Pete Davies
President
TerraPass Retail

As President of TerraPass Retail, Pete Davis is responsible for the TerraPass website and marketing and sales operations. These include partnerships with TerraPass retail partners (including Enterprise Rent-a-car and Expedia.com) and Carbon Balanced Business partners.

Prior to joining TerraPass, Pete worked as a journalist and senior producer for BBC Radio News. He produced live radio programs from around the world in locations from Australia to Zimbabwe. He also co-founded the live events marketing company PANDA. Pete is a graduate of the University of Edinburgh and has an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business.

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Lee Broughton Director, Corporate Sustainability Enterprise As the Director of Corporate Sustainability for Enterprise, Lee is leading the efforts to better understand and address the impact of the company’s business operations on the communities where Enterprise does business and the world as a whole. This includes two key components: The design and management of a strategic concept and operational framework for Corporate Sustainability, To engage with risks and opportunities arising from sustainability, ensuring that it helps drive competitive advantage and new business. Other key elements of the role include management of the company’s overall environmental initiative and representing the company in all external and internal forums on matters related to the company’s environmental and corporate stewardship initiatives. Lee joined Enterprise in Europe, setting up the company’s European corporate communications department in 2003, bringing with him an experienced career in marketing and public relations. Having started his professional life in a London-based communications consultancy, Lee worked on a portfolio of high profile corporate accounts before moving in-house to take up a position in Marketing and Communications for Eversheds LLC, one of the world’s largest law firms. He received his Bachelor of Theology degree from Brunel University in London, England and has achieved post graduate qualifications in public relations and NLP. Lee and his wife Chrissy Taylor-Broughton, live in St Louis, MO, the headquarters city of Enterprise. back to top

Richard Seireeni President The Brand Architect Group Author The Gort Cloud Richard Seireeni is a 30-year veteran in brand consulting and marketing. He has been art director of Rolling Stone magazine, creative director of Warner Bros. Records, and co-creative director of EnterpriseIG, New York. He coined the term Brand Architect in 1991 and co-published Marks, a compendium of logos designed by himself and his former design group partner. He has managed his own consulting business, The Brand Architect Group, in Los Angeles since 1984, with affiliated offices in Tokyo and Shanghai. Notable clients include Toyota North America, Tokyo-Mitsubishi Bank, Uniqlo, and Wolfgang Puck. Richard graduated from the University of Washington School of Architecture and is a member of the US Green Building Council. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two children. Richard is the author of The Gort Cloud: The Invisible Force Powering Today's Most Visible Green Brands (Chelsea Green, Vermont) back to top

Ted Ning
Executive Director
LOHAS Conference
Executive Editor
LOHAS Journal and lohas.com

In his roles at LOHAS, Ted Ning promotes the expansion and awareness of this marketplace and is in a unique position to examine trends and is able to identify overlapping interests from various LOHAS market sectors. He is also able to provide perspective about how responsible business practice should be presented and branded to the consumer. Furthermore, he can provide case study examples of companies that have transformed their business operations to become ‘green’ which have resulted in profitability and healthier work environments. Ted has been with LOHAS for 5 years and has been invited to speak internationally about the market to Universities, private and public companies and other business conferences. He has been interviewed by journalists from The New York Times, NBC, New Yorker, Newsweek, various regional newspapers and lifestyle oriented radio programs. He is a contributing writer to Spa Business, American Spa magazine and Organic Style Taiwan. He also serves on several boards promoting sustainability, organic living and micro-credit enterprises.  

Ted has a Masters degree in adult education. He has lived overseas in Asia where he studied Chinese and also lived in Japan and was a ski coach during the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics.

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Suzanne Shelton
President and CEO
Shelton Group

Suzanne Shelton is president and CEO of Shelton Group, the nation’s leading advertising and public relations agency skilled at motivating mainstream consumers to make sustainable choices.

Founded in 1991, Shelton Group conducts four consumer opinion studies annually – Utility Pulse, Eco Pulse, Green Living pulse and Energy Pulse® – to continuously track shifting consumer perceptions on these topics. Shelton uses those insights in brand positioning, advertising, direct marketing and interactive work the agency performs for its clients, which include the American Institute of Architects, BP Solar, Cree Lighting, e3bank, Scana Gas and Vectren Energy.

As an expert in national consumer attitudes and behaviors related to energy efficiency and sustainability, Suzanne shares her knowledge through national speaking engagements, regular interviews with local and national media and as a frequent contributor to numerous print journals.

Suzanne extends her expertise to the community through professional and volunteer affiliations, such as LEED for Homes Corresponding Committee Member, USGBC; Alliance to Save Energy International Committee; and AESP; and serves on the boards of Knox County and the Knoxville Museum of Art.

Suzanne has a BS in Communications from the University of Tennessee.

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J. Berrye Worsham
President/CEO
Cotton Incorporated

J. Berrye Worsham is president and chief executive officer of Cotton Incorporated, the research and marketing company representing U.S. upland cotton. In his post, Berrye oversees the company’s global research and marketing programs.

Research programs are managed primarily from the company’s world headquarters in Cary, N.C., while marketing programs are centralized in the New York office. The company also has offices in Mexico City, Osaka, Hong Kong and Shanghai to provide expertise and services to the textile industries of these regions.

