Thursday, March 26, 2009
Creating A Sustainable Future: The Marriage Of Industry, Policy And Science
Session Description
Practitioner Showcase: Climate change is undoubtedly one of the most urgent, and complex, issues of our time and one that is increasingly being tackled through alliances, partnerships and networks. Four innovators will discuss the successful partnerships and networks which serve to further their missions, whether they be with institutional investors or technologists, leading industrial chiefs, scientists or policymakers. The result is a larger playing field, greater impact and a more sustainable future, from the Amazon to Africa, Alabama to Asia.
When | Where
09:00 - 10:30
Thursday, March 26
Session leaders
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Chief Operating Officer, Zamzee
Lance is Chief Operating Officer of Zamzee. Before Zamzee, Lance was Vice President of Program and Impact at the Skoll Foundation and Executive Director at the San Francisco AIDS Foundation. As Vice President, Programme and Impact, Lance Henderson was responsible for leading a team of professionals who implemented the Skoll Foundation’s “invest” strategy for social entrepreneurs. His responsibilities included strategic programme development, execution and evaluation, with a primary emphasis on grant making investments and services that advance the field of social entrepreneurship. Lance was previously with the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, where he held a number of executive positions throughout his 12-year tenure. Concurrent with his work at the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, Lance served as Chief Financial Officer and then as President of the Pangaea Global AIDS Foundation.
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Liliana Madrigal is the Senior Director of Program Operations and co-founder of the Amazon Conservation Team, created in 1996 with Dr. Mark Plotkin after a decade of conservation leadership with the Fundacion de Parques Nacionales de Costa Rica, Conservation International, and The Nature Conservancy. Liliana oversees ACT’s programmatic activities, traveling frequently to South America to meet and work with ACT's indigenous partners. In addition, she drives the implementation of ACT's women's programs, which seek to build self-esteem, increase sustainable development opportunities and advance human rights among women of indigenous communities across Amazonia. In 2006, Liliana won the Circle of Bridge-Makers Award from the Angeles Arrien Foundation. She and Dr. Plotkin were co-awardees of the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship in 2008. A native of Costa Rica, She is a graduate of the University of California at Los Angeles.
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Mathis Wackernagel, Ph.D. is the co-creator of the Ecological Footprint and CEO of Global Footprint Network. Since 2003 this international think-tank has engaged with more than 50 nations, 30 cities, and 70 global partners to deliver scientific insights that have driven high-impact policy and investment decisions. Together with its partners, Global Footprint Network focuses on bringing about a sustainable human economy in which all can thrive within the means of our one planet. Mathis’ awards include the 2015 IAIA Global Environment Award, the 2012 Blue Planet Prize, the 2012 Binding-Prize for Nature Conservation, the 2012 Kenneth E. Boulding Memorial Award, the 2011 Zayed International Prize for the Environment, an honorary doctorate from the University of Berne, and a Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship.
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Managing Director, Global Head, Citigroup, Inc.
Michael Eckhart
Managing Director and Global Head of Environmental Finance
Citigroup, Inc.
Michael Eckhart is a Managing Director and Global Head of Environmental Finance in the Corporate and Investment Banking Division of Citigroup in New York City. Previously, he was founding President of the American Council On Renewable Energy (ACORE), a Washington DC-based nonprofit organization, where he emerged as a national and global leader in the renewable energy field. Earlier, he developed financing for solar energy under the SolarBank Initiative in Europe, South Africa and India; was Chairman & CEO of United Power Systems, Inc.; Vice President of Areté Ventures, Inc.; a strategic planner of General Electric Company’s power systems sector; and a Principal with the energy practice of Booz, Allen & Hamilton. He has received numerous awards and recognitions, including Renewable Energy Man of the Year of India in 1998, the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship in 2008, the Good Deal for All Award in 2009, the ISES Hermann Scheer Global Leadership Award in 2013, and Biofuels Financier of the Year in 2014. He received a degree in Electrical Engineering from Purdue University and an MBA from Harvard Business School, and served in the US Navy Submarine Service.
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Mindy S. Lubber is the CEO, President, and founding board member of Ceres, a non-profit organization that is mobilizing many of the world’s largest investors and companies to take stronger action on climate change, water scarcity and other global sustainability challenges. She directs Ceres’ Investor Network on Climate Risk and Sustainability, a group of 130 institutional investors managing over $17 trillion in assets focused on the business risks and opportunities of climate change. Mindy also oversees engagements with 100-plus companies, many of them Fortune 500 firms, working towards improving their commitments to sustainable business practices and the urgency for strong climate and clean energy policies.
Under Mindy’s leadership, Ceres launched The 21st Century Corporation: The Ceres Roadmap for Sustainability and The 21st Century Investor: Ceres Blueprint for Sustainable Investing, visionary guides highlighting environmental and social performance improvements companies and investors must achieve to succeed in the resource-constrained 21st century global economy.
In 2016, Mindy received the Climate Visionary Award from the Earth Day Network, and the William K. Reilly Award for Environmental Leadership from the Center for Environmental Policy at American University. The December 2015 online edition of Vogue Magazine featured Mindy as one of their “Climate Warriors”, one of the top 13 women advancing the Paris Climate Agreement at the UN Conference at COP21. In 2010, Mindy was honored by the United Nations and the Foundation for Social Change as one of the “World’s Top Leaders of Change” for her work in mobilizing leading companies to integrate environmental challenges into core business strategies. She is a recipient of the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship and was named one of “The 100 Most Influential People in Corporate Governance” by Directorship magazine.
