Climate Changers

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 Lead at Better for All, Raegan Kelly has spent years working with biopolymer engineers and manufacturing experts to create a unique, PHBH bioplastic cup that acts as an alternative to traditional, harmful single-use cups. Prior to Better for All, she worked with Warner Bros Records, LACMA, Otis College of Design, Disney's Epcot Center, and more as a sole proprietor. She has 30 years experience in key creative positions, both hands on and managerial – coordinating collaborators dispersed geographically, bringing a variety of skills and disciplines together to help achieve a business' core mission. At USC Annenberg, Kelly built Vectors, an online interactive journal that included the design, programming and implementation of interactive data-driven interfaces for scholars and scientists.

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.

Alyssa Rade is Chief Sustainability Officer at Sustain.Life, a SaaS platform that helps organizations across industries understand how to measure, manage and report their carbon emissions. They empower business owners to take actionable steps towards being a net-zero organization through the insights captured through the platform.

Listen in as Atlantic Packaging President Wes Carter and Cruz Foam Co-Founder and CEO John Felts discuss the continued growth in global plastic packaging and the alternatives available on the market today, including new innovations in recovering, reusing and recapturing materials. Working together to tackle a massive issue – and one that continues to surge due to e-commerce – these companies team up for an inspiring conversation about what's possible and what's next.

Wyatt Roberts is Head of Channel Development for Dandelion Energy. He is a builder and a building scientist, and is passionate about reducing the impact of our built world on the global environment. Dandelion Energy is committed to freeing homes from fossil fuels through the adoption of geothermal HVAC systems. Wyatt works with partners across a variety of sectors to better understand, design, and deploy geothermal in all of our buildings. For more information, visit www.dandelionenergy.com.

David Fenton is the author of the new book The Activist's Media Handbook: Lessons from 50 Years as a Progressive Agitator. David earned the moniker “the Robin Hood of Public Relations” from The National Journal for creating the first PR agency for social change organizations to adopt corporate PR tactics to win major victories for freedom, democracy, and the environment. Through his firm, Fenton, he has spear-headed history- making activism, including the campaigns to free Nelson Mandela and end apartheid in the late 1980s, the No-Nukes Concerts in 1979 with Bruce Springsteen, banning fracking, and legalizing mariuana. He's now working exclusively on bipartisan efforts to address the climate crisis, co-founding organizations like Families for a Future and Science Moms.

Victoria Brunner is the co-founder of FATTE Bikes, the first ebike company to operate in Denver, and one of just a few ebike companies to actually build their ebikes in the U.S.A. Victoria and her partner Kenny learned early on that if ebikes are built overseas, they just aren't as well put together as when they do it themselves in their factory. By building their ebikes in the U.S.A, they are able offer more color options, better quality paint and assembly, more customization than anyone. This makes FattE-Bikes the most customizable ebike brand in the world. While they use premium globally-sourced ebike components, FATTE strives to source locally, create local jobs, and most importantly, provide industry-leading quality control and customer care.

Brad Liski is a social entrepreneur and the CEO of British Columbia-based Tru Earth, a global household cleaning product company focused on biodegradability and the elimination of waste. The company is one of several founded in his lifetime, but the first that inspires him to wake up every morning excited to make a difference. Liski is a member of the Board of the Salish Sea Research & Education Society and is passionate about the environment and causing disruption for the betterment of the planet. He has also built a strong partnership between Tru Earth and the global conservation organization, Ocean Wise. Together, the two organizations have founded the American Shoreline Clean-up Program to encourage others to get involved in the fight to save the oceans and the planet. In addition, Liski is a leader in positioning companies and brands for dynamic growth and profitable expansion; he has a long and verifiable record of success leading start-up, high growth, acquisition, merger and receivership operations. Liski believes that the best thing we can do to save the planet is to educate young people. He lives out this passion as a mentor at Entrepreneurship @ University of British Columbia focusing on climate solutions. Liski was recently named a Sustainability Leader by Canada's Clean50 for 2022. As the leader in the Retail Product category, he has been recognized for making the most significant impact in helping Canada reach our climate targets. Other awards Liski and Tru Earth have received include B.C.'s CEO of the year, B.C.'s Top Exporter of the Year, and Best Eco-Friendly Household Product Company 2022.

Andrea is Founder of Confidente and Empower Capital. With 25 years of entrepreneurship, operations, sustainability and technology experience, Andrea brings a hands-on approach to partnering with investors, corporate boards, management, to create accelerated returns, resilient investment, and market leadership. Andrea Specializes in Resilience, Investment Promotion, and Women Entrepreneurship. Andrea was the Risk Management Coordinator for the World Bank in the Middle East for 8 years. Andrea continues to advise International Financial Institutions, and entrepreneurs on clean tech, sustainability, impact investments. Andrea is a Science and Foreign Policy Graduate from Georgetown University and has a bachelor's degree in philosophy and Foreign Languages from Bologna University.

