Anne Therese Gennari is a TEDx speaker, podcaster, workshop host, and educator on climate change. For more than a decade she has been promoting climate optimism to help people cope with climate change and make decisions to create the climate-just future she believes awaits us. She has brought her message to schools, companies, and organizations, including City College of New York, Columbia University, the Fashion Institute of Technology, BMW, and Tetra Pak. Anne Therese hopes The Climate Optimist Handbook will be a gateway for people everywhere to step into the empowered roles we ought to play during our time here on Earth.

Ebony Twilley Martin is the former Executive Director of Greenpeace USA. As an accomplished operations leader and justice, equity, diversity & inclusion strategist, Ebony has over fifteen years of experience in the corporate and non-profit sectors. At Greenpeace USA, she develops the overall strategic direction, representation, policy, resources, communications and operations. With a passion for equity in the environmental movement, Ebony is a champion and change agent for environmental justice and fostering a just, diverse and inclusive work environment and culture. She advances the work of Greenpeace USA through outreach, relationship-building, and partnerships to build a domestic and international progressive movement based in peace, sustainability and social justice. Ebony holds a Masters in Human Resources Management from the University of Maryland. A classically trained vocalist, she received a BA in music from Immaculata University. Ebony’s faith is deeply connected to her pursuit of justice, and she is an active leader in her church. She lives in Washington, DC with her husband, two boys and dog.

Vicky M. Wilkins is acting provost and chief academic officer at American University and professor of public administration and policy. Before assuming this role, she served as dean of AU’s School of Public Affairs (SPA). Under her leadership, SPA experienced remarkable growth in enrollments, implemented structures to effectively disseminate research to a broad audience, created innovative new programs, and fostered a supportive environment where students could thrive. Provost Wilkins’ groundbreaking scholarly work has served as a valuable resource for policy makers and has been featured in a wide range of academic journals. She has also mentored countless undergraduate and graduate students and has been recognized with several teaching awards.

Ambassador Wendall K. Jones is a leader in Media in The Bahamas. He is clearly the most successful journalist of his generation in the country. For the past three decades he has pioneered the creation of enterprises which have changed the face of journalism and communications throughout the society. Mr. Jones began his career as a Journalist with The Broadcasting Corporation of The Bahamas in 1972. His training took him to the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill, Barbados WTV] Channel 4 Miami, Florida; and The Voice of America, Washington, D.C. Mr. Jones has spoken in a number of Seminars on Media in the Caribbean and the Americas, including seminars on Globalization and The Media Looking To The 21st Century, sponsored by the World Media Association in Washington, D.C. and on Communication, Globalization and Democracy, held at Ciespal in Quito, Ecuador.

Tanee Sangrat commenced his duty in Washington, DC in November 2022. He aims to strengthen the “ASP”: (1) US-Thai Alliance, (2) economic and cooperation in Sustainability, and (3) Thailand’s soft power and Participation of Thai American community. Marking the 190th anniversary of US-Thai relations in 2023 is also high on his agenda. As MFA spokesperson and DG of Information Department from 2020-2022 and during Thailand’s APEC host year in 2022, Tanee oversaw national communication campaign and expanded the network with the private sector and other organizations to support the efforts. He was instrumental in the establishment of Thailand’s national soft power committee, began Spokesman Live talk show, and initiated a transition from Saranrom Radio to YouTube MFA Thailand Channel. The Information Department also developed the Mottos and Strategic Communication Unit. Tanee was Ambassador to Vietnam in December 2018 and focused on the three Bs: Business partnership and economic cooperation, Bilateral relations and strengthened strategic partnership, and Building people-to-people relations. Before Vietnam, Tanee served as Consul-General in Los Angeles where he further advanced the consular services including one-day visa, and strengthened the Thai American community through culture and sports. The Thai Community spear headed activities through his facilitation namely: Thai Town Council, Nuad Thai and Spa Association of America, Thai American Friendship Project, Thai Soccer League USA, and Thai Community Cup. As Deputy DG for Southeast Asian Affairs, Tanee strengthened Thailand’s relations with ASEAN countries. As Director from 2010 - 2016, he focused on Thailand’s neighboring countries, and initiated the Foreign Ministers’ Retreat forum and the Mekong Friendship Project for regional youths. As Political Counselor from 2007 – 2010 in Washington, DC, Tanee facilitated the establishment of Friends of Thailand Caucus in Congress and Thai - US relations. In Malaysia from 1997 – 2001, Tanee worked on economic relations and headed the Consular Section. He provided protection for Thai nationals including trafficked victims and undocumented workers. Upon his return from Kuala Lumpur, he worked on migration, and multilateral issues. In 2011, he was seconded to International Organization for Migration (IOM). A graduate of Marquette High School, Alton, IL, Tanee holds a BA in political science from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale and a Master’s of Public and International Affairs from University of Pittsburgh.