Berrye joined Cotton Incorporated in 1983 as manager, cotton analysis. He also served as director, fiber & economic analysis; director, market research; vice president, corporate planning and program development, and most recently, executive vice president and chief operating officer.

Before joining Cotton Incorporated, Berrye was senior business analyst of JI Case Co., Racine, Wisc. Berrye is a member of the Advisory Board for the Department of Textile Products Design and Marketing at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, School of Human Environmental Sciences.

A 1978 graduate of the University of North Carolina with a B.S. in Business Administration, Berrye received his M.B.A. from UNC-Greensboro in 1979.

Berrye and his family reside in Cary, N.C.

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Kimberly Bastoni
Group Managing Director
GfK Custom Research North America

Kimberly Bastoni is Group Managing Director for Marketing, Business Development, and Global Key Account Management for GfK Custom Research North America.

In this capacity, Kim is responsible for all aspects of GfK’s corporate marketing operations, including brand marketing, customer intelligence, corporate communications, market development and global key accounts. Prior to joining GfK, Kim held various senior executive positions in marketing and development leadership roles. She was most recently with TNS Global where she served as a Senior Vice President and Head of US Custom Marketing and Development where her responsibilities included brand image, marketing strategy, publicity, special events/promotions and advertising. Prior to her working with TNS Global, Kim was Senior Vice President of Client and Market Development for Millward Brown where she focused on building a top-class business development division.

Kim is based in GfK’s Chelsea Market Office.

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Wendy S. Cobrda
President and Founder
Earthsense

Wendy Cobrda is a veteran of the target marketing industry with 20+ years building innovative data and consulting solutions. A 10 years+ serial entrepreneur, she founded Earthsense with Amy Hebard as the culmination of several greenfield ventures, including target marketing consultancy Catenate (client list includes HP, Borders, Turner Broadcasting, John Hancock, Experian) and Catosphere, a demographics e-commerce portal. She has done business development for top segmentation and syndicated research companies (Claritas, Market Statistics, Mediamark Research & Intelligence (MRI), Group 1 Software). Wendy works from Earthsense headquarters in the Syracuse Technology Garden business incubator where she is an integral part of the facility’s business network. She has a BA from SUNY Oswego (Communications), and lives in the Syracuse community of Manlius with her husband Pete Buonfiglio and their two children.

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Margaret McAllister
Principal
Red Kite Business Advisors

Margaret McAllister is an award-winning advertising creative director and writer who, with the formation of Red Kite, has turned her talents toward developing strategic initiatives designed to help companies optimize their marketing programs to reach women consumers.

Over her 30-year career, she has become an expert in corporate branding as well as interactive and traditional advertising, having worked on national accounts such as Hewlett Packard, American Legacy Foundation, Buena Vista Pictures/Disney, and MADD. The American Advertising Federation, American Marketing Association, Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, the Public Relations Society of America, Telly Awards, and other organizations have recognized her achievements.

Margaret recently served on the American Advertising Federation’s National Board of Directors/Council of Governors. Additionally, she is an executive producer of a documentary film, under development, which explores the role women play in advancing social justice and environmental causes.

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Evelyn Olson Lamden
Principal
Red Kite Business Advisors

As a founding partner of Red Kite, Evelyn Olson Lamden is a marketing consultant dedicated to helping businesses expand market share among women consumers. Her distinguished 30-year career with Jenny Craig International, Jack-in-the-Box Restaurants, Carat North America Media and The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company shaped her marketing and leadership skills, and charismatic style.

At Jenny Craig, Evelyn directed the media department integrating the company’s usage of the Internet into their plans. And at Goodyear, she broke new ground as one of the first women in management and the first female field director for regional advertising.

Evelyn graduated magna cum laude from the University of Akron and received her MBA from the University of Phoenix. She is spearheading Red Kite’s social responsibility and green initiatives. And she is the firm’s champion for Kiva, the world’s first Internet-based micro-lending program assisting women-owned businesses in developing countries.

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Anya Kamenetz
Staff Writer
Fast Company

Anya Kamenetz covers the future of business, including technology, design, sustainability and social entrepreneurship, as a staff writer for Fast Company magazine. Her forthcoming book, with the working title Hacking Education (Chelsea Green, 2010) is about the transformation of college: the tuition cost spiral, access barriers, and innovations using technology and experiential education. As a business and economic commentator she's appeared on outlets including CBS, ABC, CNN, MSNBC, FOX News, CNBC, and NPR. She's been featured online as a "Yahoo Finance Expert", and she speaks regularly across the country. She also blogs at Fastcompany.com, the Huffington Post, and anyakamenetz.blogspot.com.

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John Rooks
President
The SOAP Group

John Rooks is president and founder of The SOAP Group, a creative communications firm specialized in brand activation and authentic advocacy. SOAP (Sustainable Organization Advocacy Partners) works for large and small corporations, start-ups, government entities, non-profits, traditional ad agencies and all the crevices in between.

With insight into the modern consumer's requirement for dialogue, not monologue, John provides explanation for why Old School mass marketing and broadcasting is a failed strategy for communicating authenticity. Exploring and crafting the elements of brands (emotional, practical, cultural) through workshops, exercises and reputation research, John combines learning and brand theory through smart design and communication programs.

John offers solutions for marketers frustrated with trite "green marketing" strategies that fail to engage customers in deep, on-brand, meaningful ways. He pushes SOAP's clients to architect campaigns that have corporate, civic and cultural value, thereby weaving their brand into the very fabric of sustainability and social justice.

