Featuring

• Al Gore

  Al Gore

  Former Vice President Al Gore is co-founder and chairman of Generation Investment Management, a partnership that is focused on a new approach to sustainable investing. He is also co-founder and chairman of Current TV, an Emmy Award-winning, independent cable and satellite television news and information network. In addition, Gore is a senior partner with the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, a member of the board of directors of Apple and senior adviser to Google. He spends the majority of his time as chairman of The Climate Reality Project, a non-profit focused on solutions to the climate crisis. Gore was inaugurated as the forty-fifth Vice President of the United States on January 20, 1993, and served eight years. He is the author of the bestsellers Earth in the Balance, An Inconvenient Truth, The Assault on Reason, and Our Choice: A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis. He is the subject of an Oscar-winning documentary and is the co-recipient, with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for “informing the world of the dangers posed by climate change.”

• Maggie L. Fox

  Maggie L. Fox

  Maggie L. Fox is the President and CEO of The Climate Reality Project, the leading organization dedicated to raising awareness of the growing climate crisis. She is a veteran of numerous political, environmental and national issue campaigns and has over 30 years of experience mobilizing people to work for progressive change. She is past National President of America Votes, the former Deputy Executive Director of the Sierra Club, and a consultant to the Energy Future Coalition, Western Resource Advocates, and Ocean Conservancy. Maggie has consulted with a number of organizations and foundations on their energy and climate campaigns, including the Hewlett Foundation, the UN Foundation, Western Conservation Foundation, and the Better World Fund. As President and CEO of The Climate Reality Project, Maggie has led a campaign to help citizens around the world discover the truth about the climate crisis and take meaningful steps to bring about global change. Along with Chairman and former Vice President Al Gore, Maggie has trained thousands of climate educators from around the world, most recently in Beijing, China; Jakarta, Indonesia; and San Francisco. Maggie has served on the boards of numerous environmental and women’s organizations. She currently serves on the board of the Green Fund and was honored by the Women’s Council on Energy and the Environment as the 2010 Woman of the Year.

• Richard Branson

  Sir Richard Branson

  Sir Richard Branson is Founder and Chairman of the Virgin Group. Virgin is one of the world’s most recognised and respected brands and has expanded into many diverse sectors from air and ground travel to telecommunications, health, space travel and renewable energy through more than 200 companies worldwide, employing approximately 50,000 people in 29 countries. In 2004, Branson established Virgin Unite, his non-profit foundation. It mobilizes the talent and resources from across the Virgin Group and beyond, to tackle tough social and environmental problems in an entrepreneurial way. It is built on the belief that, the only way we can address the scale of the challenges facing the world today is by revolutionizing the way businesses and the social sector work together – driving business as a force for good. Branson has been working closely with Virgin Unite to bring together the right partners to help create new global leadership models to address conflict, climate change and disease. Branson and his close friend, Peter Gabriel, had an idea about the need for a new leadership model for our ‘global village’. Inspired by the role that elders play in traditional societies, as a source of advice, wisdom and experience, they took the idea to Nelson Mandela and were thrilled when he agreed to help bring a group of ‘global elders’ together. Founded in 2007 with the support of Virgin Unite and a great group of partners, The Elders comprises ten visionary leaders including Graça Machel, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Kofi Annan and President Carter. They work both publicly and behind the scenes, collectively and individually, in areas of conflict such as; Kenya, Cyprus, Darfur and Zimbabwe and also work on a number of global issues, such as health and gender equality. In 2009, Branson brought together a group of the world’s top entrepreneurs to initiate the Carbon War Room. The vision is to mobilize capital, innovation, expertise and international collaboration to increase the effectiveness of climate change efforts already underway and to focus on filling any gaps. These keen entrepreneurial minds will work together to help speed and scale solutions that will deliver a low carbon economy. Branson and Virgin Unite also support a number of initiatives that lead to economic empowerment and healthy communities. These initiatives range from; the creation of sustainable healthcare models in Africa, to supporting young entrepreneurs through the Branson School of Entrepreneurship in South Africa, to creating opportunities for disadvantaged young people in the US and the UK. Branson is married to his wife Joan and they have two wonderful children, Holly and Sam.

• Sam Champion

  Sam Champion

  Sam Champion is the weather anchor of ABC’s “Good Morning America,” reporting on the nation’s weather throughout the morning broadcast. He also serves as weather editor for ABC News. In addition to covering the national forecast, Champion frequently travels to weather-related stories around the country and the globe. Since joining “GMA,” he has reported from the frontlines of wildfires in California; from the scene of hurricanes in Florida, Texas, and Louisiana; and from winter storm systems in Denver, Chicago, and Boston. As part of the morning broadcast’s “The New 7 Wonders of the World” series, Champion broadcast live afloat a raft in the middle of the Polar Ice Caps. Champion is also at the forefront of reporting on the environment and climate change. In 2007, he traveled to Paris for the release of a groundbreaking report on global warming by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). He regularly brings tips and information on how to be environmentally efficient and aware with his regular “Just One Thing” reports. Champion has also played a key role in the network’s Earth Day reporting. In addition to the weather and the environment, Champion regularly interviews authors, newsmakers, and celebrities during the morning program and hosts the “Good Morning America” summer concert series from Rumsey Playfield in Central Park. In August 2009, Champion anchored his first “20/20″ special, “Blown Away: Twisted Terror,” which chronicled the tornado that devastated Parkersburg, Iowa in 2008. Before joining ABC News in September 2006, Champion spent 18 years at WABC-TV in New York where he was the most-watched weatherman in the tri-state area. Prior to joining WABC-TV, Champion was a weekend weather anchor and news reporter at WPSD-TV in Paducah, KY. Champion began his career in broadcast news as an intern at WKYT-TV in Lexington, KY., while attending college. Champion graduated from Eastern Kentucky University with a bachelor’s degree in broadcast news. He is involved in many charities in the New York City area, including the Multiple Sclerosis Society. He resides in New York City.

• May Boeve

  May Boeve

  May Boeve is the Executive Director and Co-Founder of 350.org, an international climate change campaign. On October 24, 2009, 350.org coordinated the most widespread day of political action in history, with more than 5,200 events in 181 countries all conveying the message: 350, the safe level of CO2 in the atmosphere. Previously, Boeve co-founded and helped lead the Step It Up 2007 campaign, which helped to change the debate about global warming policy in the United States by combining the efforts of over 200 partner organizations. She was the recipient of the Brower Youth Award in 2006 and is the co-author of Fight Global Warming Now. She lives in Brooklyn.

• Fachruddin Mangunjaya

  Fachruddin Mangunjaya

  Dr. Fachruddin Mangunjaya is a conservationist, researcher and writer. Involved for nearly 23 years in conservation activities, he started his career in 1991 as project officer in the World Wildlife Fund’s Indonesia Program. He has authored and contributed to several environmental books and has published more than 150 articles on the environment, Islamic environmentalism, climate change, sustainable development, biodiversity, and environmental management in the Indonesian media. From 2004-2010, Dr. Mangunjaya led the “Religion and Conservation” initiative for Conservation International’s Indonesia Program. He has been called a “Muslim Eco Warrior” and now lectures in as a member of the Faculty of Biology at the Universitas Nasional in Jakarta and is a visiting lecturer at the Islamic College for Advanced Studies.

• Manish Bapna

  Manish Bapna

  Manish Bapna is the Executive Vice President and Managing Director of the World Resources Institute (WRI), which focuses on the intersection of the environment and development. He served as WRI’s acting president for 18 months from 2011-2012. Prior to WRI, Bapna was the executive director of the nonprofit Bank Information Center (BIC), and held positions at the World Bank and McKinsey & Company. Bapna chairs WRI’s management team and oversees the impact and quality of program strategies. Under his leadership, the institute has developed its current five-year strategic plan, deepened its engagement in China, India and Brazil, and initiated new work on climate change adaptation, sustainable cities, and development finance. He has been cited in front-page articles in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal and International Herald Tribune and his op-eds have been featured in major international and national newspapers. He received his graduate degrees from Harvard and an undergraduate degree from MIT.

• Christiana Figueres

  Christiana Figueres

  Christiana Figueres was appointed Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on May 17 2010. Figueres has been involved in climate change negotiations since 1995 as part of the Costa Rican negotiating team and represented Latin America and the Caribbean on the Executive Board of the Clean Development Mechanism in 2007, and as Vice President of the Bureau of the Conference of the Parties 2008-2009. Between 1995 and 2003 she founded and directed the Centre for Sustainable Development of the Americas (CSDA), a nonprofit think tank for climate change policy and capacity-building. From 1994 to 1996, she served as Director of the Technical Secretariat, Renewable Energy in the Americas (REIA). Figueres served on the boards of non-governmental organizations involved in climate change, including the Voluntary Carbon Standard. Figueres is a widely published author on the design of climate solutions, and was a frequent adviser to the private sector on how to play a leadership role in mitigation.

• Scot Horst

  Scot Horst

  As Senior Executive of the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED Program, Scot Horst significantly influences the global course of sustainable design and building performance. Scot brings genuine expertise to helping the built environment intersect with natural systems. His professional experience includes the private and nonprofit sectors as President of both 7group, a leading green building consultancy, and Athena Institute International, a nonprofit dedicated to the lifecycle assessment of buildings. Before joining USGBC he chaired the LEED Steering Committee and championed the development of LEED v.3. He was awarded the USGBC Leadership Award for LEED in 2008. Scot sits on the board of the Sustainable Building Alliance in Paris, the Advisory Board of Cradle to Cradle, and the Buildings Retrofit and Finance Steering Committee of the World Economic Forum. Known for both his technical knowledge and his ability to facilitate action, Scot strives to create major shifts in human thinking through tools like LEED. He leads USGBC’s Building Performance Partnership, which focuses on the connection between building design, operation, and human behavior. He is driving a current effort to improve LEED, and designing an innovative approach for advancing regenerative action. In order to develop LEED globally, Scot organized the LEED International Roundtable in 2010. An inspirational speaker, Scot most recently co-authored An Integrative Design Guide to Green Building published by Wiley & Sons. A former opera singer, Scot is a respected designer of sustainable furniture and maintains a studio in northeastern Pennsylvania, where he resides with his family. He holds joint degrees from Oberlin College in Philosophy and the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Voice Performance.

• Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson

  Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson

  Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson is the fifth president of the Republic of Iceland, currently serving his fourth term, first elected in 1996. In 1965 President Grímsson earned his BA degree in economics and political science at the University of Manchester, England, where he also completed his PhD thesis in political science five years later. He subsequently became the first professor of political science at the University of Iceland. He first took a seat in Althingi, the legislative assembly, in 1978 and served as Iceland’s Minister of Finance 1988-1991. During his presidency he has emphasized sustainable management of natural resources to control climate change, brought the lessons of Iceland’s clean energy achievements to many parts of the world including China, India, Indonesia, Europe, the U.S., and East Africa. He has promoted training and research on desertification control, and was among the initiators of a Global Roundtable on Climate Change that brought together representatives of international corporations, scientists, and opinion leaders. In recent years, President Grímsson has drawn attention to the problems which the accelerating melting of the Himalayan glaciers may cause in the region and he has actively promoted international cooperation with respect to the Arctic. President Grímsson was one of the initial supporters of the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi and now chairs the jury of the Zayed Future Energy Prize. President Grímsson was for several years a board member of the Special Olympics and has played a major role in the international drug prevention campaign, Youth in Europe. He has also been active in promoting cooperation between Icelandic and foreign universities and has lectured at several universities, including Beijing University, Fudan University, Harvard, Columbia, Brown, and The Ohio State University, where he was awarded the honorary degree Doctor of Public Service. Among the international awards he has received is the 2007 Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding.

• Wanjira Mathai

  Wanjira Mathai

  Wanjira Mathai is the Director of International Affairs at the Green Belt Movement (GBM), managing outreach and resource mobilization. For six years prior to joining GBM, Mathai worked as a Sr. Program Officer at the Carter Presidential Center in Atlanta, Georgia (USA), monitoring and evaluating disease eradication programs. Since 2002, Mathai has been directing International Affairs at GBM, which was founded by her mother, the late Nobel Peace Laureate Wangari Maathai. More recently, Mathai added to her responsibilities by becoming the project co-chair of the Wangari Maathai Institute for Peace & Environmental Studies (WMI) at the University of Nairobi. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of both the Green Belt Movement and WMI. Mathai grew up in Kenya, traveling to the United States to attend college. She is a graduate of Hobart & William Smith Colleges and earned graduate degrees from Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health and Goizueta School of Business.