Rebecca Leber is a senior climate change reporter at Vox, and on the board of directors for the Society of Environmental Journalists. She worked as an environmental reporter at Mother Jones, an editor at Grist and a staff writer at The New Republic. She is a 2023 finalist for the Covering Climate Now awards, award, a two-time recipient of the SEAL's environmental journalism awards, and has completed fellowships with Vermont Law School and CUNY Journalism School.

Steven Donziger is a lawyer, writer, and environmental advocate known for leading a 27-year legal fight waged by Indigenous groups and farmer communities in Ecuador that resulted in a historic $9.5 billion judgment ordering Chevron to remediate its "Chernobyl" disaster in the rainforest. The judgement, based on court findings that found a deliberate scheme by Chevron to dump cancer-causing waste onto ancestral lands to save money, has been affirmed by the highest courts of Ecuador and Canada. Lauded by BusinessWeek for his "Herculean" tenacity, Steven also has led a variety of international human rights fact-finding and advocacy projects. He served as a public defender in Washington, D.C., and edited a leading text on criminal justice reform published by Harper Perennial. He lives in Manhattan with his wife and son, where he is currently on house arrest for almost two years after challenging a judicial order from a U.S. judge that he turn over his computer and cell phone to Chevron.

At GSA, Jetta advises the Administrator on all things related to climate and energy. She works tirelessly to transition the U.S. government to carbon pollution-free electricity, net-zero buildings and zero-emission vehicles. Previously, Jetta had her own consulting practice and was a Senior Fellow at the Center for Clean Energy Innovation at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation. She also worked at the Department of Energy, where she launched the National Laboratory Impact Initiative in the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy and established the Department-wide Office of Technology Transitions and worked for the U.S. House of Representatives.

Dana R. Fisher is a dynamic speaker and author who writes about activism, democracy and climate policy. Her most recent book, Saving Ourselves: from Climate Shocks to Climate Action was published in 2024 by Columbia University Press. She is the Director of the Center for Environment, Community, & Equity (CECE) and a Professor in the School of International Service at American University. Fisher is a Nonresident Senior Fellow with the Governance Studies program at The Brookings Institution and the chair of the Political Sociology section of the American Sociological Association. She served as a Contributing Author for Working Group 3 of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's Sixth Assessment Review (IPCC AR6) writing about citizen engagement and civic activism.

Emily Atkin is the founder and editor of HEATED, an 80,000+ subscriber Substack newsletter dedicated to climate accountability reporting and analysis. A climate and political journalist for more than a decade, Atkin has previously held reporter and editor positions at The New Republic, MSNBC, Sinclair Broadcast Group, and ThinkProgress. Since founding HEATED in 2019, she has organized partnerships with larger publications like GQ, The Guardian, and NowThis, to bring her independent climate reporting to mainstream audiences. She’s also interviewed several high-profile figures in climate politics for HEATED, including Al Gore, John Kerry, Jane Fonda, and Stacey Abrams. She is a contributor to the climate solutions anthology "All We Can Save.”