Sought as an industry expert, John is frequently interviewed by media, including the New York Times, International Herald Tribune, and the Washington Business Journal. John is a frequent speaker and writer at the intersection of Culture, Language and Sustainability.

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Alisa Conroy
VP of Strategy
The SOAP Group

Responsible for advocating on behalf of The SOAP Group’s diverse clients, Alisa pushes communication deeper into organizational and societal culture. She embraces the idea that communication is the final component of sustainability and corporate social responsibility, not the first.

Alisa launched her profession by first serving in Americorps, setting a strong foundation to discern the lines linking corporations and non-profits; a skill-set that comes in handy in today’s new values economy. Applying asset-based communication development, Alisa promotes the power of implementing strategic plans that engage a company’s strengths and assets to reach ROI goals.

Having worked with a myriad of organizations, Alisa has conducted demographic research for marketing tactics targeting powerhouse consumer segments. Selected based on her strategic perspective and sound professional judgment, Alisa is also an Accredited PR practitioner; earning the APR mark of distinction for public relations professionals who demonstrate a commitment to the profession and to its ethical practice. Alisa effectively produces influential exposure for SOAP clients in national media such as NBC Nightly News, The New York Times, National Geographic and TIME Magazine.

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Carol Ott
Corporate Business Development Manager
Mohawk Fine Papers

In her current position with Mohawk Fine Papers, Inc., Carol Ott is responsible for educating customers about the standards for sustainability and environmental stewardship in paper making, and how these standards are met and exceeded at Mohawk. She is charged with developing business with corporate end users in the Western United States. In her role, she also serves as the environmental liaison for the Mohawk western region sales team and their customers including graphic designers, printers, paper merchants, business associations, and educational institutions. Carol has over 25 years invested in the graphic arts field at many levels of the industry from advertising and graphic design to merchant distribution and paper manufacturing.  She holds a Master of Business Administration in Marketing Management from Saint Josephs University and an undergraduate degree, Bachelor of Science in Science Administration with a minor in Biology, from Widener University.

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John Marshall Roberts
CEO
Conceptual Age Media
Author, Igniting Inspiration

John Marshall Roberts is a communication expert and applied research psychologist with more than a decade of strategic consulting experience. He is an emerging thought leader for a new generation of socially conscious visionaries who recognize that a fresh, more vital approach to communication is essential to give good ideas leverage in today’s changing economy.

A dynamic and popular keynote speaker, workshop facilitator, and consultant within the sustainability movement, John is also CEO and co-founder of the next-generation e-learning and professional skills development firm Conceptual Age Media.

His work to date has focused largely on overcoming consumer skepticism through strategic communication design, and the application of values-based messaging for inspiring sustainable behaviors. John’s book Igniting Inspiration: A Persuasion Manual for Visionaries delivers a breakthrough paradigm for creating inspirational media and messaging called Transformational Design®. A seamless blend of systems theory, developmental psychology, and common sense, this new interdisciplinary framework allows socially conscious people – marketers, business leaders, and activists – to design messages that systematically overcome cynicism, shift thinking, and inspire measurable behavior change.

It was John’s unique insight into the psychology of the communication process that made him a prominent contributor to several pioneering projects over the past decade, including two $200 million dollar plus theme park designs. Recent clients and partners include the Oscar-winning BRC Imagination Arts, the Joseph Campbell Foundation, EcoAlign, Knock Knock, Distributed Energy Financial Group (DEFG), JLT Incorporated, and Evenson Design Group.

As a psychology professor in the late 1990s, John taught psychology and research methods at the University of South Florida – exploring the role of empathy in human communication and the self-confirming nature of social perception. Perhaps his most innovative research creation was the Projective Dynamicism Assessment (PDA) – a nonverbal assessment of empathy.

Aside from his background in the science of communication, John is also an avid musician and an internationally known recording artist. In fact, John’s credits his lifelong affair with music – as a pianist, percussionist, and singer/songwriter – as one of the primary sources of emotional wisdom and insight behind his unique grasp of the communication process.

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Diane MacEachern
Founder/CEO
Big Green Purse

Diane MacEachern is the founder and CEO of Big Green Purse and the best-selling author of Big Green Purse: Use Your Spending Power to Create a Cleaner, Greener World and Save Our Planet: 750 Everyday Ways You Can Help Clean Up The Earth. A successful entrepreneur, award-winning communications strategist, and sought-after public speaker, Diane has launched the only company in the U.S. focused specifically on harnessing women’s enormous consumer clout for the benefit of the environment. Her website, www.biggreenpurse.com, encourages women to “use your purse” to green the marketplace by choosing products whose use or manufacture offer the greatest environmental impact. Through her books, articles and speeches she motivates women to take actions that will make their money matter. She advises companies on strategies to develop more effective green marketing campaigns. She also helps environmental organizations engage more women as members, activists, and donors.

