Sustainable Opportunities Summit
KEYNOTES 2012
Rob Bernard | Chief Environmental Strategist, Microsoft
Rob Bernard is the Chief Environmental Strategist for Microsoft and is responsible for defining and implementing the global strategy for the company’s environmental efforts. In this role he oversees the company’s environmental impact at all levels including: working with product groups to create technology innovations in software and hardware that can help enable customers to minimize their impact on the environment, helping accelerate scientific breakthrough on environmental issues, assuring responsible business practices that work to reduce the company’s direct and indirect environmental impact, and working with partners in industry, government and non-government to engage on global environmental issues. Under Rob’s leadership, Microsoft has set its first carbon reduction goal and rolled out a global campaign to engage with customers, partners and governments on ways to use information technology to reduce environmental impacts.
John Viera | Director, Sustainability and Vehicle Environmental Matters, Ford Motor Company
John Viera was appointed director, Sustainability and Vehicle Environmental Matters for Ford Motor Company in January 2007. Viera's prior position was chief engineer, Expedition and Navigator programs. In his new role, Viera is responsible for the management of corporate sustainability issues, and the oversight of sustainability activities within Ford designed to strengthen the company's business prosperity through sustainable products and services. Viera has held several positions within Ford Motor Company before being named to his current position. For the first seven years of his career he worked in the company's Heavy Truck Division. In 1992, Viera was responsible for the Truck Product Planning organization that lead Company efforts in the development of natural gas-fueled pickup trucks. In 1994, Viera led the efforts of the Truck Computer Aided Design organization. In 1997, Viera was appointed manager, Plant Engineering Vehicle Team, Explorer and Mountaineer programs. Located in Louisville, Kentucky, Viera was responsible for all on-site engineering personnel for Explorer plants in Louisville, St. Louis, Missouri, and Valencia, Venezuela. He returned to Michigan in 1999 to become the chief engineer for the Ranger Compact Pickup, including current and future model programs. In 2002, Viera took on the company's mid-term cost reduction initiative, building a team which delivered $1.2 billion of savings in two years, beating his assigned target by a year.
Speakers 2012
Michael Glade | Director, Water Resources & Real Estate, Molson Coors Brewing Company
Mike is the Director of Water Resources & Real Estate at Molson Coors Brewing Company. He has been involved in the research, design, construction, supervision and administration of environmental and water processes and projects for over 20 years. Mike has been actively involved with the United Nations Global Compact’s CEO Water Mandate (steering committee), Beverage Industry Environmental Roundtable, the Carbon Disclosure Project’s Water Disclosure initiative and Colorado Water Congress.
Lindsay Arell, LEED AP O+M | Sustainable Programs Manager, Colorado Convention Center /SMG & Principal and Founder, Arell Logic
Lindsay Arell is president of Arell Logic, a consulting firm that helps venues and facilities evaluate their operation and implement sustainable practice. Her goal is to develop programs that not only reduce a venue’s environmental impact, but also provide cost savings. Arell Logic sustainable project management delivers value by modifying practices of energy consumption, waste reduction/diversion, water conservation, air quality; while also engaging with the local community to form strategic partnerships. As a LEED Accredited Professional with the specialty of Operation and Maintenance, Founding Past President of the Green Meeting Industry Council, Colorado Chapter, and manager of the Sustainable Program at the Colorado Convention Center, she brings a strong background in sustainable facility operations and event production. Lindsay is a co-founder of the EPA’s Rocky Mountain Green Venues Partnership, Co-Chair of the soon to be released APEX Green Meeting Standard, named by Tradeshow Weekly as “ECO-Leader” 2010, “Top 40 Under 40” by Connect Magazine 2011, and published author of the Journal of Green Builds report on Sustainable Convention Centers.
Kai Abelkis | Sustainability Coordinator, Boulder Community Hospital
Kai Abelkis has been Boulder Community Hospital’s Sustainability Coordinator, one the first in the industry, since 1999. To minimize the hospital’s environmental footprint, Kai is responsible for reducing waste, conserving energy, promoting alternative transportation, utilizing alternative energy sources, conserving water, integrating environmental preferable purchasing, green building practices eliminating latex and PVC from the product line and educating staff. BCH is part of a growing choir of medical institutions who recognize that the health of our environment is directly connected to the health of our community. Kai has been recognized around the world as a leading voice in the efforts to create a more sustainable industry. He sits on Novation’s Environmental Advisory Board Colorado’s Pollution Advisory Committee, City of Boulder’s Climate Advisory Group, and a Board member of the Boulder East Transportation Management Organization.
