Climate Changers

Allison Wolff is CEO of Vibrant Planet PBC which builds platforms that help build community and landscape resilience in the face of climate change and wildfire. After building the Netflix brand and digital experience, Allison advised corporate and nonprofit leadership teams on vision, strategy, and social and environmental innovation. Clients include Google, eBay, Facebook, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Omidyar Network, Patagonia, Nike, HP, Drawdown, Conservation International, and GlobalGiving. She is now leveraging her experience and network to develop solutions for forest and landscape resilience and carbon drawdown.

From prison to produce. This episode dives into the critical work of Restorative Farms, led by Director Owen Lynch, to combat the food desert crisis by creating a path to meaningful employment for those seeking a fresh start. Lynch's organization goes beyond simply growing food, focusing on planting careers through paid vocational training; this leads to incredible success stories where program graduates, including those leaving jail, secure stable, high-value jobs as farmers and agricultural trainers.

Daniel Goldsmith, Co-Founder of Julius, discusses the demand for green careers in climate technology, emphasizing training for new collar jobs and the importance of soft skills in the energy industry. He also explores mentorship programs, diversity in the workforce, and resources for those pursuing green careers.

"The cheapest and most efficient kW of electricity is the one you don't use." -Bob Hinkle Bob established Metrus in 2009 and created the Efficiency Services Agreement (ESA) and Sustainable Energy Services Agreement (SESA) that are the contractual backbone of financing large-scale energy efficiency retrofit and renewable energy projects. Bob helped develop and grow the Energy as a Service market which is currently a $5.4 billion industry. He has developed and implemented over $500 million of large-scale energy efficiency projects and clean energy investment programs in the U.S. and in emerging global markets for utilities, major energy end-users, government agencies, export credit agencies and international donors.

Raviv Turner is a serial big data and AI entrepreneur and the founding member of the Nature Tech Collective, a non-profit coalition of nature tech companies covering satellite imaging, drones, IoT, LIDAR, eDNA, bio-acoustics and other tech that helps financial institutions and corporations measure, report and verify their nature-related impact claims and disclosures, to fight greenwashing and accelerate investment in nature-based solutions. Raviv also sits on the TNFD (Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures) nature data working group. He speaks on the topics of biodiversity ESG, natural capital, spatial finance, and digital MRV.

Hannah Bellamy is Managing Director of charity: water, a nonprofit organization bringing clean and safe water to people around the world.

Vincent Stanley from Patagonia discusses the company's purpose-driven philosophy and their efforts in reducing environmental footprint and making legitimate products. They also talk about the importance of being a responsible company, regenerative practices, creating beer from perennial wheat, tackling ocean plastics, partnerships with Burrell for repurposing nets, and the platform ActionWorks for conservation.

Steve Pantano is the Head of Market Transformation at Rewiring America, where he leads efforts to build and share comprehensive working knowledge of how to replace more than one billion fossil fuel devices with clean electric alternatives. For the past fifteen years Steve worked with CLASP and ICF International to develop policy, market development programs, research, and technical analysis aimed at maximizing the climate benefits that can be achieved with energy efficient appliances and equipment. He spent years before that tinkering with and testing everything from Hydrogen fuel cells to Space Shuttle hardware. He has a Master of Business Administration and a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from The Johns Hopkins University.Rewiring America is the leading electrification nonprofit, focused on electrifying our homes, businesses, and communities. They develop accessible, actionable data and tools, and build coalitions and partnerships to make going electric easier for households and communities. Rewiring America helps Americans save money, tackle nationwide emissions goals, improve health, and build the next generation of the clean energy workforce. They believe in an abundant, flourishing, climate-safe future, and know that, together, we can realize one.  

Jo is an architect specialized in green home design and passive solar strategies. That means, the things you can do to your house that don't cost money running them (unlike your aircon).You can find out more about Jo's projects here: https://maven.com/jopetroni/climateproof https://thecarbonalmanac.org/connect-the-dots https://permarchitecture.net/ https://jopetroni.substack.com/