Michael Greenberg is the founder of Climate Defiance. His work focuses on using direct action to resist the fossil fuel industry and the politicians supporting it. He earned his BA from Columbia in economics.

Dr. Anderson is an accomplished business strategist with 25+ years of expertise in asset management across fixed income and equity investing, global financial markets, business development, and client engagement. She is a trained macro-economist in developed and emerging markets and has extensive professional and academic expertise in ESG and Sustainable investing.

Matt is a chemist and food scientist whose work ranges from 3D printing to aging gin in oak barrels. Matt is also the American University institutional lead of an NSF-funded research network that aims to understand and reduce wasted food. As the CO2 generated in the production of food that is never used exceeds that of every country except China and the United States, this critical effort is intimately tied to larger efforts around combatting climate change.

Senior Economic Advisor and Chief Environmental Economist for the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), Washington DC (2010-Current). Instrumental in designing, implementing, and providing leadership to the operationalization of concept -Natural Capital culminating into a resolution on Natural Capital passed during UNEP’s Environment Assembly. Currently, he focuses on bringing nature closer to financial and economic planning and models. He leads Inclusive Wealth, Planetary Crisis and Human Development, Financing of SDGs, Nature Based Solutions, Restoration Finance, Human and Planetary Health amongst others.

Brittany Bell Surratt is the senior director of storytelling and communications for Hip Hop Caucus. A dedicated marketing, public relations and crisis communications professional with more than 15 years of experience, Brittany takes pride in creating strategic integrated communications plans to tell stories that position brands and organizations favorably with stakeholders across agency, corporate, non-profit and academic environments. A passionate advocate for young people of color and a natural storyteller, Brittany has devoted her career to advocacy-centered organizations with missions focused on securing equal rights for marginalized communities. A native of Natchez, MS, Brittany graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Broadcast Journalism with a minor in Political Science from Howard University.

Gaya is a published author and researcher on sustainability, with a focus on how global environmental, social, behavioral and economic trends interact. She holds a Master’s degree in Econometrics form the Liberal University of Amsterdam, and another Master in Sustainability from Harvard University. She is a regular speaker at conferences, workshops, and universities around the world. She has published an article about the Club of Rome’s Limits to Growth publications in Yale’s Journal of Industrial Ecology, and her book about this research is set to be released in September 2022. Gaya has contributed to the Earth for All book as a member of the Club of Rome’s Transformational Economics Committee.

Snape is a professor and director of the AU Washington College of Law Program on Environmental and Energy Law. He has written extensively on climate law, both domestically and internationally, and still litigates in federal court on a wide variety of environmental and energy issues.

Shannon Hader, MD, MPH, former Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations and Deputy Executive Director of Programmes at the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), and a prominent leader in the fight against HIV/AIDS in the United States and globally, is the dean of the School of International Service at American University. Before accepting the position at the UN, Dr. Hader served as Director of the Division of Global HIV and TB at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She also has served as Vice President and Director at Futures Group International (now Palladium); as Senior Deputy Director of the HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis, STD, and TB Administration at the District of Columbia Department of Health; Senior Scientific Advisor to the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief at the US Department of State.

Tyler Steinhardt is the Chief Strategy Officer at Vocal Media, a digital marketing agency building the creator economy for good. He specializes in developing creative campaigns focused on climate solutions, from stopping fossil fuel proliferation to advocating for investment in clean energy. Previously he was on the founding team of Pique Action, a media company that produced short documentaries on climate tech solutions.

Jillian is a third-year law student at AU Washington College of Law. Before WCL, she earned a BA and MS in ecology, advised on environmental policy in the US Senate, and helped shape the future of climate forecasting at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. She enjoys debating where litigation fits into the broader environmental movement, getting lost in Westlaw, and hiking with her four-legged son.

