GoGreen Seattle Conference

Kimbal Musk is an entrepreneur and restaurateur who has founded and advised several companies and non-profits including: The Kitchen, The Kitchen Community, Zip2 (acquired by Compaq), PayPal (acquired by Ebay), Everdream (acquired by Dell), Tesla Motors (Publicly listed: TSLA), SpaceX, OneRiot (acquired by Walmart) and SolarCity. After success in the technology business, Kimbal decided to pursue his passion for food and cooking and attended the renowned French Culinary Institute in New York City. Following graduation, he moved to Boulder, CO to start The Kitchen, Boulder's Community Bistro, with partners Hugo Matheson and Jen Lewin. The Kitchen is now a family of four restaurants (The Kitchen, The Kitchen [Upstairs] and [Next Door], and The Kitchen Denver). Since opening, The Kitchen has been named one of "America's Top Restaurants" according to Food & Wine, Gourmet, and the James Beard Foundation. Read more..

Jim Wegner joined Darigold in 2003, as the Senior Vice President of Operations, becoming Senior Vice President of Technical Services in 2009. In August of 2011, Jim accepted the position of President and CEO of Darigold and is now responsible for the nation's 4th largest dairy cooperative. Prior to joining Darigold, Jim worked for Safeway's Dairy Division for 27 years. Jim began his career with Safeway in 1976 holding various management positions. In 1999 he became the Director of Supply Operations were he was responsible for eight of Safeway's twenty two dairy processing plants in the U.S. and Canada. On top of his plant responsibilities Jim was also responsible for milk procurement and Federal Milk Marketing Orders, and the procurement of dairy products in regions where Safeway had no processing plants. Read more..

David Akiyama is the ecoDemonstrator Program Manager, an ongoing, multi-platform series of technology accelerating flight demonstrators. David graduated from Stanford University with a BS in Mechanical Engineering and a MS in Aeronautics and Astronautics. He has held engineering and managerial positions in aerodynamics, propulsion, fuels research, and software development as well as in new airplane product development where he had the privilege of managing the development of the 787's aerodynamic design.

Bruce Bassett was elected to the Council in 2007, reelected in 2011 and became mayor in 2012. A Washington native, he holds engineering degrees from Dartmouth College and the University of Michigan and had a successful career as founder and CEO of a small high tech company before moving to Mercer Island in 2003. Bruce is an active community volunteer who has served on the Open Space Conservancy Trust Board, the Utility Board, the Design Commission, the Arts Council, the Green Ribbon Commission, the Parks and Recreation Subcommittee and the Sustainability Subcommittee. He got his start in politics while championing the successful effort to upgrade the IMS dirt field to a turf surface. His wife, Nannette, is active in many community volunteer roles. He has two children in the Mercer Island schools.

Richard's extensive background includes energy & mechanical design and applications engineering; construction and contract management and electric utility account management. He has served as Providence's Corporate Energy Manager for the last 18 years, working with their facilities & construction directors, utility companies, and energy service providers in the western United States. Mr. Beam's educational background is in the disciplines of mechanical engineering, communications, and business. The Association of Energy Engineers honored Richard as their 2007-08 Energy Manager of the Year for their Western United States Region. He was the 2004 Association of Professional Energy Managers State of Oregon Energy Manager of the Year. Providence was honored to receive the Environmental Protection Agency's 2009 ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year for Sustained Excellence in Energy Management. Providence was also the 2004 and 2008 recipient of that honor. Richard served for six years on the Board of Directors of the NW Energy Efficiency Alliance and is currently on the USDOE Hospital Energy Alliance Steering Committee. Read more..

Paul Beveridge has been the owner/winemaker at Wilridge Winery in Seattle since 1988. In 2007 he retired from full time practice as an environmental lawyer and fulfilled a dream by planting his own vineyard on Naches Heights near Yakima. At the same time, Wilridge made a commitment to become the 'greenest' winery and vineyard in Washington State. The winery and vineyard are solar powered, are tended organically and biodynamically, and produce wines in refillable bottles and kegs that have the lowest carbon footprint in the state. Paul is also the President and a founding member of Family Wineries of Washington State, a trade association that advocates in the legislature on behalf of small wineries and wine consumers. His wines are available at better wine shops throughout the northwest and at his Wines of Washington Tasting Rooms in Pike Place Market and at the vineyard on Naches Heights.