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Annie Weber
Senior Vice President, General Manager
GfK Roper Public Affairs & Media

Annie Weber is Senior Vice President and General Manger of GfK Roper Public Affairs & Media, a division of GfK Custom Research North America.  Annie specializes in public opinion polls and strategic communications research.  Since joining GfK in 1999, she has worked on a wide variety of studies including:

• Growing interest in environmental investing - for Allianz Global Investing
• Attitudes about genetically-modified foods to support communication planning in Japan, Mexico, Egypt and Nigeria
• Gap in attitudes and understanding  about organic foods between the general public and farmers
• Consumer understanding about organic labeling
• Studies on Influentials and news consumption for the New York Times.com and CNN
• National Geographic Society Survey of Geographic Literacy among 18-24 year olds
• AARP Work and Career Study, a multicultural study of intentions to work after traditional retirement age
• Discovery Network U.S. Hispanics Thought Leader Study
• TransAmerica study on  how workers 50+ handle change and risk in their lives and their finances
• Women & Change - for Oprah magazine
• Avon Worldwide Women's Poll and Worldwide Women's Empowerment Index – a study of 8,000 women in 16 countries on topics from political participation, workplace equality, to education and family

Annie came to GfK from the CBS News Election & Survey Unit. Prior to joining CBS, Annie was a Research Assistant in the Social and Behavioral Unit in the Department of Communication at Cornell University – where she was working toward a Ph.D. in Communication.  Before pursuing a career in opinion and marketing research, Annie was an award-winning investigative reporter for KMIZ-TV, an ABC affiliate in Columbia, Missouri.

She has a Master of Science with Distinction in Broadcast Journalism, as well as a B.S. in Radio, Television and Film from Northwestern University.  

 

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Timothy J. Kenyon
Senior Market Analyst
GfK Roper Consulting

Tim Kenyon is a Senior Market Analyst for GfK Roper Consulting, a unit of GfK Custom Research North America. In his current role, Tim supports a variety of clients who subscribe to GfK Roper Consulting’s premier consumer trends services -- Roper Reports® and Roper Reports® Worldwide. Tim is also the Product Manager for Roper’s Green Gauge Study (a yearly look into the environmental consciousness of Americans).

Prior to joining GfK, Tim was a Research Analyst for the New Jersey Department of Agriculture, where he spearheaded many research initiatives concerning agribusiness and the food industry within the state of New Jersey. 

Tim has also worked as an analyst for the New Jersey Solid Waste Policy Group at Rutgers University. Within this role, Tim helped to influence recycling policy within the state of New Jersey.

Tim has studied Environmental Economics at Rutgers University. During his graduate studies, Tim was an instructor for the undergraduate class “Economics, People, and the Environment.” Tim was also a fellow at The Eagleton Institute of Politics where he studied issues surrounding the environment and agriculture in New Jersey.

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Holly Heline Jarrell
Group Managing Director
GfK Custom Research North America

Holly Heline Jarrell is Group Managing Director of the GfK Roper Consulting and Roper Public Affairs & Media practices of GfK Custom Research North America.  In this dual role, she directs GfK’s syndicated consumer trends and consulting services, including GfK Roper Reports®, GfK Roper Reports® Worldwide and GfK Roper Green Gauge®,™ the nation’s longest running environmental survey and consumer segmentation.  Holly also leads the firm’s advocacy, public opinion, corporate reputation and communications research activities.  Combining over two decades of primary research acumen with global trend-spotting expertise, Holly counsels clients on effectively using the freshest research-based insights to meet their business and organizational objectives.

In over 16 years with GfK during the last two decades, she has held various management roles with the firm, including Group Senior Vice President for GfK Roper Public Affairs and Director of Research & Client Service for the Roper Reports US trends and insight service.  An expert in generational marketing, she was Editor of Public Pulse®, the firm’s newsletter on what people are thinking, doing and buying today and in the future. In this capacity, she has written and spoken extensively on such topics as the American family, the mature market, environmental trends, the workplace, and branding. Her writing has been featured in such publications as Brandweek and The CASRO Journal.

Whether conducting primary research or trend-spotting, exploring consumers’ relationship with green issues has consistently been a part of Holly’s career.

Prior to GfK, she was Global Director, Insights and Research for MS&L, a top-10 global public relations firm and part of Publicis Groupe.  A member of MS&L’s North American Management Team, Holly created, launched and developed the firm’s insights-based research function.  In this capacity, she was instrumental in developing insights-based thought leadership for the firm’s marketing to women, consumer health, and word of mouth marketing functions, as well as MS&L’s Eco Network, the firm’s environmental practice.

Holly was also a Senior Vice President of the Daniel Yankelovich Group (DYG), a premiere “boutique” consumer trends practice.  At DYG, she provided consulting services to executives in leading US companies by helping them apply current and emerging research trends to their business objectives.  Specializing in consumer trends, generational and social values research, she is expert at developing perspectives on the major social, economic, consumer, and demographic forces shaping the country.     

Holly is currently an elected member of the Institute for Public Relations Commission on Measurement and Evaluation and the Market Research Council.  She has served on the editorial boards of the American Marketing Association’s Marketing Review and the ASA Networker, a publication of the American Society for the Aging, acting as guest editor for both publications.  She is an active member of the American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR).

She received her Master's degree in public affairs from the University of Connecticut, where she concentrated in survey research. She is a magna cum laude graduate of Connecticut College.

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Mickey Brazeal
Author
RFID: Improving The Customer Experience

Mickey Brazeal is the author of RFID: Improving The Customer Experience, published by Paramount in January, 2009.

A frequent speaker and writer on RFID and environmental issues, he is Associate Professor of Marketing Communication and Director of the Marketing Communication Sequence at Roosevelt University in Chicago.

