2020 Impact Conference Speakers
Sustainability leaders speaking at the this year's conference include:
Sharon Basel, Senior Manager, Sustainability; General Motors Inc.
Sharon is the Senior Manager of Sustainability at General Motors. In this role, she leads the global reporting and non-financial disclosure strategy for the company's sustainability initiatives worldwide, including development of the company's annual sustainability report and its investor rating, ranking and assessment responses. In addition, she leads General Motors' stakeholder engagement process through its partnership with Ceres. Sharon has worked in a variety of functions in GM in her 37 years with the company, including manufacturing, product development, vehicle safety, and product and sustainability communications. She earned a B.S. in industrial management and engineering from Purdue University.
Fawn Bergen, Global Sustainability Group Lead; Intel Corp.
Fawn Bergen leads Intel Corporation’s Global Water Stewardship program. Using her 22 years of experience as an environmental engineer, she manages Intel’s global water strategy and their commitment to achieve net positive water use by conserving water in operations and restoring more than 100% of their global water use by 2030. Under her leadership Intel has been honored with the 2018 US Water Prize by the US Water Alliance, 2019 Sustainability Champion by Arizona Forward, and 2019 Innovative Partnerships in Philanthropic Giving by the Portland Business Journal, for their achievements in water stewardship. Fawn is a graduate of the University of Florida (Go Gators!) and resides in Beaverton, Oregon.
Caroline Bigner, Leader; Gensuite
Caroline Bigner is a Leader on Gensuite's Customer and Application Services team. Her responsibilities include working with the Gensuite subscriber community to understand cross-subscriber needs to continuously evolve modules in support of environmental, health, safety, and sustainability programs.
During Caroline's 8+ years with the team she has led implementations for Gensuite's new subscribers, developing expertise in configuration, customizations, and implementation strategies. Caroline serves as an advisor for Gensuite's Sustainability & Energy Management suite of applications.
Felix Böck, Founder & CEO; ChopValue
Felix Böck knocks on wood for a living, and lately, his friends can find him counting chopsticks in Vancouver. ChopValue Manufacturing Ltd., has allowed Felix to discover a way to connect his expertise and research focus on bamboo composite materials within the Vancouver community while doing his Ph.D at the University of British Columbia. Motivated to create global impact in the bamboo industry, he has gained experience by working on projects in more than 20 countries with his firm CrossLink Technologies — where ChopValue originated as a product development exercise.
Michael Conrardy, GHG and Zero Emissions Technical Practice Group Leader; AECOM Americas
Michael Conrardy is the GHG and Zero Emissions Technical Practice Group Leader for AECOM Americas. Michael has over a decade of technical and policy experience in GHG emissions inventories, climate change mitigation strategies, and integrated sustainable solutions. He has guided numerous clients spanning multiple sectors through compliance for GHG and climate change regulations from agencies such as the California Air Resources Board and the USEPA. Michael also works with organizations interested in voluntarily lowering their GHG emissions, targeting carbon neutrality, and procuring GHG offsets. His support has included tangible outcomes with as high as 40% annual reduction of direct GHG emissions from existing operations and establishment of strategies toward zero emissions.
Helen Crowley, Head of Sustainable Sourcing Innovation; Kering SA
Dr. Helen Crowley is the Head of Sustainable Sourcing Innovation at the French company Kering. In this role she advises and supports Kering's portfolio of luxury brands to implement best practices in sustainability. Specifically, she focuses on developing innovative approaches for raw material sourcing, improved manufacturing processes and she leads on implementation of animal welfare standards and the integration of biodiversity conservation, planetary boundary and circular economy principles into the business. Prior to Kering, Helen worked with Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) for over a decade on conservation strategy, program management, market-based approaches to conservation and ‘bottom of the pyramid' enterprise development in Africa and Madagascar. Early in her career, she worked as a senior consultant to companies on building out environmental health and safety programs to encompass broader sustainability issues.
Dedicated to incorporating evolving trends and new learning into her professional life, Helen has decided to take a year-long sabbatical from Kering starting in October 2019. During this time, she will be a Fellow and Senior Advisor for Resilient Supply Chains at Conservation International. She will focus on developing new approaches for business to address climate and biodiversity challenges. Helen has a PhD in Zoology from the Australian National University and is on the Boards of non-profit organizations including Textile Exchange, Wildlife Friendly Enterprise Network and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature US. She is also on the advisory boards of the GEF Planet Gold Program and Alante Capital. Helen contributes to the business and biodiversity work of the World Economic Forum as an advisor and member of the Global Futures Council.