Alison Culpen, LEED AP | Sustainability Program Manager, Rocky Mountain Region, McKinstry
As McKinstry’s Sustainability Program Manager for the Rocky Mountain Region, Alison is responsible for providing clients with sustainability services including greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions inventories, climate action and sustainability planning, and outreach and education/training. Alison also supports McKinstry’s powerED program, an energy awareness and behavior modification program built on a “smart people” philosophy that empowering and educating building occupants and operators is the most efficient way to save energy and eliminate waste. Alison has worked in the industry since 2004, and her experience has supported many clients in New York, California, and the Rocky Mountain Region by providing them with sustainability and behavior modification expertise and assistance throughout the planning and implementation process. Alison received her BA in Economics from Colby College and Master of Urban Planning from New York University. She serves on the Greenprint Denver Advisory Council and the Sustainability Strategies Working Group; Alison is a LEED AP and a member of the U.S. Green Building Council as well as their Colorado Green Schools Committee.
Leroy Williams | Vice President, Information Technology and Services, Ball Corp.
Leroy Williams joined Ball Corporation in 2005 as Vice President, Information Technology and Services, responsible for delivering business value through innovation and technology solutions. In April 2007, the Board of Directors approved Leroy’s promotion to corporate officer. Prior to Ball Corp., he served as a cabinet member for Colorado Governor Owens’ administration in the capacity of State Chief Information Officer, Secretary of Technology, and Executive Director for the Department of Labor and Employment, respectively. Leroy holds a bachelor’s degree in computer information systems from Denver Technical College and a master’s of business administration from University of Denver. Leroy is a Colorado native and graduate of Hinkley High School in Aurora. He and Kristi are the proud parents of three children.
Susan Damour | Regional Administrator, Rocky Mountain Region
Susan B. Damour was appointed Regional Administrator for the U.S. General Service Administration’s Rocky Mountain Region effective October 26, 2009. As Regional Administrator, Damour oversees all of GSA’s activities in Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming, including management of federal real estate and information technology. She is responsible for an inventory of 165 government owned buildings and 491 active leased buildings that house nearly 50,000 federal employees. Previously, Damour had served as Regional Administrator for the Rocky Mountain Region from 1998 to 2001, at which time she helped coordinate the then-largest wind energy purchase by federal agencies to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Earth Day. Before returning to GSA this time, Damour worked with the Rocky Mountain Climate Organization, where she led stakeholder outreach and expanded statewide membership as the Director of Outreach.
Aaron Dignan | Founding Partner & CEO, Undercurrent and Author, Gameframe
Aaron Dignan is the CEO of the digital strategy firm Undercurrent, based in New York. He advises global brands such as GE, PepsiCo, Ford, E*Trade, Johnson & Johnson, and many others on their future in an increasingly technophilic world. At Undercurrent, Aaron has developed much of the process and theory that drives the company's consulting practice, and spearheaded an alternative approach to internal culture and training that is highly regarded across the industry. He has spoken to audiences at the CUSP Conference, the TED Conference, Digital Hollywood, Web2.0, CommunityNext, McDonald's, Crayola, Virgin, PepsiCo, GE, Leo Burnett, Columbia College, The University of Colorado, and Interesting New York. In addition to consulting, Aaron is the author of Game Frame, which explores the dynamics that make games engaging, and how they can be used to encourage achievement in non-game settings.
Marilyn Johnson | Director, Corporate Sustainability, IHS
Marilyn Johnson is Director, Corporate Sustainability for IHS, where she leads Global Sustainability efforts for the 5500 colleagues located in over 100 offices. Marilyn has over 15 years of operational and corporate roles in Environment, Health and Safety, with responsibilities in areas of sustainability, industrial hygiene, auditing, chemical management and regulatory affairs work with Fortune 500 companies. She is an advisory board member at the Stephen F Austin University in Texas-Center for a Livable World, and participates in the Business-NGO Chemicals Policy Principles Group. Marilyn also participates in the AIHA Stewardship and Sustainability Committee where she received the AIHA Outstanding Individual Contributor Award, in 2011. Johnson is a graduate of the University of California, Irvine, Sustainability Leadership program, Seattle University’s Executive Leadership Program; holds a Master’s degree in Health Science from the University of Toronto; a Bachelor’s degree in Biology; and a Bachelor’s degree in Physical and Health Education, both from Queen’s University in Canada.
Mark Gasta | Executive Vice President and Chief People Officer, Vail Resorts Management Company
Mark Gasta is the Executive Vice President and Chief People Officer for Vail Resorts Management Company. Vail Resorts is the premier mountain resort company in the world and a leader in luxury, destination-based travel at iconic locations. In this position, he is responsible for planning and executing on organization-wide people strategies designed to increase organization effectiveness and enhance organizational performance and health through the development and empowerment of Vail’s 18,000 employees. Previously, Mark served as the corporate vice president of Organizational Development for Comcast Communications 90,000 employees, served as the vice president of human resources for Comcast’s West Division, and held various human resources management positions with AT&T Broadband, Lexis-Nexis and Target Corporation. Gasta received his bachelor’s of science degree from California Polytechnic State University and went on to earn his master’s of business administration degree from the University of Denver. He is currently pursuing a Doctorate in Organizational Change at Pepperdine University. Gasta previously served as an adjunct professor for the Daniels College of Business at the University of Denver and is an active member of several professional associations including the Human Resources Planning Society, the Organizational Development Network, the National Ski Area Association, and the Academy of Management.