• Fabien Cousteau

  Fabien Cousteau

  Growing up on the decks of his famous grandfather’s ships, Calypso and Alcyone, Fabien Cousteau was destined to work to protect our planet’s immense and endangered marine habitats. Cousteau champions the family legacy as a third generation ocean explorer and filmmaker. From his vast experience in the field, coupled with a degree in environmental economics from Boston University, he has refined a public policy platform grounded in his strong belief that environmental discipline can be the basis for innovative solutions that strike a balance between regional and global environmental problems and the realities of market economies. In 2006, Cousteau partnered with his father, Jean-Michel Cousteau, and sister, Celine, to complete a three-year, multi-hour series for PBS called Ocean Adventures. In 2010, he launched Plant A Fish, an innovative nonprofit organization designed to empower communities and children to help restore their local water ecosystems through the healthy “replanting” of key marine species. The organization’s current initiatives include restoration projects in El Salvador, New York City, South Florida and the Maldives. Expansion to Haiti and Indonesia is expected in late 2012. An active writer, he is currently working on a children’s book trilogy. Cousteau is routinely seen on network television, the Oprah Winfrey Show, Gayle King, and as a guest/contributor to NBC’s Today Show. He shares his guidance as a member of multiple boards including SeaKeepers Society, Water Innovation Alliance, Millennium Project, Blue Ocean Film Festival, Plastic Pollution Coalition, One World One Ocean, Points of Light, Antarctic Ocean Alliance, Aquarius Foundation, and the New York Harbor School. Additionally, he speaks at a variety of global and domestic environmental and water conferences as well as mainstream business conferences such as Google Zeitgeist, DLD, Rio2.0 and TEDx Rio.

• Vanessa Hauc

  Vanessa Hauc

  With a strong journalistic background, Vanessa Hauc began her career in Bogotá, Colombia in 1993. In 1999 she moved to Las Vegas where she studied Communications and Journalism at the University of Nevada and worked as an anchor and reporter for Channel KINC Univision 15. She was also co-host and producer of “In Touch” (KCLV Channel 2), a public affairs program in English for the Hispanic community, produced by the City of Las Vegas. In addition to her studies in journalism, Vanessa Hauc studied French culture and language in college d’Aix en Provence, France and earned a Masters in Economics and International Politics at the University of Miami. In 2002, Vanessa joined Telemundo to form part of the program Al Rojo Vivo with María Celeste as a reporter and co-host of the popular program. Her passion for ecology led her to create the segment “Green Alert” with the aim to inform and educate the community about the importance of protecting the environment. This segment has won several awards and thanks to its popularity, Telemundo adopted the concept as a company-wide effort, becoming pioneers in information on environmental issues. From social events, cultural and political to natural disasters, Vanessa has been a correspondent and main source of information in the field. Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, the earthquakes in Chile, Japan, Haiti and the rescue of the Chilean miners are some of the coverage in which Vanessa has been at the forefront of the news. She has also toured the United States covering the anti-immigrant laws that have emerged around the country and facing legislators who implement them. Hauc is currently co-anchor of News Telemundo with Jose Diaz-Balart and and informative segment called “59 Minutes” which airs daily through the digital platform Telemundo.com where a summary of the most important news of the day in just a minute. This segment is visited by over 35 thousand people daily, which supports the credibility of the journalist.

• Asif Iqbal

  Asif Iqbal

  Asif Iqbal is a climate campaigner and development professional in Pakistan. He grew up in a remote, lush green mountainous region in the KPK province. Asif works at World Vision Pakistan as Programme Development Coordinator. He designs transformational development and advocacy projects at the national level which strive for child well-being, long-term development, and environmental sustainability. In July 2009, after getting trained by Al Gore, Asif started a voluntary national-level campaign called Climate Project Connectors with youth and civil society organizations in Pakistan. He engages youth in the country to fight the climate crisis and take initiatives at the local level. Asif voluntarily delivers presentations, trains stakeholders on climate change, and uses print, electronic, and social media for climate advocacy. Asif was also part of 24 Hours of Reality in 2011 along with Al Gore, presenting live to 8.6 million viewers on the reality of the climate crisis.

• Larry J. Schweiger

  Larry J. Schweiger

  Larry Schweiger is President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Wildlife Federation. He returned to the National Wildlife Federation in March 2004 with a commitment to confront the climate crisis and to protect wildlife for our children’s future. National Wildlife Federation is America’s most effective conservation organization, with 48 affiliates and more than four million members and supporters. Previously, Schweiger served for eight years as President and CEO of the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, where he pioneered watershed restoration and promoted ecological research, land conservation and community outreach. Prior to that, Schweiger was the Executive Secretary of the Joint House/Senate Conservation Committee for the Pennsylvania General Assembly, Senior Vice President for Conservation Programs at National Wildlife Federation, and 1st Vice President of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. Schweiger is an active community leader, having served on more than 40 governing boards, commissions and committees. He currently serves on the Boards of Directors of The Climate Reality Project; The Climate Reality Action Fund; the H. John Heinz III Center for Science, Economics and the Environment; BlueGreen Alliance; and National Wildlife Federation Action Fund. In 2011 Schweiger was awarded the Citizens for Pennsylvania’s Future Visionary Award for his leadership in raising awareness about the critical impacts of climate change throughout the world and commitment to employing clean energy solutions. Schweiger’s book on global warming and wildlife, released by Fulcrum Publishing in September 2009, Last Chance: Preserving Life on Earth, was awarded First Prize for Non-Fiction by the Next Generation Indie Book Awards in 2011 and can be found at http://www.nwf.org/lastchance.

• Kandeh Yumkella

  Kandeh Yumkella

  In 2005, Kandeh K. Yumkella was appointed as Director-General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), having previously worked in various high-level policy positions in UNIDO, including as Special Adviser to two previous Directors-General and as Director of the Africa and Least Developed Countries Regional Bureau as well as Representative and Director of the first UNIDO Regional Office in Nigeria. Prior to working for UNIDO, Yumkella served as the Minister for Trade, Industry and State Enterprises of the Republic of Sierra Leone. Between 1987 and 1996, while furthering his studies, he held various academic positions at Michigan State University and the University of Illinois. In recognition of his leadership and his passion for energy and environment-related causes, Yumkella was appointed as Chair of UN-Energy in 2008 by the United Nations Secretary-General. In 2011, Yumkella was appointed by the United Nations Secretary-General as Co-Chair of the High-level Group on Sustainable Energy for All. As Chair of the Secretary-General’s Advisory Group on Energy and Climate Change (AGECC) from 2008 to 2010, Yumkella played a leading international role in identifying the lack of access to energy as a crucial constraint for development efforts.

• Mindy Lubber

  Mindy Lubber

  Mindy S. Lubber is the President of Ceres, a nonprofit organization that leads a national coalition of investors, environmental organizations, and other public interest groups working with companies to address sustainability challenges, such as global climate change and water scarcity. Mindy also directs the Investor Network on Climate Risk, a group of over 100 institutional investors managing $10 trillion in assets focused on the business risks and opportunities posed by climate change. Under Mindy’s leadership, Ceres launched The 21st Century Corporation: The Ceres Roadmap for Sustainability, highlighting critical corporate, environmental, and social performance improvements for integrating sustainability across capital markets and the economy.

• David Karoly

  David Karoly

  Professor David Karoly is an internationally recognised expert in climate change and climate variability, including greenhouse climate change, stratospheric ozone depletion and interannual climate variations due to El Niño-Southern Oscillation. He was heavily involved in preparation of the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released in 2007, in several different roles. Professor Karoly is a member of the new Climate Change Authority in Australia. He is also a member of the Science Advisory Panel to the Australian Climate Commission, the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists, and the Joint Scientific Committee, which provides oversight of the World Climate Research Programme. Professor Karoly joined the School of Earth Sciences in May 2007 as an ARC Federation Fellow funded by the Australian government.

• Sarah Backhouse

  Sarah Backhouse

  Sarah Backhouse is Founder and Host of Future360. A TV host and producer, Sarah has lived in Sydney, London and Los Angeles, where she worked for a diverse array of broadcasters including: CNBC, BBC, PBS, Fine Living, Sci Fi Channel, Discovery Channel and Planet Green. Since 2007, Sarah has focused her attention solely on sustainability coverage. A sought after emcee and speaker, Sarah has presented to audiences of 10,000, spoken at Ivy League Schools and participated in sustainability conferences worldwide, interviewing Heads of State, and thought leaders in government, business, non-profit and academia. Sarah was honored as one of Asia Pacific’s Leading 50 Women at the 2011 Advance Women’s Leadership Summit, and was a host on Al Gore’s 24 Hours of Reality. Sarah was born in the UK and raised in Australia and Japan. She graduated with Bachelors degrees in Economics and Japanese Studies from the Australian National University and Keio University, Tokyo, and speaks fluent Japanese.

• Ed Begley Jr

  Ed Begley Jr

  Inspired by the works of his Academy Award-winning father, Ed Begley, Jr. became an actor. He first came to audiences’ attention for his portrayal of Dr. Victor Ehrlich on the long-running hit television series, “St. Elsewhere,” for which he received six Emmy nominations. Since then Begley has moved easily between feature, television and theatre projects. Ed can currently be seen in the hit Seth Rogan/Judd Apatow film, “Pineapple Express”, as well as many Christopher Guest films, including “A Mighty Wind”, “Best In Show,” and For Your Consideration”. Other feature film credits include “Batman Forever”, “The Accidental Tourist” and “The In-Laws.” On television, Begley is appearing in the new CBS comedy on Wednesday night called “Gary Unmarried” He has also been seen recently in “Recount” with Kevin Spacey, Tom Wilkinson and Laura Dern, as well as recurring roles on “Six Feet Under”, “Arrested Development”, and “Boston Legal.” Begley also starred in the West Coast premiere of David Mamet’s “Cryptogram,” at the Geffen Playhouse, in the role that he first performed in Boston and then in New York. He also starred in Mr. Mamet’s production of “Romance” last fall at the Mark Taper Forum. Ed has directed several episodes of the hit show “NYPD Blue” as well as a play that he wrote called “Cesar and Ruben” that won a Nos Otros Award and four Valley Theater League Awards.

• Janet Choi

  Janet Choi

  Janet Choi graduated from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. Though she appeared for six months on the Real World Seattle, she has pursued the field of journalism at Spin Magazine, Spin.com, Encyclopediabritannica.com, and Channel One News. She has produced several documentaries on international issues such as the drug wars in Colombia, the poverty inside North Korea and the North Korean refugees in China. She appeared on CNN for her reports on Afghanistan, the WB for her coverage of the U.S. military post-September 11th, and on the Today Show for her exclusive footage of North Korea. She is currently an anchor and correspondent for Channel One News.

• Jeannette Kaplun

  Jeannette Kaplun

  An award-winning journalist, Latina blogger and internationally recognized parenting author, Jeannette Kaplun has over 17 years of experience on TV, radio, online media and the publishing world. Born in El Paso, Texas, and raised in Chile, Jeannette is truly bilingual and bicultural. In 1999 she cofounded Todobebé, Inc. and was its Chief Content Officer for 13 years. In addition, she co-hosted the Spanish-language network TV show ¡Viva la Familia! de Todobebé, during 4 years on Univision. She is also the author of Todobebé: Todo lo que necesitas saber para el primer año de tu bebé (Rayo, 2006). In 2011 Jeannette won LATISM´s Best Parenting Blogger award and has been recognized as one of the top Latina bloggers. She also is a contributor to Babble Voices, where she blogs in English at Mamifesto. In 1999 Jeannette co-founded Todobebe.com, the first pan regional baby and parenting website in Spanish and Portuguese. She began blogging about her pregnancy and motherhood in the early 2000’s, which makes her a true pioneer in the Latino/Hispanic blogging world. In 2010, Todobebe.com received Portada´s Hispanic Digital and Print Media award as Top Content Provider to Hispanic Audiences. In 2006, the company received the Canyon Ranch Institute Prevention Pioneer Award. She has also been crucial in the development of the Todobebé apps and oversaw content on vivalafamilia.com and blogsdemamas.com. She also hosted the Todobebé radio shows and vignettes that were syndicated in 75 stations in Latin America. From 1998 to 2002, she was the co-host for the Discovery Channel Latin America/Iberia’s technology show, “Vida@línea” where she reviewed the latest tech products. Previously she worked as a news reporter in Chile’s Channel 13 and graduated at the top of her class at the prestigious Journalism School of the Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, which earned her the coveted Maximiano Errázuriz award. In addition, she holds a Bachelor degree in Social Sciences from the Universidad Gabriela Mistral, also in Chile. A photography fan, Jeannette resides in Miami, Florida, with her husband and two children. In 2012 she was part of the Bloggers4Haiti group that visited Haiti two years after the earthquake and continues to be involved in helping the Haitian people. Most recently she became one of the UN Foundation’s 2012 Social Good Fellows and participated in the Blogust campaign for Shot@Life. She is also an active supporter of St. Jude´s Children´s Hospital, Shot@Life, Share our Strength, Common Threads and other charities.

