Bigger Than Us

Passionate and driven, Holly Elmore is Founder & CEO of Elemental Impact (Ei), a U.S.-based global non-profit committed to bringing regenerative operating practices to the corporate community. Beginning her career as an auditor and CPA with Arthur Andersen, Holly worked nearly seven years in the corporate arena. Within her entrepreneurial spirit, Holly created Executive Catering & Events, a prominent corporate-catering company. Over the next fifteen years, Holly operated Executive Catering along with two successful restaurants in the Atlanta market. Following her restaurant and catering years, Holly served as Founder & Executive Director of the Green Foodservice Alliance (GFA), an affiliate of the Georgia Restaurant Association. During her GFA tenure, Holly created and launched the Zero Waste Zones (ZWZ) program. In 2010, Holly founded Ei as the new home for the ZWZ. The National Restaurant Association acquired the ZWZ in 2012. Holly utilizes her extensive business skills to make a difference through Ei, now in its 10th year of Regeneration in Action. Holly channels her energy and enthusiasm into Ei, spearheading initiatives that benefit the community, the environment, and the bottom-line. As the “pen” behind the Fingertip Press, Holly is the author of the Ei website and the two Ei Online Magazines: Regeneration in Action and The IMPACT that document the organization’s journey and successes. In addition, Holly is a professional photographer and published photojournalist. https://elementalimpact.org/2018/11/holly-elmore/ https://nexuspmg.com/

James Ellsmoor is from Shropshire, UK, and the Director of Island Innovation, a consulting agency he founded not long after graduation while studying for a Masters in Island Studies. He has a passion for sustainable development and renewable energy, particularly applications for rural and isolated communities. Last year he ran the inaugural Virtual Island Summit, which brought together 4,000 participants from Scotland to Samoa to share stories about their communities. James has always used technology to advance his mission, allowing him to live and work anywhere and manage a team spread over 4 continents. Island Innovation focuses on bringing together NGOs, the private sector, universities and government with projects covering topics such as lithium extraction, climate change and public policy. https://www.islandinnovation.co/ https://nexuspmg.com/

Mike Zelkind, co-founder, and CEO of 80 Acres Farms knew that food wasn’t what it used to be. He wanted to make it better by creating a new kind of farm, one capable of producing an abundance of crop varieties year-round, grown completely indoors.  A farm that can produce 100 times more food than an ordinary farm. Using 100% renewable energy. Without any pesticides or excessive food miles. In 2015, 80 Acres Farms was born.  80 Acres is a founding member of the Infinite Acres partnership venture, along with Netherlands-based Priva Holding BV, a leading provider of technology solutions, services and automation systems to horticultural and other industries, and Ocado Group, one of the world’s largest dedicated online grocery retailers, operating its own grocery and general merchandise retail businesses.  That partnership is now building large-scale, fully automated indoor farms in the United States, Asia and Europe.    Over Mike's 30-year career, he held Senior Executive roles within leading Domestic and International companies, including Fortune 50 Food & Beverage, Retail and Consumer Packaged Goods Companies, as well as major Consulting and Private Equity Firms.  Mike has played competitive Chess since the age of 12, competing in several of the most prestigious International Chess Tournaments around the world and achieving a title of FIDE Master at the age of 19. He ranked #1 in his Master of Business Administration class of a top 20 Executive MBA program.  In addition, he earned the top Leadership Award: John Robson Scholar and was selected for a very prestigious Community Leadership Program by the Wexner Foundation. He is fluent in Russian and has basic Spanish communication skills.  https://www.80acresfarms.com/ https://infinite-acres.com/ https://nexuspmg.com/

Dana Gunders serves as ReFED’s Executive Director. Dana is a national expert and one of the first to bring to light just how much food is wasted across the country. For almost a decade, she was a Senior Scientist at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). She then launched Next Course, LLC to strategically advise on the topic. Some of her career highlights include authoring the landmark Wasted report and Waste Free Kitchen Handbook, launching the Save the Food campaign, testifying in Congress, consulting to Google, appearing on John Oliver, and perhaps most importantly, being a founding Board Member of ReFED. https://www.refed.com/?sort=economic-value-per-ton https://savethefood.com/ Waste-Free Kitchen Handbook: A Guide to Eating Well and Saving Money By Wasting Less Food (Zero Waste Home, Zero Waste Book, Sustainable Living Book) https://nexuspmg.com/

Emma Rose Cohen, 34, is the CEO and founder of Final, the company that created FinalStraw—the world’s first reusable, collapsible straw that raised nearly $2 million on Kickstarter. Prior to launching Final, Emma earned a Master’s Degree from Harvard in Environmental Management and Sustainability and spent four years working in waste minimization at Los Alamos National Laboratory. In the last decade, Emma’s passion for sustainability motivated her to help create a nonprofit called Save the Mermaids, to educate children about the harmful effects of single-use plastics. Emma has also spoken about the harmful effects plastic straws have on the environment on the TEDx stage and in numerous podcasts. Emma’s love for both the ocean and the mountains has resulted in a semi-nomadic lifestyle—she calls Santa Fe, New Mexico, Santa Barbara, California, and Whistler, British Columbia home. Emma continues to lead Final’s entirely remote team as they develop an entire line of Foreverables™—items designed to replace single-use plastic and last forever. Final launched its second product, FinalWipe, on Kickstarter in March 2020 and has plans to release several additional products, including FinalFork and FinalSpork, later in the year. https://final.co/ https://tim.blog/2012/12/18/hacking-kickstarter-how-to-raise-100000-in-10-days-includes-successful-templates-e-mails-etc/ Hacking Kickstarter: How to Raise $100,000 in 10 Days (Includes Successful Templates, E-mails, etc.) https://nexuspmg.com/

