Jon Smieja works to accelerate the transition from a linear to a circular economy. He is the Vice President and Senior Analyst on the circular economy at GreenBiz Group, where he leads the company’s circularity strategy, programs, and partnerships.

Dr. Garry Cooper is the Co-founder and CEO of Rheaply, a Chicago-based climate tech, which scales reuse programs for large organizations, by helping them better utilize physical resources. He also serves as vice chair on P33 Chicago’s board as well as a board member of 1871 and Northwestern's Master of Product Design and Management program. He is a founding partner at LongJump Ventures. Previously, Dr. Cooper served on the faculty of Northwestern University and facilitated supply chain improvements for enterprise businesses at Ernst & Young. He holds a Ph.D. in neuroscience from Northwestern University, a certificate in management from the Kellogg School of Management, and a BS & BA in mathematics and chemistry from Indiana University. He also has a 7 year old rescue dog named Sasha that takes up most of his free time, in the best way possible.

Bryan Lewis leads the Emerging Leaders program at GreenBiz.org, which elevates, cultivates and supports the next generation of Black, Indigenous and other leaders of color (BIPOC) in the climate community. Prior to joining GreenBiz, Bryan served as Executive Director of EcoWorks Detroit where he led climate and energy education, building decarbonization, and local community organizing initiatives. He has a background in youth mentorship and career development and currently leads a network of emerging clean energy leaders in Michigan.

Eric Faurot leads GreenBiz Group, the leading B2B media company amplifying sustainable innovation. In this role he is responsible for the overall strategy and growth of the company. Previously he managed and produced some of the most influential technology events, including COMDEX, INTEROP, Black Hat and Web 2.0. Most recently he grew the technology division of UBM from $38 million to $63 million in three years.

Heather Clancy, vice president and editorial director at GreenBiz, specializes in chronicling the role of technology in enabling corporate climate action and transitioning to a clean, inclusive and regenerative economy. An award-winning journalist, she started her journalism career on the business desk of United Press International, and her articles have appeared in Entrepreneur, Fortune, The International Herald Tribune and The New York Times. Clancy was the launch editor for the Fortune Data Sheet, the magazine's newsletter dedicated to the business of technology. She co-authored the Amazon best-seller for entrepreneurs, "Niche Down, How to Become Legendary By Being Different." She is proud to serve on the boards of the WSLA Alumnae Group, a mentorship organization dedicated to nurturing feminine leadership in the corporate sustainability movement, and EcoAthletes, a collective of collegiate, professional and amateur athletes dedicate to using their voices to surface solutions to climate change.

Gregory Mulholland is the founder and CEO of Citrine Informatics, the Generative AI platform enabling the faster development and deployment of the next generation of materials and chemicals. He is an internationally recognized leader in both materials technology and digital transformation and has led Citrine to work with some of the world’s largest and most important materials and chemicals companies to create greener, less expensive, and more performant products. He has been honored as a Technology Pioneer at the World Economic Forum, won the Start Up and Scale Up challenges at the World Materials Forum, and been awarded over a dozen other start-up and business awards.

Zahra is a youth climate activist and entrepreneur that has been sharing action items and tidbits of hopeful news for the planet for over 2 years to ~50K people on her social media platforms. She is the CEO and Founder of In the Loop, a circular economy software startup, the author of forthcoming book “Climate Optimism: Climate Wins and Creating Systemic Change Around the World”, and a TED Speaker.

Molly Kawahata is a strategist, public speaker, advocate, and former Climate Advisor at the Obama White House. She is the Founder of Systemic Impact Strategies, a consultancy specializing in organizational development, climate strategy, and communications. Her life story, depicted in Patagonia's film, THE SCALE OF HOPE, can be watched here: https://bit.ly/3pEcm6n. The film intimately explores her pursuit of climbing steep ice faces in Alaska, her personal struggle with mental health, and her work to transform climate narratives by infusing them with hope and empowerment. The film has resonated with audiences worldwide, amassing over one million views on YouTube, streaming on Delta Airlines, and being inducted into the permanent collection at the New York Museum of Modern Art. Molly is an Advisory Board Member to the Environmental Voter Project and an Advisory Council Member to the AAPI Victory Fund. Outside of work, Molly is an avid ice climber, with a focus on climbing mountains the Alaska Range. An introduction to the film can be viewed here: https://rb.gy/pxe2y

Julia Marsh is the CEO and co-founder of Sway, a clean tech startup scaling seaweed-based, home-compostable packaging. Julia spent over a decade designing brand and packaging systems for consumer goods companies, technology startups, and design studios around the world. Her work is driven by a deep passion for regenerative design and biological circularity.

Jake Mitchell manages the Accelerate program at GreenBiz, which includes searching and selecting startups to participate in VERGE programming. He also collaborates on event design, strategy, and content to grow GreenBiz’s innovation ecosystem. Prior to GreenBiz, Jake worked across various industries including film & podcast production, sales & marketing for early stage startups, and non profits in renewable energy and economic development. Currently, Jake is pursuing his MBA in Sustainability at Bard College. Outside of work, you can find him in the woods playing disc golf, upside down in a handstand, or following the whims of his golden retriever.

