GoGreen Seattle Conference

Dow Constantine was elected to his second term as King County Executive in 2013. In his first seven years, he has reformed County government, formed a coalition to rebuild the South Park Bridge, and built partnerships with cities, businesses, and non-profits to move the region forward. A former member of the King County Council and the Washington State Senate and House of Representatives, Dow is a three-time University of Washington alumnus and an attorney licensed in Washington. Dow is the current chair of the Sound Transit Board of Directors and has been a board member since 2006. Executive Constantine believes that real prosperity must be shared by all, and has ensured that equity and social justice are considered in every action taken by King County.

Gwen Migita drives sustainability strategy, policies, and stakeholder initiatives for Caesars social and environmental sustainability programs. She also oversees corporate responsibility and sustainability governance, public policy positions, and a CEO advisory board. Additionally, Gwen directs philanthropy policies, corporate and Caesars Foundation community engagement strategy and HERO employee volunteer policies for the organization's 70,000 employees at over 40 domestic and international resorts. Gwen previously served as the Executive Development Director and "Chief of Staff" to Caesars Executive Vice President of Communications and Government Relations. She started her career at Caesars as Manager of Market Research in the brand marketing division. Prior to Caesars, Gwen served as Executive Vice President at QMark Research & Polling where she drove expansion to the West Pacific and Las Vegas. Gwen sits on the Corporate Advisory Board for the World Resources Institute, is a Membership Council Chair for Sustainable Brands, Advisor for Seattle University's Center for Environmental Justice & Sustainability, and is a Trustee of Green Chips (Southern Nevada). Gwen is a recipient of the Top 40 Under 40 award from In Business Magazine in Las Vegas and 2010 Woman of the Year from the LGBT Center of Southern Nevada.

Soike brings an extraordinary amount of knowledge and deep experience to his role as Interim Chief Executive Officer (CEO), having worked for the Port of Seattle since 1980. He has served as the CEO's delegate since being named Chief Operating Officer (COO) in March 2016, acting on a wide range of issues across the Port. He began his career as a junior engineer in the Port's Corporate Engineering Department, quickly advancing into positions in Project Management, and both Maritime and Aviation divisions. Prior to serving as COO, Soike provided strong senior leadership to more than 375 employees in Aviation Facilities and Infrastructure, Aviation Maintenance, and the Aviation Building Department and Conference Center. Soike has demonstrated a strong track record delivering effective large-scale and complex projects, and the ability to drive new strategic initiatives, such as Lean process improvements, which he brought to the Port. His has managed significant capital improvement projects at Sea-Tac Airport, where he also served as deputy director of aviation and senior operations manager. He has experience in finance, planning, program management, and marketing across the Port's Maritime, Aviation, and Corporate Divisions.

With more than 20 years of industry experience, Ash is responsible for McKinstry's market development strategy and provides leadership for the sales and business development efforts of all lines of business. His extensive knowledge in the industry includes systems engineering, evaluation of sustainable ideas, development of alternative-financing solutions, and optimizing and securing utility incentives and grants. Ash has served the community in a variety of industry and philanthropic roles. Currently he serves as Board President of the Northwest Energy Efficiency Council; additionally he sits on the boards for the Pacific Science Center and Climate Solutions. Ash earned his Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering from the University of Massachusetts and a Master's Degree from the University of Washington. Ash is a registered professional engineer. He serves as President for McKinstry Essention, LLC.

King County Councilmember Claudia Balducci is a mom, a neighborhood advocate, transportation leader and former public safety official. She represents King County District 6, which encompasses all or part of the cities of Bellevue, Bothell, Clyde Hill, Hunts Point, Kirkland, Medina, Mercer Island, Redmond, Woodinville and Yarrow Point, the Town of Beaux Arts and the Sammamish Valley. A lawyer by training, Claudia worked for King County for over 16 years prior to being elected to the Council. As a project manager for the County Jails, she negotiated and implemented a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice that reformed the use of force, expanded officer training and improved procedures for preventing suicide and self-harm in the County's jails. As the Jail Director, Claudia embraced Lean process improvement to reform the way the jail housed inmates with mental illnesses, increasing safety, improving conditions, expanding treatment options, and saving over $2 million in costs to the taxpayers per year. ▼

Jennifer leads strategic internal and external communications and the advancement of OneEnergy's operations and human capital goals. She brings more than two decades of senior leadership and management expertise to OneEnergy's executive team. Jennifer has spent the past 15 years in the alternative energy, cleantech, land use, and environmental industry sectors, at Heller Ehrman VLG, Davis Wright Tremaine, and VanNess Feldman. Most recently, Jennifer was the founder and CEO of a corporate management consulting firm, leeway+company. Jennifer studied English and Fine Arts at Mount Holyoke College and Interior Design at the Design Institute of San Diego.