Industry recognized IT leader in the design and delivery of cost-effective, high-performance technology solutions, Bradd is the Sr. Manager of Planning, Analysis & Program Management at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. He is responsible for facilitating business driven strategy for IT solutions through the integration of Project Management and Organizational Change Management. Bradd has been hired to create and implement enterprise Change Management methodology, framework and standards for municipalities, health care and aerospace. He is passionate about the capabilities that a Change framework offers to the success of any initiative and is an evangelist for asking tough questions to get at the root cause of why a given person, team or company is reluctant to adopt change. Bradd has a Bachelor of Science and MBA from Pacific Lutheran University, with an emphasis in Technology and Innovation Management. Read more..

Terri brings more than 20 years experience in management, business development, and research and invention to her role as the Executive Director. She is highly motivated to accelerate Seattle's path toward sustainability through education, collaboration, and team empowerment. Previously she was an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the University of Washington where she was co-founder of a start-up company developing advanced material products for energy efficient electronics and advised numerous others. She also provided strategic counsel in her commercialization work with Washington State University's biofuel program, architecture school, and health science programs. She holds 13 U.S. patents, including coating technologies for electrostatic printing which she developed while an engineer at 3M and nutritional applications she worked on at Bioenergy Life Sciences. Terri holds a Bachelor's Degree in Biology from Stanford University, a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering and Materials Science from the University of Minnesota, and a Certificate in Accounting from the University of Washington Foster School of Business. She is also a GRI certified Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility Reporter.

Domenic Calabro is a waste prevention specialist with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Seattle regional office, with many years of experience working in the area of sustainable materials management. Domenic is the EPA regional lead for agency partnership programs, outreach to businesses, and the greening of public venues, and also provides oversight for the region's state municipal solid waste landfill permitting programs. In 2012, Domenic received EPA's James W. Craig Pollution Prevention Leadership Award. Domenic holds a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Maryland.

Amy joined Liberty Mutual in 2001 and currently serves as Director, Business Systems Development & Planning for Commercial Lines. Amy works with the business and technology leadership teams to plan and execute a large IT portfolio for the Commercial Lines Policy Systems. Amy is directly involved in the annual planning cycle to ensure work selected for technology improvements delivers business value to Liberty Mutual's customers and insurance agents. Prior to assuming her current role, Amy focused on managing insurance underwriters and building and delivering training materials to employees. This experience managing and training system users provided the background for Amy to move into future leadership roles focused on the technology used by these same customers. Amy holds a Certificate from the University of Washington's Executive Education Program and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from the University of Washington. Amy is an avid sports fan and traveler and resides in Seattle with her husband Chris.

Richard is a consultant on sustainability, food policy, and local government. He served four terms on the Seattle City Council, from 1998 to 2013, after more than ten years of public service with Seattle-based community organizations. Richard was elected by his colleagues to serve as the President of the Council for two terms, from 2008 to 2012. In his time on the Council, Richard focused on making Seattle a more sustainable city, creating a Zero Waste strategy, building neighborhoods, improving pedestrian mobility and transportation infrastructure, and making government more transparent. In 2008 Richard developed the Local Food Action Initiative to increase Seattle's access to nutritional foods, reduce costs for farmers bringing their produce to markets in Seattle, and strengthen the security of our food supply. He founded and currently co-chairs the Regional Food Policy Council.