Kristine Carey | Vice President of Marketing, MyChelle Dermaceuticals
Kristine is currently the Vice President of Marketing for MyChelle Dermaceuticals the skin care leader of highly effective dermaceuticals that are seeded in science and rooted in nature™. In this position Kristine is responsible for leading the strategy and tactical elements of the brand direction and equity. An important focus for 2012 is the implementation and development of a robust Corporate Social Responsibility platform that is built around four key areas: team volunteerism, community partnerships, eco-efficiency and communication of achievements.
Trent Yang | Director, CU Cleantech, Deming Center for Entrepreneurship
Currently, Trent serves as the Director of CU Cleantech. Previously, Trent was the founder, CEO and President of Clean Membranes, a next generation water filtration start-up based on MIT intellectual properties. The company is currently in development of its first commercial product for both wastewater treatment as well as on-board Navy solutions. Prior to Clean Membranes, Trent was part of the investment team at Globespan Capital Partners where he helped to create Globespan's cleantech investment strategy and was actively involved in investing into and managing seven different investments during his time there. Earlier, Trent led one of Booz Allen Hamilton's consulting groups focused on providing technology and strategy services to Fortune 500 technology companies across multiple industries and government agencies including the United States Department of Energy and the Department of Defense. Trent received his B.S. in Aerospace Engineering with a minor in Economics from the University of Colorado at Boulder and dual M.S. from MIT in Technology Management & Policy and Aerospace Engineering where he focused his research on energy and climate as well as entrepreneurial innovation.
Alison Peters | Managing Director, Deming Center for Entrepreneurship, CU-Boulder's Leeds School of Business
Alison Peters oversees development and implementation of the Deming Center's strategic plan, including student programs, communications, and financial management. She also oversees the Center's sustainable entrepreneurship program, managing business partnerships and developing student programs with cutting-edge industries such as cleantech, natural products and sustainable venturing. She provides project management for cross-campus research activities in the area of alternative vehicles.
TJ Deora | Director, Governor’s Energy Office
TJ is the Director of the Governor’s Energy Office (GEO). Prior to joining the GEO, TJ led policy advocacy efforts as Senior Manager in Horizon Wind Energy’s government affairs team where he focused on promoting investment-friendly environments at the state and regional level across the eastern US. Earlier, he led Horizon’s market and transmission development in New England and early stage project development efforts in the Rockies. TJ helped found and served as co-chair of the Colorado Renewables and Conservation Collaborative, a voluntary industry working group. He has served on the boards of the Interwest Energy Alliance, the Colorado Independent Energy Association, and Renewable Energy New England.
Claudia Capitini | Sustainability Maven, Eco-Products
Claudia Capitini is the "Sustainability Maven" at Eco-Products, a Boulder company that produces compostable plates, cups, utensils and more. Ms. Capitini leads the Eco-Products sustainability department and is responsible for marketing communications associated with sustainability, life cycle inventory and assessment, carbon management, reporting, waste diversion consulting, and external sustainability communications. With a portfolio of over 200 products, sustainability efforts at Eco-Products also address the upstream and downstream challenges associated with global supply chains and end of life scenario’s that ultimately drive brand differentiation. Ms. Capitini serves as Eco-Products’ environmental and social resource for both the product and operational faces of the organization. Trained in ecological science, public policy and sustainable business, Ms. Capitini’s role at Eco-Product includes managing cross-functional initiatives such as cutting-edge life cycle assessment modeling, policing greenwashing in the marketplace, as well as creative marketing around "green". Her role is ever evolving as the company continues to grow and consumers become increasingly conscious of the sustainability challenges in today’s resource-strapped world.
Pete Dignan | Director, Founder and President, ProtoTest
Pete Dignan is the founder and President of ProtoTest, an IT staffing services firm that assists clients with workforce strategy for application development teams. ProtoTest is a CORE member company that is engaged in the CORE Catalyst program with a goal to become a Certified B Corporation. Pete is also the former Executive Director of CORE, now serving on the Board of Directors. He earned a BA in Environmental Science at the University of Virginia. Pete has called Colorado home since 1988.
Lizette Peña | Senior Manager and CPA, CliftonLarsonAllen’s Rocky Mountain Region
Liz is an assurance senior manager in CliftonLarsonAllen's (CLA) Rocky Mountain Client Service Center. Her professional experience includes management advisory services, and accounting and audit services. Liz's areas of specialization include serving privately held businesses in the clean tech and alternative energy industry as well as entrepreneurial businesses, healthcare services and manufacturers and distributors. She is part of the cleantech industry group for CLA's Colorado offices. Liz lead CLA's sustainability baseline assessment for the Rocky Mountain Client Service Center in 2011.