Richard Beckerman is Seattle Art Museum's (SAM) Chief Operating Officer. Beckerman brings over 30 years of management and leadership experience, including 24 years of museum leadership with the Museum of Flight, the Pacific Aviation Museum in Honolulu, and as President of Beckerman Consulting Services, providing a wide range of technical and organizational services to enhance museum performance and sustainability. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from The Evergreen State College in Olympia, and a Master of Science in Management from Antioch University Seattle, focused on nonprofit governance and organizational development.

As part of the company's corporate, external and legal affairs group, Rob is responsible for defining and implementing the global strategy for Microsoft's environmental efforts. His work includes working across the company to maintain carbon neutrality, advance our investments in renewable energy, improve energy efficiency in operations, and work with customers and partners to help empower them to better leverage IT to drive a more sustainable planet. Rob joined Microsoft in 1997, and has held leadership roles ranging from marketing to business development and partnerships and technical management. He has served on a number of industry and non-profit boards and has spoken worldwide on the opportunities for IT to transform the way society uses resources. Rob earned his MBA from the Wharton School of Business.

Wingz is led by CEO Chris Brandon, who previously served as COO of Acumatica, and CFO of Tier 3, Medio Systems, and Yapta. He brings more than two decades of C-level experience to the team with a background in strategic business development, operations, and financial management and a strong track record of building successful high growth B2C technology and travel companies

Leda is in charge of developing and advancing state and federal proposals aimed at creating livable, affordable communities and conserving working farms, forests and natural lands across the state. She serves on the boards of the Washington Association of Land Trusts and the Washington Wildlife and Recreation Coalition. She's also a member of the International Living Future Institute's inaugural Cascadia Congress and is an appointed member of the Forest Resources Coordinating Committee, a Federal Advisory committee to the Secretary of Agriculture. Leda holds degrees in Political Science and Conservation Biology from the University of Washington.

Ed Clark is a sustainable designer focused on the interface of building occupants and high performance building strategies. Ed revels in building science and leans heavily upon guidance from natural systems to apply the most applicable solution for every project, pushing for innovation without reinventing the wheel. Recent efforts have focused on the creation and implementation of tools to evaluate circadian resources within the architectural context as well as expanding the application of materials transparency initiatives within the architectural practice. Ed has a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental and Resource Sciences from UC Davis, accompanied by a minor in Plant Biology. Ed received a Masters of Architecture and certificate in Ecological Design from the University of Oregon and was a graduate research fellow in the Energy Studies in Building Laboratory.

Laura Clise leads sustainability and corporate responsibility at Weyerhaeuser. Prior to Weyerhaeuser, she led corporate sustainability at Plum Creek and served as the President of the Plum Creek Foundation. Laura's sustainability experience also includes roles leading sustainable development, supplier diversity, external communications, and corporate citizenship at AREVA Inc., preceded by work for the U.N. Global Compact, Intel Corporation, and Business for Social Responsibility. She began her career in brand management at General Mills and subsequently worked for McMaster-Carr Supply Company, where she led the international sales operations department. Laura received an MBA from the Thunderbird School of Global Management, and a BA in International Relations from Carleton College. ▼

Brenna Davis is an environmental scientist and sustainability expert working in the nexus of health, environment and business for nearly 20 years. She is recognized as one of the nation's authorities on health care sustainability, and a thought leader on climate change business engagement. Brenna began her sustainability career in a Northwest oil refinery in 1995. She worked with oil, gas and utility companies on Environmental Management Systems for more than 15 years. In 2012, she began work as the inaugural Director of Sustainability at Virginia Mason. Under her leadership, Virginia Mason has improved its performance and grown into an industry leader on sustainability. Virginia Mason is now recognized as one of the Top 25 Sustainable Hospitals in the US by Practice Green Health, their highest honor. In 2015, Virginia Mason received three gold medals in the Global 2020 Health Care Climate Challenge at COP21, the highest achievement of any organization globally. ▼

Ms. Drumheller is the sustainability manager at Alaska Airlines, were she is on a mission to make her company the aviation leader in environmental stewardship. Prior to joining Alaska Airlines in 1997, she worked in both the environmental consulting industry as well as hazardous waste management industry. During her career, she has tackled almost every single aspect of environmental protection and compliance -- from environmental audits to underground storage tank removals. Ms. Drumheller is an enthusiastic public speaker who enjoys turning dry technical information into something simple, fun, and understandable.

Richard has worked for 30 years on sustainability, social entrepreneurship, policy, and CSR in the public and private sector. He was Business Outreach Director for the Apollo Alliance; Co-director of Colorado Clean Tech for Obama; consultant to the UN Environment Programme, Vice President with Solar Works, Inc., board member of New Hampshire BSR, and adjunct faculty with Boston College. He teaches environmental policy at the University of Denver, serves on the board of Rocky Mountain Employee Ownership Center and is advisor to the State Innovation Exchange. Richard earned a MPP from the University of Wisconsin and a B.S. from the University of Maryland.

