Bigger Than Us

Jon is the Vice President of Insights and Head of Environmental Impact at Kickstarter, the world's largest platform for crowdfunding creative work. He leads data science, analytics, user research and strategy in addition to the company's environmental commitments. He is also the creator of This Place Will Be Water, a climate change mobilization campaign focused on Sea Level Rise with thousands of participants across 30 countries, and recently launched This Place Will Burn, mapping the increase in major wildfires fueled by climate change in the next 40 years. Previously he worked on environmental justice issues as an advisor to the Palau Mission to the U.N. and at the NRDC. https://www.thisplacewillbewater.org/ https://www.thisplacewillburn.org/ https://www.kickstarter.com/ https://thecreativeindependent.com/?ref=global-footer https://nexuspmg.com/

David Slutzky Founder and CEO, Fermata Energy Prof. Slutzky is a recognized thought leader in the field of vehicle-to-grid technology. Slutzky founded Fermata Energy with the specific intention of developing and commercializing vehicle-to-grid technology in order to make electric vehicles more cost effective and the electric power grid more stable, as well as to provide large-scale energy storage to make the transition to renewable energy happen more quickly. He has earned the reputation of being a policy wonk and serial entrepreneur committed to preservation of sensitive ecological systems, protecting the long-term integrity of our biosphere, and working to solve the challenges of global warming. In addition to more than 30 years of experience as an entrepreneur, David served as a Senior Policy Advisor at the White House and EPA during the Clinton Administration. At the White House, he coordinated the International Task Force of the President’s Council on Sustainable Development, where he focused his efforts on the environmental and labor implications of international trade agreements such as the Multilateral Agreement on Investments. Prior to Fermata Energy, David co-founded Skeo Solutions, an environmental policy consulting firm and worked as a Senior Policy Advisor at the White House and U.S. EPA. He is also on the faculty of the University of Virginia as a Research Associate Professor in the Science, Technology and Society Program at the University of Virginia School of Engineering and Applied Science. Slutzky earned his BA and pursued graduate studies in Political Philosophy at the University of Chicago, and received his law degree from the Program on Energy and the Environment at Chicago-Kent College of Law. David is also known for founding ERC, where he developed the process tool commonly known as the Phase 1 Environmental Site Assessment, and for co-founding ERIIS, the nation’s first environmental data. https://www.fermataenergy.com/ https://nexuspmg.com/

Sam joined Lyft in 2018 as the Director of Sustainability, where he oversees Lyft’s sustainability and climate impact efforts. Lyft was one of the first companies to join former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s “We Are Still In” movement to pledge its commitment to the Paris Climate Accord. Most recently in June 2020, Lyft made an industry-leading commitment to reach 100% electric vehicles on the Lyft platform by 2030. Prior to Lyft, Sam spent 10 years at Google as Senior Lead for Energy & Infrastructure, where he co-led Google's achievement of 100% renewable energy in 2017, making Google the largest non-utility purchaser of renewable energy on the planet to-date with over 3 GW of wind & solar energy under contract. Before Google, Sam earned a BA in Physics from Williams College and an MS in Energy and Resources from UC Berkeley, where his research focused on wind energy and plug-in vehicles, respectively. https://www.lyft.com/ https://nexuspmg.com/

Dr. Matthew Dawson (PI): Dr. Dawson received his undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering from Colorado School of Mines and his M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from MIT, graduating at the top of his class from both institutions. He has spent more than a decade of his career in research and project management roles at the likes of ExxonMobil, Lawrence Livermore National Labs, and MIT Investment Management Company. He has filed more than sixty (60) patent applications in the energy industry alone and overseen the development of numerous technologies which have gone on to be widely deployed throughout the industry. Several of the technologies he developed have been utilized by most major oil & gas operator in the United States. One such technology he developed was spun out into a start-up company by Dr. Dawson, which went on to receive the 2018 E&P Special Meritorious Award for Engineering Innovation. Dr. Dawson has overseen several successful technology companies as a CEO, CTO, and Director. He's also served as a venture capital Investment Manager. Over the years, he's shown an uncanny ability to rapidly transform a vision into high-impact products and drive widespread adoption. https://utility.global/ https://nexuspmg.com/

Mr. Vani is a Project Management Professional with experience in the EPC, EPCM & PMC industry working on large capital projects ranging in value from $0.5B to $11B in the Power and Mining & Metals industries. He has experience in managing lump sum and cost reimbursable contracts in North America and Saudi Arabia. Prior to starting Nexus he was a Risk Manager & Project Controls Manager for a Fortune 500 firm and subject matter expert in project planning (Primavera), schedule (Primavera Risk) risk analysis and cost risk (@Risk) analysis. Mr. Vani is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP certificate from the Project Management Institute) and holds a B.S in Electrical Engineering from the A. James Clark School of Engineering at the University of Maryland, College Park. https://nexuspmg.com/

