U.S.  Advisory Board

Bennett Richardson is general manager and global head of public affairs at global media startup Semafor. Richardson comes to Semafor with over two decades of global experience across media, public affairs, strategic communications and marketing. He was most recently Director of Policy Marketing at Google, where he led the team responsible for telling Google's story to policymakers and key opinion formers in the U.S and around the world. Prior to Google, Richardson spent a decade with POLITICO in a number of global executive positions, including Co-Founder of Politico Europe, President of Protocol and Executive Director of the award-winning Politico Focus brand studio. Richardson was also Co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer of the dating brand Hinge. Originally from Portland, Maine, Bennett received his BA from Colgate University. He lives in Washington DC with his wife Lindsey, their two children and their dog Daisy. https://www.linkedin.com/in/bennettrichardson/

David Fenton is the founder of Fenton: The Social Change Agency, which he sold in 2016 to work on climate communications full time. He is also the author of the Activist’s Media Handbook: Lessons from 50 Years as a Progressive Agitator.

As a visionary strategist, operations, and program design leader with proven success in building and leading interdisciplinary teams, Ebony leads cultural change to foster justice, equity, diversity and inclusion. She is a mother, wife and daughter. Now, as the current Executive Director at the largest national legacy environmental organization Ebony is a champion for advancing racial and environmental justice. As she continues to expand her focus to include protecting people’s voting rights and ensuring that everybody is able to participate in our democracy, she knows there is no climate justice without racial justice. As a longtime justice strategist, Ebony is leading Greenpeace in the fight to dismantle systems of oppression and engage more Black and Brown communities in this work — so that there can truly be a greener, more peaceful, more just world for all.

Isaias Hernandez is an environmental justice educator and activist with years of experience in intersectional environmental work. Isaias works with businesses, institutions, and organizations to amplify and empower their environmental missions through science-based storytelling. Isaias is well-known in his field under the social moniker, QueerBrownVegan, his independent media platform with a global audience of over 150,000+ followers. Isaias attended the University of California Berkeley, earning his bachelor's in Environmental Science. Isaias has interviewed Vice President Kamala Harris and was featured on the digital cover of Vogue with Billie Eilish and on the Harvard-C-Change program as Climate Creators 2023 Program.

Jeffrey Coopersmith is founder of Coopersmith Law + Strategy, where he leads a team of diverse talents and backgrounds devoted to solving some of the biggest challenges we face in health care, technology, and climate change. For multi-laterals, Jeffrey’s work includes helping develop programs that deliver real impact, enhancing relationships with the U.S. government, and improving engagement with the private sector. Jeffrey has served as a principal advisor to candidates seeking to become UN Secretary General and Director of UN Women. For private sector clients, Jeffrey helps navigate opportunities and barriers in highly-regulated, highly-fragmented, highly-scrutinized sectors. Companies depend on his understanding of industry, policy, politics, and the law. Jeffrey is an expert in digital transformation. When COVID-19 abruptly altered the business model of the U.S. health care delivery system, Jeffrey and his team worked with tech companies and major medical systems to adjust to virtual delivery of care, integrating clinical and business operations to increase access, improve outcomes, lower costs, and enhance the patient and provider experience. https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffrey-coopersmith/

Nancy Colleton is an internationally known and respected leader in environmental communication and information. As the president of the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) she leads numerous initiatives that promote better understanding of the changing planet. In addition to serving as the deputy chair of the IUCN Commission on Education and Communication (CEC), Ms. Colleton leads the Alliance for Earth Observations and co-chairs the Environmental Information Services Working Group (EISWG) of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Science Advisory Board.

Sherri Goodman is the Secretary General of the International Military Council on Climate & Security and Senior Fellow at the Wilson Center’s Environmental Change and Security Program and Polar Institute. She is credited with educating a generation of U.S. military and government officials about the nexus between climate change and national security, using her famous coinage, “threat multiplier,” to fundamentally reshape the national discourse on the topic. A former first Deputy Undersecretary of Defense (Environmental Security) and staff member on the Senate Armed Services Committee, Goodman has founded, led, or advised nearly a dozen research organizations on environmental and energy matters, national security, and public policy. She currently serves on the National Academies Advisory Committee to the US Global Change Research Program, and is senior climate advisor to the US Government. She holds degrees from Harvard Law School, Harvard Kennedy School, and Amherst College.

Tim Kelly is Executive Director of EarthHQ, the media arm of the Global Commons Alliance, an unprecedented partnership of more than 50 of the world’s most forward-looking organizations in philanthropy, science, business and advocacy. Previously, Tim was a media executive, Emmy Award-winning film producer, and former President of the National Geographic Society. He also serves as an advisor to the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and is Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Planet3, an exploration-based learning platform. As President of the National Geographic Society, Tim transitioned the primarily print-based organization to a global multimedia force and engineered the launch of the National Geographic Channel, National Geographic Films, and a wide array of digital media products. He became the youngest Trustee of the Society and under his lead, the highly acclaimed television production unit would go on to win over 135 Emmy Awards and create programming that served as the cornerstone for the launch of the National Geographic cable networks. Today, the Channel is seen in 165 countries, in 35 languages, by 400 million people and has contributed to National Geographic ranking consistently as one of the top five global media brands.