Eric Lombardi | Executive Director, Eco-Cycle
Eric Lombardi is the Executive Director of Eco-Cycle, Inc., and is a specialist in resource recovery, social enterprise and public-private project development. Eco-Cycle was a national pioneer in the recycling industry and is now the largest community-based Zero Waste organization in the U.S.A. with a staff of 70 and processing of over 55,000 tons of diverse recycled materials per year (2010). Lombardi is an authority on creating comprehensive community-based programs and is often a keynote speaker and consultant on the social and technical aspects of creating a “Zero Waste - Or Darn Near” society.
Kabira Hatland | Vice President, Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide/OgilvyEarth, Denver
Kabira Hatland is a senior communications professional with a multi-faceted background including corporate communications — internal and external, corporate social responsibility, media relations, crisis communications, brand public relations and social media strategy. She is skilled at creating and executing public relations programs to build an organization’s reputation and support its objectives. Kabira joined Ogilvy in 2011. During her time with Ogilvy she has focused on corporate and environmental communications. She lead a major thought leadership campaign to raise a client’s profile in the arena of sustainable water use and authored a Fortune 20 company’s first corporate responsibility report. Previously, she was an independent consultant in media relations, issues management and executive speech writing. Her clients included Fortune 500 consumer product and lifestyle companies as well as small businesses and entrepreneurs.
Ryan Martens | Chief Sustainability/Social/Strategy Officer and Founder, Rally Software
Ryan Martens is an expert in helping companies adopt and scale Agile development, loosely defined as delivering small feature batches in quick cycles to speed learning and innovation. He founded Rally to help make a major impact in the technology industry by moving it from a slow, wasteful and burdensome product model to a fast, sustainable, high-impacting service model. His vision is to break the take-make-waste cycle and move society toward a regenerative service model - a model where work creates joy, diversity, social justice and clean ecosystem services. In addition to trying to change the technology industry, Ryan integrates his work in capital markets with social impact. Ryan is a founding board member with Entrepreneurs Foundation of Colorado, a member of the engineering entrepreneurship efforts at the University of Colorado, and a mentor at the Unreasonable Institute and Boulder TechStars.
Marjorie Griek | Executive Director, Colorado Association for Recycling
Marjorie Griek has been the Executive Director of the Colorado Association for Recycling since 2001. Ms Griek’s experience is based on extensive work with local governments and non-profit organizations to improve diversion programs, to foster new recycling businesses and to bridge the gaps between public and private stakeholders. In addition to her other duties of outreach, education and conference planning, she has worked as the Public Policy Coordinator, providing policy direction, research, and data to help draft legislation, and information to help stakeholders manage and integrate consequences of legislation. With CAFR, she is currently working on developing local markets for discarded materials and as a consultant, is researching end market availability in the Rocky Mountain region.
Robb Shurr | Co-Founder and Principal, Walden Hyde
Robb has spent his career building committed communities around the brands and ideas he champions. His current company, Walden Hyde, was founded out of the merger of two established Boulder, CO firms: Kickstand Communications and Sustineo Creative. Walden Hyde builds brands, tackles big ideas, and goes after lasting behavior change on issues ranging from energy efficiency and supply-side power to sustainable agriculture and natural and organic food. The firm specializes in bringing clarity and organization to complex sustainability issues, and is best known for behavior-driven strategy and disruptive creative. The Alliance for Innovation has chosen Walden Hyde to present its work at the Transforming Local Government conference in April. Robb has a MA in Communications Studies from the University of South Dakota with a focus on persuasive and environmental communication. He has served on the Access Fund Board of Directors and recently received a service award from Leave No Trace.
Laura Davis | Director of Environmental, Health & Safety and System Safety Engineering, Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp.
Laura Davis is the Director of Environmental, Health & Safety and System Safety Engineering for Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. She has 30 years of experience in the environmental, health and safety field including service at Metropolitan Denver Wastewater Reclamation District; Public Service Company of Colorado; and Chemical Waste Management, Inc. She began working at Ball Aerospace in April of 1991. Ms. Davis was appointed to the State Board of Health by Governor Roy Romer in 1995 and has been reappointed by 4 subsequent governors. She currently serves as President of the State Board of Health.
Eric Drummond | Partner, Patton Boggs LLP
Eric Drummond has practiced administrative law and complex administrative litigation for two decades, focusing his practice in alternative energy issues, electric utility and telecommunications law. Before joining Patton Boggs, Mr. Drummond served as chair of the Alternative Energy and CleanTech practice for a regional, Denver-based firm, where he represented electric transmission developers, Smart Grid, solar, biofuel, wind and energy efficiency companies, as well as major financial institutions. While serving as the mayor of Manitou Springs, CO, Mr. Drummond participated in large-scale initiatives developed by the Colorado Governor’s Energy Office to implement sustainable energy strategies. As part of an effort to measure the City of Manitou Springs’ carbon footprint, Mr. Drummond actively supported a greenhouse gas emission reduction program and played a key role in ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability and Cities for Climate Protection campaigns.