Mickey wrote “Green Revolution: RFID and the Rise of Convenient Sustainability” for RFID WORLD 2008.  He wrote “Varieties of Efficiency: How RFID changes the way businesses work” for the book The Culture Of Efficiency, published in July 2009. Recent speeches at the University of Wisconsin’s RFID Working Group and the Chicago Wharton Network also developed new ideas in green technology and the future of marketing.

He worked for 28 years as an advertising agency creative – the last ten as executive creative director of a large Chicago agency. His creative awards include Addies, Tellies, Eagles, Towers, Mobius Awards, and the Gallagher Report’s Broken Pencil award for “the most obnoxious TV commercial we’ve seen this month”.

Before joining Roosevelt University, Mickey taught at Northwestern University and the Stuart Graduate School of Business at IIT.

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Bill Morrissey
VP - Environmental Sustainability
The Clorox Company

Bill Morrissey is a CPG veteran with over 25 years of experience in a variety of marketing, business development, strategic planning and general management roles. Prior to his current assignment, Bill was COO of Naturize BioSciences Inc. He recently returned to his prior company, The Clorox Company, and now leads their environmental efforts as Clorox’s Vice President of Environmental Sustainability. Bill and his wife Kilian have three sons and live in the San Francisco Bay Area where Clorox is headquartered.

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Michael J. Robinson
Vice President of Environment, Energy and Safety Policy
General Motors Company

Michael Robinson is Vice President of Environment, Energy and Safety Policy. Prior to his current position, he was Vice-President and General Counsel of North America for General Motors Company and formerly held the same position for General Motors Corporation. Mike joined General Motors in 1984 upon graduation from Villanova Law School and has held a number of positions on the General Motors Corporation Legal Staff.

Before assuming the NA General Counsel role in 2008, Mike served as a Practice Area Manager and then Managing Attorney responsible for a variety of regulatory functions including environmental issues, vehicle regulation issues (safety and vehicle emissions) and marketing and trade regulation issues. Prior to that, he was the Corporate Compliance Officer and among other things led development of the General Motors Guidelines for Employee Conduct (“Winning with Integrity”). During the 1990’s he also provided counsel to General Motors leadership on matters involving lobbying and government ethics issues.

Mike graduated with a B.A. in Political Science from the College of the Holy Cross (Worcester, MA) in 1977 and was commissioned as an officer in the US Air Force from 1977-1981 serving in Mississippi, Oklahoma and Alaska during those years. He received an M.A. in Political Science and International Relations from Oklahoma State University in 1980 and a J.D. from Villanova University in 1984.

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Lara Pearson
Leader
The Law Office of Lara Pearson

Lara Pearson is the Leader of the Law Office of Lara Pearson, Ltd. (“LOLP”), an environmentally and socially responsible intellectual property (IP) law firm located on the Northeast shore of Lake Tahoe. LOLP is a Certified B Corporation® that belongs to the Green Business Network and 1% for the Planet®. Lara’s firm focuses on serving other LOHAS businesses and individuals in their trademark and copyright matters including: IP identification; clearance; registration; transfers; dispute resolution; and litigation.

In addition to its internal sustainability practices, Lara’s firm has donated over $85,000 in funds and legal services to environmental groups including Green America, 1% for the Planet, Rocky Mountain Sustainable Living Association, the Tahoe Rim Trail Association, and Rock the Earth since 2006. Lara serves as the Secretary of the Board of 1% for the Planet and on the Advisory Board of Rock the Earth.

LOLP was the first law firm in Nevada and amongst the first fifteen nationwide to meet the ABA/EPA Law Office Climate Challenge and was the first Incline Village business to become certified under the regional Keep the Sierra Green program. Lara speaks frequently on sustainability issues, including moderating two sustainability panels at New Noise Conference this fall.

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Dr. Karl Wald
Owner and CEO
Mr. Ellie Pooh LLC

Dr. Karl Wald received his PhD in biochemistry and molecular biology from the University Of North Dakota School Of Medicine in 2002. He then did a post-doctorial ship in nutritional genetics with the USDA from 2002-04.

After completing his research, Dr. Wald headed over to Sri Lanka where he worked as a volunteer teaching English to underprivileged children and shadowing an elephant veterinarian. During his stay he met Thusitha Ranasinghe whose family ran a small handmade paper facility. Guess what, they were putting fiber from elephant poo in their paper! Over many nights of cold beer and hot curry, with minds in motion, a plan developed. Let’s give meaningful and fairly-traded paper-making and artisan jobs in area where they are slaughtering elephants and their habitat. Let’s give value to these noble beasts.

Dr. Wald opened Mr. Ellie Pooh LLC in 2004 at the downtown farmers market, Minneapolis, MN and hasn’t looked back. They started out with 50 people working at one facility in Sri Lanka. They now help employ over 200 in three different locations where elephant conservation is the theme.

Mr. Ellie Pooh was a 2006 BBC/World Challenge winner and was Co-op America’s 2008 Green Business of the Year.

