Dylan has spent nearly two decades building better environmental and social impacts in the nonprofit and public sectors and the Fortune 500. Prior to GreenBiz, she was a lead strategist on the social innovation team at Verizon, where she introduced climate justice as a core element of the company’s climate approach and worked to address the rural digital divide. Formerly, at power company NRG, she developed climate and water strategy, and helped conceive and launch a consultancy to help commercial customers navigate climate action, resilience, clean energy, and energy efficiency.

As the director of buildings at GreenBiz Group James brings his passion and expertise in sustainable buildings to the mission of accelerating the just transition to a clean economy. For 15 years James has pushed the building industry to accelerate the creation of healthy, carbon-free beautiful spaces for all people to work and live. James built the first LEED Platinum Habitat for Humanity home and has consulted on award winning sustainable buildings throughout the US. James volunteers as the Chair of the Net-Zero Energy Coalition, on the Advisory Board of DC’s Building Innovation Hub and on his local Hyattsville Environmental Committee.

Sarah Golden is the VERGE Energy Conference Chair and Senior Analyst for GreenBiz Group. Driven by the urgency of the climate challenge, Sarah follows trends and innovations that are accelerating the clean energy transition. She brings more than a decade of experience in climate, clean energy and politics. She holds B.A. in Politics and Environmental Studies from Whitman College, and was an Annenberg Dean’s Scholar at the University of Southern California, where she earned an M.A. in Communications.

Alex Novarro has devoted his professional life to safeguarding wildlife and their habitats. His goal is to create a world where people can fully appreciate and enjoy the benefits of nature. As a Senior Manager at GreenBiz, Alex is responsible for curating events and content that focus on nature and biodiversity. Alex began his career as a scientist, studying the impacts of climate change on animal populations. He became a national leader for Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation, an organization that brings together private, public, and non-profit sectors to achieve shared conservation objectives. He later worked at The Nature Conservancy, where he directed a program to enhance access to nature and improve climate resilience on protected lands.

Seth Olson’s professional mission is to inspire a sustainable future. He sees the food system as the keystone that best connects the economy, society and environment. At GreenBiz, Seth curates VERGE’s Food Program, co-authors the Food Weekly newsletter and collaborates with the conference team to walk the talk by building and implementing best-in-class sustainable food practices. Prior to GreenBiz, Seth worked on collaborative solutions to global food systems, circular economy and biodiversity challenges. He holds an MSc in Applied Economics and Management from Cornell University and a BSc in Natural Resource Management from the University of Delaware.

Tzeporah Berman BA, MES, LLD (honoris causa) is an award winning author, government policy advisor and environmental campaigner. She is the International Program Director at Stand.earth and the Chair and Founder of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative. In 2019 she was awarded the Climate Breakthrough Award and in 2021 she gave a widely viewed TED Talk presenting the case for a global treaty to phase out fossil fuels.

Dr. Friedmann recently served as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Office of Fossil Energy at the Department of Energy where he was responsible for DOE’s R&D program in advanced fossil energy systems, carbon capture, and storage (CCS), CO2 utilization, and clean coal deployment. More recently, he was a Senior Research Scholar at the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia. He has held positions at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, including Chief Energy Technologist. Dr. Friedmann is one of the most widely known and authoritative experts in the U.S. on carbon removal (CO2 drawdown from the air and oceans), CO2 conversion and use (carbon-to-value), hydrogen, industrial decarbonization, and carbon capture and sequestration.

Heirloom was founded in 2020 by Shashank Samala, the former co-founder of industrial automation software provider Tempo, who grew up in southeast India where he saw those who had done the least to cause the climate crisis suffering the most from its impacts. Shashank was previously Entrepreneur in Residence at Carbon180, a leading climate policy NGO working solely on atmospheric carbon removal. Prior to this, he was a founder at Tempo, a software-accelerated electronics manufacturer which builds mission critical electronics for surgical robots, satellites, reusable rockets, and more. Shashank previously worked at Square and received his Bachelors of Science from Cornell University.

Dr. Jalonne White-Newsome is the Senior Director for Environmental Justice at the White House Council on Environmental Quality.

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.

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.

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.