Mairi-Jane Fox | Adjunct Professor, Colorado State University
An enthusiastic teacher and dedicated researcher, Mairi-Jane Fox holds a Masters of Science in Ecological Economics from the University of Edinburgh. With a global background, she has researched carbon capture & storage, corporate social responsibility, education theory, well-being & work, and new economic theories & measurement tools. Mairi-Jane aims to be a discipline-connector, thought-encourager, and big-picture-synthesizer. She poses the expansive question (which can applied to the individual, community, corporate, or governmental level): "What do we deeply value, and how do we make it count?" Currently, Mairi-Jane is an impassioned adjunct professor at Colorado State University teaching Environmental Economics and the Gender & Economy. She also wears many other hats including: strategic consultant for Sustainable Schools International, instructional coach at Loveland Classical Schools, and researcher/writer for the Institute for the Build Environment's Living Environments in Natural , Social, and Economic Systems (LENSES) project. A bibliophile living in Fort Collins, Mairi-Jane teaches dance and rides her bike to work.
Mark Monroe | Executive Director, The Green Grid
Mark is the Executive Director of The Green Grid, an IT industry and end user consortium focused on resource efficient data centers and business computing environments. An expert in corporate sustainability, data center efficiency, and many aspects of Information Technology (IT), Mark has more than 28 years’ experience in the IT industry. His IT background includes experience in data center design and operations, application and system design, service level management, process design and analysis, professional services, sales, government and commercial program management, and outsourcing management. Mark is also on the board of directors for the Center for ReSource Conservation in Boulder, CO. He works on sustainability advisory boards with the University of Colorado and local Colorado governments, and is a Six Sigma Master Black Belt. As a founding sponsor of the University of Colorado's Renewable And Sustainable Energy Institute (RASEI), Mr. Monroe helped lead the university and industry partners into detailed programs around the New Energy economy in Colorado.
David Thorpe | Vice President, Shaw Construction
Dave Thorpe is a Vice President at Shaw Construction. Celebrating 50 years in business in 2012, Shaw is one of Colorado's leading general contractors and construction managers with offices in Denver and Grand Junction Colorado as well as in Jackson, Wyoming. Dave has 25 years of real estate development and construction experience in a variety of markets and product types. His background includes work in commercial and resort development, home building and management consulting. His career has included work in markets across the country. He has contributed to projects ranging in size from a few thousand square feet to over 7 million square feet. Dave is a graduate of North Park University in Chicago, and he holds an MBA from The Ross School of Business at The University of Michigan.
Karen Nakandakare | Diversity and Community Investment Program Manager, Global Diversity and Inclusion, CH2M Hill
In her role as Diversity and Community Investment Program Manager at CH2M HILL, a global engineering and construction firm, Karen Nakandakare implements the firm's Global Diversity and Inclusion strategy and ensures that the workplace for all employees is both inclusive and respectful. Most recently, Karen has managed the enterprise-wide launch of GlobeSmart—the firm's first company-wide cultural assessment and integration tool. Karen also is a constituent of the firm's Community Investment team. She helps to effectively steward and implement statewide community investment opportunities that support the strategic community investment strategy for Colorado, while building and strengthening long-term relationships with Metro Denver organizations that represent and align with CH2M HILL's community investment mission and vision.
Jeff Hohensee | Director of Strategic Partnerships, Alliance for a Sustainable Colorado
Jeff Hohensee has worked as a leader in sustainability, education and business for over 35 years. As a teenager, Jeff ran nature programs for the Boy Scouts and worked as a backpacking guide in the Sierras. In his twenties, he worked for Barclays and Fuji Banks in corporate finance, analyzing businesses and streamlining client cash flows. After a five-year stint teaching third grade, Jeff moved to the nonprofit sector where he has worked since 1993. At the Los Angeles nonprofit, TreePeople, Jeff led a team that built service learning programs that inspired over 100,000 teenagers to lead projects to improve the environment in their neighborhoods, and also worked with the California Department of Education to develop a statewide network to coordinate the efforts of over 3,000 environmental education programs. After moving to Colorado, Jeff served as the CEO of Natural Capitalism Solutions, where he built up their corporate consulting practice to serve Fortune 100 companies, mid-sized and small businesses with collective revenues totaling over 3 percent of U.S. GDP. Jeff lives with his wife in a net-zero home in the mountains outside Boulder. He came to the Alliance with a passion for a sustainable future and a long-held desire to have fun working with good people to change the world for the better.
Megan Bloomer | Director of Sustainability, DaVita
Megan Bloomer, LEED AP is the Director of Sustainability (Village Green) for DaVita, Inc, a FORTUNE 500® company, and a leading provider of kidney care in the United States, providing dialysis services and education for patients with chronic kidney failure and end stage renal disease. Village Green oversees environmental compliance and sustainable programs for the 1,700 dialysis facilities and 40,000 teammates of the DaVita Village which provide over 14M treatments to approximately 138,000 patients.