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Andrew Hargadon
Professor of Technology Management
Graduate School of Management at UC Davis

Andrew Hargadon is a Professor of Technology Management at the Graduate School of Management at University of California, Davis and author of How Breakthroughs Happen: The Surprising Truth About How Companies Innovate (Harvard Business School Press 2003). Andy’s research focuses on the effective management of innovation and the strategic role of design in managing technology transitions, particularly in the development and commercialization of sustainable technologies. He has written extensively on knowledge and technology brokering and the role of learning and knowledge management in innovation and has published numerous articles and chapters in leading scholarly and applied publications. His research has been used to develop or guide new innovation programs in organizations as diverse as Hewlett-Packard, Avery Dennison, Clorox, Edmunds.com, Mars, Canadian Health Services, and Silicon Valley start-ups. He teaches corporate executive programs and serves on the advisory boards for Physic Ventures and American River Ventures.

As the founding director of two key centers at the University of California, Davis—the Center for Entrepreneurship and the Energy Efficiency Center—Andy is at the forefront of teaching, research, and practice in cross-disciplinary entrepreneurship. The centers are dedicated to promoting entrepreneurship and innovation through educational programs bridging science, engineering, and business and they provide a successful framework for university scientists and engineers to move their ideas out of the lab and into the world.

Andy launched the Center for Entrepreneurship at the UC Davis Graduate School of Management in 2006. The center’s programs are designed for science and engineering graduate researchers and faculty and include four one-week entrepreneurship academies as well as a year-long fellows program. The academies provide a framework for universities to build a network between their research and the investment community and combine a comprehensive and pioneering curriculum developed by Andy with hands-on exercises that participants use to develop business opportunities and investigate the potential opportunities for commercialization around their research. The curriculum is taught by university faculty and practicing professionals: venture capitalists, angel investors, entrepreneurs, intellectual property lawyers, and others.

In 2006, Andy also launched the nation's first university-based Energy Efficiency Center at UC Davis and served as the founding director. As Director, he built relationships with the three largest independently-owned utility companies (PG&E, Sempra, and Edison International), the California Public Utility Commission and the California Energy Commission, venture capitalists and entrepreneurs in the market, and major customers like WalMart and Chevron Energy Solutions. The EEC works with faculty researchers to identify and develop the commercial potential of their research as well as prepares graduates students in engineering, science, and business to build successful businesses advancing technologies in energy efficiency, including buildings, transportation, and agriculture and food processing.

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Bob Domenz
Founder and President
Avenue

Bob Domenz is founder and president of Avenue, a brand marketing and communications firm that focuses on launching new companies and products, and re-thinking new directions for existing brands. A particular area of expertise is helping executives define their company’s genuine purpose, spark innovation and transform their offerings, culture and market presence.

Bob has worked with a range of companies including Interface – the worlds largest sustainable manufacturer of modular flooring, Clarke (environmental products and services), SCA Tissue (ranked the greenest tissue paper company in the world), IBM, Weber Grill, Canyon Ranch, Harley-Davidson, General Electric and Coca-Cola, among others.

Prior to founding Avenue, Bob led the Brand Strategy and Retail/Consumer Goods practice for iXL/Scient — an agency with 23 offices worldwide. Bob has been recognized by dozens of industry and business publications and awards. He is an active speaker and judge on the issues of branding and marketing strategy. He recently graduated from Harvard Business School's Executive Management program on Brand and Marketing Strategy, is a member of the TED Conference, a Kellogg Innovation Network (KIN) Delegate, and participant in the Midwest Entrepreneur Forum, a non-profit group that reviews business plans and provides consultation for startups.

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Lyell Clarke
President and CEO
Clarke

Lyell Clarke is the President and CEO of Clarke and all affiliated companies. Lyell has spent more than 25 years in the Entomology field. He earned his Bachelor’s of Science in Entomology from the University of Kentucky, and went on to receive his PhD in Entomology from Iowa State University. He began his career with Clarke in 1986 as a Control Consultant. In the 23 years since then, he has also served as the Vice-President for the company and went on to assume the role of President and CEO upon his father’s retirement in 1996.

Lyell and his wife Kathy, have four children. John is a recent graduate of Iowa State University and now works in marketing for craft beer manufacturer Goose Island Brewery. Mary and Robert are both grown and she works in the labor industry and he in the building trades. The youngest member of the family, Joseph, is three. The family made the decision to expand one last time and traveled to Russia in order to adopt Joseph. Since the adoption, Lyell and Kathy have remembered how much energy it takes to raise young children!

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Lynn Cecchi
Sales Coordinator
Clarke

Lynn Cecchi is the Sales Coordinator for Clarke’s service division and a member of Clarke’s Sustainability Committee. Her key responsibilities include sales support and customer service, in parallel with spearheading initiatives for Clarke’s sustainability efforts.  Identifying and helping to implement initiatives that align with Clarke’ssustainability goals are integral to Lynn’s duties. Most recently, Lynn has played a key role in Clarke’s fundraising activities to send mosquito bed nets to a region in Africa.

Lynn received her Bachelor of Liberal Arts degree in Psychology and French from Augustana College (Rock Island, IL).

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William B. Rosenzweig
Co-Founder and Managing Director
Physic Ventures

Bill Rosenzweig has spent twenty years integrating the practices and perspectives of an entrepreneur, venture investor and educator. Bill is a co-founder and Managing Director of Physic Ventures, LP, the first venture capital firm dedicated to investing in keeping people healthy by providing capital and expertise to science-based, consumer-driven health and sustainable living companies. The firm’s strategy is to capitalize on major economic, social and political trends shaping the landscape of personal and planetary health, including the rapid migration toward a consumer-driven, prevention-oriented “self-care” paradigm. Physic Ventures is based in San Francisco, CA.

