and son in Chicago, Illinois.

 

Randy Martinez, Director Strategic Diversity Management; CVS Health Corp.

As Director of Strategic Diversity Management, Randy serve as the primary adviser to the VP, Workforce Strategies and Chief Diversity Officer and provide strategic advice and counsel to CVS/Caremark, CVS/Specialty and Enterprise Shared Services senior leadership on diversity management goals and strategies into all their business and planning processes and practices. Randy also served 6.5 years as manager of community relations at CVS Caremark.

 

Christine Riley Miller, Director of Sustainability; Samsonite International S.A.

Christine Riley Miller is Director of Sustainability at Samsonite where she is launching the first-ever global sustainability strategy and program across nine brands. Previously Christine led the sustainability team and the Corporate Foundation for eight years at Dunkin Brands Inc. Prior to Dunkin’ Brands, Christine developed integrated campaigns and strategies for communicating sustainability and philanthropy at Cone Communications. She previously managed the CSR Initiative at the JFK School of Government at Harvard University. An engaging public speaker, Christine has been selected as a presenter and panelist on deforestation, coffee, and cocoa including at Citi’s Leadership and Ethics, SPECS, and Innovation Forum conferences. In 2012, Christine was named one of 12 White House Champions of Change for her leadership and influence. She holds a graduate certificate in Leadership for Change from Boston College and a Bachelor’s of Science in Sociology from Brigham Young University.

 

Janet Nudelman, Director of Program and Policy; Breast Cancer Prevention Partners

Janet Nudelman, MA, Director of Program & Public Policy, draws on over 30 years of experience working in the social change arena as a political organizer and lobbyist on women's health issues to create and oversee the Breast Cancer Prevention Partner's cutting-edge work. Under her leadership, BCPP's advocacy efforts are playing an important role in making breast cancer prevention a priority in statehouses and the halls of congress and have resulted in the passage of some of the nation's most important environmental health legislation creating the nation's first municipal precautionary principle ordinance; and first statewide biomonitoring program to measure the pollution in people and cleaning product ingredient disclosure law. Janet also ran a successful national campaign that led to the 2008 passage of a federal ban on phthalates in kid's toys and childcare articles. Ms. Nudelman currently coordinates BCPP's Campaign for Safe Cosmetics and Cans Not Cancer Campaign.

 

She earned an M.A. in Public Policy from George Washington University and is the author of several published papers and reports including Pretty Scary 2: Unmasking Toxic Chemicals in Kids' Makeup, October 2016; Anti-Aging Secrets Exposed: Chemical linked to Breast Cancer in Skin Care, October 2015; Policy and Research Recommendations Emerging from the Scientific Evidence Connecting Environmental Factors and Breast Cancer. International Journal of Occupational Environmental Health 2009: 15: 79-101; and Building Bridges between Domestic Violence Advocates and Health Care Providers, Janet Nudelman, MA and Helen Rodriguez Trias, MD, June, 1999.

 

Mark Rossi, Executive Director; Clean Production Action

Part of the Clean Production Action team since 2004, Mark has the unique ability to bring together diverse groups and achieve innovative outcomes. In 2006, he founded BizNGO, a collaboration of organizations who work together to advance safer chemicals and sustainable materials. BizNGO's listserv now reaches over 1,300 business, health care, government, university, and environmental leaders. Innovative products of BizNGO include the Alternatives Assessment Protocol, Guide to Safer Chemicals, and Plastics Scorecard. Mark is also the co-author of the GreenScreen. Launched in 2007, the GreenScreen is now the gold standard in hazard assessment tools. In 2014, he co-founded Clean Production Action, the first initiative of its kind to benchmark corporations on their overall chemical management performance.

 

Mark is the author and co-author of numerous articles, reports, and blogs on advancing safer alternatives to toxic chemicals. Most recently, he authored the United Nations Environment Program's report, The Business Case for Knowing Chemicals in Products and Supply Chains. Mark is a member of the Massachusetts Toxics Use Reduction Act Advisory Committee and is a Research Fellow at the Lowell Center for Sustainable Production. He received an Environmental Merit Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 1 on behalf of BizNGO's leadership work on Green Chemistry. Mark's career includes stints at Tellus Institute, the Toxics Use Reduction Institute, and Health Care Without Harm. His doctorate is in Environmental Policy from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

 

Elizabeth Ryan, Director of Communications; NAEM

As Director of Communications for NAEM, Elizabeth Ryan provides editorial direction and lead authorship for the association's research publications, including its talent management series, its software and data management research and the association's expertise on emerging trends.

 

Prior to joining NAEM, she covered transportation, poverty, housing and urban policy as a long-form investigative journalist. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Comparative Literature from the University of Rochester and a Master of Science in Journalism from Northwestern University's Medill School.