Martin Tull | Executive Director, Green Sports Alliance
Working with professional sports and environmental leaders, Martin was directly involved in the formation of the Green Sports Alliance and currently serves as Executive Director. In this position, Martin manages the overall operations of the Green Sports Alliance, whose mission is to help sports teams, venues, and leagues enhance their environmental performance. He oversees all environmental impact reduction strategies, strategic alliances and membership programs. Martin also serves on the Oregon Global Warming Commission Communication Committee, and on the National Advisory Board and Portland Metro Working Group of the Climate Prosperity Project. He previously served in senior leadership positions in the outdoor recreation industry and has been an elite rock climber and instructor since the early 1990’s.
Ellen Feeney | VP of Responsible Livelihood, WhiteWave Foods
Ellen Feeney, Vice President of Responsible Livelihood for WhiteWave Foods, oversees the company’s corporate sustainability initiatives, which are key tenets of WhiteWave's mission and values. She is responsible for the creation and implementation of strategic environmental programs, community involvement efforts, non-profit alliances and Values In Action (VIA), WhiteWave’s signature engagement program to promote sustainability practices and volunteerism among the company’s employees. Feeney is a great believer in mutually beneficial partnerships between businesses and non-governmental organizations and continues to be active in the nonprofit community. She has served on the Business for Social Responsibility (BSR) Colorado Network Board of Directors and was a founding member of both P3 Colorado (People, Planet, and Profit) and CORE. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of Naturally Boulder and the Center for Resource Solutions.
Peter Scarpelli | Vice President, Global Leader of Energy Services
Peter Scarpelli joined the CBRE's Global Corporate Services (GCS) organization as Vice President, Global Leader of Energy Services based in Chicago. In this position, Mr. Scarpelli will lead the firm's Global energy and sustainability services, assisting CBRE account teams and clients with identifying and implementing portfolio-wide energy reduction, alternative energy and cost savings initiatives. Mr. Scarpelli brings considerable energy management experience to his new role, including a proven record of creating new ways for consumers to manage energy expenditures. Previously, he was a Business Development Manager at Schneider Electric, where as a member of the Demand Response Resource Center, he was responsible for identifying and developing smart grid and demand response opportunities in the US and global markets. Mr. Scarpelli joined Schneider Electric in July 2008 when RETX, a demand response firm he helped create in April 2000, was acquired by Schneider Electric. In December 2009, Schneider Electric awarded Mr. Scarpelli, and the team he led, a "One Trophy" for the development of an innovative smart grid strategy.
Ashley Grosh | Environmental Affairs, Wells Fargo & Co.
Ashley Grosh, AVP, Project Manager for Environmental Affairs at Wells Fargo. She focuses her efforts on furthering the connection between banking and environmental initiatives by working with customers, communities, environmental and clean technology organizations and non-profits, universities, research labs and multiple Wells Fargo business groups. She manages the Wells Fargo Environmental Philanthropy giving program for the company, and spends time seeking out top environmental non-profits and projects that have national and local impact. She also collaborates with various business groups on the company's strategic environmental commitment, supporting projects such as installation of solar panels on Wells Fargo stores. Ashley also develops marketing materials, monitors paper standards, helps develop green financial products and creates various in-depth internal and external environmental reports.
Josh Whitney | Senior Project Director, Corporate Sustainability Services Practice, WSP Environment & Energy
Josh leads WSP’s US Corporate Sustainability Strategy practice area from beautiful Boulder, Colorado. He has 7 years of management consulting experience with high technology, clean technology and sustainability-focused startups and Fortune 500 firms. He is passionate about startups and helping to catalyze their growth, from product design and marketing to operations strategy and securing venture investment. He also enjoys working within the corporate environment, identifying opportunities for efficiency and innovation for scalable impact. After five years of consulting on sustainability issues with WSP, Josh began coursework towards an MBA in 2008 at the Leeds School of Business to build a more entrepreneurial skill set and network that spans the clean technology, hi-tech/web 2.0 and the outdoor industry markets - all of what Boulder does best. Beyond the desk, he chases down powder in the backcountry, climbs mountains high, and race bikes fast with the RockyMounts~Izze cycling team.
Lara Wallentine Hussain | Director, Sustainability Stakeholder Relations, Texas Instruments
Lara manages Texas Instruments' social and environmental performance reporting and related stakeholder engagement. She also helps guide corporate sustainability strategy. Lara has been with TI since 2000 and before then worked as a technical writer and environmental journalist. She is a sought-after speaker on corporate transparency and sustainability reporting. Lara is a graduate of Columbia University with a Master of Public Administration in Environmental Science and Policy. She received a B.A. in Environmental Journalism from the University of North Texas and completed high school at the International School of Bangkok in Thailand. She is a 2007 graduate of Leadership Dallas and a 2005 graduate of the Women's International Leadership Program.