Jan Skjoldhammer is the Founder and CEO of Novige AB, a wave energy developer that uses ocean waves to generate electricity. Jan has been an officer, captain, instructor and display pilot with a well-developed technical side, having built a race car in his youth, among many other projects. He is a natural-born entrepreneur with a tireless ambition and an environmental awareness that has led him to make a significant positive impact on the world and mitigate the climate change. Skjoldhammer's entrepreneurial endeavor in property development laid the monetary foundation of NoviOcean in 2016, with early retirement from his long-time career at SAS Airlines. Today, Jan leads a team of like-minded individuals who also strive towards saving the climate with profitable and renewable wave energy technology.

The Climate Change Garden by Kim Stoddart and Sally Morgan, is a guide to creating a resilient, climate-wise garden, one that adapts to volatile weather extremes and a rapidly changing climate. This is the first book to reveal which types of gardens are better suited to deal with such extremes and which techniques, practices, and equipment can be put to good use to help temper the issues. Kim Stoddart is an expert on this and writes for publications such as The Guardian on climate change gardening and resilient gardening. She has columns in several UK magazines and contributes regularly to a range of publications, such as Gardeners' World magazine, Bloom, The Telegraph, The Lancet, and The Daily Express, where she regularly provides climate and gardening advice. Sally Morgan is a botanist and gardener and is the editor of Organic Farming Magazine. She's written articles and books on food, farming, and the environment and owns an organic farm where she teaches courses on small farming (empirefarm.co.uk).

Stacy Grace is the pioneering woman behind KENT, the first plastic-free underwear, so natural it's compostable. Stacy has made it her mission to remove plastics in underwear, and create cleaner clothes for consumers and the planet in an industry plagued with synthetic materials. Made with GOTs certified cotton, KENT's separates are just as soft and durable as the cotton underwear and shirts in your drawer, but just better for you. The elastic is made with plants, making them so natural they can be composted (and are LA Compost verified).

Michael Dull is the founder and President of EVUniverse.com and host of the Plug in for More podcast. An auto enthusiast from a young age, Michael has since grown into a serial entrepreneur in various industries. He started his career as a pharmacist, spending time with multiple companies developing, testing, and implementing mobile applications and websites for chain pharmacies. His whole life Michael has been focused on vehicles of all kinds, specifically buying and selling of sports cars and luxury vehicles. His passion for electric vehicles started in 2008 after seeing the original Tesla roadster and its performance compared to its internal combustion counterparts. Following his passion, today, Michael owns 4 electric vehicles including an original 2010 Tesla Roadster 2.5 sport, one of 500 built. Combining Michael's passion for electric vehicles and entrepreneurial experience has led him to create EV Universe- a marketplace to help educate potential buyers about EV's.

Lauren Gropper is tackling the problem of single-use plastic waste by replacing petroleum based plastics with plastic made from plants. Repurpose's products range from disposable plates and cups to garbage bags and straws -- all of which are made entirely from plants using upcycled materials such as eucalyptus, sugarcane pulp, and wood. They are totally non-toxic and fully degradable. Lauren aims to make Repurpose the go-to for disposable tableware in general, taking down brands like Solo and Hefty which are responsible for huge amounts of plastic pollution.

DR Richardson is Co-Founder of Elephant Energy, where they believe that climate change is the elephant in the room. Their mission is to dramatically accelerate the clean energy transition and are working to make an

Helen Lin has worked across four continents (Asia, Africa, Europe, N. America) merging and investing in companies, leading the digital transformation of multinational banking operations, and designing products to serve base of the pyramid customers (FINCA Impact Finance).

Kristin Ohlson's writing has appeared in NYT, Orion, Discover, Gourmet, Oprah, and many other publications. Her magazine work has been anthologized in Best American Science Writing and Best American Science Writing. Los Angeles Times called The Soil Will Save Us “a hopeful book and a necessary one...a fast-paced and entertaining shot across the bow of mainstream thinking about land use.” Sweet in Tooth and Claw is a deeply hopeful book for the climate crisis, showing real solutions from a wide-ranging set of case studies and interviews. For example, one chapter looks at how changed ranching practices in northeast Nevada are transforming desert into wetlands, showing it's possible to rehydrate the west. In another, Ohlson writes about a community trying to reclaim a river in the Bronx, which was diverted to the sewer. Residents there are working to restore it and the natural environment. Dozens of other examples throughout the book show how changing our thought patterns on nature will also help us become more generous and nurturing with each other.

