Session Descriptions

Session Overview

Breakout Session I: 10:15 a.m. – 11:45 a.m.

Where is the market for sustainable investors?
How are ESG strategies driving a sustainable future?
How can food businesses be an agent for social and environmental change?
How can we sustain political reforms, structural reorganizations, and individual passion within education?
Can wearable tech drive behavioral change for a sustainable lifestyle?

Lunch Session: 12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.

The Center4 Social Innovator Showcase

 

Breakout Session II: 1:45 p.m. – 3:15 p.m

Innovative revenue models for social impact
Sustainable cities of the future
The rapid emergence of cost effective, high quality health innovations
Thirsty for change: how can we unite to solve the clean water crisis?
Sustaining the Emojicon: Do sustainable business strategies attract and retain employees?

 

Session Descriptions

Breakout Session I: 10:15 a.m. – 11:45 a.m. 

esgWhere is the market for sustainable investors?
– in the Imperial/Julliard room

Interest in innovative uses of finance to achieve social impact is at an all time high. But, a recent report by the National Advisory Board on Impact Investing sizes the impact investment market at 0.02% of global financial markets. What does the ideal sustainable finance marketplace look like? What strategies are needed to reach this ideal state? What financial tools (e.g. green bonds, clean energy ETFs, public equity, sustainable investment funds and PE) can help tackle sustainability challenges?


Melissa Cheong ’09
Director of Private Credit and Direct Investing
Imprint Capital Advisors


Audrey Choi
CEO of Institute for Sustainable Investing
Morgan Stanley


Manuel Lewin
Head of Responsible Investment
Zurich Insurance Company Ltd.


Bruce Usher
Co-Director of the Social Enterprise Program
Columbia Business School

esgHow are ESG strategies driving a sustainable future?
– in the Carnegie/Lyceum room

Many companies now recognize that long-term value creation requires strategies that address material ESG issues. What ESG issues do organizations see on the horizon and are millennial leaders prepared to face them? How are sustainability decision makers at organizations tackling these challenges? What are the motivating factors to address these issues and how can incentives be improved?

Eve Ellis
Financial Advisor and Portfolio Manager
Morgan Stanley

© Matt Greenslade

Sarah Gillman ’93
Chief Financial Officer, Administration and Finance
NRDC

Nathan Hurst
Global Director
Hewlett-Packard Company

Erika Karp ’91
Founder and CEO
Cornerstone Capital Inc.

Mark D. Sloss
Senior Portfolio Manager, Head of Premier Portfolio Services
UBS Investment Management

foodHow can food businesses be an agent for social and environmental change?                                                                  – in the Alvin room

Increasingly, food businesses may be held accountable for their severely negative social and environmental impacts. How can food businesses, investors and philanthropy lead the way towards improving the balance of the triple bottom line: profits, human health and environmental sensitivity? Our food system is rooted in agriculture. The environmental impact of agriculture in the U.S is substantial, contributing nearly 20% of the Nation’s (and 12% of the World’s) greenhouse gas emissions, depleting limited natural resources (such as fresh water) and over-using harmful chemicals and synthetic fertilizers. Human impacts on the food system are nearly as severe. Widespread distribution (and the rise in consumption) of inexpensive processed foods, for example, has led to food-related pandemics — especially and disproportionately amongst low-income populations — such as obesity, diabetes and heart disease. Our panel explores how investing in small, local, sustainable food and farm businesses may provide a new model for changing the economic “common wisdom” which has rewarded huge negative externalities and steep profits in the current industrial and global food system. We investigate the role of philanthropy to help develop new business models — sensitized to social and environmental impact — which may eventually attract interest of venture capital to scale and to replicate. And, we will hear from the founders of two on-going social enterprises, serving as our case studies for enacting the change they wanted to see by executing business plans intended to create a better future of food for all.

derek

Derek Denckla
Investments and Partnerships Director
National Young Farmers Coalition