Jeff Frost is a Project Manager at Brightworks Sustainability. Headquartered in the Pacific Northwest with operations throughout the United States and projects throughout the world, Brightworks helps clients establish and implement operational sustainability programs that further their sustainability goals, reduce their environmental footprints, and increase their operational performance. Jeff is a living future accredited professional with expertise in material health and sustainability, LEED and Living Building Challenge and Net Zero Energy. He is co-chair of the Health Product Declaration Collaborative's (HPDC) Content Inventory Technical Subgroup and Member of the HPDC's User Advisor Panel; co-chair of the mindful MATERIALS Admin Working Group; and an invited member of the American Institute of Architect's Material Knowledge Working Group. He is an invited speaker on a range of topics and resides in Portland, Or, with his wife and three sons... that keep him busy.

Ubax is the Equitable Development Strategies Manager at the City of Seattle Office of Planning and Community Development. Ubax has extensive experience in community development, and addressing equity and social justice issues working with many Seattle communities of color. Ubax has been a program director with Puget Sound Sage, developing equitable land use policies such as affordable housing and Equitable transit oriented development, utilizing a race and social justice lens. Ubax speaks English, Somali and Swahili and serves on the boards of African Diaspora of Washington and Social Justice Fund NW. She has a Bachelor's in Management Information Systems from Washington State University and a Master's in Public Administration from Seattle University.

Annette Gardiner joined Itron in September 2016 as its Vice President, Gas Strategic Development. She is providing strategic guidance to ensure that the natural gas utility industry continues to improve in the areas of safety and efficiency. Prior to joining Itron, Annette held a number of leadership roles in the gas utility industry including Vice President of Shared Services at Consumers Energy and President of New Mexico Gas Company. At Consumers Energy, Gardiner led a team of 600 professionals setting the strategy for work management, procurement, contracts, fleet, facilities, corporate security, administration, and safety. Consumers Energy is Michigan's largest utility, providing electric and natural gas service to nearly 6.6 million of Michigan's 10 million residents. Prior to joining Consumers Energy, Gardiner was the President of New Mexico Gas Company, the largest natural gas utility in New Mexico, serving over 1 million residents in the state and leading a team of 750 employees. Gardiner has held positions including: natural gas transmission engineer, director of engineering, vice president of operations, director of rates and regulatory affairs, and president of a natural gas utility in a career spanning over 25 years. ▼

Colleen Groll is the Manager of Sustainability Programs for Seattle Children's. She has led programming across the organization since 2013 for energy, water and waste reduction, green purchasing, and healthy food and sourcing. Children's Transportation department has been a national leader on reducing staff commuting as part of their greenhouse gas emission reduction program. Children's was named one of the Top 25 for Environmental Excellence in 2015 and 2016 by Practice Greenhealth, their highest honor. Her prior experience includes five years with O'Brien & Company in Seattle, working on innovative green building projects across the Pacific NW. Colleen had a career as a nurse practitioner in primary care and oncology prior to making the transition into sustainability. Colleen holds a master's in Nursing from Simmons College. She is a Certified Sustainable Building Advisor (CSBA) and LEED AP. She has renovated several turn of the century homes, with the most recent gut rehab project receiving LEED Homes certification, the second gut rehab in WA state with this achievement.

Will Hall was elected to City Council in 2009 and 2013 and served as Deputy Mayor from 2010 to 2011. He and his wife Laurie Lindblad grew up in King County and have four generations of family in the area. They enjoy the outstanding cultural and recreational opportunities in our region, including arts, hiking, skiing and scuba diving. Will served on Shoreline's Planning Commission for six years including terms as Vice Chair and Chair. His professional experience includes environmental planning, public policy, teaching, consulting, and owning a small business. He volunteered as a scout leader and soccer coach, and served on the boards of regional and national environmental organizations. Will serves all 281 Washington cities and towns on the Board of Directors of the Association of Washington Cities. He also Chairs the Puget Sound Partnership Ecosystem Coordination Board, which works to restore the health and sustainability of Puget Sound. Will has a bachelor's degree from the University of Chicago and master's degrees from Johns Hopkins University and the University of Washington. His term expires December 31, 2017.

Brian first worked as an assistant to state Senators Arlie DeJarnatt and Sid Snyder, before being elected to the House of Representatives from southwest Washington's 19th Legislative District in 1994. He served in the House for 10 years, before joining the staff of Lieutenant Governor Brad Owen in 2004. In 2006, Brian became State Senator and, for most of his tenure, chaired the Agriculture, Water and Rural Economic Development Committee. Brian also represented the Senate Democratic Caucus on the Lt. Governor's Legislative Committee on Economic Development and International Relations, and the Community Economic Revitalization Board, run by the Washington State Department of Commerce. He resigned from the Senate and accepted his current role in the summer of 2015. Brian is a graduate of Washington State University, with a degree in Public Administration.