Prior to his current role at Physic Ventures, Bill was most recently co-founder and Managing Partner of Great Spirit Ventures, a $20 million venture fund focused in the health and wellness sector and co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Brand New Brands, a $15 million functional food accelerator fund. Thus far, Brand New Brands has successfully commercialized four new companies.

Bill was founding CEO of The Republic of Tea, an award-winning specialty tea company; Senior Vice President of Odwalla, the nation’s largest fresh juice company; Vice President of Nakamichi; Partner and CEO of Hambrecht Vineyards and Wineries, and Chairman of Winetasting.com. In 1998, he co-founded Venture Strategy Partners, where he played a role in the growth of Stonyfield Farms, Leapfrog, Putumayo and Trinity Springs. He also founded Kingdom of Herbs, a purveyor of organic products for home and garden at the Ferry Building in San Francisco.

Bill has been on the faculty at the Center for Responsible Business at the Haas School of Business at University of California, Berkeley since 1995, where he taught the MBA course in Social Entrepreneurship from 1999-2006. He serves as advisor to the Global Social Venture Competition and has been a visiting faculty member at London Business School and a guest lecturer at Stanford University, Columbia University, University of Southern California, University of California, Davis and University of California, Los Angeles. Bill has served as an advisor and consultant to the Rockefeller Foundation’s ProVenEx Fund, an investment vehicle seeking “double bottom line returns” in for-profit businesses. He was the co-project director and co-author of Rockefeller sponsored research on Social Impact Assessment and design methodologies for measuring and monetizing the social value generated through social focused businesses. Bill is a sought-after speaker and has recently made keynote presentations at Cornell University’s Entrepreneurship Conference, Haas School’s Net Impact Conference and the Foods for Health Entrepreneurship Academy at UC Davis. The has served on the board of directors of Attune Foods, Brand New Brands, Corazonas Foods, Dreamerz Foods, LightFull Foods, Pharmaca Integrative Pharmacy, The Natural Dentist, and World of Good. He has served on the advisory boards of NetImpact, SustainAbility, Accumen Fund, the annual Consumer Medicine Summit, and the Health Evolution Partners Innovation Summit. Bill is a member of the Healthcare Executives Leadership Network (HELN).

Bill is the co-author of The Republic of Tea: How an Idea Becomes a Business (Doubleday 1992, 1994), a bestselling book chronicling the start up of a new company.

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Tim Thornhill
Owner
Parducci Wine Cellars

An accomplished and surefooted leader, Tim Thornhill is focused on the advancement of Mendocino County and the “greening” of Parducci winery, the heart of Parducci. “Sustainability is not a noun but an active evolution,” he says. “We always find room for improvement.”  Tim is dedicated to the well-being of his community, his extended family and their 250 acre ranch:  La Ribera in Talmage, Ukiah Valley.

Born and raised in Houston, Tim describes himself as someone who “started out with a pickup truck and a wheelbarrow and kept working his way up.” As a young man he established a landscaping business in Texas. In 1980 Tim moved to Orlando, Florida where Walt Disney World became his largest account. Following 11 years in Florida, Tim moved to New York State and developed extensive botanical gardens for a private client. Tim’s pioneering work as an arborist and horticultural expert resulted in his mastery of a unique specialty:  successfully moving and re-establishing very large, old trees. Known worldwide for his work with heritage trees, Tim consults today as a Supreme Court Certified Expert Witness in horticulture and construction. He also addresses professional groups, such as the Green Industry Expo. “I can save many more big trees by teaching other people how to safely work around them,” says Tim.

One day, while living in New York State, Tim took inventory of his successes and concluded that his life’s work had helped other people realize their dreams and fantasies. He then set out to build on his own vision: “To reunite our extended family on several hundred acres of land where we can grow something.”  It took four years, visits to ranches across the U.S. and repeated due diligence before Tim and his brother Tom found La Ribera Vineyard, one of Mendocino County’s finest properties. The Thornhill family purchased the ranch in 2002; by the end of the year, Tim, his wife Roselle and their son Tyler moved to La Ribera. Six months later, parents Tommy and Ann Thornhill relocated here from Houston. Kate, Tim’s daughter, followed soon after. Brother Tom and family, involved in both the vineyard and Parducci, split their time between their home in Marin County and the ranch.

Tim views Mendocino County as a great, undiscovered land where history, agriculture, fresh air, natural beauty and warm-spirited people create a comfortable lifestyle. Tim has a passion for changing other people’s perceptions, and his goal is to raise the value of Mendocino grapes, making farming more profitable and the vineyards more valuable than other kinds of land development.

“I see Parducci as a way for Paul, Tom and me to work together to benefit the community while improving things environmentally,” says Tim. The goals of the three men and their families align:  build community, expand the business opportunities and safeguard the environment. Each of the partners has a specialty. Tim is in charge of day-to-day operations, redevelopment of the old Parducci winery and community relations. He spends time each day in the winery’s historic tasting room. Captivated by the history of the old Parducci facility, Tim is collecting and archiving old winery equipment, photos and other records from the past.

Using his vast experience as an innovative landscaper, Tim has designed wetlands and ponds to recycle all winery waste water. “Reduce use and re-use are where I begin. We are so careful about paper here at Parducci, we even recycle our recycled paper. Now we need to focus on water.” 