• Jenni Hogan

  Jenni Hogan

  Jenni Hogan is an Emmy award winning TV anchor, lifestyle host, producer and entrepreneur. This Australian native helped create “Social7 with Jenni Hogan” a live interactive one-hour talk show on KIRO 7, the CBS affiliate in Seattle that she hosts. The online conversation during the broadcast trends nationwide. Jenni also wakes viewers up with a smile every weekday as the local morning TV traffic anchor. She is passionate about next generation media and being a part of creating the future of this experience especially when it comes to embracing social media to enable a viewer to become a teammate, helping to create the content they watch. This busy working mother is one of the most followed female local TV journalist on Twitter and Facebook in America. With more than 200,000 followers online Forbes calls her the “Socially Savvy TV Journalist” and she is listed as one of the top 23 female geeks in the world, by the Huffington Post. Jenni moved to America from Australia to accept an athletic scholarship at the University of Washington and graduated with a double degree in Economics and Communications. Jenni is a dual-NCAA National Rowing Champion and captained her crew team to the back to back titles her senior year. This former elite athlete loves encouraging and inspiring others to live a healthy, active lifestyle. In June 2012 Jenni won an Emmy in the category of “Interactivity” as Host/Producer of a 3 hour interactive livestream event called “The KIRO 7 Mobile Tweetup with Jenni Hogan”. She helped create the concept which mixes traditional TV with the online voice to benefit local causes. These mobile tweetups have raised more than 75,000 items for babies, thousands of dollars for cancer research, and 6 truckloads of toys for kids benefiting Toys For Tots. Jenni was voted a finalist in the Shorty Awards (the Oscars of Twitter) in 2011 by her online community. She harnessed the momentum of her giving online friends to produce a social media campaign on Twitter that raised $80k worth of maternity bras for mothers in need in Washington State. Jenni lives in Seattle with her husband Josh and their daughter Siena.

• Jim Castillo

  Jim Castillo

  Jim Castillo received his Bachelor’s Degree in Atmospheric Science from the University of Missouri-Columbia where he maintained a position on the Dean’s list. He also supported his fellow athletes as a cheerleader for 3 years while he completed his studies. Currently, Jim has the honor of being the first weekend Meteorologist that KTLA has ever hired in the television station’s long history. You can watch his forecast on Saturday at 6 & 10pm and Sunday at 6, 8, 9 & 10pm, also the 1pm show Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Additionally, you might catch him filling in during the weekday evenings and mornings. Jim is grateful to have worked in the top markets of Television News with the most professional television news people all over the country. He has a passion for translating weather statistics and related news information in an entertaining and understandable format. Jim’s broadcasting career began while still attending the University of Missouri in Columbia. His internship at KOMU-TV quickly landed him a position as the weekend Meteorologist. Soon, he advanced to the weekday-evening position until he graduated a year later. Next, Jim was offered an internship with well known WGN Meteorologist, Tom Skilling in Chicago, yet landed his first full-time position in South Texas where he would learn to report on tropical weather systems. In 1997, Castillo was the Chief Meteorologist at Q-13 Fox in Seattle (also a Tribune-owned station) where he was part of the very successful inception of their news broadcasts. Jim won the Emmy for the Best Weather Anchor in 1998. In 2001, Castillo was offered the Chief Meteorologist position in the #2 market at KCBS-TV in Los Angeles. KCBS noted ratings gains and went on to win a Golden Mic and Emmy while Jim was on the evening news. His next assignment landed him a job in the #1 television market at WNYW Fox 5 in New York City, doing weather for the 10PM newscast until 2005. The 10pm newscast won an Emmy for the first time in a decade while Jim was on their 10 O’clock News. You will often find Jim helping others and doing charity work for causes dear to his heart including MS, to which he lost his Mother. Also, he spends time at the gym, loves all kinds of music, acting workshops, skiing, roller blading, real estate, architecture, interior design, tubing adventures, camping, producing music and videos, writing songs, genealogy, history, film, movies, photography and he has is scuba diving card from PADI.

• Ibrahim Abdul-Matin

  Ibrahim Abdul-Matin

  Ibrahim Abdul-Matin is a Lead Consultant with The Frontier Project, the author of Green Deen: What Islam Teaches About Protecting the Planet and contributor to All-American: 45 American Men On Being Muslim. He is a former Outward Bound instructor and in 2002 helped found the Brooklyn Academy for Science and the Environment, a public high school. A 2008 National Urban Fellow and graduate of CUNY Baruch, Abdul-Matin helped produce the 2011 PlaNYC update while serving (formerly) as a sustainability advisor to Mayor Bloomberg. He is a regular contributor on WNYC’s nationally syndicated show The Takeaway and has blogged since 2004 as the Brooklyn Bedouin. His media appearances include FOX News, ABC News’ This Week, and the Brian Lehrer Show. His writing has appeared in The Washington Post, CNN.com, The Daily Beast, and GOOD Magazine. A Brooklyn native, Abdul-Matin speaks widely on issues of innovation, sustainability, and social justice.

• Anne L. Kelly

  Anne L. Kelly

  Anne L. Kelly is Director of Public Policy at Ceres, a nonprofit coalition of investors and companies, which seeks to promote leadership and best practices in sustainability. Anne also directs Business for Innovative Climate & Energy Policy (BICEP), a coalition of 23 leading consumer-facing companies including Nike, Starbucks and eBay, seeking to advocate for meaningful climate and energy policy at the federal level. Anne is an environmental lawyer with 20 years of combined experience in the private and public sectors In the 1990s, she directed the Massachusetts-based Environmental Crimes Strike Force, consisting of a multi-disciplinary team of legal and engineering professionals charged with bringing high-profile civil and criminal actions against environmental violators through the Massachusetts Office of the Attorney General. Anne is a certified mediator and a founding partner in the Boston-based law and mediation firm, Creative Resolutions, LLC, where she served clients facing environmental disputes at the state and federal levels.

• Robert Corell

  Robert Corell

  Bob Corell serves as Chair of the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment and is a Principal for the Global Environment Technology Foundation. He also serves as a Professor II at the University of Tromso and is a senior fellow with the American Meteorological Society. He served as Assistant Director for Geosciences at the National Science Foundation where he had oversight for the Atmospheric, Earth, Ocean Sciences, Polar Programs and the global change programs of the National Science Foundation. He Chaired the U.S. Global Change Research Program for the Federal government. Bob is an oceanographer and engineer by background and training, having received Ph.D., M.S., and B.S. degrees at Case Western Reserve University and MIT.

• Paul Rode

  Paul Rode

  Paul Rode is a Project Executive for the Commercial Energy Services division of the Building Efficiency unit of Johnson Controls, where he is responsible for working with commercial clients to develop deep energy savings retrofit projects for existing buildings. Based in New York City, and covering a national footprint, he leads teams applying innovative techniques to develop retrofit strategies that yield deep energy savings. The projects typically include retro–commissioning, energy savings guarantees, smart building technologies, lighting, and distributed generation. He has been with Johnson Controls for 16 years and has held the positions of Senior Project Manager, Performance Contracting Team Leader, Account Executive, and Business Development Director. Recently, he led the Johnson Controls team responsible for the energy efficiency retrofit of the Empire State Building. Mr. Rode has spent 10 years on foreign project management assignments involving the construction of generation / cogeneration stations in Zimbabwe, South Africa, Brazil, Russia (Soviet Union at the time), and Saudi Arabia.

• Louise Clancy

  Louise Clancy

  Louise Clancy is an officer at the Greater London Authority, with responsibilities in climate change adaptation and water. The Greater London Authority is a strategic authority with a Londonwide role to design a better future for the capital. It develops and delivers strategies for the Mayor of London and helps the London Assembly. Louise produced Securing London’s Water Future: The Mayor’s Water Strategy, which was published in 2011. This sets out the Mayor’s policies on water management, wastewater, and flooding. Louise is working closely with communities affected by flood risk, and has developed Advise2Save, a project that helps Londoners reduce their energy and water use and bills. Before starting at the Greater London Authority, Louise was a Senior Climate Change and Sustainability Consultant for Arup and developed RAPID RESILIENCE, a method for cities to adapt to climate change. Louise was a volunteer at the London 2012 Paralympics.

• Emad Adly

  Emad Adly

  Emad Adly is an environmental specialist with more than 30 years of extensive experience in fostering regional and international partnerships. He is experienced in issues related to sustainable development including environment, water and sanitation, climate change, energy, biodiversity, MDGs, and participatory development and governance. Adly is the Founder and General Coordinator of the Arab Network for Environment and Development, established in 1990. He founded and remains on the board of the Mediterranean Information Office for Environment, Culture and Sustainable Development. In 2011, he founded and remains Chairperson of the Nile Basin Discourse and the Consumers and Energy Organization. In 1978, he co-founded and remains Chairman of Board of the Arab Office for Youth and Environment. Additionally, he is the National Coordinator of the GEF/Small Grants Programme and the UNDP Local Initiative Facility for Urban Environment, which was started in Egypt in 1992 and 1993.

• Johnny Alamo

  Johnny Alamo

  Johnny Alamo has spent the past 20 years working in the ski industry with a singular mission to inspire winter sports enthusiasts all over the world. His creativity, innovation, and tenacity has led Warren Miller Entertainment to become the largest action sports film company on the planet, carrying on a legacy that Warren Miller started back in 1949. Throughout his career, Alamo has worked with resorts, retailers, manufacturers, and athlete management companies. Along with producing events, he has worked closely with the film and publishing industries. He lives in Boulder, CO and enjoys a lifestyle that he’s devoted to preserving through a strategic alliance with The Climate Reality Project, “I Am Pro Snow.”

• Fiona Armstrong

  Fiona Armstrong

  Fiona Armstrong is a social entrepreneur committed to facilitating a transition to healthy, sustainable and equitable low-carbon societies that live within ecological limits. Armstrong has professional experience as a journalist, health professional, public policy reformer, and environmental activist. Armstrong is the founder and convener of the Climate and Health Alliance (CAHA) – a coalition of national health care stakeholders with a common agenda for action on climate change to protect and promote public health. CAHA works together to raise awareness about the health benefits of emissions reductions, and to encourage the health sector to reduce its own environmental footprint. She is also a cofounder and director of CLIMARTE, a not for profit organization that brings artists together to use all forms of the creative arts to communicate about climate change. Armstrong is a published author on many topics and a respected policy analyst, researcher, and commentator on health and climate policy issues.

• Karen Ballard

  Karen Ballard

  Karen Ballard is a graduate of Niagara University (BSN) and New York University (MA). She is currently a consultant for the Nurses Workgroup for Health Care Without Harm (HCWH) and an adjunct associate professor at PACE University’s Lienhard School of Nursing and NYU’s College of Nursing where she is teaching courses on psychiatric-mental health nursing, health care reform and nursing leadership. Previously for twenty years, Ballard held various staff positions including Director of the Practice and Governmental Affairs Program with the New York State Nurses Association. She has served as a member and chair of ANA’s Standards and Guidelines Committee and as Vice-Chairperson of ANA’s Congress on Nursing Practice and Economics. Ballard spearheaded the development of ANA’s Principles of Environmental Health for Nursing Practice with Implementation Strategies. She is a contributing editor of AJN’squarterly column – “Environments and Health” and a contributor to the Nursing Administration Quarterly issue on environmental health. She is also the co-author of Psychiatric Nursing – An Integration of Theory and Practice, which was designated an AJN 2009 Book of the Year in the nursing specialty. Karen A. Ballard is a past President of the New York State Nurses Association (2009-2010), past First Vice-President of the American Nurses Association (2010-2012) and a fellow in the American Academy of Nursing (2009).

• Robin Bronen

  Robin Bronen

  Robin Bronen lives in Alaska. She works as a human rights attorney and has been researching “climigration,” the climate-induced relocation of communities since 2007, when she began a Ph. D program at the University of Alaska Resilience and Adaptation Program. Currently, at least four communities are relocating in Alaska because of climate change. Bronen is specifically focusing her study on the Alaska Native village of Newtok, a community located near the Bering Sea whose residents voted to relocate due to erosion and thawing permafrost. Through this work, she has developed the Guiding Principles of Climigration, which sets forth the human rights principles that need to guide climate-induced community relocations. Bronen will receive her Ph. D in December 2012 from the Resilience and Adaptation Program at the University of Alaska Fairbanks and received her Juris Doctorate from the University of California at Davis. She currently works as the executive director of the Alaska Institute for Justice, a non-profit agency that is the only immigration legal service provider in the state, houses the state’s first Language Interpreter Center and also researches climate justice issues. The Alaska Bar Association awarded Bronen the 2007 Robert Hickerson Public Service award and the 2012 International Human Rights award.

• Dale Bryk

  Dale Bryk

  Dale Bryk is the Director of the Energy & Transportation Program and a Senior Attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council, where she oversees a team of 60 lawyers, scientists, and technology experts working to develop policy solutions that will dramatically improve energy efficiency in buildings, appliances, and industry; expedite commercialization of emerging renewable energy technologies; increase vehicle efficiency; drive investment in low-carbon fuels; and reduce vehicle miles traveled. Her expertise is in the area of energy and climate policy, including utility regulation and energy efficiency and renewable energy programs. Bryk was integrally involved in the development of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, the cap-and-invest program launched by 10 Northeast states in January 2009.

