Dr. Achala Abeysinghe is the Asia Regional Director & Global Head of Programs, leading Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) country programme on green growth and climate resilience. Dr. Abeysinghe has over 16 years of managerial, advisory and research experience in leading high-performing teams to deliver complex, innovative and results oriented strategies and programmes. Prior to joining GGGI, Dr. Abeysinghe was the Head of the Global Climate Law, Policy and Governance Team at International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED-UK) as well as Head of the European Capacity Building Initiative (ecbi) Training and Support Programme for nearly 12 years. She was also lead author of the chapter on Climate Resilient Pathways in the 5th Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). In 2015, she was nominated as one of the top 15 female climate champions in the world in recognition of her role in negotiating the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. Media includes: The Conversation, Dhaka Tribune, Inside Climate News.
Farhana Yamin is a leading international environmental lawyer and climate change and development policy expert. She has provided legal and policy advice to many different countries and constituencies over the last 30 years working as an adviser to developing countries especially the Alliance of Small Island States and least developed countries. She represented the Marshall Islands in the negotiations of the 2015 Paris Agreement and helped create the High Ambition Coalition. As CEO of Track 0, she is widely credited with getting the goal of net zero emissions by mid-century into the Paris Agreement. Farhana is the Deputy Chair of the Climate Vulnerable Forum Expert Advisory Group. She was Special Adviser to Connie Hedegaard, EU Commissioner for Climate Action for 2012-2013, on issues relating to the international negotiations especially concerned loss and damage and helped broker the mandate for the Paris Agreement. Media includes: Huffington Post, Christian Science Monitor, Carbon Brief.
Annie Leonard is the Executive Director of Greenpeace USA, an independent environmental organization which uses research, creative communication, non violent direct action and people-power to advance environmental solutions. Prior to this role, she created The Story of Stuff, a hit 20-minute webfilm and book that take viewers on an eye-opening tour of the often hidden environmental and social costs of our consumer driven culture. The Story of Stuff film has generated over 40 million views in more than 200 countries and territories, making it one of the most watched online environmental-themed films to date and sparking a much needed conversation about patterns of consumption today. Annie has worked on environmental issues, with a focus on waste, pollution and consumerism for three decades and is currently partnering with Jane Fonda on their Fire Drill Fridays project to inspire more people to join climate activism. Media includes: The New York Times, Colbert Report, Democracy Now, CNN.
Mindy Lubber is the CEO and President of the sustainability nonprofit organization Ceres. She leads an all-women executive leadership team and more than 160 employees working to mobilize the most influential investors and companies to solve the world’s greatest sustainability challenges. She has been at the helm since 2003, and under her leadership, the organization and its powerful networks and global collaborations have grown significantly in size and influence. She is frequently quoted in top business and financial news outlets and pens a regular column for Forbes on a variety of topics that have strengthened the economic and financial case for sustainability action and elevated concepts, such as climate and water risk, to the mainstream business community. Extensive media experience.
Brenda Ekwurzel is a senior climate scientist and the director of climate science for the Climate & Energy Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS). In her role, she ensures that program analyses reflect robust and relevant climate science, and researches the influence of major carbon producers on rising global average temperatures and sea level. Dr. Ekwurzel is a co-author of the fourth National Climate Assessment (NCA4) Volume II. She presents frequently to a range of audiences on climate science, educating the public on practical, achievable solutions for climate change. Media includes: Good Morning America, USA Today, CNN, NPR.
Heather Mcteer Toney is the Vice President of Community Engagement at the Environmental Defense Fund, where she works with a diverse range of stakeholders and constituency groups — such as mayors, faith-based organizations, labor and academia — to put people at the center of every climate solution. In 2014, she was appointed by President Barack Obama as Regional Administrator for Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Southeast Region. Known for her energetic and genuine commitment to people, her work has made her a national figure in the area of public service, environmental justice and community engagement. She was previously the National Field Director at Moms Clean Air Force, an organization of over 1 million moms and dads committed to fighting climate change and protecting children from the dangers of air pollution. Media includes: Essence Magazine, Marie Claire, The New York Times, CNN, Fox.
