Sustainability in the COVID Era
Dec. 2020 | Virtual
While states and many industries have recognized the benefits of sustainable practices for decades, 2020 may have redefined the concepts of sustainability as nearly every industry faced crises in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. This policy academy will address how industries were able to navigate a sustainable course amidst the pandemic and how corporate practices may evolve in a post-coronavirus economy. The program will also highlight states that are working to keep ambitious sustainability initiatives on track, provide an examination of how public health concerns and new economic realities that could prompt cities to evolve, and forecast ways that principles and practices of sustainability could provide a path to post-COVID economic recovery.
Speakers
Del. Richard “Rip” Sullivan, Jr. (D-Virginia)
Delegate Richard “Rip” Sullivan, Jr. was first elected to the Virginia House of Delegates in 2014. He is Chair of the House Democratic Caucus, a leadership role in which he works with Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn and Majority Leader Charniele Herring to promote the goals of House Democrats. He previously served two terms as the House Democratic Caucus Campaign Chair, during which time he led the Democratic Party’s effort to gain seats and win back the majority in the House. He became Campaign Chair in 2017 and reprised his role as Campaign Chair during the 2019 cycle.
As a Delegate, Sullivan has fought to encourage the growth of Virginia’s clean energy and energy efficiency sectors, promote access to the ballot box, protect and advance LGBTQ rights, and de-politicize the redistricting process. Speaker Filler-Corn appointed Sullivan to serve as Chair of the powerful Labor and Commerce Committee’s Energy Subcommittee, a role in which he used his experience legislating in the energy space to help shape the way Virginia moves forward on these crucial issues. During the 2020 session, Sullivan introduced the historic Virginia Clean Economy Act to advance the Commonwealth’s clean energy sector and promote energy efficiency.
Alli Gold Roberts, Ceres – State Policy Program Director
Alli Gold Roberts is the director of the Ceres state policy program. She leads the organization’s team of staff organizing companies and investors to advocate for stronger climate, clean energy and clean transportation policies in 17 states across the country. Alli works to leverage the influential voice of the business community in key policy debates outlining the economic benefits of climate action and the growing operational leadership and action by the private sector. Alli has been with Ceres since 2014 and helped establish and grow the state policy program and increase corporate advocacy for climate policy over the past 7 years.
Prior to joining Ceres, Alli worked at the MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change supporting media relations, stakeholder engagement, publications and online communications. She previously worked as the New and Digital Media Director for the 2012 reelection campaign of Congresswoman Niki Tsongas. Alli also worked at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as an Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education fellow in the Office of Wetlands, Oceans and Watersheds. Alli has a bachelor’s degree in political science and a certificate in advanced leadership studies from American University in Washington, D.C.
Heather Clancy, Editorial Director, GreenBiz
Heather Clancy is an award-winning journalist specializing in transformative technology and innovation. She started her reporting career on the business news 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.
As editorial director for GreenBiz.com, Heather chronicles the role of technology in enabling clean energy, sustainable business strategy and the low-carbon economy.
Wes Parham, Xcel Energy – Director of Regional Government Affairs
Wes Parham serves as Director, Regional Government Affairs for Xcel Energy. Since joining the Company in 2015, he has played an instrumental role in the development and implementation of legislative and public outreach initiatives, setting the stage for a transformative dialogue with energy consumers and decision makers on the advancement of clean energy, new technology and economic development throughout Colorado. Wes began his career as a congressional staffer and has a background working with statewide trade associations and political campaigns.
Matt Inbusch, International Paper, Manager, Natural Capital Stewardship
Matt works across teams at International Paper to shape strategy and drive execution around environmental and social impact. He leads the company’s water stewardship strategy as part of IP’s Vision 2030. Earlier in his career, Matt served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Peru, and also worked in international economic development based in Washington, DC. Matt has an MBA from Vanderbilt University. Travel, the outdoors, and music are some of his favorite things. Matt lives in Memphis, TN.
Teri Lyng, Senior VP, Head of Transformation and Sustainability at GSK Consumer Healthcare
Reflecting GSK Consumer Healthcare’s significant new level of ambition to drive positive environmental change and help improve everyday health, Teri Lyng is responsible for the development and execution of the Global Sustainability Strategy. This is set at a corporate level and through GSK Consumer Healthcare’s brands that play a critical role in delivering the sustainability strategy.
Teri also leads GSK Consumer’s Transformation activities to build the world’s most innovative, best performing and trusted consumer healthcare company. Teri’s work is focused on integrating the joint venture with Pfizer and preparations ahead of Consumer HealthCare’s separation from GSK.
Katharine M. Bond Vice President–Public Policy & State Affairs Services
Katharine Bond is Vice President–Public Policy & State Affairs at Dominion Energy.
Bond is responsible for state and local affairs, government relations and the corporate public policy function at Dominion Energy. She also is responsible for all aspects of the organization’s state government relations activities, including developing and implementing state strategic and tactical plans to include local legislative and regulatory entities.
After joining the company as an intern in 1999, Bond spent 11 years in various financial planning roles including mergers and acquisition analysis, asset valuation, and budgeting and forecasting. In 2011, she became a project director for corporate governance, compliance and law. Three years later, she was named director of public policy and executive director of the Dominion Energy Charitable Foundation, and in 2016 she was promoted to senior policy director-Public Policy & State and Local Affairs.