Hannah is a climate investor and operator. She invests in and advises executives as they scale up their first demonstrations and commercial projects. Hannah helped launch a new venture capital fund, Planeteer Capital, that invests as the Pre-Seed climate lead for founders navigating the climate capital stack. Planeteer invests in the insights derived from Sightline Climate (formerly the Climate Tech VC newsletter, or CTVC), now a leading climate intelligence platform that tracks all climate deals and projects across sectors. Prior, Hannah spent ~4 years investing in the circular economy at Closed Loop Partners, a multi-asset class investment firm. As an original 1 of 2 on the Ventures team, she was involved in the deal process for nearly a dozen completed investments, supported the fundraise of a $50m+ second vintage fund, and built out the firm’s subject matter expertise on carbon utilization and compostable packaging materials - work that informed key sustainability decision makers of Fortune 100 companies including Walmart, Microsoft, Nestle, PepsiCo, P&G and more. Hannah is climate native - quite literally. As an Indigenous woman from tribes in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska, Hannah cares deeply about the intersectional impacts of climate change. She has trained as a systems thinker to help be a part of the solution, earning her Master's of Sustainability Management and Bachelor's in Sustainable Development from Columbia University.

Jennifer Louie is a managing director at Closed Loop Partners (CLP). She is responsible for the firm’s catalytic private investment strategy, which makes impact-first debt and equity investments in companies and projects across North America that improve the circularity of plastics and packaging materials. Prior to joining CLP, Jennifer spent the last ten years managing emerging market debt portfolios across both the public and private markets. It was through Jennifer’s experience of living and working in emerging markets that she developed an interest in the role of catalytic capital and impact investing.

Joanne Rodriguez (LEED AP, Fitwel Ambassador, CDT) is Founder & CEO of Mycocycle, which employs applied mycology to remove toxins from waste and create new biobased material inputs. Addressing the decarbonization of the waste management sector, Joanne started her company with the goal of improving recycling rates of the 4th largest waste stream being landfilled: construction and demolition debris and now addresses some of the highest volume waste streams generated on a daily basis. Recognized for her innovation by Forbes Magazine, FastCompany, and the EPA she is shifting the paradigm on how we view waste: as a reusable resource, not a burden. Prior to founding Mycocycle, Joanne was Director of Sustainability for a major manufacturer of building materials, headed an environmental consulting firm and continues to be recognized as a sustainability leader in the construction products industry. She is a specialist in technologies like the circular economy, biomimicry and green chemistry, and has decades of experience leading cross-divisional sales and technical teams to success. She has participated in convenings at the United Nations, Clinton Global Initiative, and GreenBiz while lending her technical expertise to the US Green Building Council, the American Energy Innovators Network, and the Environmental Protection Agency.

Yael Shemer is an environmental entrepreneur, and is the co-founder and chief customer officer of TULU, a series A, MIT DesignX venture and an on-demand physical and digital platform that operates in residential buildings and student housing, providing residents with access to household items they can rent by the hour. Her company raised nearly $30 million dollars and operates in 30 cities serving 70K people worldwide. Her main passion is urban sustainability and innovation. Prior to co-founding TULU, she has been an environmental entrepreneur and led several ventures in the field of urban communities and sustainable living. Her professional academic background includes an environmental science degree and training from Columbia University Transboundary Environmental Management course, a Harvard Business School social entrepreneurship seminar. In 2023 she was selected as a forbes 30 under 30, and today she is inspired more than ever to help advance technologies on mitigating climate change, circular economy, and promoting responsible consumerism.

U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) is leading the fight in Congress to take on the plastic production and pollution crisis, holding the first-ever series of hearings on plastics. Plastic production is a major driver of carbon pollution and climate chaos. And now micro- and nano-plastics are being found in everything we touch, from our food and water to our own blood. Senator Merkley has reintroduced the Break-Free From Plastic Pollution Act to reduce single-use plastics, hold corporations accountable for their waste, and bring Oregon’s “bottle bill” to the national stage to address this crisis for the next generation.

For more than 35 years, Joel has been a well-respected voice on business, sustainability and innovation. An award-winning entrepreneur, author, speaker and strategist on corporate sustainability practices, climate tech and the clean economy, he has advised a wide range of companies on how to align sustainability with business success.

Javier Quiñones is a forward-thinking and passionate leader with an enduring connection to IKEA values. As CEO and Chief Sustainability Officer of IKEA U.S., he guides over 18,000 coworkers towards the IKEA vision: to create a better everyday life for the many people by offering well-designed, functional and affordable, high-quality home furnishing, produced with care for people and the environment. Javi joined IKEA Badalona in Barcelona as a sales coworker in 1999. His leadership experience spans three different retail markets around the world, including Store Manager in IKEA Spain; Country Retail Manager in IKEA UK and Ireland; and now Country Retail Manager of IKEA US.

Esther Speck is SVP, Global Sustainable Business and Impact at Lululemon.