Marilyn leads the climate and clean energy finance portfolio at the Hewlett Foundation. She has worked across four continents in renewable and nuclear energy, startups, and venture capital and investment. Author of Sustainability at work: careers that make a difference, Marilyn is editor-at-large at GreenBiz. She previously led the energy practice at Village Capital, modeled and forecasted energy solutions to climate change as a Senior Research Fellow at Project Drawdown, and managed innovation projects at AREVA (now Orano). She holds a Master’s Degree with distinction in Engineering for Sustainable Development from the University of Cambridge and a Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering, magna cum laude, from Princeton University. https://www.amazon.com/Sustainability-at-Work-Marilyn-Waite/dp/1138200484 https://marilynwaite.com/sustainability-at-work/ https://hewlett.org/people/marilyn-waite/

Corporate attorney turned fashion tech and sustainability entrepreneur, Stephanie is the Co-Founder of Queen of Raw, a marketplace to buy and sell unused textiles, keeping them out of landfills and turning pollution into profit. Prior to starting Queen of Raw, Stephanie worked as a lawyer in the fashion, media/entertainment, start-up, and technology industries. An advocate for women in business and sustainability, her companies have been featured in NPR, Good Morning America, The New York Times, Vogue, WWD, ELLE, Cheddar, WCBS, United Nations, Fortune, Entrepreneur, WIRED, Ellen MacArthur Foundation, and Fast Company.  Stephanie is a NASA/NIKE/IKEA/DELL LAUNCH.org Innovator, a Grand Prize WeWork Creator Awards Winner presented by Ashton Kutcher, a Cartier Women's Initiative Laureate, an MIT - Solve Global Challenge Winner, a thredUP Circular Fashion Fund Recipient, and an LVMH Innovation Award Finalist. She is a Member of Pledge 1% and New York Circular City Initiative and Founding Member of Wildlife Friendly Enterprise Network, along with Aveda, Kering, and Stella McCartney. https://www.queenofraw.com/ https://nexuspmg.com/

Unlike all other c-level positions, the word “Executive” does not tell us what a CEO is responsible for. It is the odd man out. A more appropriate title is Chief Vision Officer (CVO). My job is to define, embrace and protect our company’s vision and Just Cause of bettering our planet. This is accomplished by taking accountability for deciding when short-term finite costs are worth it to advance our infinite vision. I am responsible for ensuring our employees are fulfilled, and that their well-being is put far ahead of the bottom line. I want everyone to know WHO we are and what we stand for well before they know what we do. I want to help build better people in order to build a better world.

Sanjay Shrestha joined Plug Power as Chief Strategy Officer in 2019. Prior to joining Plug Power, Mr. Shrestha served as the CIO of a global solar IPP and President Sky Capital Americas since 2015.  Under his leadership, Sky Capital America built and acquired over 100MW of operating solar assets and secured pipeline over 100MW.  He also sourced various types of financing solutions to support this growth including project debt, construction equity and long-term equity. He brings almost two decades of experience in the broader clean tech sector to our team. Before global solar IPP, he led the renewables investment banking effort at FBR Capital markets. During 2014, and under his leadership, the firm was ranked among the top renewable energy underwriters in the U.S. Prior to joining FBR, Mr. Shrestha spent seven years as the global head of renewables research coverage at Lazard Capital Markets. During his tenure at Lazard Capital Markets, he was a member of the Institutional Investor All America Research team and was also ranked as one of the top five stock pickers on a global basis. Prior to Lazard Capital Markets, Mr. Shrestha spent seven years at First Albany Capital, where he built the firm’s renewables and industrial research practice. Starmine/Forbes Magazine ranked him the number 1 stock picker and the number 1 earnings estimator during his tenure at First Albany Capital. Mr. Shrestha serves as an independent director on the board of directors of Fusemachines, an AI company.

Brenden Millstein is CEO & Co-founder of Carbon Lighthouse, where he is responsible for corporate growth, engineering, and long-term planning. Under Brenden’s leadership, Carbon Lighthouse became profitable and began reducing emissions within 6 months of operations. Brenden previously worked for NYSERDA, the State agency charged with addressing New York’s largest energy and environmental issues. Working with a small team comprised of leading energy experts, Brenden co-administered a budget of $87 million, executing energy efficiency and demand response projects at 250+ manufacturing plants and high-rise office buildings in New York City. Brenden’s clients included Citigroup, J.P. Morgan Chase, CBRE, and many other banks and property management companies. Additionally, he also worked as a research fellow at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, investigating both Li-ion batteries and advanced building materials. Brenden obtained an MBA from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business and an MS in Renewable Energy Engineering, also from Stanford. He holds a B.A. in Physics, cum laude, from Harvard University. https://www.carbonlighthouse.com/ https://nexuspmg.com/