Adam Schlegel | Co-Owner and Consiglieri, Snooze AM Eatery
Adam Schlegel serves as co-owner and Consiglieri for Snooze AM Eatery, a consortium of breakfast and lunch restaurants in Colorado. Snooze, established in 2006, currently operates 4 award winning restaurants with a 5th location coming in November of 2011. As Consiglieri, Adam focuses on business organization, development and strategy, financial management, technology, human resources, and, true to his hippy roots, sustainability. Collectively with his partner & brother Jon Schlegel, Snooze has established itself not only as the go to breakfast restaurant in the city, but developed a model that integrates community, environment and sound business to drive success. From Best Breakfast Awards five out of five years running with 5280 Magazine, to Best New Business in 2007 as awarded by the Downtown Denver Partnership, Snooze seeks change and growth. In 2011 Snooze received the Gold Level Certification for Environmental Leadership from the state of Colorado, while consulting with the Department of Health on creating a green restaurant certification program.
Jeni Cross, Ph.D. | Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, Colorado State University
Jeni Cross, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the Department of Sociology at Colorado State University. She earned a bachelor's degree from Colorado State University and received her Ph.D. from the University of California at Davis. Her areas of expertise include community development, professional social networks, social norms and behavior change. She teaches courses on community, research methods, social psychology, and social change. Her current research projects focus on how social norms influence energy conservation and how inter-organizational social networks contribute to innovation and sustainability. She is the co-founder of Caros Consulting, which provides consulting services to help organizations create and implement programs for sustainable behavior change.
Dave Newport | Director of the Environmental Center, University of Colorado at Boulder
Founded on Earth Day 1970, the Environmental Center's 120+ student and professional staff operate higher education's original recycling program, alternative transportation programs, energy and climate conservation programs, sustainable food, environmental justice, environmentally preferred purchasing, and numerous other student-led operational, educational and research initiatives. Dave also Chairs the university's Carbon Neutrality Working Group, led the creation of CU's climate action plan, and is a Faculty Associate in the Environmental Studies department where he teaches Carbon Neutrality Planning for Higher Education.
Elaine Thorndike | CEO, Colorado Association for Manufacturing and Technology
Elaine Thorndike has over 20 years of experience working in information, communications, and manufacturing technologies. Her experience has given her a thorough understanding of the connection between technology commercialization, manufacturing, and economic development. In her role as CAMT's CEO, she is responsible for working with federal and state government, universities, and manufacturing companies to create positive economic impacts for Colorado communities. Her leadership has resulted in doubling the growth of the organization now located in five offices across Colorado. The economic impact reported from clients as a result of working with CAMT since 2005 is over $300M. In 2010 Elaine led the Aerospace and Clean Energy Initiative (ACE) in collaboration with NASA and NREL to create a public/private partnership and framework for economic development based on commercialization of aerospace and clean energy technologies to solve global challenges in energy, food, water and transportation.
Will Sarni | Director and Practice Leader, Enterprise Water Strategy, Sustainability and Climate Change, Deloitte Consulting LLP
Will has been providing sustainability and environmental consulting services to private and public-sector enterprises for more than three decades, with a focus on developing and implementing corporate-wide sustainability strategies, as well as broad based climate and water programs. His approach fuses the practical with the creative in developing and implementing high-value sustainability programs and integrating diverse business and technical issues related to resource management. Sarni’s diverse client list includes Fortune 500 companies, multinational corporations and non- governmental organizations (NGOs). He has managed complex projects throughout the United States, Europe and Asia, working with some of the world’s most recognizable companies. He is a key team member on the development of the Best Global Green Brands sustainability performance methodology highlighting the value of sustainability in creating brand value.
Brian Lewandowski | Research Associate, Business Research Division, Leeds School of Business of the University of Colorado Boulder
Brian Lewandowski is a Research Associate at the Business Research Division in the Leeds School of Business of the University of Colorado Boulder. Brian studies the regional economy, participating in economic impact, strategic planning, forecasting, and marketing studies for a variety of industries. Recently, Brian conducted a green jobs survey for the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment. He has also completed economic studies for the natural and organic industry and related to clean energy.
Christopher Juniper | Founder, SustainALogic
Christopher Juniper has been serving companies, governments and non-profits as a leading-edge sustainability consultant or economic development official for over twenty-five years. He worked on sustainable procurement systems and analyses for USAG Fort Carson 2003-2011 and has developed cost-effective life-cycle sustainability performance tools used there and by Clif Bar & Co. A Denver native and resident, he serves the boards of CORE Colorado and the Asia Pacific Roundtable for Sustainable Consumption and Production.
Jerry Becker | Facility Manager, Woodward Company
Appointed Facility Manager for Woodward’s Fort Collins and Loveland, Colo., sites in April 2004, Jerry was formerly with the Rocky Flats Plant as a member of its Configuration Control Authority. He has served as the Chairman of the Mentoring Committee of the City of Fort Collins Climate Wise Program, which promotes voluntary GHG reduction through energy efficiency, waste reduction, water conservation, transportation reduction, employer/employee encouragement and education. Jerry has also served on that program’s Advisory Committee. Jerry received his Master of Science in Organizational Leadership from Regis University, where he also earned a bachelor’s degree in Computer Information Systems.