Brian is Founder & CEO of SolTerra. His passion is to bring elements from nature into our urban living environment. Brian lives this passion through designing, constructing and maintaining building integrated environmental technologyies and incorporating those systems into real estate development projects. With a focus on aligning financial and environmental sustainability, Brian's projects bring beauty to the urban setting while demonstrating a massive payback in financial, health, and environmental benefits. Brian is a certified LEED AP and GRP and is a 2012 recipient of the "40-Under-40 Award" from the Puget Sound Business Journal. He presented at TEDx Seattle about the importance of reconnecting our cities to nature in 2013 and presented on what it takes to build green at TEDx Aruba in 2016. ▼

Judith Heerwagen is an environmental psychologist whose work focuses on the behavioral, psychosocial and health impacts of buildings and on translating research evidence into policy and guidance. She has been an invited speaker and has written widely on sustainability, biophilic design, and the interface between buildings and people. She is co-editor of Biophilic Design: The Theory, Science and Practice of Bringing Buildings to Life which won the 2008 Publishers Award for best book in architecture and urban planning. She received the 2014 Design for Humanity Award from the American Society of Interior Designers and was named one of 25 Environmental Champions in the US by EnvironDesign Magazine. Prior to joining GSA in 2009, she was on a staff scientist at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and a research faculty member in architecture at the University of Washington. She received a BS in communications from the University of Illinois and a PhD in psychology from the University of Washington.

Matt brings a broad range of experience to his role as chief commercial officer. Prior to joining Proterra, Horton served as CEO of Propel Fuels, Inc., a leading clean transportation company. Matt led Propel through a period of high growth, earning Propel a spot on the Inc. 500 as one of America's fastest growing companies. While there, he was responsible for strategy and planning, government relations, operational execution, financial management, investor relations, communications, partnerships and corporate development. Horton is an experienced company builder with a passion for growing sustainable businesses. Over the course of his career, he has been an operating executive, venture capitalist and investment banker, working with dozens of startup and emerging-growth companies in Silicon Valley since the late 1990s. Horton is a regular speaker at clean energy industry conferences and was awarded the prestigious Industry Leadership Award at the World Biofuels Forum in Rotterdam for his work in advancing the biofuels industry.

Jimmy Jia is an innovator, author, and entrepreneur who enjoys large systems problems. He believes that the energy sector must address societal core values of mobility, security, comfort and resilience. He has helped create solutions in finance, policy, knowledge management, operations and product design. As co-founder and CEO of Distributed Energy Management, he acts as the Chief Utility Officer, helping clients improve profitability and resiliency by treating utilities as a strategic resource. His patented financial platform helps CFOs understand opportunity costs of better utility management. His book, Driven by Demand: How Energy Gets its Power, has been sold in over 15 countries and demonstrates how organizations have used outcome-oriented energy approaches to reduce their carbon footprint. He is also on the faculty at Presidio Graduate School where he leads the Sustainable Energy Solutions Certificate, a 12-month course that teaches MBA students how to make strategic energy decisions. He holds a BS and MS from MIT and an MBA from the University of Oxford. He sits on numerous boards, including the WA Clean Technology Alliance and is Chapter Chair of the MIT Enterprise Forum Northwest.

Emma is the Resource Conservation Manager at the City of Bellevue, and leads efforts to reduce energy and water consumption in municipal operations and facilities. By using the powers of persuasion, data, and incentives, she has led the organization to save more than $1 million dollars on energy bills since she started the program in 2009. When her boss asked her if she could scale-up the RCM program in 2013 to also benefit the business community, she was thrilled. She loves initiating good ideas and has helped lead successful pilot programs at Wa Dept of Ecology and Seattle Public Utilities including a medicine take back program with Group Health and Bartells and the first collection of multi-family food waste collection in Seattle. Emma has a Master's of Public Administration from the Daniel J. Evans School of Public Affairs at the UW, and an undergraduate degree from Huxley College of the Environment at WWU.

A 5th generation Seattle resident, father, urban planner, and long-time transportation advocate, Rob is proud to represent Northeast Seattle's District 4 as the first district-based City Councilmember. Rob has spent more than 25 years working, living, or going to school in NE Seattle, and currently lives in Ravenna with his wife and three daughters and he couldn't be more thrilled to work with his staff to make Seattle a more livable, affordable, and transit connected city.