Dr. Barbara Buchner is Global Managing Director of the widely renowned Climate Finance program at Climate Policy Initiative. She is the lead author on CPI's 'Global Landscape of Climate Finance' analyses, which has set the benchmark for climate finance tracking, and 'Climate Finance in 2013-14 and the USD 100 billion Goal' - a joint report with the OECD that played a seminal role in the lead up to the Paris Agreement. Specializing in climate finance, energy finance, energy, climate policy, multilateral finance, international negotiations and innovative finance, Buchner advises high-level leaders on climate, energy, and sustainable investments around the world. Media includes: Reuters, Bloomberg News, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, The New York Times.
Antha Williams leads the Environment program at Bloomberg Philanthropies. Under Williams’ direction, Bloomberg Philanthropies supports environmental initiatives to improve sustainability of cities around the world, to accelerate the transition to clean energy, and to combat overfishing and protect coral reefs. Williams was Consulting Producer of From the Ashes, a feature film about communities across America wrestling with the legacy of the coal industry. Media includes: Reuters, The Atlantic, Scientific American, Al Jazeera, The New York Times.
Dr. Luz Claudio is Tenured Professor of Environmental Medicine and Public Health, and the Director of the Division of International Health at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York. She works to improve environmental health outcomes, especially among disadvantaged communities in the US and abroad. Her research involves assessing the interaction between people’s exposure to environmental pollutants and other factors such as diet and socioeconomic status. One of her most important scientific contributions was the discovery of the high numbers of children with asthma in poor communities in New York City. She works with many community organizations to address environmental issues such as this. Media experience includes: Reuters, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Time, Reader's Digest.
Elizabeth B. Hessami, J.D., LL.M. (Environmental Law) is a Faculty Lecturer for The Johns Hopkins University Advanced Academic Programs of International Environmental Policy and a frequent author of pieces on Afghanistan, natural resources, and armed conflict. She is an Environmental Attorney licensed to practice by the Washington, D.C. and United States Supreme Court Bars. Media experience includes: The Conversation, Foreign Policy, New Security Brief.
Tiffany Yap is a senior scientist and a wildlife corridor advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity. As a conservation scientist, Yap is passionate about protecting biodiversity and environmental health, especially in the wildland urban interface. She is an expert on mountain lions, amphibians, wildlife connectivity, and wildfire. Her research includes how human activities and land use impact sensitive species and habitats. Media includes: Los Angeles Times, Christian Science Monitor, San Francisco Chronicle, NPR.
Dr. Jessica Blunden is a climate scientist, working in the Center for Weather and Climate at NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information in Asheville, North Carolina. She holds Masters and Doctorate degrees in Atmospheric Science from North Carolina State University and has co-authored more than a dozen peer reviewed publications. Blunden serves as a lead editor for the State of the Climate report, an annual peer reviewed report published by the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society that examines climate and climate change across the globe, with more than 400 authors from about 50 countries across the globe, and has served as the lead scientific consultant for the Statement on the Status of the Global Climate in 2013 report published by the United Nation’s World Meteorological Organization. Media includes: The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Today, The Associated Press.
Gloria E. Barrera, MSN, RN, PEL-CSN currently works as a certified school nurse at a public high school outside of Chicago, and as an adjunct professor of nursing at several universities, most notably at DePaul University, UIC, and her alma mater Saint Xavier University. She is committed to improving child health outcomes in our most vulnerable populations through her current practice, advocacy, and teaching. Barrera is the first Latina President of Illinois Association of School Nurses, a strong affiliate of ANA-Illinois. She is an active representative of Hispanic nurses on the Nursing Coalition on Climate Change and Health, and an active member of the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments (ANHE). She has gained interest in addressing environmental health issues and protecting public health from climate change. Media includes: NPR, WBEZ, Humanist.
Kimberly Duong is the co-founder and Executive Board member for Climatepedia, a climate communications nonprofit. They created the Tyndall Petition, a statement that says climate change is real, urgent, and requires immediate attention. Over 600 U.S. climate change experts have signed. Climatepedia creates a personal profile for every expert in an effort to inform the public of the scientific consensus around climate change. Duong also created and administered a 12-week Climate Literacy Certificate Program, featuring interdisciplinary curriculum for small cohorts of undergraduate students. Media includes: The Next Web, Take Two, Sierra Club Magazine.