Stu Dalheim, Vice President, Shareholder Advocacy; Calvert
Mr. Dalheim leads Calvert's shareholder advocacy program, which seeks to improve corporate environmental, social and governance performance through direct dialogue, standard-setting exercises and partnerships, and public policy. Mr. Dalheim has focused on corporate governance, transparency and environmental issues and works with policy makers and regulators to advance the interests of sustainable and responsible investors. He serves on the board of Bethesda Green, the UNEP FI Investment Commission Board and is a member of the Corporate Governance Advisory Council of the Council of Institutional Investors.
Mr. Dalheim earned a BA in philosophy from Wesleyan University and is a LEED accredited professional.
Jvan Gaffuri, Director - ESG Benchmarking; S&P Global Inc.
Jvan Gaffuri is a member of the S&P Global ESG Benchmarking Team since January 2020, when S&P Global acquired the ESG Ratings Business from RobecoSAM. He began his career at RobecoSAM as a senior equity analyst in the equity research team covering technology companies and firms specializing in pollution control. His professional roles also span experience as a Portfolio Manager/Financial Analyst for Japanese and Asia/Pacific equities (deputy for USA) at Swiss Life Asset Management. Jvan began his career within the investment research department of the Banca del Gottardo (Switzerland) where he was in charge of the analysis of equity markets in Japan and the Asia/Pacific region. Jvan Gaffuri studied economics at the University of St. Gallen (Switzerland) and is a Certified European Financial Analyst (CEFA).
Paige Goff, Vice President of Sustainability; Domtar SA
Paige Goff is Vice President of Sustainability at Domtar, which design, manufacture, market and distributes a wide variety of communication and specialty papers, market pulp and absorbent hygiene products. In this role, Goff is responsible for communicating Domtar's key sustainability and business initiatives to all internal and external stakeholders. Additionally, she develops and leads all partnerships with environmental non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and oversees sustainability communications for Domtar customers.
Goff is responsible for identifying and leveraging the latest sustainability trends to strengthen and support all facets of Domtar's business. She drives communications strategy across the pulp and paper division, and leads a team that communicates Domtar's differentiating sustainability and innovation stories to key audiences. Additionally, Goff has developed and implemented numerous advocacy and education campaigns, as well as community engagement efforts, on behalf of the company.
Goff joined Domtar in 2004, building upon 19 years of experience in the forest products industry. Prior to her current role, she was also the Senior Manager, Brand and Advertising Operations as well as Product Packaging Manager. Before joining Domtar, Goff worked at both Weyerhaeuser and Resolute Forest Products (formerly Bowater). She has a Master of Business Administration degree.
Jim Goudreau, Head of Climate; Novartis
James Goudreau currently serves as the Head of Climate for Novartis Business Services. He crafts strategy and policy for Novartis to increase climate resilience, reduce GHG emissions and increase energy resilience across their global operations. These efforts include managing a diverse portfolio of efforts in technology, partnerships and procurement designed to achieve efficiency, resilience and greater shareholder value.
Prior to joining Novartis, he culminated a military career as a U.S. Navy Captain working on energy and climate resilience issues in the Pentagon. As the Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Energy) he focused on increasing operational capabilities and resilience globally for the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps.
He also works to improve sustainability and climate resilience in the Boston area as a member of the Board of Directors for the Cambridge Compact for a Sustainable Future and a member of the Board of Directors for A Better City.
James holds a Bachelors of Science degree from Norwich University, a Masters in Management degree from Troy University and has completed the Tuck Executive Program at the Dartmouth College Tuck School of Business. He now resides in Newburyport, MA with his wife, Dr. Jennifer Goudreau, and their daughter.
Dr. Frank Hawkins, Director; The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
Frank is a conservation biologist and policy advisor with many years of experience working with governments, finance institutions, civil society and local communities in Africa and around the world.
Since 2013 Frank has been the Director of the IUCN office in North America. The North America office supports the 130+ members in the region, and works with domestic foundations, policy offices and government institutions. Frank focuses on policy work, particularly in the use of natural capital data in investment decision-making, and on bringing the North American conservation community together to drive changes in international conservation.
Prior to joining IUCN, Frank was Senior Vice-President at Conservation International (CI). In addition to leading CI's programme in Africa and Madagascar, he worked closely on green economy policy and land-use planning issues, emphasizing the value of nature as the basis for sustainable development.
For 20 years until 2007, Frank worked primarily in Madagascar, with CI and other NGOs, where he conducted research on birds, lemurs and carnivores, and supported the government, local communities and local NGOs in implementing the National Environmental Action Plan. He has written or co-authored over 60 peer-reviewed papers and 10 books. Frank has joint UK and Canadian nationality, and is married with two teenage daughters.
