Climate Changers

The Blue Plate: A Food Lover's Guide to Climate Chaos is the latest book by ecologist Mark J. Easter. Did you know more than a quarter of the dangerous climate-heating greenhouse gas emissions produced around the world today come from the simple steps of growing, catching, processing, transporting and cooking food—and then dealing with leftovers? This alarming statistic motivated Easter to dramatically change what and how he and his family eat. Easter researches the carbon footprint of food as part of a CSU team of “greenhouse gas accountants” whose mission is to understand how greenhouse gases move into and out of soils and plants on farms and ranches. He has traveled globally to collaborate with farmers, ranchers, foresters, and others to learn how the ways people grow food and fiber make agriculture healthier and less damaging to the climate. Offering an education on how to eat in a way that nourishes both our bodies and the planet, he wrote The Blue Plate, the first book by a scientist to provide a detailed picture of the carbon impact of our favorite foods on the Earth.

Allison Wolff is CEO of Vibrant Planet PBC which builds platforms that help build community and landscape resilience in the face of climate change and wildfire. After building the Netflix brand and digital experience, Allison advised corporate and nonprofit leadership teams on vision, strategy, and social and environmental innovation. Clients include Google, eBay, Facebook, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Omidyar Network, Patagonia, Nike, HP, Drawdown, Conservation International, and GlobalGiving. She is now leveraging her experience and network to develop solutions for forest and landscape resilience and carbon drawdown.

Daniel Goldsmith is Chief Product Officer and Co-Founder of Julius, a company that is on a mission to address the talent needs of the energy transition by providing inclusive solutions - powered by AI and data - to start and grow green careers.

"The cheapest and most efficient kW of electricity is the one you don't use." -Bob Hinkle Bob established Metrus in 2009 and created the Efficiency Services Agreement (ESA) and Sustainable Energy Services Agreement (SESA) that are the contractual backbone of financing large-scale energy efficiency retrofit and renewable energy projects. Bob helped develop and grow the Energy as a Service market which is currently a $5.4 billion industry. He has developed and implemented over $500 million of large-scale energy efficiency projects and clean energy investment programs in the U.S. and in emerging global markets for utilities, major energy end-users, government agencies, export credit agencies and international donors.

Raviv Turner is a serial big data and AI entrepreneur and the founding member of the Nature Tech Collective, a non-profit coalition of nature tech companies covering satellite imaging, drones, IoT, LIDAR, eDNA, bio-acoustics and other tech that helps financial institutions and corporations measure, report and verify their nature-related impact claims and disclosures, to fight greenwashing and accelerate investment in nature-based solutions. Raviv also sits on the TNFD (Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures) nature data working group. He speaks on the topics of biodiversity ESG, natural capital, spatial finance, and digital MRV.

Hannah Bellamy is Managing Director of charity: water, a nonprofit organization bringing clean and safe water to people around the world.

Recently named one of “Time 100 Most Influential Companies of 2023,” Patagonia has been widely regarded over the years for its ground-breaking environmental and social practices. The company that pioneered corporate responsibility is now in its 50th year and has plans to thrive responsibly for another fifty. The Future of the Responsible Company: What We’ve Learned from Patagonia’s First 50 Years reveals how businesses and nonprofits can (and should) prioritize purpose over profit to restore and protect our home planet. Written by Vincent Stanley, Patagonia's Director of Philosophy (also one of the company's original employees), with Yvon Chouinard, founder and former owner of Patagonia, the book challenges business owners and leaders to rethink their business in a time of cultural and climate chaos. The advice is simple, but powerful: reduce your environmental footprint (and its skyrocketing cost), make legitimate products that last, reclaim deep knowledge of your business and its supply chain to make the most of opportunities in the years to come, and earn the trust you’ll need by treating your workers, customers, and communities with respect.

Steve Pantano is the Head of Market Transformation at Rewiring America, where he leads efforts to build and share comprehensive working knowledge of how to replace more than one billion fossil fuel devices with clean electric alternatives. For the past fifteen years Steve worked with CLASP and ICF International to develop policy, market development programs, research, and technical analysis aimed at maximizing the climate benefits that can be achieved with energy efficient appliances and equipment. He spent years before that tinkering with and testing everything from Hydrogen fuel cells to Space Shuttle hardware. He has a Master of Business Administration and a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from The Johns Hopkins University.Rewiring America is the leading electrification nonprofit, focused on electrifying our homes, businesses, and communities. They develop accessible, actionable data and tools, and build coalitions and partnerships to make going electric easier for households and communities. Rewiring America helps Americans save money, tackle nationwide emissions goals, improve health, and build the next generation of the clean energy workforce. They believe in an abundant, flourishing, climate-safe future, and know that, together, we can realize one.  

Jo is an architect specialized in green home design and passive solar strategies. That means, the things you can do to your house that don't cost money running them (unlike your aircon).You can find out more about Jo's projects here: https://maven.com/jopetroni/climateproof https://thecarbonalmanac.org/connect-the-dots https://permarchitecture.net/ https://jopetroni.substack.com/ 

As Head of Product and Sustainability, and founding member of Better for All, Raegan Kelly works with biopolymer engineers and manufacturing experts to create a unique line of PHBH™ home compostable bioplastic cups. Prior to Better for All, she produced creative projects for USC Annenberg, Warner Bros Records, LACMA, Otis College of Design, Disney’s Epcot Center and more.

Leslie Chang is Director of Strategy & Policy at Caelux Corporation, a pioneer in utilizing perovskites to make solar energy more powerful and cost-effective. Caelux’s proprietary technologies improve the performance of any new crystalline silicon module. Headquartered in Baldwin Park, California, Caelux is at the forefront of the emerging science of perovskites, a special class of nanomaterials. Its flagship product, Caelux™ One is an innovative product that integrates seamlessly into existing PV module manufacturing processes, boosting performance, reducing installed costs, and accelerating the proliferation of solar.

Andrea is back for his second episode of Climate Changers. In this conversation he describes what to expect and why he is optimistic about the potential impact of the upcoming COP 28 in the UAE on climate, gender equality and the global economy.

Marios is passionate about finding innovative ways to preserve the planet's wild spaces. As part of the AMES foundation, he is the founder of the AMES-habitatfund which aims to scale the conservation of protected areas through nature-positive investment models. Previously he founded several Nature based initiatives, such as the ecolodge consulting company called Fjällbos in Sweden. Marios believes in finding ways to revalue biodiversity for its natural capital, which remains integral as we build resilient ecosystems in the face of climate change.

Ubiquitous Energy is the world leader in transparent solar technology working towards a goal of helping solve climate change by creating truly transparent renewable energy for every surface across the globe. Ubiquitous Energy’s patented technology, UE Power™, is the world’s first invisible electricity-generating alternative to traditional windows. UE Power™ harvests solar energy and serves as an invisible, onboard source of electricity for greater energy efficiency. Founded by scientists from MIT, Ubiquitous Energy is now producing its highly transparent, efficient solar cells in a production facility in Silicon Valley. Veeral Hardev is VP of Corporate Strategy at Ubiquitous Energy. Veeral has over a decade of experience commercializing novel nano-materials products for the electronics industry. This includes his time at Nanosys, Inc. where he led materials development, product management, and business development. Hardev holds an MBA from the Berkeley Haas School of Business, and bachelor’s degrees in Materials Science and Economics from UCLA.