Kate R. Finn is Executive Director of First Peoples Worldwide. Her expertise concerns articulating how the impacts of development in Indigenous communities must be addressed at all levels of business and investment in order to strengthen Native economies and communities for generations. Finn's areas of focus and research expertise include Indigenous Peoples law and policy, federal Indian law, preventing violence against women, victim services, and business and human rights. She has co-authored several articles on the intersection of resource development and violence against women in Native communities. At First Peoples Worldwide, Ms. Finn leads the organization to deploy the tools and strategies of shareholder advocacy to ensure corporate accountability to the rights of Indigenous Peoples. Media includes: The Washington Post, Denver Post, Green Money, CNN.
Junko Mochizuki is a natural disaster risk expert at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) in Austria. Her research focuses on the linkages between risk management, economic growth, and changing risks from climate extremes in connection with socioeconomic change. Her particular interest lies in the interface between policy and scientific knowledge, investigating how governments and researchers can work together to redcuce the financial risk of disasters. In addition to producing peer-reviewed research, Mochizuki works directly with policymakers in developing countries to help them better analyze and understand disaster risk reduction investment. Mochizuki has a PhD from the University of Hawaii in natural resources and environmental management, a BA from the University of California, Irvine, and an MSc from the University of Tokyo. Extensive media experience.
Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner is a Marshall Islander poet, spoken word artist, and teacher. She has used her poetry to highlight the struggles of her people including social justice issues such as the threat of climate change for her islands, the American legacy of nuclear testing in her country, and racism against Micronesians in Hawaii. She received international acclaim after performing at the United Nations Climate Summit where she performed a poem to her daughter entitled, “Dear Matafele Peinam” which moved hundreds of world leaders to tears and has launched her into global conversations on climate change. She also co-founded the youth environmentalist ngo Jo-Jikum based in the Marshall Islands, and is currently the Pacific Studies faculty instructor at the College of the Marshall Islands. Media includes: Al Jazeera, Huffington Post, The Guardian, CNN.
Betsy López-Wagner has worked alongside attorneys, lobbyists, and coalition partners to safeguard the health of communities, protect clean air and water, fight arctic drilling, and protect the ocean’s resources. López-Wagner is committed to supporting the growth of an inclusive conservation movement to strengthen state, national and international-level priorities to protect our environment, democracy, and above all, people—especially those on the frontlines of an increasingly warming planet, rising ocean, and climate and social injustices. She is Principal and Chief Strategist at López-Wagner Strategies, an equitable communications agency comprised of a multilingual team of visionaries, strategists and climate justice advocates. Media includes: Univision, Telemundo, Associated Press.
Cecilia Bitz, Professor and Chair of the Atmospheric Sciences Department at the University of Washington, is also faculty in the university's Program on Climate Change and the Future of Ice Initiative, with a research focus on ice and climate interactions, especially involving sea ice. She co-leads the Sea Ice Prediction Network, which manages the SEARCH Sea Ice Outlook, and she also co-leads the Polar Climate Prediction Initiative of the World Climate Research Program. She testified before the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on Arctic climate change. She is an active volunteer and science advisor to Polar Bears International. Media includes: Associated Press, Los Angeles Times, Science Magazine, BBC, NPR.
Dana R. Fisher is a Professor of Sociology and the Director of the Program for Society and the Environment at the University of Maryland. Her research focuses on understanding the relationship between environmentalism and democracy—most recently studying activism and American climate politics. Fisher is the author of National Governance and the Global Climate Change Regime (Rowman and Littlefield Press 2004), Activism, Inc. (Stanford University Press 2006), the Practice of Research (with Shamus Khan, Oxford University Press 2013), and Urban Environmental Stewardship and Civic Engagement (with Erika S. Svendsen and James Connolly, Routledge Press 2015). Media includes: Today Show, USA Today, The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, CNN, PBS, NPR.