About The BookAn engaging, accessible citizen's guide to the seven urgent changes that will really make a difference for our climate—and how we can hold our governments accountable for putting these plans into action.Dozens of kids in Montgomery County, Maryland, agitated until their school board committed to electric school buses. Mothers in Colorado turned up in front of an obscure state panel to fight for clean air. If you think the only thing you can do to combat climate change is to install a smart thermostat or cook plant-based burgers, you're thinking too small. That's where The Big Fix comes in, offering everyday citizens a guide to the seven essential changes our communities must enact to bring our greenhouse gas emissions down to zero—and sharing stories of people who are making those changes reality.Energy policy advisor Hal Harvey and longtime New York Times reporter Justin Gillis hone in on the seven areas where ambitious but eminently practical changes will have the greatest effect: electricity production, transportation, buildings, industry, urbanization, use of land, and investment in promising new green technologies. In a lively, jargon-free style, the pair illuminate how our political economy really works, revealing who decides everything from what kind of power plants to build to how efficient cars must be before they're allowed on the road to how much insulation a new house requires—and how we can insert ourselves into all these decisions to ensure that the most climate-conscious choices are being made.At once pragmatic and inspiring, The Big Fix is an indispensable action plan for citizens looking to drive our country's greenhouse gas emissions down to zero—and save our climate.

Eric Davidson is an ecologist, soil scientist, and biogeochemist whose research career has focused on how human changes to the land affect carbon and nitrogen in the soil, water, and air. He is working as a science advisor to the Bureau of Environmental Quality at the U.S. Department of State, where he is helping scope out the USG position on a new international agreement on plastic waste.In his new book, Science for a Green New Deal, Davidson explains for a broad audience how to employ exciting technologies, from carbon sequestration to renewable energy, and how scientists, farmers, CEOs, renewable energy advocates, teachers, and investors must work in tandem to tackle humanity's greatest challenge.Each chapter ends with science-backed recommendations to meet the stated goals of the Green New Deal. Davidson's integrated approach to climate solutions explains:why neither environmental quality, economic prosperity, nor social justice can be dealt with independentlyhow the cost of deep decarbonization of the energy sector is more affordable than you thinkhow regenerative agriculture can help us meet the challenges of feeding 10-12 billion people later this century, while minimizing environmental impacthow the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change share many features, including their global scope, disproportionately high impacts on the poor and people of color, and a proliferation of misinformation that has led to denial by many despite strong scientific evidenceDavidson covers all of this with clarity that makes his book readily approachable to the non-scientist. He weaves in engaging stories, often using his own life experience—from his childhood in Montana, to his days as a Peace Corps volunteer in Africa, to conducting research on deforestation in Brazil, to undergoing open-heart surgery.

Lucy Hargreaves has had an amazing career, and every moment of it has been devoted to issues of sustainability, climate, and the environment. She's traveled the world while working on sustainable development initiatives for UNESCO in Bangkok and OECD in Paris. She's shaped progressive climate policy from within the Trudeau Administration, led sustainability programs at a non-profit foundation, and helped find private-sector solutions at an innovative climate-tech startup, Patch.

Shannon Jahn is the Green Workforce Lead at City and County of Denver, Office of Climate Action, Sustainability and Resiliency. In this interview Shannon talks about growing a green economy and a climate resilient future while creating a vibrant workforce with well-paying job opportunities for everybody in the community.

Learn more about High Plains Biochar: https://www.hpbiochar.com

Learn more about Beetcoin and buy the book: https://beetcoin.org

Learn more about Fridays for Future: https://fridaysforfuture.org/Learn more about Rise Up: https://www.riseupmovementafrica.org/ 

Learn more about IWCA: https://www.iwcawine.orgRead their annual report HERE 

Thomas Hochman (@thomashochman) is a Fellow at Citizens' Climate Lobby. His work has been featured in The National Interest, The Washington Examiner, and a number of other outlets.

Here is the new book out of Stanford's D School that Dave mentioned: https://www.amazon.com/Sarah-Stein-Greenberg/e/B09455W266%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_shareHere is Dave's website: https://climate-activist.com/ 

To learn more, visit Zero FoodprintTo learn more about Restore Colorado, visit: https://www.zerofoodprint.org/restorecolorado 

Michael Terrell is Director of Energy at Google and in this interview he shares how Google is using it's unique capabilities and scale to drive the transformation of the global energy system. Google already offsets it's energy use but is now engaging in a moonshot project to draw clean carbon-free energy from the grid 24/7 every day of the year.