Jacob Davis is a facilities manager for CenturyLink Field and CenturyLink Field Event Center, and WaMu Theater; home of the Seattle Seahawks and Seattle Sounders FC. Jacob oversees all sustainability efforts for the venues by implementing plans to operate at the most efficient level and improving standards to be as environmentally conscious as possible. Jacob is also developing the Defend Your Turf campaign, an avenue to engage fans of the sustainability efforts at the stadium, while also providing them with the tools to reduce their carbon footprint at home and at the office. Jacob's responsibilities also include management of the facilities maintenance and engineering staff. Jacob joined the team at First and Goal, Inc. in 2008 as a building engineer and was quickly promoted to engineering lead before taking on his current role. Jacob is a Seattle native and is married with 3 young boys.

Peter Donahue is the Compost Coordinator at the Alleycat Acres Collective. Alleycat is an all volunteer project that converts Seattle city lots to agriculture production. We manage small vegetable plots, a new fruit orchard, bee hives, and a chicken pen as a community garden, sharing the produce among the participants and donating the surplus to food banks. We have been operating a few years, but are always experimenting with new farm and composting techniques. I am a graduate of the TILTH master compost program, a native plant steward with the North West Native Plant Society, a member of the Judkins P-Patch and a gardener in Seattle for 30 years. I am an inside wireman with IBEW local 46 and approach urban agriculture as a food security issue all urban dwellers need to take on. Alleycat hopes to be a resource for more sustainable food production and recycling.

Jason is President of Pacific Innovation Center. In addition, Jason has been President of Pacific Raceways for 11 years. He is responsible for financing, strategic planning, governmental relations, master planning and developing track relationships and partners. Jason was instrumental in working with local governments to secure legislation that allows for the development and improvements that are planned for Pacific Raceways. He is the third generation of his family to have involvement with the Kent facility. Prior to becoming raceway President, Jason worked in the family's heavy highway construction business in quarrying, mining and commercial development. Jason majored in Political Science at the University of Washington and the University of Colorado.

Sheri Flies began her career with Costco Wholesale Corporation over 18 years ago as Corporate Counsel, where she was responsible for Costco's legal issues related to merchandising, its vendor code of conduct, intellectual property, pharmacy, export, e-commerce and privacy. In 2007, Sheri transitioned from legal into the buying side of the business in order to learn how to integrate sustainability practices into everyday buying decisions. She currently holds the position of Assistant General Merchandising Manager in the Corporate Foods Department. Sheri's teams support the development of Costco's private label "Kirkland Signature" products in numerous categories including nuts, snacks, confectionary, chocolate, and eggs. She is involved with various sustainability projects, both domestically and internationally, that explore market based solutions to address poverty and malnutrition with an emphasis on value chain analysis to source. Sheri is a frequent guest lecturer at various universities discussing topics related to business, ethics and sustainability. Read more..

Claudia Frere is a Director for the University of Washington's Environmental Stewardship & Sustainability office responsible for overseeing communications, reporting, programs, activities, office operations, managing staff, students and interns. She started her career in the financial services industry prior to working in the nonprofit/social entrepreneurship sector in the San Francisco Bay Area. In these positions, she launched community involvement plans for multinational companies and advised corporations with corporate social responsibility program implementations. Claudia graduated Cum Laude in Politics from the University of San Francisco and received an MBA in Corporate Social Responsibility from Nottingham University Business School in the UK where she received a full scholarship from the International Centre for Corporate Social Responsibility (ICCSR). While in graduate school, Claudia launched the business school's first Net Impact Chapter and led post-graduate students with environmental engagement projects. Claudia volunteers with various nonprofit organizations and served as a Board Advisor to the Seattle Net Impact Professional Chapter.

Erik has 20 plus years of experience designing, implementing and managing back-office business operations. His areas of expertise include Finance and Administration, Human Resources, Management Reporting and Business Process Efficiency and Automation. For the last decade Erik has been focused on integrating the discipline of Sustainability with both internal operations and with client projects. Results from these efforts include the design and implementation of environmental and social performance reporting systems for large agribusiness clients, development of financial models that integrate environmental and social returns into pro forma investment analysis, and the design of management reporting systems and dashboards that incorporate sustainability performance indicators with financial indicators. Erik is currently the President of Milepost Consulting, Inc.