Tamara Toles O'Laughlin is an environmentalist focused on equity, access, and community. She develops capacity building programs and creates multimedia campaigns to dismantle privilege and increase opportunities for vulnerable populations to access healthy air, clean energy, and a toxic free economy at the local, regional, and national level. O'Laughlin casts a wide net in service to the environmental community. Most recently she joined the Environmental Grantmakers Association (EGA) as its CEO and President. EGA represents over 200 foundations globally, holding approximately $200 billion in assets and giving more than $1.8 billion annually to environmental causes. Media includes: Real News Network, Chesapeake Bay Journal, Grist.
Susan Egan Keane is the Senior Director of Global Advocacy at the National Resources Defence Council (NRDC). With more than 25 years of experience in environmental health issues—including the reporting of toxic emissions, the regulation of air pollution, the management of pesticides, and the formation of water-quality standards—Susan Egan Keane has worked in Europe, Central Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean, the Middle East, and Africa. At NRDC, she has collaborated with U.S. retailers to reduce their environmental impacts and eliminate products containing toxic chemicals in their stores. She has also fought to reduce global mercury pollution, particularly by artisanal and small-scale gold-mining operations. Keane holds a master’s degree in environmental health management from the Harvard School of Public Health. She is based in Washington, D.C. Extensive media experience.
Lisa Graves, who has researched the strategy being used to overturn climate actions, created True North Research - an investigative research watchdog - and is its Executive Director and Editor-in-Chief. She has spearheaded several major breakthrough investigations into those distorting American democracy and public policy. True North has several research projects, including KochDocs.org and iwfexposed.org, which shine a light of these issues. Graves served as Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Office of Legal Policy at the U.S. Department of Justice in the Clinton Administration, Chief Counsel for Nominations for Senator Patrick Leahy on the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, Deputy Chief of the Article III Judges Division of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, and as an adjunct law professor at George Washington University Law School. Media includes: ABC, NBC, CNN, MSNBC, BBC, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Associated Press.
Kim Knowlton is a Senior Scientist and former Deputy Director of the Science Center at the Natural Resources Defense Council. She focuses on the public-health impacts of climate change and advocates for strategies to prepare for—and prevent—these impacts, especially in vulnerable communities. As a result of her research into the links between climate change and health, NRDC has partnered with a number of city and state governments to strengthen health preparedness in their climate adaptation planning. She has also studied heat- and ozone-related mortality and illness as well as the connections among climate change, infectious illnesses, flooding, aeroallergens, and respiratory ailments such as allergies and asthma. Media includes: Reuters, Bloomberg News, NBC, NPR.
Daphne Wysham is the Chief Executive Officer of Methane Action. For 20 years, Daphne was a fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) in Washington, DC, where she founded and directed their climate justice program and served on the executive committee of the board of directors. Her team’s groundbreaking research drew attention to the disproportionate ratio of fossil fuel investments by international financial institutions, the World Bank in particular, and resulted in world leaders, including former Vice President Al Gore, and members of the US House and Senate calling for reforms. Extensive media experience.
Ushma Pandya is co-founder and partner at Think Zero LLC, a waste reduction and diversion advisory firm. She has had a lifelong interest in waste reduction. Before the term "zero waste" was coined, she was raising awareness about consumption and waste with her schoolmates and work colleagues. She now works with companies on establishing their sustainability goals, related to waste and consumption, and implementing company wide programming to achieve their goals. Pandya is an expert on the topics of waste management, waste reduction, zero waste, climate and waste, consumption, consumer behavior change related to sustainability, single use plastic, recycling, composting, innovation in the waste space, reuse models, local and federal policy related to waste, recycling and composting. Media includes: Rutgers Business Review, Umbrex Podcast.
Hadia Sheerazi is a Research Associate at the Center on Global Energy Policy. Hadia’s research and advocacy work is focused on the intersections of sustainability, climate change, disaster risk reduction (DRR), gender, and peace and security. She is a former Net Impact Climate Fellow, United Nations SDSN Local Pathways Fellow, Youth Expert in the Commonwealth Youth Climate Change Network (CYCN), and Honorary Advisory to the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development at the United Nations. Sheerazi is the first winner of the United Nations Development Programme-administered King Hamad Youth Empowerment Award to Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for contributions towards achieving targets of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Media includes: Huffington Post, Devex, NY1, BBC.