Alan Kao, Principal; Ramboll
Alan Kao is a Principal and Global Director of ESG Services at Ramboll. 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 financial, legal, and corporate 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).
Alan led the integration of a comprehensive range of services to into Ramboll's Transactional Due Diligence practice, including ESG, climate risk, product compliance, food safety, energy assessments, post-merger integration, and technical and operational due diligence considerations (e.g., for production expansions).
Callum Lever, Research Analyst; NAEM
As NAEM's Research Analyst, Callum Lever works closely with benchmarking data on corporate EHS & Sustainability programs. Callum holds a master's degree in environmental economics from the University of Georgia.
James McCall, Senior Director, Global Climate and Supply Chain Sustainability; Procter & Gamble Co.
As the Global Product Supply Sustainability Leader at P&G, James McCall leads the integration of sustainable manufacturing processes across the end-to-end supply chain. In his current role, he is responsible for ensuring P&G's more than 150+ facilities around the world reduce their environmental footprint within energy, climate, water, waste and transportation. James has more than 20 years of experience across engineering, manufacturing and business development at P&G including roles within Family Care (Bounty/Charmin), Pet Care (Iams/Eukanuba) and Connect & Develop (open innovation/know-how licensing). His most recent contribution to the Company's environmental goals is leading the startup of the $200MM+ Albany Biomass combined heat and power facility that is P&G largest renewable energy partnership to date. James received his BS in Electrical Engineering from North Carolina State University and lives outside Charlotte, NC with his wife and two children.
Kevin Moss, Global Director, Center for Sustainable Business; WRI (The World Resources Institute)
Kevin Moss is the Global Director of the Center for Sustainable Business, WRI's program that helps the private sector develop strategies that support sustainable strategies and drive growth. He supports WRI's Signature Initiatives in developing impactful strategies that leverage the private sector, provides thought leadership in the field of corporate sustainability and supports the integration of private sector perspectives and impact across the full range of WRI programs. This includes WRI's Corporate Consultative Group (CCG) which facilitates impactful engagement across a broad spectrum of leading corporate partners.
Prior to joining WRI, Kevin worked at BT where he was responsible for the Net Good program and was instrumental in transforming sustainability into a business growth strategy. He had previously been an integral part of BT's sustainability activities with various roles in sustainability strategy, stakeholder engagement and sustainability reporting for BT at a corporate level both in the UK and globally. Prior to his involvement in the world of sustainability, Kevin's career path included product management, marketing and corporate strategy at BT, MCI and BP.
Kevin is a member of the Advisory Board of Sustainable Brands. He has been a member of HP's External Global Citizenship Advisory board, was a member of the Corporate Responsibility Officers Association's (CROA) Board of Governors and founded and chaired the CROA's committee for professional development. He was the founding chairperson of the Energy and Environment Committee of the British American Business Association in Washington DC. In 2013 Kevin was included in the 2013 Trust Across America Top 100 Thought Leaders and Guardian Sustainable Business 30 Most Influential Sustainability Voices in America. He was a recipient of the 2009 PR News; CSR Executive of the Year Award.
Tim Mohin, Chief Executive; The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)
Timothy J. Mohin is the Chief Executive of GRI, developer of the world's most widely used sustainability reporting standards. A veteran in the field of corporate sustainability reporting, Tim is responsible for driving GRI's mission to empower decisions that create social, environmental and economic benefits for everyone.
Prior to his appointment as Chief Executive, Tim was Senior Director of Corporate Responsibility for Advanced Micro Devices (AMD). He is also a former Chairman of the Board for the Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition (EICC) and former member of the Conflict Free Sourcing Initiative's steering committee.
Previously, Tim founded and led Apple's Supplier Responsibility program. He also led Intel's environmental and sustainability functions. Tim started his career with the US government. With the Environmental Protection Agency, he led the development of the toxics provisions of the Clean Air Act Amendments. Later, Tim was senior legislative staff for the Chairman of Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works.
Tim earned a Bachelor's degree in Biology from the State University of New York at Cortland and a Master's degree in Environmental Management from Duke University.
Sandy Nessing, Managing Director Corporate Sustainability; American Electric Power Co. Inc.
With 20 years in the utility industry, Sandy Nessing has responsibility for managing sustainability strategy, corporate stakeholder engagement and annual performance reporting for American Electric Power (AEP). She oversees annual production of AEP's Corporate Accountability Report, including a dedicated sustainability web site and companion iPad app (“AEP CAR” in the iTunes store). This is the sixth year AEP will produce an integrated report that combines financial with nonfinancial performance.