Brian is the Founder and Executive Director of the Seattle 2030 District, a public-private partnership of property owners, managers, design professionals, King County and The City of Seattle to create America's first High-Performance Building District. Brian previously worked for ZGF architects as a sustainability specialist, overseeing sustainable design of major projects at the Seattle office, including Seattle's King Street Station and Nintendo of America's new corporate headquarters in Redmond, WA. Brian has a Masters Degree in Architecture from Parsons School of Design and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Skidmore College.

Amy Grondin has worked since 1993 on boats in the Alaska and Washington salmon industries as a fish buyer, microprocessor and a commercial fisherman. When not on the water, she works in commercial fishing outreach and specializes in sustainable seafood information. Fishing communities and organizations that work with commercial fishing communities seek her services. Amy has worked in this capacity for the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership, Ecotrust, and Ocean Conservancy among others. Often Amy acts as a liaison between fishermen, farmers and culinary professionals seeking sustainable seafood and landfood sources as well as information on the politics of food. A long time member of Slow Food and the Chefs Collaborative, she advocates for sustainable local and regional food systems and has great concern for the sustainability of ocean resources. She lives in Port Townsend, WA.

Claudia consults with all divisions regarding the impact of organizational change and works to transition individuals toward successful outcomes. An expert in organizational development, change, and process improvement, Claudia has worked to help individuals, teams, and organizations explore alternative paths for over 30 years. She understands the importance of relationships and their link to achieving strategic objectives. Claudia and her husband live in the Seattle area and enjoy all the outdoor opportunities in the Pacific North West.

Mark is a core faculty member with the Graduate Programs in Leadership and Change (GLC). He teaches several of the core GLC courses, including Transformative Leadership, Global Pluralism, Systemic Thinking and the Methods of Sustainable Change Series. In addition to a faculty role, Hower has held a number of administrative positions in Antioch University Seattle. Hower served as the interim President for the Seattle campus for a year, and for three years prior to that, was the Special Assistant to the President. During much of the three years, he also taught part time in the Graduate Programs in Leadership and Change. Hower joined the Graduate Management and Leadership faculty in 2000 and he served as chair and program director. Hower was a founding member of the Graduate Programs in Leadership and Change, and helped develop its integrated graduate curriculum, co-teaching structure, and cohort learning model.

Dr. Jeff Leinaweaver is founder and principal of Global Zen Sustainability. He is a strategic sustainability strategist, organizational development professional, and nationally-known storyteller who works with organizations and leaders on crafting authentic narratives that best showcase their emergent sustainability story. Jeff has wide-ranging sustainability expertise in management consulting, intercultural communication, strategic leadership development, social performance, organizational storytelling, sustainability/CSR reporting, and training. He is one of the leading GRI-certified trainer-consultants in the United States by way of a strategic partnership with the ISOS Group. Jeff is also a contributing writer to the Guardian's Sustainable Business Column. Jeff is a graduate faculty member at the Bainbridge Graduate Institute, and adjunct at the University of Washington, Capella University, and Antioch University. Read more..

Luni is a 22+ year, career serial entrepreneur, who has founded six startups, five of which continue to operate. Most recently, he founded Fledge, the "conscious company" incubator (http://fledge.co) and Kick, "our" incubator (http://kickincubator.com). Starting in 2011, Luni switched focus from starting and building "tech" startups to advising, mentoring, and educating socially and environmentally "conscious" entrepreneurs. As Entrepreneur in Residence and Faculty at the Bainbridge Graduate Institute, he teaches and mentors MBA candidates on the process of sustainable business planning. As Entrepreneur in Residence Emeritus at the University of Washington's Center for Commercialization, he worked with students, faculty, and researchers in turning their research into startup companies. And as author of The Next Step series of books (lunarmobiscuit.com), Luni hopes to help thousands of other conscious entrepreneurs in their endeavors.