Susan Jones, FAIA, LEED BD+C, is a leading Seattle-based architect with 27 years of experience. She founded her own firm, atelierjones in 2003 after eleven years at the large global firm of nbbj, where she was the first woman and youngest Partner in the firm from 1999-2003. atelierjones' award-winning work features groundbreaking work with Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT), including the first CLT structure permitted in Seattle in June 2015: a multi-story house using CLT as structure and interior finish material. Since then, the firm has designed two other CLT projects: a church in Bellevue, Washington and modular classrooms for schools in Eastern Washington. Licensed in over 10 states, Susan has been a visiting design professor and critic at numerous universities, and is Affiliate Associate Professor of Architecture at the University of Washington. She became a Fellow of the AIA in 2010. Susan earned her B.A. from Stanford in Philosophy, her M.Arch from the Harvard GSD in 1988 and was made a Fulbright Scholar from 1994-5. A third-generation Northwesterner, she grew up in Bellingham, and has been working for architects since she was sixteen years old. ▼

Duane Jonlin is the "Energy Code and Energy Conservation Advisor" for Seattle, and has been appointed by two governors to lead energy code development for the Washington State Building Code Council. Nationally, he serves on the Commercial Energy Code committee for ICC and is a voting member of the ASHRAE 90.1 committee. Prior to taking his position at the City of Seattle, Jonlin had 30 years' experience as a technical architect for commercial and institutional projects. In 2016 he was elected to the American Institute of Architects College of Fellows in recognition of his impact on energy efficiency.

Grace Kim is a founding principal of Schemata Workshop and has been practicing architecture in Chicago and Seattle for more than 20 years. Grace is a consensus builder, helping her clients and project stakeholders envision how a completed project will be experienced. She is a compassionate listener and sensitive designer, paying attention to both the present and future needs of her clients. Grace is the author of The Survival Guide to Architectural Internship and Career Development, and in 2008, she was recipient of the National AIA Young Architect Award. For four years, Grace served on the board of the Cohousing Association of the US. She is also a founding member of Capitol Hill Urban Cohousing. Grace is currently a commissioner of the Seattle Planning Commission and serves on the board for the Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce. Grace is frequently asked to present at national conferences on the topics of mentorship, Cohousing, and alternative housing models for seniors and those with disabilities.

Charles Knutson serves as Executive Policy Advisor to Governor Jay Inslee. In this role, he provides strategic counsel to the Governor on transportation and economic development issues, leads policy initiatives and works with the Washington State Departments of Transportation, Commerce and Revenue, other agencies, the Legislature, tribes and stakeholders to grow jobs across the state. Prior to this, Charles served as Senior Vice President, Policy and External Relations at the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce. He led the organization's policy portfolio, oversaw external affairs and managed all business functions including IT, human resources and finance. Earlier in his career, Charles served as Vice President, Public Affairs at the Seattle Chamber, and he led marketing and government affairs at a multinational transportation consulting firm. ▼

M.A. Leonard is vice president and Pacific Northwest market leader for Enterprise Community Partners, Inc. She leads the delivery of Enterprise's product solutions, innovations, capital and policy efforts in the Pacific Northwest. Based in the Seattle office, M.A. works to build Enterprise's core strengths in the region, and to evaluate regional needs to identify opportunities that are consistent with Enterprise's mission. M.A. joined Enterprise in 2010 with an extensive track record in affordable housing and community development. Most recently, she worked as an independent consultant providing strategic assistance to various community development organizations on their work with affordable housing development in Oregon and Washington. Prior to her consultancy business, M.A. held the position of regional vice president with the National Equity Fund (NEF), Inc., an affiliate of the Local Initiative Support Corporation (LISC). ▼

Dan McConnon was appointed by Governor Inslee to lead the State Efficiency and Environmental Performance Program in November 2015. In this role, Dan leads a multi-agency effort to cut energy consumption, decrease carbon emissions, reduce the use of toxic materials, and secure long-term taxpayer savings in state government operations, through effective management of government facilities, vehicle fleets and procurement programs. The program is a partnership between the Department of Enterprise Services and the Department of Commerce, and provides support to the Governor's Energy, Transportation and Climate Subcabinet. Dan has also served as the deputy director and chief operating officer of the Department of Commerce. Before entering state government, Dan spent more than 20 years in executive positions in higher education at both the state and local levels. Dan has a doctorate in educational leadership at Gonzaga University, an MBA from Nova University, and a bachelor's degree in business administration from Eastern Oregon State College.

Markham McIntyre is the Chief of Staff for the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce. Prior to working at the Chamber, he worked for then-Congressman Jay Inslee in D.C., Shoreline, and on his first gubernatorial campaign in 2012. Before politics and policy, Markham worked in local, sustainable agriculture in the Snoqualmie River Valley and around Washington state. He currently lives in Seattle and spends most of his time chasing his one-and-a-half year old daughter, Grace.