Melanie Nakagawa is Microsoft’s Chief Sustainability Officer. Ms. Nakagawa has spent nearly 2 decades at the nexus of policy, business and technology where she has been committed to using the power of technology and innovation to advance sustainability. Ms. Nakagawa leads Microsoft’s ambitious plans to become a carbon negative, water positive, and zero waste company. She most recently served as Special Assistant to President Biden and Senior Director for Climate and Energy on the National Security Council at the White House. Prior to the White House, she helped launch Princeville Capital's inaugural global growth equity climate technology fund investing in companies delivering transformative solutions to climate change. Ms. Nakagawa received a J.D. and M.A. from American University and A.B from Brown University.

Kate Brandt is Google's Chief Sustainability Officer and leads sustainability across worldwide operations, products and supply chains. In 2014 President Obama appointed Kate to serve as the Federal Environmental Executive and she became the Nation's first Federal Chief Sustainability Officer. Kate is the recipient of the Distinguished Public Service Award, the highest award the U.S. Navy can give to a civilian, for her work helping the Navy go green.

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.

Xiye Bastida is a Climate Justice Activist who advocates for the centering of frontline communities in climate policy. She organized with Fridays For Future NYC for three years, where she helped mobilize up to 300,000 people for climate strikes. In 2020, she co-founded Re-Earth Initiative, which is a youth-led Climate Justice education organization. Xiye is a public speaker who often attends UN conferences as a delegate to advocate for youth and Indigenous rights. She is the author of “Calling In,” the opening essay in the “All We Can Save” anthology. She currently attends the University of Pennsylvania where she is pursuing a BA in Environment Studies.

Jerome Foster II is an environmental activist, voting rights advocate, and emerging technology engineer. He sits on President Biden’s White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council. Based in New York City, but born and raised in Washington DC, he served as intern for the late Honorable John Lewis and served as Board Member for the DC State Board of Education. He now serves as Executive Director of OneMillionOfUs which educates and mobilizes young people to register and turn out to vote. He studied International Environmental Governance, Policy, and Social Justice at Harvard University and was invited to speak at the United Nations High Commission on Human Rights. Jerome helped to pass the Clean Energy DC Act (one of the most comprehensive decarbonization bills being implemented in the nation). He is one of the lead organizers of the Fridays For Future youth climate strike movement holding weekly climate strikes in front of the White House and Harvard University for over 80 weeks. For the first climate strike in February, 2019, he mobilized 400 students from his school and took a citywide leadership role in organizing climate strikes and speaking out about climate justice issues in rallies and town halls. Later on, he began working alongside Jane Fonda to kickstart Fire Drill Fridays in front of the U.S. Capitol. His experience in climate activism extends further via his work with National Geographic, where we journey across the island of Iceland as a Climatology Researcher and Virtual Reality Developer. Before his time as an activist, he coded civic-based 3D Virtual Reality Environments. Later winning the World Series of Entrepreneurship for creating a civic-based virtual reality organization called TAU VR.

Yana Garcia was appointed California Secretary for Environmental Protection by Governor Gavin Newsom in August 2022. As Secretary, Yana oversees the state’s efforts to fight climate change, protect air and water quality, regulate pesticides and toxic substances, achieve the state’s recycling and waste reduction goals, and advance environmental justice. As a member of the Governor’s cabinet, she advises the Governor on environmental policy. Garcia is nationally recognized as a groundbreaking environmental leader who has worked hard to uplift the voices of those from disadvantaged communities. Since 2021, Garcia has served as Special Assistant Attorney General advising California Attorney General Rob Bonta on the California Department of Justice’s legal and policy matters pertaining to the environment, land law and natural resources including climate, transportation, energy, and housing. She was Deputy Secretary for Environmental Justice, Tribal Affairs and Border Relations at CalEPA from 2019 to 2021 and had been CalEPA’s Assistant Secretary for Environmental Justice and Tribal Affairs from 2017 to 2019. During her tenure at CalEPA, Garcia led three Environmental Justice Task Force Initiatives in the communities of Pomona, Imperial County and Stockton. She also led the program that delivered more than $1 million in Environmental Justice Small Grants to 28 organizations to combat pollution, improve health outcomes and increase public engagement in some of California’s most pollution-burdened communities. Prior to her state service, Garcia litigated environmental cases on behalf of several client groups across the state and across the country, as an attorney at Earthjustice in the California regional office in San Francisco. Garcia was also a staff attorney at Communities for a Better Environment, serving in Huntington Park and Oakland. Her legal practice areas have focused on environmental justice issues, civil rights, land use, toxics and chemical disclosure, oil and gas extraction, and crude transport. Between 2011 and 2012, Garcia served as a legal research attorney at the San Francisco Superior Court’s Civil Division, Office of the Presiding Judge.