• Casey Caplowe

  Casey Caplowe

  Casey Caplowe, a co-founder of GOOD, currently serves as its chief creative officer and product lead. Caplowe has helped build and shape the look, feel, and voice of the brand and its creations online, in print, video, and live events. Under his direction, GOOD’s products have been widely recognized and acclaimed. Caplowe has spoken about GOOD at events including TEDx in Sao Paulo, the Social Design Symposium in Tokyo, Influx Curated in San Francisco, TEDx in Sao Paulo, SXSW in Austin, and the Insights Series at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis.

• Stephen Cheney

  Stephen Cheney

  Brigadier General Stephen Cheney, USMC (Ret.) is the Chief Executive Officer of the American Security Project (ASP). He is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and has more than 30 years experience as a Marine. His career included a wide variety of command and staff positions with the operating forces and the supporting establishment. His primary specialty was artillery, but Cheney focused extensively on entry-level training, commanding at every echelon at both Marine Corps Recruit Depots, and serving as the Commanding General at Parris Island. He served several years in Japan and has traveled extensively throughout the Middle East and Asia. Selected other highlights of Cheney’s military career include: tours as Deputy Executive Secretary to Defense Secretaries Cheney and Aspin; ground plans officer for Drug Enforcement Policy in the Pentagon; liaison to the Congressional Commission on Roles and Missions of the Armed Forces; and Inspector General of the Marine Corps. Following retirement from the Marines, Cheney became the Chief Operating Officer for Business Executives for National Security (BENS), in Washington, D.C., and most recently was President/CEO of the Marine Military Academy in Harlingen, Texas. He is a graduate of the Marine Corps Command and Staff College, the National War College, and the University of Southern California. He was a military fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York City, where he is also a member. Cheney has served on the Board of Directors for ASP since 2006.

• Gary Cohen

  Gary Cohen

  Gary Cohen has been a pioneer in the environmental health movement for twenty-nine years. He is Co-Founder & President of Health Care Without Harm and Practice Greenhealth which are transforming the healthcare sector towards environmental sustainability and anchor institutions to support environmental health in the communities they serve. He is also a member of the International Advisory Board of the Sambhavna Clinic in Bhopal, India, which has been working for over 25 years to heal people affected by the Bhopal gas tragedy and fight for environmental cleanup in Bhopal. Cohen has received the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship. In 2011 he received an Environmental Merit Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in recognition of exceptional work and commitment to the environment. He was named by the Huffington Post as a Game Changer in the blog’s Healthy Living category, as well as being named an Ashoka Fellow.

• Sebastian Copeland

  Sebastian Copeland

  Sebastian Copeland is an award-winning photographer, explorer, and environmental advocate. With over 8,000 kilometers under his skis, Copeland holds four polar and Guinness records. In 2009, Copeland and partner Keith Heger traveled 700 kilometers on the Arctic sea by skis to reach the North Pole and raise awareness about the melting ice. His award-winning documentary, Into the Cold, chronicles their journey, considered the toughest on Earth. Copeland traveled Greenland in its 2500 kilometer south-north axis, setting a world record for the longest distance traveled in 24 hours with kites, at 595 kilometers. He has addressed international audiences on the climate crisis for over a decade, and his photographs hang in museums and private collections around the world.

• Eugene Cordero

  Eugene Cordero

  Eugene Cordero is a professor in the Department of Meteorology and Climate Science at San Jose State University. Cordero’s research is focused on understanding climate variability through the use of observations and climate models. He’s also interested in developing new methods for teaching climate change that engage and ultimately stimulate social change. Cordero is the founder of the Green Ninja, a project that aims to educate young people about our changing climate and then give them the tools to do something about it.

• Charles Cormier

  Charles Cormier

  Charles Cormier was recently appointed Program Manager for Climate Change in the World Bank’s South Asia Region, where his primary responsibilities are to provide strategic planning for the Bank’s knowledge and lending program on climate change in the region. Cormier has devoted twelve years of his twenty year career to climate change in various roles. Since he joined the World Bank in 2001, he initially worked as part of a team dedicated to the participation of developing countries in the global carbon market, and was also stationed in Delhi, India for five years in his capacity as Country Sector Coordinator for Social Development, Environment and Water Resources. As part of his work in India, Cormier co-authored a paper on low carbon development and managed a development policy loan in the State of Himachal Pradesh to promote a shift towards green growth and sustainable development. Cormier holds a Masters Degree in Environmental Engineering from the University of Toronto, Canada and a Bachelors Degree in Geological Engineering from the University of New Brunswick, Canada.

• Susan M. Davis

  Susan M. Davis

  Susan M. Davis is a thought leader in international development and civil society innovation. She is a founder and current President & CEO of BRAC USA, an organisation created to support BRAC’s programs all over the world. Recently, she co-authored the book Social Entrepreneurship: What Everyone Needs to Know with David Bornstein. In addition, she is a founding board member and immediate past Chair of the Grameen Foundation. She also serves on Ashoka’s international board committee that selects Ashoka Fellows. Davis is also Senior Advisor to New York University’s Reynolds Programme on Social Entrepreneurship. Previously, she led Ashoka’s Global Academy for Social Entrepreneurship, co-founded the University Network for Social Entrepreneurship and oversaw Ashoka’s expansion to the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia. In addition, she served as a Senior Advisor to the Director General of the International Labor Organisation. Before that, she led the global advocacy group, Women’s Environment & Development Organisation. She has extensive micro-credit experience from her years with the Ford Foundation in Bangladesh and from her work with Women’s World Banking. Davis also served as a funder and volunteer representative to start Ashoka Bangladesh. Previously, Davis served as Assistant Director of the export trading company of the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey. She serves on numerous other boards including Project Enterprise, Sirleaf Market Women’s Fund, and African Women’s Development Fund USA. She was on Mary Robinson’s Advisory Council of Realising Rights: the Ethical Globalisation Initiative, currently serves on the UNFIP Advisory Board, and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. She was educated at Georgetown, Harvard and Oxford universities.

• Lonna Dawson

  Lonna Dawson

  Lonna Dawson is a Bronx, New York native. After earning her B.S. in Communications Management and Design from Ithaca College in upstate New York, Lonna joined Teach for America in 2007. Dawson was compelled to be a part of eliminating the educational achievement gap in this country and ensuring that all children have access to quality teachers and an equitable education. Dawson was placed in Houston, Texas where she taught first grade for two years in the city’s historic Fifth Ward. Dawson absolutely enjoys teaching and inspiring young people to take action in meaningful causes and be a part of positive change in their communities and ultimately, the world. After her tenure with Teach For America, Dawson relocated to Atlanta where she joined the Alliance for Climate Education in 2009 and the New York City team in 2011.

• Alejandro del Mazo

  Alejandro del Mazo

  Alejandro del Mazo is a Representative in the Lower House of the Federal Mexican Congress. He is the Chairman of the Special Committee on Climate Change, President of the Civil Service Committee, and Secretary of the GLOBE Chapter in Mexico. Del Mazo has given lectures with the Chambers of Commerce of the United States and Canada. He holds a Bachelors in Business Administration from Universidad Anahuac, as well as a degree in Finance and Administrative studies from Harvard. University.

• Jeff Deyette

  Jeff Deyette

  As the Assistant Director of Energy Research for the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) Climate and Energy program, Jeff Deyette conducts analysis on the economic and environmental costs and benefits of renewable energy and energy efficiency policies. He has authored numerous reports for UCS and has written articles for various renewable energy industry publications. Deyette is also a co-author of the new UCS book, Cooler Smarter: Practical Steps for Low-Carbon Living. Prior to coming to UCS in 1999, Deyette worked as an Environmental Protection Specialist for the United States Army Corps of Engineers, where he assisted with environmental compliance and conservation programs. Deyette has a master’s degree from Boston University in energy resource and environmental management & international relations, and a bachelor’s degree from St. Lawrence University in environmental science and government.

• Noah Diffenbaugh

  Noah Diffenbaugh

  Dr. Noah Diffenbaugh is an Assistant Professor in the School of Earth Sciences and Center Fellow in the Woods Institute for the Environment at Stanford University. His research interests are centered on the dynamics and impacts of climate variability and change, including the role of humans as a coupled component of the climate system. Much of his work has focused on the role of fine-scale processes in shaping phenomena such as extreme weather, climate-vegetation feedbacks, atmospheric forcing of the coastal ocean, and Holocene climate variability. His work has also focused on the potential impacts of greenhouse-induced climate changes on natural and human systems, including on water resources, agricultural pests, corn price volatility, premium wine production, human health, and poverty vulnerability. Diffenbaugh is currently a lead author for Working Group II of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and a member of the National Academy of Sciences Ad Hoc Committee on Effects of Provisions in the Internal Revenue Code on Greenhouse Gas Emissions.

• Tania Ellersick

  Tania Ellersick

  Tania Ellersick is a biological scientist for the U.S. Forest Service and a Presidential Management Fellow in Washington, DC. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Forest Management from the University of Washington and Master of Forest Science from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. As a Doris Duke Conservation Fellow, she studied the forest ecology and management of both tropical forest ecosystems of the Asia-Pacific region and seasonal temperate forests in the United States. Her graduate fieldwork at Yale examined the reproductive ecology of lowland, mixed dipterocarp forests in Sabah, Malaysia, and her undergraduate thesis focused on forestry issues in Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo. Her areas of expertise include collaborative forest management, landscape-scale restoration, and sustainable forest management practices. She is participating on this panel in her personal capacity. The USDA Forest Service does not endorse or sanction any of her views and opinions expressed on this program.

• Hannah Feldberg

  Hannah Feldberg

  Hannah Feldberg is an expert in positive youth development, focusing her sixteen years of professional experience and academic career on building youth engagement programs and opportunities that empower young people to reach their full potential as agents of change. Since 2009, Feldberg serves as a Director at Me to We, an innovative social enterprise, providing people with better choices for a better world through socially conscious products and life-changing experiences. Engaging thousands of youth world-wide each year through domestic and international programming, Feldberg helps shape the methods Me to We empowers young people to take action in their local community. A frequent presenter and guest lecturer at conferences and universities across North America; Feldberg also advises with youth based organizations through her private consulting company. Feldberg is contagiously passionate about her work and encourages everyone, especially young people, to get involved and make the world a better place.

• Adrián Fernández

  Adrián Fernández

  Chief, Directorate of Investigation of Urban, Regional and Global Contamination. Dr. Adrian Fernandez holds a degree in Biology, with a concentration in Ecology from the Metropolitan Independent University (UAM). In 1989 he completed a Masters in Environmental Technology (MSc) at the Imperial School of Science, Technology and Medicine of the University of London. In 1993 he obtained a Doctorate (Ph.D.) in Environmental Sciences (Ph.D.) from the University of London with the Thesis: “Commuters Exposure to CO in the Metropolitan Area of Mexico City”. This work was one of the first investigations in Mexico in which exposure of the population to polluting agents was evaluated through the use of personal monitors. As result of these investigations four scientific articles on Atmospheric Environment were published in the Journal of Exposure Analysis and Environmental Epidemiology. Dr. Fernandez has been a consultant/adviser in activities of the World Bank, the United Nations Program for the Atmosphere, and the World Health Organization (WHO). With the WHO he also collaborated on the book: “Urban Air Pollution in Megacities of the World” (1991). He has been a scholarship holder of the British Council and the CONACYT. From 1990 to 1993 he received the Overseas Research Student Award granted in the United Kingdom to outstanding foreign students. In 1993, he obtained the prestigious McNamara scholarship from the World Bank to make postdoctoral investigations at the Harvard School of Public Health. From 1997 to the present, Dr. Fernandez has been a Visiting Professor at the Harvard School of Public Health , teaching summer courses alternatively in Boston, Bern, or Moscow along with other professors of the same university. In Mexico, Adrian taught classes at the University of the Americas and the National University of Mexico. Dr. Fernandez has organized conferences and postgraduate courses at the School of Mexico (Program LEAD), National Polytechnic Institute University Program of the Atmosphere, Metropolitan University and Latin American University, among others.

• Ramiro Fernández

  Ramiro Fernández

  Ramiro Fernández has been working with Avina for 13 years, where he promoted the startup of the organization in Argentina. In 2001 he develop the Patagonian office in Chile and Argentina, consolidating regional platforms from civil society and the business sector, strengthening sustainable development initiatives. Since 2009 he has been focused on energy and climate change, promoting energy scenario methodologies in different countries and encouraging national and regional networks to influence politics at different levels. Today he is in charge of Energy and Climate Change strategy for Latin America. He is also a LEAD fellow.