Jake is a Principal at Spectrum Development Solutions, a Seattle based real estate development company with a primary focus on mixed-use, transit oriented, and environmentally sustainable development that enhances the community fabric throughout the Pacific Northwest. Jake's expertise spans both new transit oriented mixed-use development work as well as historic renovations and adaptive reuse of existing buildings. Jake currently serves on the Seattle Planning Commission as well as on the national Urban Land Institute's Transit Oriented Development Council (TODC). He recently served on both the Mayor's Housing Affordability and Livability Agenda (HALA) working group for construction costs as well the King County Affordable Housing Bonds & Strategies Advisory Group and Seattle Housing Levy Technical Advisory Committee. In 2015 Jake was selected by the Puget Sound Business Journal as one of the 40 under 40 honorees spotlighting the top business leaders under the age of 40 who excel in their industry and show dynamic leadership. ▼

Marla D. Mellies is senior vice president and chief administrative officer for Puget Sound Energy. Mellies leads a corporate shared services organization that includes supply chain, contract management, human resources, facilities, safety, security, business continuity, and enterprise project management and performance. She serves as secretary to the PSE board of director's compensation and leadership development committee and as vice president of Puget Sound Energy Foundation. Prior to joining PSE in 2005, Mellies was general manager of human resources for Microsoft Corporation's Server and Tools Business and held vice president human resources positions with Lante Corporation and 3Com Corporation. Mellies earned her Bachelor of Science degree in industrial engineering from Bradley University and a Master of Arts degree in labor and industrial relations from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Kirk Myers is the Senior Manager of Sustainability for REI (Recreational Equipment, Inc.), a specialty outdoor retailer headquartered near Seattle. The nation's largest consumer co-op, REI is a growing outdoor community of more than 6 million active members. Kirk works to develop and implement sustainable business strategies that drive efficiency, innovation, and environmental benefit across REI's footprint, that enable the co-op to thrive in a resource-constrained world in ways that align with REI's ethos. His main focuses are sustainability strategy, climate change, green building, and core business practices such as energy use and zero-waste. Kirk has worked with REI since 2002, after working in a variety of fields including social entrepreneurship, outdoor instruction, and environmental work. He received his MBA in Sustainable Business from Bainbridge Graduate Institute (now Presidio Graduate School), and spends much of his time outdoors with his wife and two young sons.

Dr. Oleru is currently the Director of the Environmental Health Division for Public Health Seattle and King County. In this leadership role, she is responsible for leading and managing the environmental health programs serving a population of over 2 million residents including Food Protection, Water and Wastewater, Solid and Hazardous Wastes, Community Toxics, Vector Control, Healthy Community Planning and their relationship to land use, transportation and climate change. Dr. Oleru has been instrumental in bringing a public health and equity focus to the impacts of the built environment both locally and nationally in policy and programmatic roles. She has been a national health equity leader for over 25 years. Dr. Oleru led the team that developed and staffed the launch of the King County Equity and Social Justice(ESJ) Initiative in 2008, an effort which through ordinance became integrated in all branches of King County government in 2010. She is a member of the Inter-Branch Team which is overseeing the implementation of the Equity and Social Justice ordinance in the County. ▼

Christina Page is an independent consultant on systems thinking and sustainable business strategy based in Seattle, WA. She previously worked as Director of Energy and Environment at Amazon and Global Director of Energy and Sustainability Strategy at Yahoo!, where she was responsible for corporate environmental activities, including renewable energy procurement, carbon reduction goals, and onsite generation projects for fuel cells and solar. Prior to joining Yahoo!, Chris was at Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), a Colorado-based "think-and-do tank" led by energy efficiency guru Amory Lovins. She has also been a field instructor for the National Outdoor Leadership School and a writer/editor for the public radio environmental program "Living on Earth." While living in Colorado, Chris was a member of the all-volunteer Mountain Rescue Aspen team, providing aid to lost and injured parties in the Rocky Mountains. She has an undergraduate degree in Environmental Studies and Religious Studies from Brown University and a Masters in Environmental Management from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.

Stan Price has over three decades of experience in the design and management of resource efficiency programs. He has worked with public, private, and not-for-profit organizations helping them achieve their efficiency goals. He serves as the executive director of the Northwest Energy Efficiency Council, a trade association representing businesses that provide energy efficient products and services to the Northwest marketplace. Formerly, Stan was an Assistant Director of the Washington State Energy Office and has held management and teaching positions at both Seattle University and Washington State University. He has served as the Chair of the Washington State Building Code Council, a founding Board member of the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance, and a convening committee member forming the Energy Trust of Oregon. He serves on numerous utility and governmental advisory committees, a Board member of the Seattle 2030 District, and previously served as Co-chair of Seattle City Light's Review Panel. He is a graduate of Indiana University and the University of Colorado.

