Focus: Environment/Sustainability
Bryan Eckstein
Bryan Eckstein is Vice President of Project Finance and Business Development at ForeFront Power, a San Francisco-based renewable energy company. He has over a decade of experience developing market-based clean energy solutions, including renewable energy development and finance, corporate energy management, and implementation of market-based climate change programs. Prior to this, he was part of the SunEdison project finance team. He has also consulted in energy, water, and climate change programs for clients including the World Bank, the UNFCCC Secretariat, the US Environmental Protection Agency, the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, Environment Canada, the New Zealand Ministry of Economic Development, the Australian government, and public utility regulators. He started his career…
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Mehmet GĂĽrcan DaimagĂĽler
Dr. Mehmet GĂĽrcan DaimagĂĽler is a German-Turkish human rights and policy adviser lawyer based in Berlin and Bonn. Mehmet is also one of the leading political and cultural activists on German-Turkish issues and was the first German of Turkish descent to be elected to the national board of a German political party, the Free Democratic Party. An outspoken advocate for human rights in Germany, he founded the first political advocacy group for Turkish immigrants in Germany in 1994. He also spearheads inter-religious dialogue in Germany, bridging, in particular, the Muslim-Jewish divide. As a co-plaintiff, he represented several relatives of victims of a neo-Nazi terrorist cell (the National Socialist Underground) at…
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Weslynne Ashton
Weslynne Ashton is Associate Professor at the Illinois Institute of Technology with joint appointments at the Stuart School of Business and the Institute of Design. She is a sustainable systems scientist, whose research, teaching and practice are oriented around transitioning our socio-ecological systems towards sustainability and equity. She studies the adoption of socially and environmentally responsible strategies in business, and the role of innovation and entrepreneurship in addressing social and environmental challenges. Her research is grounded in industrial ecology. Her current work focuses on increasing sustainability and equity in urban food systems, and developing regenerative economies in post-industrial regions and emerging economies. Weslynne previously led Yale University's Industrial Ecology in…
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Eliot Abel
Eliot Abel leads commercial sales & project development at NamastĂ© Solar, a solar energy company based in Colorado, guiding the development of solar projects ranging from 100kW to 10MW. Prior to joining NamastĂ© Solar, Eliot was Founder and Principal of Abel Clean Energy Advisors, a consulting firm that helps commercial property owners and developers utilize innovative financing, such as C-PACE, to implement renewable energy and energy efficiency solutions that increase value, reduce operating costs, and enhance the sustainability of their properties. Earlier in his career, Eliot worked in business development roles at a UK-based thin film solar startup, GE’s global Renewable Energy business, and San Diego-based Renovate America. Eliot serves…
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Roz Savage
Roz Savage is a MP for South Cotswold in the UK. She earned a law degree at Oxford and was a management consultant for eleven years, before an environmental awakening led to her setting out on a life of adventure. She now holds four Guinness World Records for ocean rowing, including first woman to row solo across three oceans: the Atlantic, the Pacific, and the Indian, using her adventures to raise awareness of environmental issues. The author of Rowing the Atlantic, and Stop Drifting, Start Rowing, in 2020 she earned a doctorate with her dissertation titled “Yin Leadership for Tumultuous Times,” and she writes, lectures, and speaks on sustainability, personal…
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Imane Rtabi
Imane Rtabi is a Moroccan information technology entrepreneur and has been instrumental in leading and developing the country's information technology infrastructure through her company, Maghrebnet. Initially founded to bring internet access to homes and businesses in Morocco, Imane restructured Maghrebnet to focus on the integration of communications solutions within large infrastructures, including network installations, perimeter security, electricity and green energy, establishing the company as a major solutions integrator in Morocco while expanding to neighboring countries. Imane co-founded and co-chairs INC Group, an investment company involved in renewable energies, light steel construction, and electrical panel building and distribution. She formerly served as vice president of AFEM in charge of International Relations (The Association…
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Gernot Laganda
Gernot Laganda is leading the Climate and Disaster Risk Reduction Programs at the United Nations' World Food Program (WFP). He supports WFP Country Offices and the governments they serve to understand the effects of climate change on food security, develop strategic measures to reduce climate risks in country programs, and make innovative climate finance instruments work for vulnerable communities. Gernot joined WFP from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), where he managed the world’s largest climate change adaptation program for smallholder farmers. A geoscientist by training, he spent the past 20 years working at the nexus between disasters and development – holding posts with NGOs supporting disaster relief and…
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Marcelo Furtado
Marcelo Furtado has over 30 years of experience working in the sustainability field, committed to advancing environmental and social justice through advocacy and philanthropy. Most recently, he became a Principal at Finance for Biodiversity leading the food transition initiative and co-leading the secretariat of the Task Force on Nature Markets. He was a founding partner at the start-up ZCO2/BlockC, a traceability platform for environmental assets using blockchain technology. He was the CEO of Alana Foundation and ArapyaĂş Institute, family foundations that promote sustainability, social justice and education. Marcelo is a co-founder and was the facilitator of the Brazilian Coalition on Climate Forest and Agriculture, a multi-stakeholder forum with representatives from academia, business and civil society to implement a…
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Srikumar Misra
Sri Misra is a serial entrepreneur shaping the future of decentralized finance through aarnâ protocol, an AI-crypto platform creating the next generation web3 asset management stack to democratize access to the rapidly evolving world of digital assets. As the founder of Milk Mantra, India’s first VC-funded agri-food startup, Sri championed a new-age ethically sourced premium dairy products, gaining recognition as a practitioner of conscious capitalism. His innovative work has earned global media attention and features in top business school case studies. Previously a key member of the Tata Group’s elite TAS, Sri gained international experience in London and Johannesburg and spearheaded M&A in the consumer food & beverage sector. He…
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Elinda Labropoulou
Elinda Labropoulou is an award-winning multi-platform storyteller. She is an internationally published writer, senior broadcaster, and presenter with extensive reporting from global hotspots for leading media including CNN, The Washington Post, BBC, Al Jazeera, and Deutsche Welle. Working for CNN out of Greece, she has produced, directed, and presented news and analysis on the country’s financial crisis, the rise of political extremism, and the ongoing global refugee crisis. Her extensive research and multifaceted storytelling are visible in diverse projects including the Washington Post’s A New Age of Walls, which won the US National Press Foundation’s 2017 Innovation Award. In 2020 she produced Life in a Camp, a pioneering CNN-Imperial War…
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