• Dirk Forrister

  Dirk Forrister

  Dirk Forrister is President and CEO of the International Emissions Trading Association (IETA). Previously, he was Managing Director at Natsource LLC, the manager of one of the world’s largest carbon funds. Earlier in his career, Forrister served as Chairman of the White House Climate Change Task Force in the Clinton Administration. Prior to that, he was Assistant U.S. Secretary of Energy for Congressional, Public and Intergovernmental Affairs; Forrister was also legislative counsel to Congressman Jim Cooper as well as Energy Program Manager at Environmental Defense Fund. Forrister now serves on the Board of Directors of the Verified Carbon Standard and as a member of the Advisory Boards of the National Center for Atmospheric Research and the American Carbon Registry.

• David Foster

  David Foster

  David Foster is the Executive Director of the BlueGreen Alliance, a national partnership of labor unions and environmental organizations dedicated to expanding the number and quality of jobs in the green economy. Launched in 2006, the strategic partnership now brings together major U.S. labor unions and America’s most influential environmental organizations and unites more than 15 million members and supporters. For the past 20 years, Foster has been among the labor movement’s leading environmental advocates. He was Chairman of the United Steelworkers International Executive Board task force on environmental policy and vigorously worked to bridge the divide between workers and environmentalists in the Northwest and throughout the United States.

• Peter Fox-Penner

  Peter Fox-Penner

  Dr. Peter Fox-Penner is a consulting executive and internationally recognized authority on energy and electric power industry issues. He is a Principal and Chairman of The Brattle Group, a leading economic consulting firm, and author of the highly acclaimed book Smart Power: Climate Change, the Smart Grid, and the Future of Electric Utilities. In his consulting practice, Fox-Penner advises energy companies, government agencies, and their counsels on energy regulatory and market policy issues. His primary focus is on electric industry structure, climate change, and energy efficiency policies. From 1993 to 1996 he was a senior official in the U.S. Department of Energy and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy; and held staff positions in the Illinois Governor’s office. Fox-Penner has served on the boards or advisory boards of Enviance, Gridpoint, The Solar Foundation, and other Cleantech firms and was a co-Founder of Environment 2004 and the Environmental Alliance. He is a graduate of the University of Chicago, Booth School of Business and the University of Illinois.

• Stellan Fryxell

  Stellan Fryxell

  Stellan Fryxell s a partner at Tengbom architects, the third largest architecture firm in Sweden. He completed a Master in Architecture at the Royal Institute of Technology and at the Royal University College of Fine Arts in Stockholm. He worked amongst other places also in New York at the Regional Planning Association. Currently, Fryxell is responsible for urban planning architectural design and has worked on projects throughout Sweden, Norway, London, Dublin, Shanghai and Chongqing. Since 1997 he worked as project developer on the sustainable district Hammarby Sjöstad in Stockholm. Fryxell lectures at architecture schools in Sweden and universities in China. He has been invited as key-note speaker to several international conferences all over the world.

• Leon Fuerth

  Leon Fuerth

  Leon Fuerth is the Founder and Director of the Project on Forward Engagement, Distinguished Research Fellow at the National Defense University, Research Professor of International Affairs at the George Washington University, and the former National Security Advisor to Vice President Al Gore. During the Clinton Administration, Fuerth served simultaneously on the Deputies’ and Principals’ Committees of the National Security Council and the National Economic Council. He also created and managed five bi-national commissions, and led efforts to develop the International Space Station, marshal international support for sanctions against Slobodan Milosevic’s regime, take action to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS in Africa; denuclearize former Soviet states, and to spur foreign investment in Egypt as part of the Middle East peace process. Fuerth holds a bachelor’s degree in English and a master’s degree in history from New York University, as well as a master’s degree in public administration from Harvard University.

• Don Henry

  Don Henry

  Don Henry has been CEO of the Australian Conservation Foundation, Australia’s leading national, nonprofit environmental organization, since 1998. Previously based in Washington DC, he served with the World Wildlife Fund as Director of the Global Forest program (1996-98) and as Director of WWF’s Asia-Pacific and South Pacific programs. In Australia, Don Henry has held the post of director at WWF-Australia and, before that, at the Wildlife Preservation Society of Queensland. His honorary positions have included commissioner with the Australian Heritage Commission and president of the Australian Committee for the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the Moreton Island Protection Committee. He holds a Global 500 Environment Award from the United Nations Environment Program for his services to conservation. In 2008, Don was named Equity Trustees’ Not-For-Profit 2008 CEO of the Year. This prestigious award recognizes outstanding leadership and is the pre-eminent award for the nonprofit sector.

• Paul Higgins

  Paul Higgins

  Paul Higgins is the Associate Director of the American Meteorological Society’s Policy Program. He works on climate change and its causes, consequences, and potential solutions. Paul examines the two-way interaction between the atmosphere and the land surface, which helps quantify responses and feedbacks to climate change. His policy analysis helps characterize climate risks and identify potential solutions. He works with decision makers to develop new policy options that can overcome contentious political obstacles. He also works to inform policymakers, members of the media, and the general public about climate science and climate policy. In 2011, he was named a Google Science Communication Fellow. From 2005 to 2006, Paul worked on climate policy in the United States Senate. From 2003 to 2005, he was a National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of California. He received PhD and MS degrees from Stanford University and a BS from the University of Michigan.

• Naomi Hirabayashi

  Naomi Hirabayashi

  Naomi Hirabayashi is the Chief Marketing Officer at DoSomething.org where she oversees the strategic marketing partnerships for DoSomething.org’s national cause campaigns and the business development team. Prior to DoSomething.org she was Associate Director at Attention, one of the first social media marketing agencies, where she offered strategic counsel for campaigns such as International Women’s Day for Avon, Breast Cancer Awareness for Estée Lauder, and TOMS Shoes. Hirabayashi’s background in social media marketing inspired her to found New York City ChangeMakers, a quarterly series that connected passionate young New Yorkers interested in social good with influential philanthropic guest speakers. Most recently Hirabayashi spoke at the Youth Assembly at the United Nations discussing Media/Social Media: Monitoring Millennium Development Goals Success in the Digital Age.

• Cindy Harrell Horn

  Cindy Harrell Horn

  Cindy Harrell Horn is an advocate for improving education, public health, the environment and national security. She is a co-founder and member of the Board of the Environmental Media Association (EMA), a nonprofit organization created to inspire and coordinate an entertainment industry response to global environmental issues. Horn was a founding trustee of Heal the Bay and The Archer School for Girls. She has served on numerous boards, including GLAZA (the Los Angeles Zoo); The Coalition for Clean Air; Tree People; the UCLA School of Public Health; the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University; the NRDC Action Fund; the NRDC Global Leadership Council; and the Sundance Institute. Horn was appointed in 1991 by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator, William Reilly, to serve on the National Education Advisory Council. She was awarded the State of California Legislative Woman of the Year in 1991 and 2007. Horn has been honored by American Oceans Campaign, Heal the Bay, The Archer School for Girls, EMA, and the UCLA School of Public Health. She and her husband Alan reside in Los Angeles. They have two daughters, Cody and Cassidy.

• Llewelyn Hughes

  Llewelyn Hughes

  Llewelyn Hughes is Assistant Professor of Political Science and International Affairs at George Washington University. Dr. Hughes received his Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He also holds a Masters degree from the Graduate School of Law and Politics at the University of Tokyo. His forthcoming book Globalizing Oil (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press) examines why governments in Japan, France, and elsewhere chose to liberalize oil markets over the last three decades. Prior to his current position Dr. Hughes was Research Fellow at the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government, Harvard University. He has also been a visiting fellow at the Université Paris Dauphine, Japan Business Federation (Keidanren), the Japan Institute for Energy Economics, the East-West Center, and the Tokyo Foundation. Dr. Hughes is trained as a simultaneous and consecutive interpreter in the Japanese language, and has lived in Japan for nine years. He is a citizen of Australia, New Zealand, and Great Britain.

• David J. Jhirad

  David J. Jhirad

  Dr. David J. Jhirad is the HRH Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz Professor of Environmental Policy at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, and is the Director of the Energy, Resources and Environment Program. He serves as Director of Gridpoint Inc. He is also employed at Rockefeller Foundation, as a special adviser on energy and climate and the Vice President for Research and Evaluation since September 2007. Jhirad is an internationally recognized leader in energy and environmental issues. He has made major contributions to electric power policy and regulatory reform, natural gas infrastructure development and international energy security. Jhirad currently serves as Vice President for Research at the World Resources Institute, a leading environmental think tank headquartered in Washington, D.C. During the Clinton administration, Jhirad served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Energy for International Energy Policy, Trade and Investment and as Senior Advisor for Multilateral and Bilateral Affairs. At the International Energy Agency (IEA), Jhirad served as Vice-Chairman of the Governing Board and as Chairman of the Energy Policy Committee. As Senior Energy Advisor to the US Agency for International Development, Jhirad was the key architect of projects to promote private investment in the power sector of developing countries. Jhirad previously worked as a physicist with Brookhaven National Laboratory and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory of the California Institute of Technology, where he led programs on energy and power sector policy analysis, modeling and technology assessment. He co-authored the book, Energy Strategies: Toward a Solar Future, and over 60 technical papers. Jhirad holds a Ph.D in applied physics from Harvard University, where he won the Bowdoin Prize for excellence in research. He also holds B.A. and M.A. degrees in physics and applied mathematics from Cambridge University, and a B.Sc. (Hons) degree in physics from Delhi University.

• Whit Jones

  Whit Jones

  Whit Jones is the Campaign Director for Energy Action Coalition, a coalition of youth-led social and environmental justice organizations working with millennials to address our generation’s greatest challenge: the global climate crisis. Whit coordinated Power Shift 2011, the largest grassroots organizing training in history that landed 11 grassroots leaders a meeting with President Obama. Whit helped create and writes for WeArePowerShift.org, a community blog for the youth climate movement. Whit is a graduate of Carleton College, and lives in Washington, D.C.

• Amanda Katili-Niode

  Amanda Katili-Niode

  Dr. Amanda Katili is the Special Assistant to the Minister of Environment in Indonesia. She is also the Coordinator of the Communication, Information and Education Division at the Indonesian National Council on Climate Change. In 2008 Amanda was personally trained by 2007 Nobel Laureate Mr. Al Gore to spread the message about the challenges of and solutions to the climate crisis. Katili is an environmental management specialist, educator and writer with a Ph.D from the School of Natural Resources and Environment, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA. She received her undergraduate degree in Biology from the School of Natural Sciences and Technology, Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB), Indonesia. She completed a Certificate Program for Entrepreneurs in the U.S. Her continuing education includes: environmental policy and regulations, environmental crime investigations and media communications. Katili participated in an Executive Education Program at the School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University, and a Political Leadership and Campaign Management Program at Yale University, USA.

• Mark Kenber

  Mark Kenber

  Mark Kenber has focused on climate change for fifteen years and is an expert on international climate policy. Mark has been instrumental in developing The Climate Group’s programmes in India and China, and directed ground-breaking international projects with the finance, energy, technology, and aviation sectors. Mark advised former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair in the joint policy initiative Breaking the Climate Deadlock (2008-2009), which produced a series of high-level reports outlining the economic and technological rationale for a global climate deal and its key components. He is also a carbon markets expert and co-founded the Verified Carbon Standard, now the most popular kitemark for the $400 million voluntary market. Previously, Mark was Senior Policy Officer for WWF’s International Climate Change Programme, where he led the creation of the CDM Gold Standard. He participated in the European Climate Change Programme working group responsible for the design of the EU ETS. He was also the Director of Planning at Fundacion Natura and a climate change advisor to the Ecuadorian government.

• Ban Ki-moon

  Ban Ki-moon

  Ban Ki-moon is the eighth Secretary-General of the United Nations. His priorities have been to mobilize world leaders around a set of new global challenges, from climate change and economic upheaval to pandemics and increasing pressures involving food, energy and water. The Secretary-General was born in the Republic of Korea on 13 June 1944. He received a bachelor’s degree in international relations from Seoul National University in 1970. In 1985, he earned a master’s degree in public administration from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. At the time of his election as Secretary-General, Mr. Ban was his country’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade. His 37 years of service with the Ministry included postings in New Delhi, Washington D.C. and Vienna, and responsibility for a variety of portfolios, including Foreign Policy Adviser to the President, Chief National Security Adviser to the President, Deputy Minister for Policy Planning and Director-General of American Affairs. Mr. Ban’s ties to the United Nations date back to 1975, when he worked for the Foreign Ministry’s United Nations Division. That work expanded over the years, with assignments that included service as Chairman of the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization and Chef de Cabinet during the Republic of Korea’s 2001-2002 presidency of the UN General Assembly. Mr. Ban has also been actively involved in issues relating to inter-Korean relations. The Secretary-General speaks English, French and Korean. He and his wife, Madam Yoo (Ban) Soon-taek, whom he met in high school in 1962, have one son, two daughters and three grandchildren. Since 2007, Mrs. Ban has devoted her attention to women’s and children’s health, including autism, the elimination of violence against women, and the campaign to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS.One of the Secretary-General’s first major initiatives was the 2007 Climate Change Summit, followed by extensive diplomatic efforts that have helped put the issue at the forefront of the global agenda. Subsequent efforts to focus on the world’s main anti-poverty targets, the Millennium Development Goals, have generated more than $60 billion in pledges, with a special emphasis on Africa and the new Global Strategy on Women’s and Children’s Health. At the height of the food, energy and economic crises in 2008, the Secretary-General successfully appealed to the G20 for a $1 trillion financing package for developing countries and took other steps to guide the international response and protect the vulnerable and poor.