With 13 years of communications and public policy experience, Lara is the Chief of Staff of the Administration and Regulatory Affairs Department and the Chief Sustainability Officer for the City of Houston. In addition to leading the Mayor’s Sustainability Office, Lara is the public face of ARA in the media as well as before City Council, industry stakeholders, and customers. Prior to joining the City of Houston, Lara was a member of Hill+Knowlton Strategies’ Houston office, providing strategic counsel in sustainability and social responsibility issues for a broad range of clients across the energy sector. Lara worked in Washington, DC and served as Communications Director for the Chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, Vice Chairman of the House Transportation Committee, and Vice Chairman of the Sustainable Energy and Environment Caucus, as well as for congressional campaigns in Colorado, West Virginia, and Texas. She also produced a web-based reality show for CNN and served as a Government & Marketing Consultant for SXSW Interactive in Austin. Lara attended the University of Texas in Austin where she graduated magna cum laude with degrees in History, Ancient History & Classical Civilizations, and Government. In 2013, she earned an MBA in Energy Finance and Public Affairs from the University of Texas at Austin’s McCombs School of Business, where she co-founded the UT Energy Savings Fund. http://www.greenhoustontx.gov/aboutus.html http://greenhoustontx.gov/climateactionplan/ https://nexuspmg.com/

Jo has responsibility for the development and execution of strategic direction and programs at VertueLab. With the organization since 2010, she translated her previous decade of experience leading sustainable design at ZGF Architects into the creation of a collaborative research program focused on the sustainable built environment, and then into expanding the set of services offered to cleantech startups. Jo’s current focus as deputy director is on VertueLab’s organizational excellence, partnering with VertueLab’s executive director in essential internal firm leadership activities. In addition, Jo leads the organization’s efforts for impact measurement and management, ensuring that VertueLab programs and supported companies are designed and managed to achieve ambitious triple bottom line impact targets. https://vertuelab.org/ https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/57673/to-be-of-use Poem, To Be of Use https://nexuspmg.com/

Dan Miller is the Founder and CEO of Steward, an online platform for investing in sustainable farms. Unlike traditional funding methods, Steward’s crowdfarmingä model creates a healthy yield for both farmers and investors: farms are able to purchase land and equipment, and investors earn projected returns while making a positive impact. From 2010 to 2015, Miller was Co-Founder, President and Director of Fundrise, the first and largest US real estate crowdfunding platform, which has raised more than $1 billion to date. He remains involved with Western Development Corporation, his family’s real estate organization, which has developed more than 20 million square feet in its 50-year history. He graduated from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania with a B.S. in 2009, and an M.B.A in 2010. https://gosteward.com/ https://anchor.fm/nexuspmg

Walter L. McLeod has more than 25 years of executive experience in business development, strategy and government relations in the energy and mobility sectors.  He has been actively engaged in clean technology deployment and finance for over a decade.  Mr. McLeod is the Founder and Managing Director of Eco Capitol Companies, where he has served as a senior advisor to energy companies, startups, investors, trade associations and think tanks.  He was a junior partner candidate with Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB) Green Tech Partners Investment Team.  Walter has been an active thought leader in shaping clean energy and mobility policy in the United States for many years.  He was appointed to serve on the original “Utility 2.0” project steering committee commissioned by the United Nations Foundation.  Walter was also appointed to the “Value of Solar” stakeholder committee commissioned by the Virginia General Assembly.  He has successfully developed or permitted a portfolio of utility scale solar projects with a capacity exceeding 500 megawatts (MW) and valued at more than $750M.  Mr. McLeod is also the Founder of the Global Energy and Innovation Institute, where he created the “Electric Vehicle Roundtable” consortium which produced the 2017 landmark document, “Guiding Principles for Electrified Mobility.” Industry participants included Xcel Energy, Dominion Energy, Deutsche Bank, Daimler, Tesla, Volkswagen, EVgo, ChargePoint, Lyft and Uber – representing a collective market cap exceeding $344B.  Walter was also appointed to the Virginia Automated 20xx Strategic Plan autonomous mobility committee by the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT).  Walter has served on several boards and advisory committees, including the George Mason University Alumni Association, American Council on Renewable Energy, Chemical Angels Network, MIT Energy Prize and SURGE Ventures Accelerator, to name a few.    Mr. McLeod earned an M.S. in chemistry from the College of Science at George Mason University, a Bachelor of Art in chemistry from the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and completed the Executive Education Program at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. http://www.vsfsolar.com/ https://carbon.substack.com/ https://nexuspmg.com/

Mr. Best is the founding CEO of Syzygy Plasmonics. He has a demonstrated track record of success in a corporate setting, from management to intrapreneurship. His skills in launching special projects, project management, and supply chain management will be essential for success of this early-stage venture. He graduated from Texas Tech University in 2007 with a triple major in International Business, Marketing, and Management with a minor in Spanish, while also learning Chinese. After joining Baker Hughes in 2009, he has steadily progressed to the level of Senior Manager, where he has gained expertise in quality assurance (Six Sigma Black Belt), regulatory compliance, technology development management, project and personnel management, supply chain management, internal/external communications, and business process architecture. http://plasmonics.tech/team https://nexuspmg.com/