Jennifer Dundas

Jennifer Dundas
Founder and Co-Owner
Blue Marble Ice Cream


anon

Peter Hoffman
Chef
Back Forty


Hugh_Hogan_2013 headshot

Hugh Hogan
Executive Director
North Star Fund & Community Food Fund

 

david

David Rosenberg ’02
CEO and Co-Founder
AeroFarms

How can we sustain political reforms, structural reorganizations, and individual passion within education?
– in the Booth/Edison room

In the 2012 election cycle, issues of sustainability did not have great prominence on political platforms. But, education policy plays an important role at all levels of government. Given an increasing grassroots interest in reform within education, how can the system be redesigned to provide long-term changes to policy, structures, and culture that sustain experimentation and passion? Which levers of change can have the biggest impact on sustainable education reform moving forward?


karim

Karim Abouelnaga
CEO
Practice Makes Perfect


Julian CohenPicture

Julian Cohen
Senior Executive Director
NYC Department of Education


Nikhil Kumar Picture

Nikhil Kumar ’15
MBA Candidate
Columbia Business School


Alia

Alia (Smith) McCants ’13
Director of Operations, New York City
Relay Graduate School of Education

Young Rhee
Director of Strategy
Uncommon Schools

weartechCan wearable tech drive behavioral change for a sustainable lifestyle?
– in the Belasco/Broadhurst room

Early adaptors and entrepreneurs are starting to explore the potential for wearable tech to track and provide feedback on individual actions. Can this potential be harnessed to encourage sustainable choices? Can data be collected and aggregated at a local, city, and global scale to help organizations in all sectors improve products, services and policies that support sustainable behaviors and actions? Can wearable tech be used to improve sustainable choices in low-income communities? What feedback mechanisms are most effective in driving behavioral change? How are cities using aggregated data from individuals to improve sustainable planning? This Spark workshop will bring together innovators in wearable technology, data, and local governments to highlight examples from New York City and beyond, and to identify and brainstorm opportunities for replication or scaling.


Liz Bacelar

Liz Bacelar
Founder and CEO
Decoded Fashion



Jarrett

Jarrett Bauer
CEO
Recovery Health

Miller-Out_Elisa

Elisa Miller-Out
CEO
Singlebrook

Norman Mohi
President & CTO
NorBelle


Courtland Thomas
Co-founder
FWD: Fashion

 

BillieWhitehousePicture

Billie Whitehouse
Co-founder
Wearable Experiments

Lunch Session: 12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.

techshowcaseThe Center4 Social Innovator Showcase 
– in the Westside Ballroom

The Center4 Social Innovator Showcase brings together a fresh group of visionary tech entrepreneurs who are innovating towards sustainable communities starting with more diverse and disruptive approaches to workforce. Featuring Rajesh Andandan, Founder of ULTRA TESTING,  Kathryn Finney of digitalundivided, and Guy Halfteck of Knack, these entrepreneurs will share their stories of purpose, the startup journey and what they learned about tech for good along the way. Presented by Center4 and moderated by Center4’s Managing Director Jane Del Ser, EMBA ’10.


rajesh

Rajesh Anandan
Founder
ULTRA


JANE DEL SER_B&W

Jane Del Ser ’10
Managing Director
Center4


Kathryn Finney Headshot Web

Kathryn Finney
Founder and Managing Director
digitalundivided (DID)


guy

Guy Halfteck
Founder and CEO
Knack

 

 

Breakout Session II: 1:45 p.m. – 3:15 p.m.

rev-modelsInnovative revenue models for social impact 
– in the Belasco/Broadhurst room

Great ideas may be the first step for social impact, but it is critically important to consider how that idea can be sustainably funded. In this intensive workshop, you will work in teams to use the Business Model Canvas to help a social entrepreneur workshop his/her real-time  critical revenue challenges. Your solutions will help drive ensure the sustainability of these organizations.