She facilitates cross-functional collaboration on sustainability issues across AEP to raise awareness of the interdependencies of functions, resources and issues while providing guidance on externalities that could affect business results or operations. She also develops and manages advocacy opportunities and relationships that support AEP's business strategy. She is a Master Culture Champion for AEP, working with senior management and others to advance a culture shift within AEP that aligns business strategies with employee engagement and performance management.
She leads AEP's participation in the Electric Power Research Institute's (EPRI) Energy Sustainability Interest Group, serving as chair of the group in 2013. Among the group's work includes completion of an industry-wide materiality assessment and the development of industry-wide performance metrics. She also is a member of the EPRI Benchmarking Forum Steering Committee. In Columbus, Ohio, Nessing currently serves on the Franklin Park Conservatory Board of Trustees, one of the nation's premier botanical gardens. She also serves on the Grange Insurance Audubon Center Stewardship Board, where she was president of the board for two years. She serves on the Board of Directors and the Board of Regents for NAEM. Nessing led AEP's participation in the Global Reporting Initiative's (GRI) Electric Utility Sector Supplement Pilot Program, and most recently served on the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) Industry Working Group for the electric utilities sector.
Prior to joining AEP in February 2006, she was manager of Corporate Communications for Yankee Gas Services Company, part of the Northeast Utilities System (now EverSource) for nine years. Before her work in the utility industry, she was senior public information specialist for the Saint Raphael Healthcare System in New Haven, Conn. (now part of Yale-New Haven) and spent 12 years as a broadcast journalist in Connecticut, holding positions that included news director, anchor and reporter. She is a graduate of Briarwood College in Southington, Connecticut.
Amanda Petzinger, Senior Director; Gensuite
Amanda Petzinger is a Senior Director on Gensuite's Growth and Customer Experience team. Her responsibilities in this role focus on facilitating cross-customer engagement including Gensuite's annual Customer Conference, bi-annual All-Customer Calls, and Customer Advisory Board. Recently, Amanda coordinated and led a weekly workgroup focused on collaborating to manage the Covid-19 pandemic crisis in the workplace, helping Gensuite subscribers with real-time, practical solutions, pilots and experience sharing.
In addition to her customer engagement responsibilities, Amanda also has 13+ years of expertise implementing, configuring, designing and supporting Gensuite's 60+ web-based applications, as well as extensive experience supporting Gensuite's customers in their quest for Environmental, Health and Safety operational excellence. She also serves as an advisor for Gensuite's Sustainability & Energy Management suite of applications.
Amanda received her bachelors' degrees in Management Information Systems and Spanish from Xavier University in 2010, with summa cum laude distinction.
Michelle Redfield, Chief Sustainability Officer; DB3 Restaurant Group
As the previous North American Director for Environment and Safety/Environment Process Improvement for Schneider Electric, Michelle and her team directed the company's North American environmental and sustainability initiatives and strategy, leading environmental and safety programs such as compliance, management systems, water reduction, zero waste to landfill, CO2 Neutrality, data management and environmental recognition. She was the leader for Schneider Electric's Safety, Environment and Energy management system global certificate. She has also led Schneider Electric's global safety and environmental data management system program as well as its global safety standardization and process improvement programs, such as developing a Global Safety Handbook, Global Directives, Global Safety Alert process, Global Safety, Environment and Real Estate acquisition integration process, etc. — converting a growing company of over 200 separate brands into a single safety program.
Prior to joining Schneider Electric, Michelle worked for about 20 years in government and consulting engagements for U.S.-based multinational organizations,having managed a full-service environmental, health and safety consulting office in Chicago. During that tenure she led business development, customer management, a wide range of environmental and safety initiatives, operational effectiveness program development and implementation, integrated environmental system and compliance auditing programs, and environmental, safety and sustainability information management system programs.
Craig Riley, Director, Sustainability Services; AECOM
Craig Riley is the Director for Sustainability Services at AECOM, a premier consultancy and integrated infrastructure firm, and is the global lead for the company’s sustainability services technical network. With more than 20 years of diversified environmental and sustainability management consulting knowledge, Craig brings experience in multiple sectors, from private industry and Fortune 250 companies to transportation and infrastructure, with engagements ranging from executive-level strategic planning to program development and sustainable infrastructure projects. In addition to degrees in environmental science, chemistry, and business, he is also a credentialed LEED AP, is an ISSP-CSP sustainability accredited professional, and has a certification in the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Sustainability Reporting Process.