Zachary Lyons is President of the Seattle chapter Chefs Collaborative, the largest and most active local network of that national organize by far. He has served on its board since 1999, and he has organized many local food events for it, including Farmer-Fisher-Chef Connection, the Insider Series and the Meet & Greet program. Lyons also serves as the Communications Director, Vendor Liaison and Chef Liaison for the Seattle Farmers Market Association, which operates three farmers markets in the city of Seattle, in the Ballard, Madrona and Wallingford neighborhoods. Lyons has worked as a freelance writer and photographer specializing in food and agriculture, and a local food system event organizer. He has been published in numerous publications, including Growing For Market, NewFarm.org, Pacific Fishing, SeattleDining.com, Seattle Business Monthly, Seattle Magazine, Seattle Weekly, Touch The Soil, and Wild Catch Magazine. He coauthored the Washington State Farmers Market Manual (Washington State University, 2008). Read more..

Raised in the heart of hop country in the Yakima Valley in Washington State, Carman has invested over 20 years in the Ag industry; the last 13 years have been specifically dedicated to the growing and manufacturing of hops. As Food Safety & Sustainability Manager at Roy Farms, Inc., she is responsible for the corporate governance of all 3rd party food safety and environmental programs, human safety and education, organic producer/processor programs, and sustainability life cycle assessments. Under her direction, Roy Farms recently became the first hop farm in the U.S. to become GlobalGAP certified, and the first hop farm in WA to become Salmon-Safe certified.

Dennis McLerran was appointed by President Barack Obama to serve as the Regional Administrator (RA) for Region 10, leading a staff of 650 employees, with responsibility for an annual budget of $500 million. He was sworn in on February 22, 2010. As RA, Dennis oversees the implementation and enforcement of the federal environmental rules and regulations in the states of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Alaska, including 271 tribal governments in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska. Before moving to EPA, Dennis served as Executive Director of the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency, a state-chartered regional agency that adopts and enforces air quality standards that protect the health of 3.5 million Washington residents. As executive director, he led the development of an innovative strategy to reduce emissions at the ports of Seattle, Tacoma and Metro Vancouver. Prior to that, he served as City Attorney for the City of Port Townsend and Director of the Seattle Department of Construction and Land Use. Read more..

Egils Milbergs is a globally recognized thought leader and strategist in innovation, technology commercialization and industrial competitiveness. Noteworthy highlights in his career include: implementer of the far-reaching Bayh-Dole Act, director of a presidential commission on industrial competitiveness, advocate for restoring US manufacturing leadership, and an inspiring trailblazer for innovation. He currently is president of the Center for Accelerating Innovation, an independent economic development organization building innovation ecosystems, accelerating entrepreneurship, and promoting sustainable economic growth and job creation. He is the former executive director of the Washington Economic Development Commission. The Commission championed a ground-breaking innovation model for economic development, implemented the STARS program to recruit world class teams, financed over 30 Entrepreneurs-in-Residence at the University of Washington and Washington State University and joined forces with the Department of Commerce in designating Innovation Partnership Zones--18 to date. Read more..

Beth is a founding partner of PeopleFirm and a recognized researcher, practitioner, innovator, and thought leader in the field of adoption and change execution methodologies and tools. Throughout her 16-year professional journey she has designed and managed complex change management programs for strategic and high-risk corporate initiatives. Beth brings a wealth of knowledge, experience, and creative energy to guiding organizations and their leaders through a structured yet uniquely tailored process that produces concrete returns on their investments. As an author of cutting-edge articles and white papers, Beth provides companies with the unconventional wisdom to reach and often exceed their business goals through a practical approach to leading people through change. In addition to leading PeopleFirm's Change Management Practice, Beth is a board member of the PNW Chapter of Association of Change Management Professionals (ACMP) and is credited with establishing the first US-based regional ACMP community of change practitioners. Read more..