Lizzie Bildner ’15
Former President and Founder
Sharitive, Inc


Kate Canfield
Client Engagement Manager
Inspiring Capital


Kesha Cash ’10
Director of Investments
Jalia Ventures


Jimmy Chen
Co-founder and CEO
Propel


Swami Ganesan
Co-founder
PaisaBack


Brian Jones
Founder
Kin: High-Impact Travel


Prashant Mehta
Co-founder
Conscious Step


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Christopher Reim
Managing Director
CDVCA


Yael Silverstein ’13
Chief Strategy & Operations Officer
Inspiring Capital

citiesSustainable cities of the future
– in the Imperial/Julliard room

City residents are responsible for more than 80 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. Even slight changes in the way we live our everyday life can lead to significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. Are we doing enough to fight climate change, now? How are social entrepreneurs, policy makers and business leaders tackling transport, housing, energy, health and other environmental challenges? What innovative ideas in sustainable urban development are mayors and city governments around the world pursuing?


Ben preferred headshot

Ben Hecht
President & CEO
Living Cities


jay

Jay B. Orfield ’08
Environmental Innovation Fellow
NRDC


jeff

Jeffrey Perlman
President & Founder
Bright Power


Shopper_NSusla-20

Neil Suslak ’86
Managing Partner
Braemar Energy Ventures

The rapid emergence of cost effective, high quality health innovations   
– in the Alvin room

Your zip code may be more important to your health than your genetic code, according to a report by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. As healthcare costs increase, improving outcomes remains a challenge, especially in low-income populations. Creative thinkers, fierce leaders and innovative organizations have emerged to find solutions to the problems of poor infrastructure, governance, resources and access. What can be learned from successful models and failures? What are the broader landscape challenges associated with developing a more sustainable healthcare sector?

anon

Kanika Bahl
Principal & Managing Director
Results for Development Institute (R4D)


christine kovich

Christine Kovich
Co-Founder
Harlem Biospace

jacob

Dr. Jacob Kumaresan
Executive Director
WHO

Dr. Aditi Shastri
Hematology & Medical Oncology
Montefiore Medical Center & Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Donald Shriber
Deputy Director for Policy and Communication
CDC Center for Global Health

Thirsty for change: how can we unite to solve the clean water crisis?
– in the Booth/Edison room

While we applaud the significant progress that has been made towards the Millennium Development Goals targets, we must think critically about how we can unite to help the 748 million people who still lack access to clean drinking water. Since 1990, over 2 billion people have gained access to clean drinking water, and nearly as many have gained access to improved sanitation. However, currently every 21 seconds a child dies from a water-related disease, and 2.5 billion people still lack adequate sanitation. This is the clean water crisis.

John F. Kennedy once mused, “The Chinese use two brush strokes to write the word crisis. One brush stroke stands for danger; the other for opportunity.”

Join us for an energizing and interactive session to define the clean water crisis, discover innovative models and solutions that are driving change, and share your call to action for the millennial generation. In addition to hearing from experts on how they are taking advantage of opportunities across the entire space, we will challenge you with thought-provoking questions to get you out of your seat and into the action.


Dan Bena
Sustainable Development and Operations Outreach
PepsiCo Global Operations


Alex Eaton
Director of Sustainability
charity:water


Oliver B Libby
Principal Director
Hatzimemos / Libby


Rohini Nilekani
Founder and Chairperson
Arghyam


bill

Bill Staby
Founder and CEO
Resolute Marine Energy

anon

Jenifer Willig
Founder
WHOLE WORLD Water

Sustaining the Emojicon: Do sustainable business strategies attract and retain employees? 
– in the Carnegie/Lyceum room

Soon, a vast majority of the workforce will be represented by the millennial generation making it a high priority for organizations to understand how this generation is different from previous years. What makes a millennial want to work for you? How do leading organizations incorporate sustainability commitments into purpose, mission and values? What changes in business or organizational cultures, structures, and work/life strategies are leading companies implementing, leading them to be named as part of the top places to work?

Sabine Chalmers
Chief Legal & Corporate Affairs Officer
Anheuser-Busch InBev

Michael Fenlon
Principal
Global & US Talent
PwC


Mitchell Gold
Co-founder and chairman
Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams


Ron Gonen ’04
Co-founder and CEO
Close-Loop Fund

Michelle Nasir ’98  
Partner
Heidrick & Struggles Leadership Consulting Practice

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