She serves as a Board member on the Longwood University Board of Visitors, the Solar and Energy Storage Development Authority of Virginia and the Clean Energy Advisory Council of Virginia. She also serves on the Board of Directors of the Virginia Chamber of Commerce, LEAD Virginia, and the Virginia Council on Economic Education. She represents Dominion Energy on the Virginia Manufacturers Association energy committee and serves as vice chair on the Edison Electric International external affairs executive advisory council. She is an active community volunteer serving on the Board of Directors for The Maymont Foundation and Voices for Virginia’s Children.
Bond served on the Dominion Energy Diversity Council for seven years, including as its chair. Past service also includes serving on the College Building Authority of Virginia, as a Board member of the Southeastern Wind Association, as vice-chair of the Virginia Offshore Wind Coalition, and as a national advisor and senior fellow for the New Leaders Council’s Millennial Policy Initiative on Climate Change and Energy. She has also volunteered for Junior Achievement’s Empowering through Ethics and Finance Park programs and as a mentor through the Richmond City Middle School Renaissance program. She also previously served on the Boards of the Hanover County Education Foundation and Virginia Oral Health Coalition.
She has a bachelor’s degree from Longwood University in business administration with a concentration in finance and a master’s degree from Virginia Commonwealth University in finance. She is a member of the 2015 class of Developing the Dominion Leader, the 2016 class of LEAD Virginia, and the 2018 class of the Virginia Executive Institute.
Michael Berkowitz, Resilient Cities Catalyst – Founding Principal
Michael Berkowitz is a founding principal of Resilient Cities Catalyst, a global non-profit helping cities and their partners tackle their toughest challenges.
Previously Mr. Berkowitz served as President of 100 Resilient Cities at the Rockefeller Foundation, where he built an international organization focused on helping cities build resilience to the physical, social, and economic challenges. 100RC provided cities around the world critical resources within four main pathways: i) financial support for a Chief Resilience Officer, ii) development of a resilience strategy, iii) a platform of solutions and service providers for implement, and iv) a global network of member cities who can learn from and help each other in deployment.
The cities in the 100RC network created 80+ holistic resilience strategies, which have outlined over 4,000 concrete actions and initiatives, resulting in more than 150 collaborations between private sector and public sector to address city challenges, including $230 million of pledged support from platform partners and more than $25 billion leveraged from national, philanthropic, and private sources to implement resilience projects.
Mr. Berkowitz was Global Head of Operational Risk Management at Deutsche Bank, where he oversaw the firm’s capital planning, served as a primary regulatory contact, and coordinated the myriad of related management efforts group-wide. He also served as Chief Operating Officer of Corporate Security, Business Continuity and Operational Risk Management, where he had responsibility for budgeting, operations, and global coordination across the group’s six workstreams.
He served as Deputy Commissioner at the Office of Emergency Management in New York City, where he worked on major planning initiatives, including the New York City Coastal Storm, Biological Terrorism and Transit Strike contingency plans. He led an initiative to create OEM’s Public-Private Emergency Planning Initiative and its Ready New York citizen preparedness campaign. He also responded to incidents including the 1999 outbreak of West Nile Fever, Tropical Storm Floyd, major flooding in Southern Queens (1999), the crashes of SwissAir 111 and American Airlines 587, the 2003 Northeast blackout, as well as the 2001 anthrax incidents and the World Trade Center disaster.
Jennifer Manierre, New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), Senior Project Manager
Jennifer Manierre is a Senior Project Manager and Acting Team Lead for the Clean Energy Siting team at the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), where she helps guide local government officials through best practices and appropriate local laws and permitting procedures for solar and battery energy storage. Ms. Manierre is also helping to implement NYSERDA’s new Build-Ready program, focusing on local outreach and community benefits associated with renewable energy projects on underutilized land.
Ms. Manierre received her B.A. from Hamilton College with a concentration in Geology and a minor in Economics. She also holds a Master’s degree in Education from Elmira College and a Master’s degree in Ecological Economics, Values, and Policy from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. She is a Certified Energy Manager and a LEED Accredited Professional with a specialization in Neighborhood Development.
NC State Rep John Szoka
A retired Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Army, Representative John Szoka is a member of the North Carolina General Assembly. As an advocate for renewable energy, John is working hard for consumers to be able to choose how their energy is provided, reducing energy costs and promoting a cleaner, healthier environment. In 2017, John was the primary sponsor and leading proponent of HB 589 Competitive Energy Solutions for North Carolina, which was passed into law. The law totally revamped the way solar energy is brought onto the grid, saving ratepayers $850M over the next 10 years using free market principles.
First elected in 2012, Representative Szoka was reelected to serve his fifth term in the House in 2020. He is a member of the NC House leadership team, elected House Republican Conference Leader. Speaker appointments are Senior Chairman of the Finance Committee; Chairman of the Energy and Public Utilities Committee; and Chairman of the Joint Legislative Commission on Energy Policy and Chairman of the Select Committee on Community Relations, Law Enforcement, and Justice. He is Vice-chair of Rules, Calendar, & Operations of the House, and the Redistricting Committee.
Representative Szoka and his wife, Laurie, also a retired Army officer and a Nurse Practitioner, reside in Fayetteville, North Carolina and have two grown children, Hunter and Morgan.
Sponsors