 

Julia Silberman, Manager; CDP

Julia Silberman is a Manager on CDP's Supply Chain Team. She works closely with supply chain members in the consumer goods, information technology and telecom sectors to engage suppliers, reduce the environmental impacts of their supply chain, and achieve their supply chain sustainability goals. Previously, she worked as a Sector Lead on CDP's Disclosure Services Team. In this role, she worked with companies to support first time responses to CDP programs, share best practices in environmental management and disclosure, and highlight leadership opportunities. Prior to joining CDP, Julia worked as the Marketing Director for a sustainability software startup and earned her B.A. from Tufts University.

 

Susan Hunt Stevens, Founder/Chief Executive Officer; WeSpire Inc.

Susan Hunt Stevens is the Founder/CEO of WeSpire, a start-up that helps people live greener and healthier by using technology and social networking to educate, motivate and recognize people for making green changes in their lives.

 

Previously, Stevens spent nine years at The New York Times Company, most recently as senior vice president, digital for Boston Globe Media, where she ran Boston.com, one of the largest news and information sites on the web. She began her career as a management consultant, working for the same leadership team at three different firms, including Alexander & Alexander, Mercer Management Consulting (now Oliver Wyman) and APM.

 

Stevens joined The New York Times in 1998 as director of marketing for NYTimes.com, left the company briefly in 2000 to co-found and serve as President for Abridge, Inc, a venture-funded e-mail data mining start-up, and rejoined The Times in 2002 as Vice President of Circulation Marketing for The Boston Globe. She was promoted in 2005 to Vice President, Consumer Marketing taking leadership for consumer public relations and brand marketing for The Boston Globe and Boston.com. In 2006, she was promoted the Senior Vice President, circulation and marketing.

 

Susan Stevens received her MBA from The Amos Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College; she also holds a BA in Government with high honors from Wesleyan University and is a candidate for a graduate certificate in sustainable design at the Boston Architectural College. She serves on the board of the Center for Women & Enterprise, a non-profit that helps women start and grow businesses, and Inspiring Kids, a non-profit in New England that helps schools raise funds in a way that promotes environmental stewardship and social philanthropy

 

Nicole Tanner, Senior Specialist, Water Stewardship; World Wildlife Fund

Nicole is a water stewardship specialist with WWF-US’s freshwater program. For the last decade, her work has focused on the improvement of watershed health by building water stewardship capacity, understanding watershed risk and stakeholder impact; primarily focusing on the private sector’s role in a watershed. Nicole works with multi-national companies including McDonald’s, Ecolab, Olam and Hilton and other multinational companies to create meaningful water policies leading to collaboration on the field level. Her work leverages previous experience with the Alliance for Water Stewardship Standard, commodity standards, ISEAL, social development policy and implementation, crop and livestock water risk analyses to drive impact in the watersheds WWF works to protect. Nicole holds an MA in International Development and a certificate in Conflict Resolution from the Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver, and a BS in Political Science and International Relations from Elmira College.

 

 

Scott Tew, Executive Director, Center for Energy Efficiency & Sustainability; Ingersoll-Rand plc

Scott Tew is the founder and leader of the Center for Energy Efficiency & Sustainability at Ingersoll Rand (CEES), which supports all of the company's strategic brands – Club Car, Ingersoll Rand, Trane and Thermo King – and is responsible for forward-looking sustainability initiatives. Since the CEES was formed in 2010, Ingersoll Rand has successfully met or exceeded its long-term goals in energy use and waste reduction, while embedding sustainability in all parts of the product development process. Key initiatives have also included launch of employee engagement and competency building programs and materiality assessments to ensure sustainability focus is in line with business drivers. The company has appeared as a top performer in both the U.S. and World Rankings for the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI).

 

Scott holds graduate and undergraduate degrees in environmental science and ecology from Livingston University. He contributed to the recently released book, Practicing Sustainability, by Springer Publishing.

 

Winston Vaughan, Senior Manager, Renewable Energy; CERES

Winston works with investors and companies to increase investment in and adoption of clean energy. Through his work, Winston enables investors and companies to use their leadership to advocate for clean energy solutions to electric utility providers and policymakers.

 

Prior to Ceres, Winston worked to educate and mobilize public support to pass major state legislation to promote clean energy and tackle climate change, including California's second Zero Emissions Vehicles regulations (ZEVII), "Million Solar Roofs Initiative" (SB 1) and "Global Warming Solutions Act" (AB 32). In 2007, Winston moved to New England to spearhead a statewide organizing initiative which succeeded in passing a comprehensive climate bill in Massachusetts. Winston has also worked on and managed several successful state and national political campaigns. Most recently, Winston has worked with several innovative residential energy efficiency and solar companies, helping them apply community organizing and grassroots campaign approaches to growing their business and dramatically increasing customer adoption of clean energy.