• Darren T. Kimura

  Darren T. Kimura

  Darren T. Kimura is the President, CEO and Chairman of the Board of Directors for Sopogy, Inc. He began his energy career in 1992 as an EPA Green Lights Surveyor and founded the national energy company Energy Industries in 1994.. In 2000, he created Energy Laboratories, which has incubated and spun out nine different technology companies including Sopogy, Inc., a solar technology company. He has been recognized as the Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year in 2000, SBA Young Entrepreneur of the Year for Hawaii, California, Nevada, and Arizona in 2002, Green Entrepreneur of the Year in 2007, and by the Blue Planet Foundation for its Honua Clean Energy Award.

• Eric Klinenberg

  Eric Klinenberg

  Eric Klinenberg is Professor of Sociology and Director of the Institute for Public Knowledge at New York University. Klinenberg is the author of the acclaimed books, Heat Wave: A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago; Fighting for Air; and Going Solo, and he has contributed to Rolling Stone, The New York Times Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, and the radio program This American Life. He is currently researching the cultural challenges of climate change.

• Rachel Lamb

  Rachel Lamb

  Rachel Lamb is a graduate student in the dual Masters program in public policy and sustainable development & conservation biology at the University of Maryland, College Park. In early 2012, she graduated from Wheaton College (IL) with a BS in environmental studies, BA in international relations, and a certificate from the Human Needs and Global Resources Program. Rachel has held internships with the H. John Heinz III Center for Science, Economics and the Environment, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, A Rocha Peru in Lima, Peru, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. While working at the EPA, Rachel developed a Climate Change Adaptation Guide for Native American communities in Alaska and the Pacific Northwest. Rachel also serves as a steering committee member and events coordinator for the organization Young Evangelicals for Climate Action.

• Dong Sik Lee

  Dong Sik Lee

  Dong Sik Lee previously served as Chief Investment Officer for Samsung Asset Management, and has now started a new career as an environmentalist. While working in the financial industry, he stressed ethical business practices out of a belief that investors have a moral responsibility to create a better society through their work. He now wants to engage as many companies as possible, use education and grassroots activism to spread the word about the threat of climate change, and ignite a fresh movement to implement solutions in Korea.

• Steven Leibo

  Dong Sik Lee

  Dr. Steven A. Leibo, the Sherman David Spector Professor in the Humanities at the Sage Colleges in New York, specializes in Modern International History & Politics. He teaches courses on a range of topics from modern China, the modern Middle East, and modern world history, to classes on globalization and climate change. Dr. Leibo has also taught at the State University of New York at Albany since 1986. A former Fulbright scholar, Prof. Leibo specializes in the relationship between Asia and the West. Leibo has extensive experience leading study tours through Vietnam. He is also a documentary filmmaker. His most recent film is From Albany to Saigon: Vietnam & the Capital Region. More recently, Leibo was among those personally trained by Al Gore and The Climate Reality Project to give updated versions of the slide show featured in the Academy Award-winning film An Inconvenient Truth.

• Scott MacMillan

  Scott MacMillan

  Scott joined BRAC USA in September 2011 to handle external communications. He works to give BRAC the recognition it deserves in North America and beyond. A former business journalist, Scott comes to BRAC with 15 years of experience. He has worked in developing countries and, for nine years, covered Eastern Europe’s transition from communism while based in Prague. Afterward, he moved to the Middle East. He holds a BA in English from Amherst College.

• Scott Mandia

  Scott MacMillan

  Scott Mandia is a professor and the Assistant Chair of Physical Sciences at Suffolk County Community College in Long Island, New York. He has been teaching introductory meteorology and climatology courses for 22 years. He has written numerous weather and climate learning modules and recently published Rising Sea Levels with author Hunt Janin, a book that describes the cause and impact of global sea level rise. He co-founded and co-manages the Climate Science Rapid Response Team, a group of 150 international climate scientists who respond to inquiries from journalists and lawmakers. Scott also co-founded and co-manages the Climate Science Legal Defense Fund which serves to protect the scientific endeavor.

• Dawn Martin

  Dawn Martin

  Dawn M. Martin joined SeaWeb in 2004, first as its Executive Director and then as the organization’s President and Chair of the Board. For more than 25 years, Martin has utilized creative communication strategies to advance policy and conservation goals. Previously, she served as Chief Operating Officer for Oceana, Associate Deputy Administrator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and Political Director for the American Oceans Campaign. Martin brings a multidisciplinary approach that builds on her organizational management experience and skills as an attorney, strategic policy professional, and communications specialist. She serves as a principal for the Communication Partnership for Science and the Sea, on the advisory board of the Center for Health and the Global Environment at Harvard Medical School, as a member of the Ocean Portal Editorial Board for the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, and as a founding member of the steering committee for the Global Forum on Oceans, Coasts and Islands. Martin also sits on the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation Board as a trustee and as Vice-Chair and Treasurer. She has a degree in Political Science and received her Juris Doctorate from Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. In addition, Martin has studied international human rights and humanitarian law at the International Institute of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France, and the Henri Dunant Institute in Geneva, Switzerland.

• Emily McKhann

  Emily McKhann

  Emily McKhann believes deeply in the power of moms to change the world. She is co-founder of The Motherhood, an award-winning web community for mothers and a leading interactive agency that teams influential social media moms with brands and non-profits for creative, original campaigns. Before launching The Motherhood, Emily worked for the Mayor of New York as Director of International Business and Acting Commissioner to the United Nations. She co-authored Living with the End in Mind, published by Crown Books and featured on Oprah numerous times, and has run corporate communications firms in New York and Dallas. Parents Magazine named Emily a “Top Ten Power Mom on the Web,” Babble named her a “Top 50 Mom on Pinterest,” and ABC News named her (with the ONE Moms) “Person of the Week.” The Motherhood has won Web Awards, PRSA Awards, a Best of Blogs Award for Most Inspirational Blog of the Year and twice been a finalist for a Webby.

• Kelly Chapman Meyer

  Kelly Chapman Meyer

  Kelly Chapman Meyer, environmental activist and health advocate, is a trustee of the NRDC and co-founder of The American Heart Association Teaching Gardens. She joins her passions to help push forward policies and programs for health and wellness of both the individual and the environment. Kelly co-founded the Teaching Gardens program as a way to combat the rise of childhood obesity and lifestyle-related illnesses. As an environmental activist she organized the Guinness Book of World’s Record Peace Paddle Out to help raise awareness and funds to protect our oceans. Moreover, as co-founder of the Women’s Cancer Research Fund, Kelly has helped to raise over $40 million for ground-breaking Bio-Marker research. She has received a number of honors including: Oprah’s “2010 O Power List,” Huffington Post’s Game Changer 2011 and the 2012 EMA Life Time Achievement Award. A true outdoorswomen, Kelly is an avid surfer, yoga devotee and tri-athlete. She and her husband Ron Meyer, President and COO of Universal Studios, have four children together.

• Frank Murphy

  Frank Murphy

  Frank Murphy was born in Vancouver, Canada, but grew up in Southern California, attending UC Santa Cruz and then UC Berkeley for an MA in Geography. His MA thesis was on the effects of sea level rise during the last ten thousand years on the low coral reef islets (motu) of the island of Moorea in French Polynesia. He moved to Moorea in 1992 to run the UC Berkeley Gump Research Station there, and two years later met and married Hinano Teavai, a local teacher and cultural expert. Over the years, Murphy got into tourism by running adventure travel trips throughout French Polynesia. Today, Murphy and Teavai are Associate Directors of the Gump Station and Murphy is also owner and CEO of Tahiti Expeditions. They live in Moorea with their five children.

• Quinton Naidoo

  Quinton Naidoo

  Quinton Naidoo has a wealth of experience in business and agricultural development. Previously he was the Head of Lonrho Projects Agribusiness (a South African subsidiary of Lonrho PLC) which contracted growers throughout Africa to produce for its value chain which supplies numerous international retail giants. He was also a Director of Organic Farms Group, which was involved with supporting organic farming with emerging farmers in South Africa, where he successfully raised finance for different community based agricultural projects across the country in partnership with various top Corporates such as Old Mutual, the Industrial Development Corporation, Impala Platinum and NPC.
  Quinton has also worked with the National Department of Rural Development and Land Reform, since 2009, for implementation of various land reform projects.
  He currently heads up aprogramme run by Food & Trees for Africa (FTFA) which is teaching South African farmers to become entrepreneurs and linking them to markets. The Farmer Eco Enterprise Development (FEED) Africa initiative in its simplest form develops emerging organic farmers. The projects are scaled up and are implemented with support in management, training, mentorship and marketing skills and connects them to corporate sponsors. FEED Africa thus enables emerging farmers to join the mainstream agricultural economy. This business model highlights the strategy to develop emerging farmers and thereafter to replicate the adopted model on a larger scale.

• Raymond C. Offenheiser

  Raymond C. Offenheiser

  Raymond C. Offenheiser returned to the U.S. in 1996 to join Oxfam America as its president. Oxfam America, a Boston-based international relief and development agency, supports organizations committed to developing solutions to poverty and injustice in more than 30 countries. Oxfam America is the US affiliate of Oxfam International—a confederation of 17 Oxfams, which collectively works in 120 countries, and has annual revenue of $1 billion. Oxfam complements its grassroots work with far-reaching programs to engage world public opinion and influence decision makers on such issues as food security, climate change, trade, debt relief, foreign aid, HIV/AIDS and other critical issues that directly affect the lives of the world’s poor. Under Offenheiser’s leadership, Oxfam America more than quintupled in size, and repositioned itself in the US as a leading voice on international development and global trade. Offenheiser spent his entire career in the non-profit sector, and is a recognized leader on issues such as poverty alleviation, human rights, foreign policy, and international development. He has played a critical leadership role in shaping the development of the Oxfam International confederation and is a founder board member of both the ONE Campaign as well as the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network (MFAN). He brings more than 30 years of international development experience as a field programmer, grant maker, and executive in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the US. Prior to joining Oxfam America, he served for five years as the Ford Foundation Representative in Bangladesh and, prior to that, for five years in a similar role in the Andean and Southern Cone Region of South America. He has also directed programs for the Inter-American Foundation in Brazil, Colombia and Ecuador and worked for Save the Children Federation in Mexico.

• Jeff Orlowski

  Jeff Orlowski

  In 2007, Jeff Orlowski got his first taste of the Arctic when as a Stanford student, he seized an opportunity to work as a videographer with acclaimed photographer James Balog on the initial expedition of the Extreme Ice Survey (EIS). That winter, the EIS team scouted and filmed glaciers that now appear in the documentary feature film Chasing Ice. Orlowski, a New York native, has been filming the EIS project around the world, working in some of the most extreme conditions imaginable on locations in Iceland and Greenland, Bolivia, the Alps, Alaska, and Glacier National Park, Montana. In 2009, Orlowski founded Exposure, a film production company dedicated to socially relevant filmmaking, with an eye toward issues important to humanity.

• Billy Parish

  Billy Parish

  Billy Parish is Co-Founder and President of Solar Mosaic, a clean energy investment marketplace, and co-author of Making Good: Finding Meaning, Money & Community in a Changing World. In 2002, Parish dropped out of Yale to found the Energy Action Coalition and grew it into the largest youth advocacy organization in the world working on the climate crisis. A serial social entrepreneur, Parish has helped launch dozens of clean energy, youth, and green jobs-related companies and organizations. He has been honored as a Rolling Stone magazine “Climate Hero,” as one of Utne Reader’s “50 Visionaries Who Are Changing Your World,” and was elected as a Fellow by Ashoka, the global association of the world’s leading social entrepreneurs.

• Jeunesse Park

  Jeunesse Park

  Jeunesse Park is the founder of Food & Trees for Africa, Al Gore’s Climate Reality African presenter, Audi Eco Brand Ambassador, advisory board member of OgilvyEarth and winner of a United Nations Award for Climate Change.
  Food & Trees for Africa (FTFA) is the only national social enterprise in South Africa, to address sustainable development through climate change response, greening and food security programmes. FTFA has distributed over 4.1 million trees to disadvantaged communities, facilitated the development of thousands of natural food gardens, developed several bamboo bio energy plantations and more recently, organic farms.
  Jeunesse lobbied for the inclusion of urban forestry, urban agriculture and Permaculture in South African government policy and contributed to the urban forestry policy.
  She envisioned the Trees for All, Trees for Homes, Bamboo for Africa, EduPlant, Food Gardens for Africa and FEED Africa programmes and initiated the first South African carbon calculator, the Carbon Protocol of South Africa, of which she is a Board member, and the Climate Hero Awards.

