Guest Speakers
Class 2 - Mike Wallace, Vice President Trucost.
Mike Wallace, is the Vice President, North American Operations of Trucost (www.trucost.com). He has over 15-years of environmental consulting experience. The first half of his career focused on conducting environmental due diligence for corporate mergers and acquisitions (M&A). He served as the M&A Program Manager for Environmental Resources Management’s (ERM) Western Region and has conducted hundreds of facility inspections for multi-national buy-side clients. In this capacity, Mr. Wallace assessed environmental liabilities for US and international corporations and quantified findings for use in deal negotiations. For the later half Mr. Wallace has focused his due diligence expertise on the growing interest in corporate environmental transparency and the nexus between environmental performance and corporate governance. He has worked with numerous Fortune 500 companies, government agencies and international NGOs. He has authored numerous articles on corporate environmental performance, has participated in international working groups on the subject and speaks regularly on the topic of environmental transparency and governance.
Mike Wallace's PowerPoint Slides
Class 3 - Rachel Tornek, Senior Policy Manager, California Action Registry
As Senior Policy Manager, Rachel Tornek develops new GHG accounting standards for the Registry, including emissions reduction protocols and industry-specific protocols. Rachel also plays a leading role in liaising with the state of California as it develops GHG reduction policies, and represents the Registry with a variety of stakeholder groups to help ensure the development of consistent, high quality GHG accounting standards. Rachel was previously the Manager of Member Services at the Registry, where she provided technical assistance on the protocols and developed tools and resources to help members successfully report and certify GHG emissions inventories. Prior to joining the Registry, Rachel worked on environmental issues with Toyota Motor Sales’ Environmental Coordination Office, the Climate Change and Wildlife campaign at the National Wildlife Federation and Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute. Rachel completed her Master’s degree in Environmental Science and Management at the Bren School at UC Santa Barbara. She earned her BS in Ecology, Behavior and Evolution at UC San Diego.
Rachel Tornek's PowerPoint Slides
Class 4 - Steve Glenn, Founder & CEO, LivingHomes.
Steve Glenn is the Founder and CEO of Living Homes, an architectural and real estate development company which utilizes progressive architects to design and develop modern, prefabricated green homes. Living Homes recently completed the first single family home to receive the United States Green Building Council's LEED Platinum certification
Class 5 - Nancy Sutley, Deputy Mayor for Energy and Environment, City of Los Angeles
Ms. Sutley currently serves as the Deputy Mayor for Energy and Environment for the City of Los Angeles, and is also Mayor Villaraigosa’s appointment to the Board of Directors for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. From 2003 to 2005, Ms. Sutley served on the California State Water Resources Control Board where she was confirmed by the California State Senate in 2003. The five-member, full-time board is responsible for protecting water quality and resources throughout California. Ms. Sutley also served as Governor Gray Davis’ Energy Advisor where she managed state and federal regulatory, legislative, financial and press matters, and served as the Deputy Secretary for Policy and Intergovernmental Relations within the California Environmental Protection Agency (Cal/EPA) from 1999-2003. During President Clinton’s administration, Ms. Sutley was a Senior Policy Advisor to the Regional Administrator for EPA, Region 9 in San Francisco and a Special Assistant to the Administrator at the Federal EPA in Washington, DC. Ms. Sutley received her Masters in Public Policy from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and an undergraduate degree from Cornell University.
Green Los Angeles An Action Plan to Lead the Nation
In Fighting Global Warming
http://www.lacity.org/ead/EADWeb-AQD/GreenLA_CAP_2007.pdf
Class 6 - Robert Vos, USC.
Dr. Vos holds a Ph.D. in political science and focuses
mostly on environmental politics and policy. Since 1999, he has been
with the Center for Sustainable Cities at the University of Southern
California where he is a Research Assistant Professor of Geograpy. His
research emphasis is in the area of industrial ecology, including
projects on regional materials flow analysis, eco-industrial park
planning, life-cycle assessment, and sustainability indicators. He has
also published extensively on theories and concepts of sustainability.
His co-edited book, Flashpoints in Environmental Policymaking:
Controversies in Achieving Sustainability, won the Lynton K. Caldwell
Prize from the Section on Technology and Environmental Policy in the
American Political Science Association for the best book published
between 1995 and 1997 on environmental politics and policy.
Class 7 - Gay Browne, Founder of Greenopia
Gay Browne is on a mission. “I want to help people lead healthier lives in an increasingly toxic world,” she says. Born on Earth Day, April 21, it seems Gay’s mission may also be her destiny ― she is the creator of Greenopia: the urban dweller’s guide to green living, available in print and on the web at www.greenopia.com. With exhaustively researched, non-paid listings, Greenopia provides consumers with a resource for where to find a wide range of local green businesses, services and organizations for metropolitan cities. Gay has also created a unique, easy-to-understand Green Leaf award system that rates the level of organic and sustainable products that a listed company provides to the consumer.
Founded in 2005, Greenopia has developed guides for Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area, with New York City in the works and plans underway for a 20 city rollout that includes Seattle, Portland, and Chicago among others. There are also plans to expand Greenopia’s web presence to create a local green community where consumers can browse Greenopia’s listings, buy and rate green products, share other products that they find, learn about living green, and much more. “I really want to convince consumers and their families that these businesses can help make a smooth transition to green living,” Gay says. “It doesn’t have to be all or nothing. Even small changes make a big difference.”
Gay Browne's PowerPoint Slides
Class 8 - Matt Petersen, President and CEO, Global Green USA
Matt Petersen, Global Green USA President, CEO and board member, joined Global Green USA in 1994. He serves on the Council of Green Cross International, and is Chair of the GCI Energy and Resource Efficiency program. Petersen drives and guides Global Green USA’s new programs, including work on water and energy, green power, climate change, and nuclear weapons. In the aftermath of the Gulf Coast hurricanes, Petersen put forth a vision and mobilized resources to create the Global Green "Healthy Homes and Smart Neighborhoods" initiative which resulted in: the New Orleans Sustainable Design Competition with Jury Chair Brad Pitt; the NOLA Green Schools Initiative funded by the Bush Clinton Katrina Fund; and work with Habitat for Humanity throughout the Gulf Coast to create more energy efficient housing. Petersen is an advisor to the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation, a Member of the Pacific Council on International Policy and serves on the Environmental Media Association (EMA) Advisory Board, as well as the Automotive X Prize Advisory Board. Previously, Petersen served as Executive Director of Americans for a Safe Future, a Term Member of the Council on Foreign Relations and was a political campaign manager for candidates at the local, state, and federal level. Petersen is also active in his community as a member of the Santa Monica Task Force on the Environment. He and his wife Leila Conners Petersen live with their son Aidan in Santa Monica, California.
Matt Petersen's Presentation Slides
Class 9 - Beth Trask. Manager, Corporate Partnerships Program. Environmental Defense.
Beth works to incorporate Environmental Defense's corporate partnership innovations into new companies and industries. With a focus on California’s business community, she collaborates with companies to leverage new and proven best practices that provide distinct business benefits and produce significant environmental results. In particular, she specializes in marketing sustainability initiatives to employees, customers, and other key constituents. Beth has a Masters in Public Administration from Harvard University. She began her career working for local government and business associations in northern California and later went on to develop national and international conservation initiatives