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.

Gabriel Kra co-founded Prelude Ventures in 2013, after almost 25 years as an investor, entrepreneur, scientist, and activist. He is responsible for overseeing the firm’s investments in advanced energy, food and agriculture, transportation and logistics, advanced materials and manufacturing, and advanced computing. Gabrielserves on the Board of Directors for Renew Financial, Ripple Foods, Sense Labs, PLANT PV, Natron Energy, ClearMetal, Raxium, and Form Energy, and is active with Metalenz, Zymergen, Planet, QuantumScape, Catalog, Emergy and Spark Thermionics. Gabrielalso serves on the Board of Directors of Activation Energy and The CREO Syndicate, and on advisory boards for Cyclotron Road, Prime Coalition, and Carbon180.

Jamie Alexander is the Founding Director of Drawdown Labs, Project Drawdown’s private sector testing ground for accelerating the scaling of climate solutions quickly, safely, and equitably. Jamie developed and launched Drawdown Labs in early 2020 and has led the program to push the boundaries of private sector climate action. Her popular TEDx talk "No matter where we work, every job is a climate job now" helped usher in a new wave of employee climate activism inside the world’s most influential companies.Jamie previously worked for Ceres, and has served as a civil and foreign service officer with USAID, for the nonprofit The Cultural Conservancy and the UN Office of the Secretary-General.Jamie has been a guest on popular news outlets to talk about climate solutions, including CNN International, The Weather Channel, Al Jazeera and NPR. She has also authored numerous articles and op-eds on climate change, including for CNN and Fast Company.

Vartan Badalian is accelerating the fight against climate change and developing the sustainable transport industry. He is deeply passionate about his work and personal mission to transform the transport industry. Before joining GreenBiz Group as the Transportation Analyst, Vartan worked across government, private sector, and the NGO community on all things electric vehicles and transport, previously leading the Climate Group's EV100 initiative and as corporate counsel for an EV charging startup. As an industry leader, attorney, and policy professional, Vartan brings a deep background to GreenBiz. Vartan holds a Bachelor of Science from SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry and a Juris Doctorate from Lewis & Clark Law School. He was named a 2021 GreenBiz 30 Under 30 by GreenBiz Group, a 2022 Future Climate Leader by The Aspen Institute, and a 2022 35 Under 35 Rising Star of the Electric Vehicle Industry by Business Insider.

Sherrie Totoki leads the Accelerate program at GreenBiz, which includes searching and selecting startups to participate in VERGE programming. She also works on building out and fostering the innovation ecosystem through GreenBiz events and online platforms. Prior to joining GreenBiz, Sherrie led accelerator operations at Elemental Excelerator and worked on various consulting projects in the sustainability industry. She also has a background in high-tech recruiting and operations.

Tom Chi has worked in roles ranging from astrophysical researcher to Fortune 500 consultant to corporate executive leading hardware/software team to develop innovative products & services. He pioneered and practices a unique approach to rapid prototyping and leadership that can jumpstart innovative new ideas and move large organizations at unprecedented speeds. He was head of Product Experience and a founding member of Google X, and currently works to accelerate a future where humanity becomes a net positive to nature as Managing Partner of At One Ventures.

Sophie Purdom invests with conviction in early-stage climate technology founders and their companies via her $75M venture capital fund, Planeteer Capital. She writes Climate Tech VC to bring perspective and data to 50,000+ subscribers, and helps steer CTVC’s climate market intelligence platform. Prior, Sophie started a carbon-negative fertilizer company, launched an early institutional ESG fund, and learned to make pretty decks at Bain & Co.