John Paul Mejia is a college student and climate justice organizer. Born and raised by a single immigrant mom in the frontline community of Miami, Florida, Mejia's commitment to climate justice began after witnessing the government's response to Hurricane Irma leave his community members behind. Propelled into action, Mejia has since organized for climate justice at institutional, local, and federal levels, engaging students, community members, unions, and elected officials along the way. Today, his devotion to movement-building continues in his work as an organizer and the chief national spokesperson for the Sunrise Movement. As a Frederick Douglass Distinguished Scholar at American University and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences' commission on Accelerating Climate Action, he centers a value-driven and critical approach in his scholarship as he does in his activism.

Ros Donald is an Assistant Professor of Climate, Environmental Justice, Media, and Communication at American University. She researches how climate change communication can be made more just and effective, combining archival research, interviews, and document analysis to weave together the connections between histories of environmental injustice and today's climate debate. She holds a PhD in Communications from Columbia University and was a Postdoctoral Associate at the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science. She has shared her findings with stakeholders ranging from local governments to large businesses. Before she began her PhD, she was Deputy Editor of Carbon Brief, a climate science and policy website, where she specialized in climate communication and disinformation.

Dr. Thomas Snitch is Director of Federal Relations and Counsellor to the President of Bowling Green State University. During his 47 years in Washington, DC, he has served at NASA, the US Department of State, the White House and the National Academy of Science. He has worked in the C-Suites of Lockheed Martin, Hitachi, Microsoft, OneWeb and GeoEye. From 2011-16, Dr. Snitch served as Chairman of the Board of the University of Maryland’s College of Computing, Mathematical and Natural Sciences and held a Distinguished Senior Professorship in Maryland’s Institute for Advanced Computer Studies. His research focuses on using high resolution satellite imagery, UAVs, and mathematical modeling to address transnational crime. Dr. Snitch holds a BA in Chinese, an MA and PhD in International Economics, an MA in Japanese and did his postdoctoral work in nuclear and reactor physics.

Lisa is new to the climate movement and got involved when her daughter became a climate activist protesting the Mountain Valley Pipeline 5 years ago. She is a former peace corps volunteer, mother, small business owner, and joined Third Act Virginia as a volunteer right after it was formed. She has since planned actions big and small and participated in many envrionmental protests in the DMV area.

Brooke leads up social media interventions, campaigns and related partnerships as part of Rare’s Climate Culture program and Entertainment Lab. Rare’s work with creators leverages the science of human behavior and the power of storytelling to accelerate change. Brooke’s career in advertising and marketing included a long stint in the recycling industry where she led several award-winning campaigns that laid the groundwork for her work at Rare.

Phil Kangas leads LPO’s business development activities to engage with potential applicants and help borrowers move through pre-application consultations and the application process. OBD’s focus is to help energy industry leaders understand, apply for, and attain the right loan to enable their clean energy technologies to cross the “bridge to bankability” and achieve deployment at scale. Prior to joining DOE, Mr. Kangas spent 25 years in the private sector as a management consultant, including a 20+ year career at Grant Thornton LLP where he led the firm’s National Energy Advisory practice for Renewable Energy, Natural Resources & Mining clients. He also led the Federal sciences portfolio, including work delivered at the DOE, National Science Foundation, and National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Brianna Weck works as the Grants and Finance Specialist for the Secretariat of the High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People. She contributes to the HAC Secretariat through managing financial resources and providing grants and project management to support the coalition’s mission. Prior to joining HAC, Brianna worked as a Grants and Contracts Analyst within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in the Office of Family Assistance, providing grant monitoring and administration to programs receiving federal funds in the area of relationship education. She also worked in the nonprofit sector doing direct service at a local DC nonprofit that aided young women experiencing homelessness.

Ryan is a Senior Policy Advisor for Third Way's Climate and Energy Program, where he currently advocates the importance of nuclear energy as an essential part of the solution to decarbonize global emissions and address climate change. Within this work, he analyzes how federal policies on clean energy may help the industry support key US economic, climate, and national security interests. Prior to joining Third Way, Ryan worked as a climate policy advocate for the Climate Action Campaign where he focused on efforts to support environmental justice polices and promote broad support for investments in renewable energy.