  Jeunesse lives and works with an understanding that one can change the world.

• Stephen Pekar

  Stephen Pekar

  Stephen Pekar, a geology professor at Queens College, City University of New York, has been investigating past climate and oceanographic changes during times (16- 45 million years ago) when carbon dioxide was as high as what is predicted for this century (500-1000 parts per million). As CO2 is rising rapidly today, which is predicted to be like putting our climate on a “hot plate,” exploring these times for him is like “Looking Back to Our Future.” To investigate climate change of the past, he looks at sediments, microfossil, and geochemical data obtained from cores obtained from the tropics to Antarctica. His research has taken him on expeditions around the world, including four to Antarctica, one of which he was the project leader. As Antarctica is the most remote, coldest, and most harsh continent on Earth, for him going there to conduct research is like going to another planet and exploring undiscovered country.

• Henry Pollack

  Henry Pollack

  Henry Pollack is a Professor of Geophysics at the University of Michigan, where he has taught at every level of the curriculum, from introductory courses for non-scientists to advanced graduate seminars. His current research activities focus on global climate change, as recorded by the temperatures in the rocks beneath the Earth’s surface. Subsurface temperatures comprise an archive of past climate that reveals what Earth was like in the pre-industrial era, thus helping scientists to assess the human impact on Earth’s climate. As Chair of the International Heat Flow Commission he coordinated a worldwide research program into geothermal evidence of global climate change. Pollack has served on many advisory panels for the National Science Foundation, testified before National Academy of Sciences and U.S. Senate committees, and provided briefings about climate change to Congress and the White House. He was a Contributing Author to the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 2007 Assessment Report, and now serves as a science adviser to Al Gore’s Climate Reality Project. He is the author of Uncertain Science…Uncertain World (Cambridge University Press, 2003), and A World Without Ice (Penguin, 2009), which addresses global climate change as seen through the prism of ice.

• Trewin Restorick

  Trewin Restorick

  Trewin Restorick is the CEO of independent environmental charity Global Action Plan, which he founded in 1993. The charity runs programs to reduce carbon emissions, energy consumption and waste with businesses, schools, community organisations and households. Trewin has been part of the environmental sector for 20 years and has extensive experience speaking to audiences at conferences, seminars, and workshops. Trewin is the Chair of the Environmental IT Leadership Team (EILT), sits on the Defra Third Sector Advisory Board, is a trustee for Sustainability and Environmental Education, and co-chaired Defra’s Compact Group. Trewin has been trained as one of Al Gore’s UK Climate Change Ambassadors and is a frequent media commentator on environmental issues appearing on Channel 4 News, Sky News, BBC Breakfast and CNN.

• Bill Ritter

  Bill Ritter

  The sixth of 12 children, Bill Ritter, Jr. was raised on a small farm in Arapahoe County. He was a member of the first graduating class of Gateway High School (1974), and he earned his bachelor’s degree in political science from Colorado State University (1978) and his law degree from the University of Colorado (1981). From 1987 to 1990, Ritter and his wife Jeannie operated a food distribution and nutrition center in Zambia, Africa. He served as Denver’s district attorney from 1993 to January 2005. He earned a national reputation as one of the country’s most effective and innovative prosecutors, and several of his programs continue to serve as state and national models. Ritter was elected Colorado’s 41st governor in 2006, the first Colorado-born governor in more than 35 years. Governor Ritter established Colorado as a national leader in renewable energy by creating “A New Energy Economy,” and increased financial investment in colleges and universities.

• Carlos Manuel Rodríguez

  Carlos Manuel Rodríguez

  Carlos Manuel Rodriguez is Vice President for Conservation Policy at Conservation International (CI). Before joining CI, Rodriquez was the Minister of Environment and Energy for the Republic of Costa Rica, where he was a pioneer in the development of payment for ecosystem services (PES). A lawyer, politician, and above all, a conservationist, Rodriguez held various political posts in Costa Rica, including Director of the National Parks Service. He is also founder and board member of many environmental NGOs in Costa Rica, in addition to several tropical research institutes. Rodriguez understands the political preconditions necessary for successful implementation of PES systems that benefit local communities. As the Minister of Environment, he managed to curb logging and deforestation trends to achieve a national net growth of forested areas through natural regeneration and reforestation. He is also internationally recognized for promoting the concept of identifying and capturing the economic value of standing forests within protected areas, private forests, and Indian reserves.

• Theodore Roosevelt IV

  Theodore Roosevelt IV

  Theodore Roosevelt IV is a Managing Director in Investment Banking at Barclays Capital, based in New York. Currently, he serves as Chairman of the firm’s Clean Tech Initiative. Mr. Roosevelt joined Barclays Capital when it acquired the North American assets of Lehman Brothers in September 2008. He started work with Lehman in 1972 as a general banker in domestic corporate finance. In 1977, following the Lehman Brothers merger with Kuhn Loeb, Mr. Roosevelt was assigned to the International Department and also worked in the firm’s Government Advisory Group. He joined the Short and Medium Term Corporate Finance Department in 1982 and was appointed manager of the department in 1985. He was named a Managing Director in 1984 and, in January 1991, he was asked to focus on the development of the firm’s international business. He was elected Chairman of the Board of Directors of Lehman Brothers Financial Products Inc. in 1994, and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Lehman Brothers Derivative Products Inc. in 1998. In February 2007, he was appointed Chairman of Lehmen Brothers’ Council on Climate Change.

• Mark Ruffalo

  Mark Ruffalo

  A native of Wisconsin, Mark Ruffalo is an award-winning actor and director. Ruffalo took classes at the Stella Adler Conservatory and subsequently co-founded the Orpheus Theatre Company, an Equity-Waiver establishment where worked in most every capacity, from acting, writing, directing and producing to running the lights and building sets while building up his resume. Bartending for nearly nine years to make ends meet and ready to give it all up, a chance meeting and resulting collaboration with playwright/screenwriter Kenneth Lonergan changed everything. Ruffalo won NY success in Lonergan’s play “This Is Our Youth”, which led to the male lead in Lonergan’s film You Can Count on Me (2000), playing the ne’er-do-well brother of Laura Linney. Ruffalo went on to four notable (if highly disparate) films in 2004 – We Don’t Live Here Anymore (2004), Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), 13 Going on 30 (2004), and Collateral (2004) – which solidified his ability to be both a popular leading man and an acclaimed ensemble player in either comedy or drama. In 2010 Ruffalo achieved something of a breakthrough, by directing the indie film Sympathy for Delicious (2010), which won him the Special Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, and co-starring as the sperm-donor father to lesbian couple Annette Bening and Julianne Moore in The Kids Are All Right (2010). His role in the idiosyncratic domestic comedy/drama earned him Academy Award, Independent Spirit Award, Screen Actors Guild, and BAFTA nominations for Best Supporting Actor. Ruffalo has been married to actress Sunrise Coigney since 2000; the couple have three children, a son and two daughters.

• Jeffrey D. Sachs

  Jeffrey D. Sachs

  Professor Jeffrey D. Sachs is a world-renowned professor of economics, leader in sustainable development, senior UN advisor, bestselling author, and syndicated columnist whose monthly newspaper columns appear in more than 80 countries. He has twice been named among Time Magazine’s 100 most influential world leaders. A recent survey by The Economist Magazine ranked Sachs as among the world’s three most influential living economists of the past decade. Sachs serves as the Director of The Earth Institute, Quetelet Professor of Sustainable Development, and Professor of Health Policy and Management at Columbia University. He is Special Advisor to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on the Millennium Development Goals, having held the same position under former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. He is co-founder and Chief Strategist of Millennium Promise Alliance, and is director of the Millennium Villages Project. He has authored three New York Times bestsellers in the past seven years: The End of Poverty (2005), Common Wealth: Economics for a Crowded Planet (2008), and The Price of Civilization (2011). Sachs is widely considered to be one of the world’s leading experts on economic development and the fight against poverty. His work on ending poverty, promoting economic growth, fighting hunger and disease, and promoting sustainable environmental practices, has taken him to more than 125 countries with more than 90 percent of the world’s population. For more than a quarter century he has advised dozens of heads of state and governments on economic strategy. Sachs is the recipient of many awards and honors and is also a frequent contributor to major publications such as the Financial Times of London, the International Herald Tribune, Scientific American, and Time magazine. Prior to joining Columbia, Sachs spent over twenty years at Harvard University, most recently as Director of the Center for International Development and the Galen L. Stone Professor of International Trade. A native of Detroit, Michigan, Sachs received his B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. degrees at Harvard.

• Brian Schatz

  Brian Schatz

  On December 6, 2010, Brian Schatz was inaugurated as the 11th Lieutenant Governor of the State of Hawai’i. Lt. Governor Schatz was raised in Hawai’i, and attended Pomona College in Claremont, California. From 1998 to 2006, he was a member of the State House of Representatives, representing the state’s 25th district, where he fought for passage of aggressive clean energy laws, helped to triple the budget for school maintenance and repairs, and supported high technology businesses. He served as the House Majority Whip, Chair of the Economic Development Committee, Vice-Chair of Water, Land and Ocean Resources, Vice-Chair of Consumer Protection and Commerce, and as a member of the Hawaiian Affairs, Higher Education, Energy and Environmental Protection, and Agriculture Committees. Before being elected Lieutenant Governor, he served for eight years as the CEO of Helping Hands Hawai’i, a major human services agency. In his first year in office, Lt. Governor Schatz had a leading role in preparing for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit, in which 21 delegations met to discuss the future of Asia-Pacific economies. He has also launched the Hawai’i Fair Share Initiative which seeks more private and public investment in Hawai’i. Following the 2011 Pacific tsunami, the Lt. Governor helped lead local recovery efforts including providing $8 million in aid to disaster victims in Japan. Currently, Lt. Governor Schatz is tasked by Governor Abercrombie to help lead the State’s clean energy efforts and Asia-Pacific relations. He is married to Linda Kwok Schatz, an architect. They have a son and daughter.

• Bob Scholes

  Bob Scholes

  Dr Bob Scholes is a systems ecologist, employed by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, South Africa since 1992. Before that, he was manager of the South African Savanna Biome Programme, and did his PhD, through the University of the Witwatersrand, on tree-grass interactions in savannas. He studies the effects of human activities on the global ecosystem, and in particular on woodlands and savannas in Africa. He has over 20 years of field experience in many parts of Africa, and has published widely in the fields of savanna ecology and global change, including popular and scientific books. He has been involved in several high-profile environmental assessments and contributes to the formulation of national environmental policy. Recently, he was part of the recent Commission on Food Security and Climate Change.

• Rob Schuham

  Rob Schuham

  Rob Schuham is Founding Partner of Undercurrent, where he consults with global, complex corporations on far-reaching digital and social strategy. Schuham helps design digital architectures and campaigns for some of the largest brands in the world including GE, American Express, Estee Lauder, Ford, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Millennium Promise and many others. Schuham also founded and is CEO of Action Marketing, an award-winning experiential and digital agency, concepting and executing what’s never been done before for brands such as adidas, Ford Green Drive, Clif Bar, PepsiCo, IZZE, Naked Juice, Progressive Insurance, the NBA and many others. Schuham also co-founded and created COMMON, a unique Social Venture launchpad, which encourages entrepreneurs to develop new enterprises that help address social issues and challenges, all under the aegis of a shared, collaborative brand. Schuham also co-founded FearLess Revolution, an entity dedicated to driving transparency and new capitalism among global enterprises. Rob Schuham professionally “grew up” up at storied ad agencies including Chiat/Day in San Francisco and Ayer in New York and Chicago working on package goods, sports, high-tech and fashion brands. Schuham then joined Schwinn Cycling & Fitness to help re-launch and re-position it to the American marketplace. Schuham later became a Director at iconic adventure film and television studio, Warren Miller Entertainment where he founded Action Marketing.

• Eduardo Shaw

  Eduardo Shaw

  Eduardo Shaw has served as a naturalist, guide and lecturer in Antarctica for twelve summer seasons, dating back to 1976. Most of this work has been with Lindblad Travel and Lindblad Expeditions. The last years of his experience have alarmed him as he witnesses firsthand the rapid changes in the area of the Antarctic Peninsula. His love for the white continent began with a boyhood dream after his mother read him Endurance. Shackleton´s heroic rescue of his whole expedition remains deeply inspirational to him. Shaw has also worked in education in schools in northwestern Patagonia where he currently resides with his family. For the last 14 years he has also been very much involved in non-profits that are committed to the ideals behind sustainable development and strengthening democratic processes.