A mediator, facilitator, trainer and consultant focusing on public policy and natural resource issues, Lucy Moore has been in the center of highly polarized environmental conflicts for the past 25 years. Her clients are federal, state, local and tribal governments and agencies, as well as communities, non-profits, and environmental and business interests. Based in Santa Fe, and working regionally and nationally, Lucy has mediated multi-year negotiation processes, facilitated public meetings of 400, and offered trainings in "Power of Apology" and "Dealing with Difficult People and Hostile Meetings." She recently completed the successful negotiation of the Tribal Consultation Policy for the Department of Interior. She is currently working with a group on local sustainable food policies. Having lived in the heart of Navajo Country, Lucy has a strong background and credibility in Indian country, and has worked with dozens of different tribes, pueblos and nations. Read more..

Karl Ostrom is founder and Co-Executive Director of NBIS. Since its founding in 2003, NBIS has provided regional leadership, professional development programs and a cross-sector collaborative community to advance sustainability through the business sector. NBIS provides meaningful, strategic tools and opportunities for companies to broaden their impact, deepen their mission and build long term success. Karl plays an instrumental role in conceptualizing and communicating the opportunities for sustainable business on the local and global scale. As a consultant and advisor, he helps businesses develop leadership strategies and management practices that contribute to the urgent needs of our time while building profitable, sustainable companies. He has been an adjunct professor in sustainable business at Seattle University, Argosy University and the Leadership Institute of Seattle and served on the Advisory Board of the Center for Creative Change at Antioch University Seattle. Read more..

Dr. Marcia Ostrom is an Associate Professor in the School of the Environment and the Director of the Small Farms Program in the Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources at Washington State University. She teaches courses on food system sustainability and has led numerous interdisciplinary research and education projects focused on improving the sustainability of Washington's food and farming systems. She holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Studies from the University of Wisconsin and an M.S. from the Cornell College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Her research interests center on profitable, values-based farming and marketing strategies; increasing the adoption of ecologically-based farming techniques; and regional food system development. She has a long history of academic work focused on gaining a better understanding of movements for change in the food and agriculture system at community, regional, national, and international levels.

Brad Ouderkirk has been with Ecova for over 8 years, focusing on resource management and sustainability in a variety of roles including strategic consulting and business development. Prior to Ecova, Brad worked at the Renewable Northwest Project, the City of Portland, and Household Finance. With a background in economics and finance, Brad brings a financial focus to sustainability.

Larry Phillips is the current Chair of the Metropolitan King County Council. He was born and raised in King County, growing up in Mount Baker and Magnolia, where he still lives with his wife, Gail. In recent years, Larry has turned his attention to transportation, climate change, clean energy, and jobs. Larry helped found and serves on the Executive Committee for Climate Communities, a national coalition of local governments which advocates for local government participation in federal efforts to address climate change. Larry sponsored King County's Green Jobs Initiative to help King County's economy recover from the Great Recession, sponsored King County legislation authorizing the creation of King County's Strategic Climate Action Plan, and is committed to finding a sustainable source of funding for transit and transportation needs in our county. Larry attended Queen Anne High School and the University of Washington. Read more..

Andrea Platt Dwyer is the executive director of Seattle Tilth, a Seattle nonprofit organization that inspires and educates people to safeguard our natural resources while building an equitable and sustainable local food system. She is motivated to increase food security, improve public health and support a healthy environment, while providing employment and income to those working in the food system -- all essentials to building a vibrant and sustainable community. Andrea has thirty years of experience in nonprofit management. Before moving to Seattle in 2008, she worked for nine years as the CEO of Camp Fire USA Minnesota Council. Previous roles include executive director positions with Woodswomen and Pro-Choice Resources, and associate director with the Upper Midwest Women's History Center. While working for the Minnesota Council, Andrea chaired the Association of Councils, a professional association for council executives from across the USA, served on Camp Fire USA's national board of directors, and served on the Minnesota Commission on Out-of-School Time. Read more..