Eileen Quigley is a sustainability manager for the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) in New York City. As NRDC's Sustainability Manager she minimizes the carbon footprint of NRDC's real estate portfolio and staff activities both through fit outs and day-to-day operations. From the extensive data that she collects on NRCD's consumption and waste generation she analyzes the organization's current impact and crafts strategies to reduce it. During the first tenant fit out that she managed for NRDC she suggested that the project pursue sustainability goals that went beyond LEED. A year later the 10,000 square foot office in Chicago was awarded Living Building Challenge Petal Certification - the first tenant improvement in the world to receive LBC recognition - opening a new market of beyond sustainable spaces. With a B.S. in Structural Engineering from Cornell University and a Masters in Sustainability Management from Columbia she applies her technical education with a broad-brush approach to achieve NRDC's mission of safeguarding the planet. Eileen would be able to draw on these experiences to discuss how NRDC creates and uses green offices, and how panel attendees can too.

De'Sean Quinn has served 9 years on the Tukwila city Council. He grew up in Seattle in the vibrant and diverse neighborhood of Beacon Hill, the second born of four boys. He began his lifelong commitment to community service at a very young age volunteering alongside his father at the local Boys and Girls club, other non-profits and on environmental restoration projects. Introduced by his parents to Democratic politics in high school, he had the privilege to volunteer on Norm Rice's successful Mayoral campaign. De'Sean then attended Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, followed by the University of Washington, graduating with a degree in Political Science. De'Sean's early foundation in political activism led him to involvement in several more political campaigns, most notably Ron Sims' campaign for Washington Governor. Following that campaign, he served as the Community Relations Manager for King County Executive Ron Sims and was later appointed as Council Relations Director, where he served as chief liaison to the King County Council and then Regional Relations Manager under Executive Dow Constantine, interfacing with all 39 King County cities. ▼

Shefali Ranganathan is the Executive Director at Transportation Choices Coalition (TCC), a Washington State based non-profit working to create more opportunities to take transit, walk or bike. TCC has secured more than $79B for transit, biking and walking in the last decade. Most recently, she led the the successful $54B Sound Transit 3 campaign to complete a 116 mile light rail system in the Puget Sound region. Under her leadership, TCC was named the Citymaker of the Year in 2016 by the Downtown Seattle Association. Shefali works on a range of transportation policy issues coordinating a broad coalition of social justice, immigrant and refugee, public health, and affordable housing, groups working on transportation equity, including the creation of the nation’s most expansive low-income transit fare program, ORCA LIFT. She has served on several regional and local transportation advisory committees advocating for more transportation options including the Puget Sound Region Transportation Policy Board, the Move Seattle Oversight Committee, King County Metro's Service Guidelines Taskforce, the Puget Sound Region Transportation Futures Taskforce, and the Seattle Citizens Transportation Advisory Committee. Prior to TCC, she was a policy expert in Washington DC working on federal transportation policy.

Kristin Ryan a Partner in Barrientos RYAN, a multi-family and civic project developer focused on building inspired places that promote the growth of the city of Seattle. Ms. Ryan is an astute and experienced developer having managed development projects totaling over $400mm in housing, medical offices, schools and theaters over the course of her career. She was previously Director of the Northwest Division of Jonathan Rose Companies, directing the firm's acquisition, development and consulting activities on the west coast, and managing their west coast portfolio. Ms. Ryan has provided development advisory services to many non-profit and governmental agencies seeking to use multi-layered financing approaches to implement their projects. She specializes in implementing complex projects that serve communities with great places to live and work.

Arundhati (Arun) Sambataro serves with King County's Executive Office of Equity and Social Justice (ESJ), doing strategic planning and implementation, program development, performance management, equity impact training and providing technical assistance. Arun has made fighting for equity and social justice her life's work. Having spent over 15 years working on gender equity to improve women's and girls' health and socioeconomic status globally, she uses that global perspective to address regional inequities affecting the mosaic of King County communities and employees. Arun holds a Master's in Public Policy from Pepperdine University, a certificate in Microfinance from the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, and a BA in International Studies from the Jackson School at the University of Washington. She serves as a board member for Women's WorldWide Web (www.w4.org), an international non-profit that she co-founded in 2008.

Sarah worked at Nike for 21 years. Following 13 years in the advertising industry Sarah joined the Nike brand marketing team in Europe to establish their consumer insights department. Her passion for environmental issues enabled her to relocate in 1995 to the Nike World Headquarters in Oregon as Global Director of the Environmental Action Team. From 1995 to 2000 she championed the introduction of sustainability into the business, from operations and supply chain through to product design and manufacturing. Following that she had a number of senior roles within the corporate responsibility and sustainable business teams, with a focus on leading environmental stakeholder engagement activity, tracking emerging issues and facilitating futures oriented work. As Senior Director of Stakeholder Partnerships in the Sustainable Business & Innovation (SB&I) team, her final role at Nike Inc. she was responsible for collective action within the Systems Innovation function. ▼

Kate Simonen is an Associate Professor of Architecture at the University of Washington with over 15 years of professional practice experience as an architect and structural engineer. Her research is focused on using environmental life cycle assessment (LCA) and integrated practice to advance low carbon, high performance buildings. She is founding director of the Carbon Leadership Forum, an industry-academic collaborative focused on linking LCA to design and construction practice. She authored a book, Life Cycle Assessment, published in 2014, led the compilation of the largest known database of building carbon footprints, is leading the development of a whole-building LCA practice guide, developing methods to integrate disaster resilience and LCA and is studying the structural and environmental optimization of the use of mass timber construction for larger commercial buildings.