To realize the company’s goal of enhancing the recognition and perception of Mendocino County wines, Tim spearheaded the development of the Mendocino Winegrape & Wine Commission. This organization, approved by industry vote, assesses growers and vintners, raising funds to promote the reputation of grapes and wines from the county.

Visionary Tim Thornhill is sensitive to being a newcomer in a region where third and fourth generations farm their family vineyards. The newly arrived Thornhill family has a motto:  leave it better than you found it. They are sinking their roots deep in Mendocino County and proving their commitment to the community and environment, and demonstrating their confidence in the area’s economic potential.

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Sheila Gruber McLean
SVP/Director, NA ECO Network
MS&L

Sheila Gruber McLean has extensive experience in media, corporate public relations, education, crisis communications and public affairs. She has worked on environmental initiatives throughout her career, from her days as a reporter covering the issues to helping clients navigate the current BPA and Melamine food controversies, green product launches, corporate CSR initiatives and coalition efforts to promote the use of renewable fuels.

Sheila has been a trusted senior counselor to clients including P&G, Nestlé Nutrition, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Reynolds Wrap, Ferrero, Green Seal, CRO Magazine, the American Public Power Association and GM. Her work has repeatedly earned industry recognition, including the PRSA Silver Anvil, Holmes Report, PR Week, PR News and IABC.

She was managing director of MS&L’s Detroit office before joining the DC team in 2005. Prior to joining MS&L, Sheila was director of safety and environmental affairs at DaimlerChrysler Corp. where she developed and launched an industry-leading child safety program. She also was a communications officer for the C.S. Mott Foundation and senior policy and external affairs advisor to Michigan Gov. John Engler. She began her career as an award-winning reporter for the Detroit News.

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Mark T. Petruzzi
VP, Certification and Strategic Relations
Green Seal

Mark T. Petruzzi is the Vice President of Certification and Strategic Relations for Green Seal. Over the last 13 years, Mark has conducted research on the life-cycle impacts of products and services, developed criteria to address key impacts, and evaluated products and services for compliance with Green Seal’s environmental standards. He has also worked extensively with stakeholders, institutions and government purchasers on a wide range of product and service categories. He holds an MS in Environmental Engineering and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from The George Washington University.

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Tom Pollock
Program Manager
Metafore

Tom Pollock joined Metafore in February 2005. He manages the Paper Working Group (PWG) project, a collaboration of Metafore and nine leadership companies that have a shared goal of making environmentally preferable paper more widely available and affordable in the marketplace. This collaboration resulted in the development of Environmental Paper Assessment Tool® (EPAT). Tom managed the development of the tool from 2005, launching EPAT 1.0 in 2006, and EPAT 2.0 in the Spring of 2008. Tom focuses on consulting on Metafore client engagements related to environmental efficiency and policy, as well as forest product life cycle analysis. He is also managing the development of Metafore’s Web-based initiative on the Paper Life Cycle.

Tom earned a B.A. in English from the University of Iowa and an M.B.A. from the Illinois Institute of Technology with an emphasis in Environmental Management.

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Jeff Weinberger
Chair
Cisco WebEx Green Initiative

Jeff Weinberger’s relationship with the business world began before the Internet was invented and long before the truth became inconvenient.

Jeff’s career has focused on the relationship between companies and their customers, their people, the rest of their constituents and the environment, and how those relationships drive innovation and competitive advantage. Jeff has helped companies disrupt their markets, create, adapt to and capitalize on changes in those markets and establish dominant leadership positions.

Jeff has worked with industry-leading companies such as Cisco, SAP, Sun Microsystems, Ernst & Young and AT&T, along with a range of smaller companies of which you’ve likely never heard, to help them separate from the competition, re-define their businesses and create breakthrough leadership. He is known as a thought-leader in marketing, Web 2.0/Enterprise 2.0 and sustainable innovation.

Currently applying his disruptive energy to the business of sustainability, Jeff leads the sustainability and corporate social responsibility initiatives for Cisco WebEx. He is an active member of Environmental Entrepreneurs (E2), Clean Economy Network, the Marketing Executives Networking Group and a variety of other organizations.

Jeff holds a BA degree in computer science and economics from Columbia University and an MBA in marketing and strategy from the University of Chicago’s Graduate School of Business. He lives in San Francisco with his lovely wife, Lauren Hauptman, whom he is trying to convince to compost. He can often be found twittering (@jweinberger), Wii-ing and blogging (disruptivemarketing.jeffweinberger.com).

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Toni Shields
Senior Vice President
GfK Roper Consulting and GfK Roper Public Affairs & Media

Toni Shields is Senior Vice President in the GfK Roper Consulting and GfK Roper Public Affairs & Media divisions, with responsibility for business development and client relationships.

Toni works with the GfK Roper suite of service which encompasses: GfK Roper Reports® US, GfK Roper Reports® Worldwide, GfK Green Gauge® and GfK Roper Youth Report™.

In the GfK Roper Public Affairs & Media, Toni is responsible for the business development of the Anholt-GfK Roper Nation Brands Index (NBI); a service which tracks and trends nations' image and reputation around the world.

Toni has worked in the consumer trends arena for over 18 years. Her clients have included many of the Fortune 500 companies; and she has experience in sectors such as health, beauty, financial services, media, technology, food and beverage.

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