Under Tom's leadership, the WCTA's membership has expanded to nearly 250 companies, research institutions, and organizations working to build an important new sector in Washington State. Prior to joining the WCTA, Tom was a Seattle-based entrepreneur and management consultant. Tom co-founded and was CEO of VizX Labs, a bioinformatics company. Tom also led a team that turned around and doubled the size of Axio Research Corporation following significant losses. He directed public affairs at the state's largest biotechnology company, Immunex (now Amgen), and was President of the Washington Biotechnology & Biomedical Association. He spent seven years in banking. Tom spent fourteen years as a Trustee of Harborview Medical Center including serving as President of the Board. He has served on the Boards of VizX Labs, Axio Research, the Washington Biotechnology & Biomedical Association (Chair), the Technology Alliance, the University Sunrise Rotary Club (President), Council of State Bioscience Associations (Chair), Seattle Mental Health (Chair), Crisis Clinic, and others. Read more..

John Rhoads is the Western USA Director for Accenture's Smart Building Solutions and Energy Services practice. He is the Accenture Project Director responsible for implementing Seattle's High Performance Buildings pilots on behalf of Seattle District 2030. Former projects have included designing commercial and industrial energy efficiency programs for multiple electric utility companies, creating an Energy Performance Contracting (EPC) model for the government of Ireland, and delivering the UK's Building Energy Efficiency Program (RE:FIT). Prior to joining Accenture Mr. Rhoads worked as a management strategy consultant within the power and industrial equipment industries and as an engineer and physicist in the defense industry. Mr. Rhoads holds an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, an MS in Applied Physics from Johns Hopkins University, and a BS in Electrical Engineering from Tulane University.

Michael Roy is the Hop Division Director and part owner of Roy Farms, a 4th generation farm located in the Yakima Valley in Washington State. Michael has been involved in many aspects of the family owned business over the years, but his expertise lies in managing one of the largest hop farms in the nation. His focus is primarily on technology and also has a strong intention of evolving the sustainable culture in the agricultural industry. Michael enjoys challenges, whether at work dealing with Mother Nature while continually striving for improvement or, in his spare time as an experienced rock climber. On the farming foot, he serves on the board of directors of several local organizations that are involved in the agricultural industry. He was directly involved in establishing the American Organic Hop Growers Association (AOHGA). Early in 2013, AOHGA lobbied USDA to rule that organic hops have to be used to brew organic beer. More recently, he was involved and instrumental in the first U.S hop farm to become GlobalGap certified and the first hop farm in WA to have acreage Salmon-Safe certified.

I have been active in Facility Management and operations for 40 years the past 27 with Starwood Hotels and Resorts. Twenty of those years as Director of Engineering. I'm a member of the Starwood Engineering Advisory Council whose tasked with Engineering policy, procedure and technology initiatives. My department was just profiled at a recent Starwood convention as a model for a proactive engineering operation using the latest technology and developing best practices to stream line and shorten equipment down time and accelerate our response issues a guest may experience. I have a long history in energy conservation going back to 1995 and the EPA Green Light Program certification. Our most recent project is the with the 2030 district and Accenture to use their computing power to help us identify and perform constant commissioning activities at the Sheraton Seattle Hotel. We were recently recognized as one of Washington's 50 greenest companies and I participated as a panel member at the Northwest future of energy conference this past October.

Lilly Simmering is King County's first food economy program manager. Hired earlier this year to help coordinate King County Executive Dow Constantine's new Local Food Initiative, Simmering brings impressive credentials to the position. Along with coordinating foreign agriculture marketing strategies and working on compliance and legal issues for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, she has marketed Asian specialty crops for the California Highlander Cooperative. Simmering has degrees in public relations, political science and law, and is a licensed attorney. What's more, as the daughter of Hmong farmers in Fresno, California, who grew strawberries and Asian specialty crops and owned a restaurant, Simmering knows first-hand what it means to think "farm-to-table." The county's Local Food Initiative will build on existing efforts to grow the local food economy, improve access to healthy local food in low income areas, and create a more resilient, sustainable local food supply to help secure the region's food system from the risks of climate change.