Jessica Rosen, Sustainability and Circular Economy Strategist; Closed Loop Partners
Jessica Rosen is an independent sustainability and circular economy strategist. She has consulted and advised diverse clientele, including an impact investment firm, a packaging manufacturer, a purpose-based media company, and a professional sports organization.
Prior to consulting, Jessica led the first sustainability and purpose program for Taco Bell and was a key member of the global, enterprise-wide sustainability team at the brand's parent company, Yum! Brands. During her time at Yum!, Jessica developed the first company-wide national waste goal and sustainable animal protein sourcing strategy, managed the first supply chain sustainability risk assessment and materiality assessment, and played an important role in setting the new global sustainability agenda and investor-grade reporting, and engaging with external stakeholders.
Before Yum! Brands, Jessica helped build the new US food and waste program and partners with Forum for the Future, one of the top sustainability nonprofits, and conducted on-farm field research in Cuba, Indonesia, and Guatemala as a researcher with the Consultative Group for International Agriculture Research and as a graduate student at Columbia University. Jessica has her masters in Climate and Society from Columbia and dual degrees in Environmental Studies and Aquatic Biology from UC Santa Barbara.
Will Sarni, Founder & CEO; Water Foundry
Will is an internationally recognized thought leader on water strategy and innov ation. He has authored numerous books and articles and presented on: the value of water, innovations in digital water technology, the circular economy, and the energy-water-food nexus.
He has been a water strategy advisor to private and public-sector enterprises and NGOs for his entire career. He has worked with multinational companies across a range of industry sectors in evaluating the technical viability and market potential of innovative water technologies, market entry strategies and M&A programs.
He is the author of: "Corporate Water Strategies" (Earthscan 2011, and in Chinese by Shanghai Jiao Tong University Press 2013); "Water Tech – A Guide to Investment, Innovation and Business Opportunities in the Water Sector" (Sarni, W. and Pechet, T., Routledge 2013); and "Beyond the Energy – Water – Food Nexus: New Strategies for 21st Century Growth" (Dō Sustainability 2015). He is currently working on the forthcoming books, "Water Stewardship and Business Value: Creating Abundance from Scarcity" (Sarni, W., and Grant, D., Routledge 2018) and "Creating 21st Century Abundance through Public Policy Innovation: Moving Beyond Business as Usual" (Sarni, W. and Koch, G., Greenleaf Publishing 2018).
Will is a Board Member of 10.10.10 and ASSET and Founder of WetDATA.org. He was a 2016 X-PRIZE Bold Visioneer for the Safe Drinking Water Team and is on the: Scientific Program Committee for Stockholm World Water Week; Executive Council of NOAA's National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS); Editorial Board of the Journal of Water Security; and a Technical Advisor for the Climate Bonds Initiative: Nature-Based Solutions for Climate and Water Resilience.
Brian Tomlinson, Director, Research, CEO Investor Forum; CECP (Chief Executives for Corporate Purpose)
As Director of Research at CECP's CEO Investor Forum, Brian develops practical executive-ready research to enable issuers to reorient their disclosures toward the long-term. The research program provides principles, frameworks, and management approaches for the practice of long-term disclosure. The work also draws on structured collaborations with organizations such as Edelman, FCLTGlobal, KKS Advisors, and NYU Stern.
Brian's work on capital markets has been published by Harvard Business Review, Institutional Investor, MIT Sloan Management Review, the World Economic Forum, the Financial Times, the Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Harvard Business School, the Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance, Top 1000 Funds, and the Huffington Post. Brian is a regular presenter at conferences having recently spoken at the Securities and Exchange Commission's Roundtable on Short-Term Markets, Deutsche Bank's ESG Conference and Investor Relations Magazine's ESG Symposium among many others.
Brian is an expert in fiduciary duty, sustainable business and investment practice. Brian has a decade of experience as a corporate finance attorney specializing in leverage finance and financial restructuring and worked in the business turnaround group of an investment bank.
Brian also served as the Managing Director of the Coalition for Inclusive Capitalism. As a research fellow at Harvard, Brian worked with Professor Rebecca Henderson, Professor Roberto Unger, the Committee on Capital Markets Regulation, and Professor Robert D. Putnam. Brian has authored several reports on investor Fiduciary Duty, including on capital markets in the US, UK, Japan, Canada, Brazil and South Africa – and a report on the role of sustainability in corporate pension plans.
Brian has an MPA from Harvard Kennedy School and a degree in politics, philosophy and economics from the University of Oxford.
Questions
For more details, contact Caitlin Wilson, Senior Program Manager.