David Gold | Lead Partner for Clean Technology Investments, Access Venture Partners
David Gold serves as the lead Partner for Clean Technology investments. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering with Special Honors from the University of Colorado and was a National Science Foundation Fellow while earning Masters Degrees in both Aerospace Engineering and Technology Policy from M.I.T. After working as an engineer with NASA, David spent a short time working on Capitol Hill and served in the Executive Office of the President of the United States where he was responsible for budget and policy oversight of the U.S. Land Remote Sensing and Weather Satellite programs as well as the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
David Coombs | Senior Lean Consultant, Leonardo Group Americas
David Coombs, a seasoned manufacturing entrepreneur, ran his own company for a decade building innovative machinery to reduce soil erosion and retain biomass in dryland wheat farming across the western United States. As Senior Lean Consultant for Leonardo Group Americas, David leads client teams producing dramatic results for manufacturing companies: 75% reductions in throughput time, 25 to 50% saving in trucking and factory space, and enhanced safety and quality. "These great Lean outcomes automatically produce great Green benefits as well. The Lean mindset is to eliminate waste by digging into the root causes; it's an incredibly effective tool for teaching and implementing sustainable business practices."
Cameron Brooks | Vice President of Policy, Tendril
Cameron has 18 years of marketing and executive management experience in the renewable energy and Smart Grid industries. At Tendril, he is responsible for spearheading business growth initiatives by providing strategic guidance on Smart Grid development projects, technology investments and public policy matters. Prior to joining Tendril, Cameron served as the Vice President of Resource Development at Renewable Choice Energy (RCE), a full-service provider of renewable energy credits and carbon offsets. Cameron graduated magna cum laude from Yale University with a degree in Cultural Ecology and Ecologic Design and received his MBA from Cornell University.
Jim McIntyre | Purchasing Director, City and County of Denver
Jim McIntyre is the Purchasing Director for the City and County of Denver. He is responsible for goods and services procurement for over 40 City Agencies including Denver International Airport, Police and Fire, Corrections, Public Works, Parks and Theaters and Arenas just to name a few. He was hired by the City over 20 years ago as a Staff Buyer, and has performed in virtually every purchasing role in the department over that time. Jim has procured goods and services in support of virtually every City project large and small, developed the purchasing procedures and policies for the City and most recently managed a new city-wide procure to pay business process. He sits on the Advisory board of U.S. Communities a national purchasing co-operative and also sits on the Executive board of the Rocky Mountain Minority Supplier Development Council.
Tad McAnally | Senior Partner, virtualwirks
Tadd McAnally is Sr. Partner of virtualwirks — a Denver based firm that is dedicated to helping organizations build and improve their remote employee strategies. Since co-founding virtualwirks in 2009, Tadd has served multiple clients across the US and abroad to help them leverage emerging technologies and tools to increase their teleworking capabilities and gain efficiencies through dispersed workforces. Prior to starting virtualwirks he helped develop and improve a rapidly successful work at home business unit at Teletech — one of the world's largest call center outsourcing providers — and held financial leadership roles at Alpine Access. Tadd is a Colorado native, holds a BA in Finance and Business Administration from the University of Colorado Leeds School of Business, and is a certified Project Manager Professional (PMP) though the Project Management Institute.
Paul Rochette | Partner, Summit Economics
Paul Rochette brings more than 30 years experience in economics and financial management in the utilities, mining, and real estate sectors. Paul got his start as a project planner in Africa in the Peace Corps, and has worked in regional planning, consulting, and utilities ever since. He is now a partner in the firm of Summit Economics, where he most recently been working on water and storm-water issues, evaluating economic impacts and financial feasibilities.
Tom Morgan | Director, Colorado State Energy Sector Partnership
Tom Morgan is currently the Director of the Colorado State Energy Sector Partnership. The Partnership manages a $6 million Recovery Act Grant from the US Department of Labor. Over the next two years the grant will continue to help unemployed Coloradans get training to fill the increasing demand for energy efficiency and renewable energy jobs. In addition, the State Energy Sector Partnership will help entrepreneurs start energy efficient or renewable energy related business and will teach high school students and their parents about career opportunities in the new energy economy. Mr. Morgan was previously Director of the Governor's Jobs Cabinet, serving as a loaned executive from the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment. He came to the Department of Labor and Employment after 26 years in the private sector, where he owned a survey research and strategic communications consulting firm. Over that time Mr. Morgan was active nationally in public and consumer relations, private sector senior level planning and project management, and policy analysis.
Scott Yeager | General Manager, ARAMARK
Scott is currently the General Manager for ARAMARK Facility Services at Denver Coliseum, Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Denver Performing Arts Complex and Crossroads Theater. In 2006 he was part of a team who brought recycling to Red Rocks. Today Red Rocks is now composting as well as recycling with a diversion rate of about 85% year over year. In this position he has been involved in ISO 14001 certification, Rocky Mountain Greener Venue Program, ELP and just recently received a green certification from CIM's. Scott has been a strong leader for sustainability programs at the facilities and continues to expand on our current programs as well as design new operational plans in improve and grow our sustainability efforts at the venues. As we continue to look at how to increase the diversion rate our big focus is 2012 is going to look reducing the amount of material we use.