Ellen Southard founded Site Story to be a firm dedicated to supporting community-enriching projects that emphasize storytelling and place making. With a background in history and education she works closely with both public and private sector clients to lead community engagement and education for planning efforts, preservation, public policy and sustainable community development projects. She has created a unique niche of facilitating and engaging the public in planning processes through a comprehensive understanding of the built and un-built environment. Her projects span a wide variety of rural and urban conditions from preserving natural resources and open space to historic structures and preservation. Her work celebrates the modernism gutsy industrial history of the evolving west; embraces the courage and resilience of indigenous cultures and pioneer people; and acknowledges that the most important aspects of her work is to bring about consensus in decision making for the public good. Read more..

Patti Southard is program manager for "GreenTools" green building program in King County Washington. At King County Southard is creative director for the award wining EcoCool Remodel Tool and provides technical assistance for the County's Sustainable Cities Program, LEED and Built Green initiatives. Southard's program implementation has been focused on the creation of online interactive tools, most recently creating The Sustainable Cities Toolkit2. Toolkit2 is a resource for the community of local governments dedicated to advancement of deep-green design, construction and sustainable planning. Southard has a long family history in conservation of the New Jersey Pine Barrens as well as many years of leadership in outdoor and environmental education. Southard was raised on her family farm and has focused her sustainable development career on the juxtaposition between rural and urban communities and planning.

Andrew Stout, alongside of his wife, Wendy Munroe, founded Full Circle Farm in 1996 (http://www.fullcircle.com) and grew it into a leading organic produce and home delivery service located in Seattle, Washington. In 2004, Andrew was named a "40 under 40" business leader by the Puget Sound Business Journal. An active leader on food and farming issues locally and nationally, Stout was a founding board member of the national Farmers Market Coalition. He currently serves on the Board of the PCC Farmland Trust and has been President of Washington Tilth since 2005. He is on the Slow Food Seattle Advisory Board and is also a member of the King County Rural Business Advisory Group.

Jessika is a small business owner and food systems aficionado. As co-founder of Starvation Alley Social Purpose Corporation, a cranberry company located in Southwest Washington, Jessika spends much of her time building a new business that supports regional cranberry farmers through the organic certification process. Though she is passionate about farmers, her favorite part about her job is getting to partner with many other inspiring Pacific Northwest food producers to create collaborative value-added products. In 2012, Jessika aided in the design of Bainbridge Graduate Institute's first certificate program in Sustainable Food and Agricultural Systems. Jessika's other accomplishments and experiences include receiving her Masters in Business Administration, starting 2 community gardens and working on an organic vegetable farm. She lives in Ilwaco, Washington near Starvation Alley Farms with her partner Jared Oakes and two dogs.

John Taylor brings extensive experience working on environmental and public policy issues to King County. Previously, John worked for the consulting firm of Cocker Fennessy, where he provided government relations and communications strategic advice to the Puget Sound Partnership, and spent a year serving as the Partnership's liaison to communities in King, Pierce and Snohomish counties. John also served as a policy advisor to the Director of Seattle Public, and led the City of Seattle's Restore Our Waters strategy. As a senior policy advisor in the Vermont Governor's office he focused on community development, transportation, and environmental policy; and co-chaired the Governor's Development Cabinet. John holds a BA in Political Science from Hobart College, and an MPA from the University of Vermont.

Kat Taylor's life has been dedicated to social justice and environmental health. Kat is active in a variety of social business, public benefit and philanthropic ventures in the San Francisco Bay Area. Currently, she serves as CEO of One PacificCoast Bank, a Community Development Financial Institution whose mission is to bring beneficial banking to low-income communities in an economically and environmentally sustainable manner. One PacificCoast Bank is the result of a merger between OneCalifornia Bank, which Kat and her husband, Tom Steyer, founded in Oakland, CA, and ShoreBank Pacific, with offices in Oregon and Washington. The bank's revolutionary ownership design means that its profits are invested in the communities it serves. Kat is also a Founding Director of TomKat Ranch Educational Foundation (TKREF) dedicated to sustainable food production through ranching, tours, research, and school lunch and garden programs. Read more..