Harold S. Taniguchi is director of the King County Department of Transportation, a national leader in sustainable transit, fleet, marine, road, and airport transportation programs. The department's Metro Transit division operates the largest fleet of articulated hybrid buses in the country, operating more than 170 zero-emission electric trolley buses and just announced the purchase of 120 all-electric battery buses by 2020; the King County Water Taxi operates three passenger-only vessels that use B20 biodiesel and meet EPA's clean engine standards; the King County International Airport at Boeing Field implemented a community insulation program to mitigate aircraft noise while reducing community energy consumption; the Road Services division has invested in traffic management programs to reduce congestion and idle time; and the Fleet Administration division, which has invested in multiple types of low-emission alternative fuel vehicles to meet County business needs. Mr. Taniguchi has worked for King County since 1983, becoming the department director in 2002. Mr. Taniguchi is active in community affairs while enjoying new challenges, seeking different volunteer opportunities and making new friends. He graduated from Pomona College and has a Master's degree in Public Affairs from the Evans School of Public Policy and Governance at the University of Washington.

Letha Tawney is the Director of Utility Innovation and Polsky Chair for Renewable Energy at WRI. She leads the strategy in Charge, WRI's Electricity Initiative, to develop new business and regulatory models for utilities in the electricity sector. She focuses particularly on how utilities, regulators, entrepreneurs and customers can adopt more collaborative approaches to buying, regulating and planning for low-carbon energy that reduce costs and increase access. Previously, Letha led research on clean energy technology policy, including best practices to accelerate innovation and build competitive domestic industries. With over ten years of experience in information technology prior to coming to clean energy, Letha deeply understands manufacturers' efforts to innovate for a competitive edge while reducing costs. Letha holds a Master's of Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School and a Bachelor's in Business and Computer Science from George Fox University.

Afton has a construction background that spans seven years, with experience in many types of housing projects, from mixed-use and condominiums to large-scale affordable housing redevelopments and complex tenant improvements. She joined Walsh Construction Co. in 2008 as an intern. As project engineer, she recently completed the Bridge Meadows project (2011), an inter-generational community of affordable housing for low income families and seniors. Afton will assist Jack Kuester during preconstruction planning and share leadership of project management through construction.

Angie launched GreenCare's Climate Resilience & Adaptation portfolio in 2016 with the first-ever climate risk and resilience assessments of select hospitals in British Columbia's lower mainland. Leveraging existing risk management and sustainability frameworks has proven to be key in exploring short- and long-term resilience-strengthening strategies at both hospital- and organization-levels. Angie collaborates with other thought leaders to foster a network of forerunners, and contributes over 15 years' experience working at the nexus of environmental and disaster risk management in Europe, Asia and North America to growing in-region knowledge and capacity in climate-resilient health care.

Dr. Malin Young began serving as Deputy Director for Science and Technology at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in October 2015. She is responsible for integrating PNNL's science and technology capabilities to address critical challenges in science, energy, the environment, and national security. She also manages PNNL's institutional science and technology investments, business capture and proposal management, and technology commercialization; as well as the Office of Research Integrity. Prior to joining PNNL, Dr. Young served as Director of the Biological and Engineering Sciences Center at Sandia National Laboratories at the Livermore, Calif., campus. In that role, she was responsible for leading the performance of exploratory science and the development of technology to address pressing national needs in energy security, homeland security, and national defense. ▼

Megan Smith is the Director of Climate and Energy Initiatives for King County, Washington. She is responsible for coordinating climate change and energy initiatives across King County's diverse lines of business, and forging partnerships with cities, businesses, and community-based organizations to accelerate progress in meeting the county's ambitious goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and preparing for climate change impacts. Prior to this position, she served as the King County Executive's Environmental Policy Advisory for 5 years on a wide range of issues, from stormwater management to climate change policy. She has over 20 years of experience building partnerships, supporting policy makers as they use science and performance date to inform decisions, and managing natural resource programs.

Susan Wickwire is the Executive Director of the Seattle 2030 District, a groundbreaking public- private partnership that aims to dramatically reduce environmental impacts of building construction and operations through education and collaboration in downtown Seattle. Previously, Susan spent over 20 years with the U.S. EPA and the State Department in Washington, DC where she directed national climate change programs, managed international climate change projects, and served on U.S. delegations to UN climate change meetings. A Seattle native, she received her BA in Political Science from Whitman College and her Masters in Public Administration from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University.