• Kevin Sheen

  Kevin Sheen

  Kevin Sheen has over ten years of experience in the renewable energy field managing the development of both solar and wind projects. As a founding member of EverPower in 2002, he has been involved in community relations, landowner negotiations and permitting projects across many of the company’s portfolio projects with an emphasis in the Northeastern U.S. Sheen has helped the company grow from a conceptual idea to one of the fastest growing developers of wind power in the U.S. today. EverPower currently owns and operates 180MW’s of operating projects and has another 170MW’s under construction scheduled for completion in 2012. Prior to joining EverPower, Sheen was a Director of Sales and Marketing at TerraSolar, a Senior Marketing Manager at American Express and a District Sales Manager at Air France. In all positions, he achieved increased sales through the creation of marketing materials, targeted business partnerships with local companies, charities and civic organizations, and effective corporate website design. Sheen holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Indiana University and a Masters of Public Administration from the School of Public Policy and Management at The Ohio State University.

• Harriet Shugarman

  Harriet Shugarman

  Harriet Shugarman is the executive director of ClimateMama and a Climate Leader and mentor at The Climate Reality Project. Speaker, writer, professor, and mom-activist, Harriet travels the country educating and informing audiences about the realities of climate change and how people can feel empowered to take individual and collective action — in their homes, businesses, and communities. Harriet has worn many hats over the course of her life: ski instructor, orchard worker, one-time skydiver, and more recently Keystone XL Washington, D.C. arrestee! She spent most of her professional life working as an economist and policy analyst, including 13 years as a representative for the International Monetary Fund at the United Nations. Harriet chairs numerous regional and local environmental committees and works regularly with national, state, and local organizations to lobby for legislative change on environmental issues. Harriet is the mother of two teens who are her inspiration and motivation for everything that she does!

• Gunhild Stordalen

  Gunhild Stordalen

  Gunhild Anker Stordalen, PhD/MD, is the co-founder and chairman of The Stordalen Foundation and GreeNudge. After finishing her PhD in pathology/orthopedics, it has become Stordalen’s mission to shed light on the relationship between climate change and global health, thereby fusing her long-held passion and care for the environment with her insight and capabilities as medical doctor. Since 2009, Stordalen has served as CSR advisor and member of the board of the Nordic Choice Hotel Group. Her task is to identify innovative, profitable and eco-friendly hotel solutions. With her husband, she founded The Stordalen Foundation, on which she serves as the chairman of the board. The foundation contributes significantly to the European Climate Foundation (ECF) and other philanthropic initiatives. Under the umbrella of the foundation, Stordalen has started GreeNudge, a not-for-profit organization that initiates and provides funding for research on behavioral change and climate policies. Stordalen is member of several supervisory boards, including that of the ECF and ZERO. She is also one of the key organizers of the ZERO Conference – Scandinavia’s leading climate change conference. In 2011, the Zero Conference convened more than 1,000 top business leaders, politicians and NGOs to discuss climate change.

• Douglas Stoup

  Douglas Stoup

  Douglas Stoup is founder and expedition leader of Ice Axe Expeditions, which leads adventurers, skiers and riders to Antarctica and Spitsbergen, Norway. Stoup boasts many first descents, including the first ski and snowboard descent of the highest peak in Antarctica (Vinson Massif, 16,044 ft). Having led 20 expeditions to Antarctica and ten to the Arctic Ocean, Stoup is the most traveled polar explorer today. In addition to his exploration accomplishments, Stoup is a cinematographer, ski mountaineering guide, humanitarian, educator, father and “seven day adventurist.” As founder of the Ice Axe Foundation, Stoup also aims to educate youth about the amazing planet on which we live. He has been featured internationally in television and film, and pioneered streaming media from remote expeditions. Stoup intends to continue pushing the edge by successfully leading, for the first time, two adaptive athletes to the most inhospitable place on the planet, the South Pole.

• Adeline Tiffanie Suwana

  Adeline Tiffanie Suwana

  Adeline is the founder of Sahabat Alam, a nonprofit organization which aims to nurture love and awareness toward the environment at an early age by appreciating and caring for the environment. Sahabat Alam tackles environmental projects including reforestation, coral reef conservation, and sustainable energy development. Adeline believes that a community of young people that has a sense of respect for our planet is the key to the success of these projects and to ensure sustainability for the future. Adeline, who is currently 15 years old, is continuously involved in environmental activities in Sahabat Alam and has received various international awards. She was honored with the World Summit Youth Award in the Go Green Category.

• Alice Thomas

  Alice Thomas

  Alice Thomas, a climate displacement program manager for Refugees International and a girls school alumna, has continually tried to increase the awareness of climate change and how it will affect people now, and in the future. She recently returned from Pakistan, and observed the devastation of the worst floods know to date, causing many people to lose their homes. Alice Thomas believes that the climate change, which is caused by greenhouse gases and carbon emissions, will not only cause more flooding but also more natural disasters. In Pakistan, she worked with many refugees who lost their homes and were in need of aid. She calls for politicians, including those of the United States to take action to lessen their output of greenhouse gases and start preparing vulnerable countries for the inevitable natural disasters which will occur in the future.

• Ken Thompson

  Ken Thompson

  Ken Thompson, recipient of the prestigious Australian Fire Services Medal, was formerly Deputy Commissioner of the New South Wales Fire Brigades (now NSW Fire & Rescue). As a member of the Senior Executive Team, Thompson held the positions of Regional Commander (North); Director Operations, and Director Risk Management before becoming Deputy Commissioner. Thompson’s portfolios embraced practically every aspect of the NSW Fire Brigade including: Operations; Policy; Strategic Planning; Research; Public Safety, Information Technology; Asset Management and Security, and Risk Management. As Director Risk Management, Thompson led the development of the NSW Fire Brigade’s Risk Management Policy; Risk Management Framework; Risk Management Assessment Tools, and the development of a Strategic Level Risk Register and Risk Management Plan that guided the Executive Team’s budget process. He also established and chaired the NSW Fire Brigade’s Risk Management Committee.

• Joel Towers

  Joel Towers

  Joel Towers has been the Dean of Parsons since 2009. An Associate Professor of Architecture and Sustainable Design, he came to Parsons in 2004 to lead the school’s initiatives in sustainability. In 2006, he became the inaugural Director of the university-wide Tishman Environment and Design Center and Associate Provost for Environmental Studies. Before joining Parsons, he taught in Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, developing cross-disciplinary pedagogy and research focused on sustainability and urban ecology in relation to architecture and urban design. As a practicing architect for the past two decades, he is a leader in advancing environmental research through design conceptualization, construction methodology, and urban design. In 1992, after working with William McDonough Architects where he directed projects including The Hannover Principles: Design for Sustainability that helped codify that firm’s environmental thinking, Towers formed SR+T with Karla Rothstein. For several years the firm maintained offices in New York and Berlin. Today the work generated through SR+T continues in new collaborations that extend the realm of traditional practice into construction, materials development, real estate development, and sustainable design. He received his Masters in Architecture from Columbia University and his B.S. in Architecture from The University of Michigan.

• Lawrence Troster

  Lawrence Troster

  Rabbi Lawrence Troster is the Rabbinic Director of J Street, and one of this country’s leading Jewish eco-theologians and religious environmental leaders. Formerly, he was the Rabbinic Scholar-in-Residence of GreenFaith, an interfaith environmental coalition in New Jersey, as well as the Director of the GreenFaith’s Fellowship program. Rabbi Troster was also the Rabbinic Advisor for Hazon, and a Rabbinic Fellow for the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life (COEJL). Rabbi Troster is a regular contributor to Huffington Post, and Jewcology and he has published numerous articles and has lectured widely on eco-theology, bio-ethics, and Judaism and modern cosmology. His most recent publication is Mekor Hayyim: A Source Book on Water and Judaism (United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, 2012). He received his B.A. from the University of Toronto and his M.A. and rabbinic ordination from the Jewish Theological Seminary. He lives in Teaneck, NJ.

• Jennifer Turner

  Jennifer Turner

  Jennifer Turner has been the director of the China Environment Forum at the Woodrow Wilson Center for 13 years. She has created meetings, exchanges and publications focusing on a variety of energy and environmental challenges facing China, particularly on water, energy and climate challenges, as well as environmental nongovernmental organizations, environmental journalism, and environmental governance in China. Current projects are: Choke Point: China, a multimedia and convening initiative uncovering how energy is impacting water in China; Cooperative Competitors, research and exchanges on U.S.-China energy and climate cooperation; and, Complex Connections, meetings and research examining environmental impact of Chinese investment overseas. Turner also serves as editor of the Wilson Center’s journal, the China Environment Series, which is mailed to over 4,000 environmental practitioners around the world who work on China’s energy and environmental issues. She received a Ph.D. in Public Policy and Comparative Politics in 1997 from Indiana University, Bloomington. Her dissertation examined local government innovation in implementing water policies in the China. Her research focuses heavily on water and environmental activism in China.

• Andrew Weaver

  Andrew Weaver

  Dr. Andrew J. Weaver received his BSc (Mathematics and Physics) from the University of Victoria in 1983, a Certificate of Advanced Studies in Mathematics (Master of Advanced Study) from Cambridge University in 1984, and a PhD in Applied Mathematics from the University of British Columbia in 1987. He is the Lansdowne Professor and Canada Research Chair in climate modeling and analysis in the School of Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of Victoria. He has authored or co-authored over 200 peer-reviewed papers in climate, meteorology, oceanography, earth science, policy, education and anthropology journals. He was a Lead Author in the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change second, third, and fourth scientific assessments and is also a Lead Author in the ongoing 5th scientific assessment. He was the Chief Editor of the Journal of Climate from 2005-2009. Weaver is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, Canadian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society and the American Meteorological Society. Over the years he has received numerous awards including the E.W.R. NSERC Steacie Fellowship in 1997, the Killam Research Fellowship and a CIAR Young Explorers award as one of the top 20 scientists in Canada under the age of 40 in 2002, the CMOS President’s Prize in 2007, a Guggenheim fellowship in 2008 and the Royal Society of Canada Miroslaw Romanowski Medal and the A.G. Huntsman Award for Excellence in Marine Science in 2011. In 2008 he was appointed to the Order of British Columbia. His book, Keeping our Cool: Canada in a Warming World was published by Viking Canada in September 2008. His second book, Generation US: The Challenge of Global Warming was published by Raven books in 2011.

• Ailun Yang

  Ailun Yang

  Ailun Yang is a Senior Associate on the World Resources Institute’s (WRI ) Major Emerging Economies team, where she leads the efforts to build the case for low-carbon development in a number of major developing countries such as China and India. In this capacity, she is tasked to design, plan, and execute research and policy analysis in order to influence national debates and build the evidence base to accelerate clean technology deployment and sustainable low-carbon development. Her current work focus is on the global coal market and China’s power sector. Ailun is also an expert on China-US relations on the issue of climate and energy and works to promote positive exchanges between the two countries. She has been following the international climate negotiation process, and she is one of the most active Chinese non-governmental spokespersons on this issue for media. Prior to joining WRI, Ailun worked with Greenpeace China for six and a half years. As the head of the climate and energy campaign, she developed and implemented various projects on public awareness raising and energy policy lobby. She worked closely with the Chinese renewable energy industries to campaign for the best supportive policies. She was the main coordination for the multi-organization project the True Cost of Coal, which published the first comprehensive analysis of the external costs of China’s coal consumption. Ailun holds a Master’s degree in Finance from the University of Manchester, and a Master’s degree in Sociology from Goldsmiths College, University of London. Ailun lives in Rockville, MD with her partner Miaohan and their son Jiayang.

• Muhammad Yunus

  Muhammad Yunus

  Professor Muhammad Yunus established the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh in 1983, fueled by the belief that credit is a fundamental human right. His objective was to help poor people escape from poverty by providing loans on fair terms and by teaching them sound financial principles to enable them to help themselves. From its roots as Yunus’ personal loan of small amounts of money to destitute basketweavers in Bangladesh in the mid-70s, the Grameen Bank has advanced to the forefront of a burgeoning world movement toward eradicating poverty through microlending. Replicas of the Grameen Bank model operate in more than 100 countries worldwide. Yunus studied at Dhaka University in Bangladesh and received a Fulbright scholarship to study economics at Vanderbilt University. He received his Ph.D. in economics from Vanderbilt in 1969 and the following year became an assistant professor of economics at Middle Tennessee State University. Returning to Bangladesh, Yunus headed the economics department at Chittagong University. From 1993 to 1995, Yunus was a member of the International Advisory Group for the Fourth World Conference on Women, a post to which he was appointed by the UN secretary general. He has served on the Global Commission of Women’s Health, the Advisory Council for Sustainable Economic Development and the UN Expert Group on Women and Finance. Yunus is the recipient of numerous international awards for his ideas and endeavors, including the lndependence Day Award (1987), Bangladesh’s highest award and the Seoul Peace Prize (2006), awarded by the Seoul Peace Prize Cultural Foundation. He is a member of the board of the United Nations Foundation.

• Jacken Zheng

  Jacken Zheng

  Jacken Zheng has an educational background in international law and chemical engineering. He is the founder of ATKEPP Ltd., an energy and resources consulting firm focused on promoting international cooperation. Zheng is also a columnist with the magazine Wind Energy Equipment. He has devoted his efforts to promote energy project cooperation between Chinese and foreign organizations.