 

Winston holds a BA in Politics and Third World Studies from Oberlin College. He now lives in Dorchester where he and his wife are working to turn a 120 year old house into a model of clean energy, energy efficiency, and sustainable urban agriculture.

 

Mike Wallace, Partner; BrownFlynn, an ERM Group Co.

Mike is responsible for expanding BrownFlynn's market engagement across North America, developing new and existing strategic partnerships, providing innovative corporate responsibility and sustainability solutions to clients and helping shape the strategic direction of the Firm. Having helped establish and then direct GRI's North American operations from 2010 to 2014, Mike was instrumental in driving sustainability and reporting across the North American economy.

 

Mike's 20+ years of international experience in the sustainability field provides BrownFlynn clients and strategic partners with a global view of the sustainability landscape. Having given expert testimony to the European Commission, U.S. Securities Exchange Commission, Environmental Protection Agency and the General Services Administration, and having presented on the topic of sustainability and reporting at an array of executive level conferences and meetings. Mike worked for ERM US and Australia during the first part of his career. His expertise in the field is highly regarded and valued by a wide range of colleagues and organizations around the world.

 

 

Tensie Whelan, Clinical Professor of Business and Society; NYU Stern School of Business

Tensie Whelan (NYU ‘80), Clinical Professor for Business and Society, is the Director of NYU Stern School of Business’s Center for Sustainable Business, where she is bringing her 25 years of experience working on local, national and international environmental and sustainability issues to engage businesses in proactive and innovative mainstreaming of sustainability. As President of the Rainforest Alliance, she built the organization from a $4.5 million to $50 million budget, transforming the engagement of business with sustainability, recruiting 5,000 companies in more than 60 countries to work with Rainforest Alliance. She transformed the Rainforest Alliance frog into an internationally recognized and credible brand. Her previous work included serving as Executive Director of the New York League of Conservation Voters, Vice President of the National Audubon Society, Managing Editor of Ambio, a journal of the Swedish Academy of Sciences, and a journalist in Latin America. Tensie has been recognized by Ethisphere as one of the 100 Most Influential People in Business Ethics, was the Citi Fellow in Leadership and Ethics at NYU Stern in 2015 and has served on numerous nonprofit boards and corporate advisory boards such as the Unilever Sustainable Sourcing Advisory Board and the Nespresso Innovation Fund Advisory Board. She was most recently appointed as a member of the Board of Directors for GlobeScan, to the newly created Global Advisory Council for Odebrecht and asman Advisor to the Future Economy Project for Harvard Business Review. Tensie holds a B.A. from New York University, an M.A from American University, and is a graduate of the Harvard Business School Owner President Management (OPM) Program.

 

Martin Wolf, Director, Sustainability & Authenticity; Seventh Generation Inc.

Martin Wolf is responsible for ensuring the design of sustainable products at Seventh Generation, Inc., a manufacturer and distributor of ecological household and personal care products. He is also responsible for creating a more sustainable business model, and for creating more sustainable systems of commerce.

 

Mr. Wolf brings over 40 years of experience in industrial and environmental chemistry to his work, starting with environmental fate and metabolism studies for agricultural chemicals, followed by studies of the occurrence of hazardous chemicals in the environment, conducting life cycle studies of product systems, and designing more sustainable household cleaning products.

 

Working at Seventh Generation, Mr. Wolf has developed frameworks for environmental product design, helped educate his coworkers, customers, and consumers about the environmental impacts of consumer products and the industries that produce them, successfully lobbied for passage of phosphate bans in a number of states, helped develop standards for voluntary ingredient disclosure, and brought change to the cleaning products industry through more sustainable product designs.

 

In addition to his work for Seventh Generation, Mr. Wolf serves as the Co-Chair of the Research, Technology, and Regulatory Committee of the American Cleaning Institute (formerly the Soap & Detergent Association), and has served as the Vice Chair and Chair of the Sustainability Committee (2010-2015), and as the Vice Chair and Chair of the Strategic Advisory Committee (2007-2011).

 

Mr. Wolf was appointed a Fellow of the Aspen Institute, Environmental Forum in 2006, and received an EPA Region 1 Environmental Merit Award in 2011. In 2013 Mr. Wolf was appointed by the National Academy of Science to the Committee on Design and Evaluation of Safer Chemical Substitutions. In 2015 he won the Elva Walker Spillane Distinguished Service Award of the American Cleaning Institute, and in 2016 was appointed to the Working Group On Toxic Chemical Use In Vermont by the State's Agency Of Natural Resources.

 

Mr. Wolf holds an M.A. in Chemistry from Yeshiva University (New York) and a B.S. in Chemistry from Worcester Polytechnic Institute (Massachusetts).

Questions?

 

For more details, contact Caitlin Wilson, Programs Manager.