Ben Snyder is an innovator exploring community and sustainability in collaboration with private, nonprofit, and government stakeholders. In addition to his role as Senior Innovation Partner at CivicMakers, he is the Civic Innovation Fellow at the design-strategy consultancy verynice, where he is researching models of impact in the public sector. He also serves as the Clean Tech Open’s Director of Organizational Development. Previously, Snyder launched and managed Pasadena’s leading coworking space and innovation hub, and he cofounded [freespace], a community center for open-source programming and civic innovation.

judilynnbrown

Judi Brown is the Cofounder of CivicMakers, a San Francisco-based consultancy providing strategy, human-centered design, and digital expertise to agencies, social enterprises, and nonprofits. Brown is a design strategist, civic innovator, connector, and convener. She brings a multidisciplinary, multisectoral approach to community engagement and strategic planning, with an emphasis on equity and inclusion. She co-chaired the Q-Sustainability club at Presidio Graduate School, which educated students on the social side of sustainability. She currently serves as Board Vice President of OUT for Sustainability, an organization mobilizing LGBTQ communities toward social and environmental action.

At Civic Hall, Peter Shanley’s team is responsible for connecting the dots within the organization’s community and curating meaningful and authentic opportunities for collaboration. Prior to joining Civic Hall, he spent a decade as a serial entrepreneur and strategic leader inside large companies (Yahoo! Brickhouse, and HP Labs) and successful startups (Federated Media, Betable, and Neo Innovation). Before joining the private sector, Shanley worked on the affordable housing movement with San Francisco’s Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation (TNDC). He combines a passion for social justice, deep experience in innovation with nonprofits and Fortune 500 companies, and expertise in methods like Lean Startup and Agile/XP to help leaders move from ideas to impact.

@walkoflifecoach

Shannon Houde has spent 20 years as an executive coach, management consultant, and recruiter advising organizations and supporting leaders ranging from managers to CEOs. Since founding Walk of Life Consulting, an international career development and talent advisory business focused on the sustainability, CSR, and impact sectors, Houde has trained more than 700 professionals. She focuses on inspiring teams to reach peak performance, calibrating insights through value-driven assessments, and designing tools to support professional development. She has worked with C-suite executives at Adobe, GE Capital, Barclays, Deloitte, WWF, and BSR.

As the Associate for the Climate Reality Project’s Climate Speakers Network, Jill Leaness collaborates with a diverse group of local, state, and national partners to develop training programs that help peer messengers connect climate change with their community. Prior to this, Leaness served in the Peace Corps as a Community Environmental Conservation Volunteer in Panama, worked for the National Park Service, and she worked with various environmental nonprofit organizations. She served as a Student Delegate to the American Chemical Society at COP21.

As Climate and Business Manager at the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Matt Banks works with businesses to build awareness and adoption of progressive corporate climate protection strategies. For 15 years, he used the brand power of WWF to mobilize companies to participate in a range of successful partnerships, including Climate Savers, the 3% Solution, the Science-Based Targets Initiative, Business Backs Low-Carbon USA, Renewable Energy Buyers Principles, and the Renewable Energy Buyers Alliance. Before joining WWF, Banks worked for AtKisson, Inc., where he developed sustainability indicators for the island of Nantucket, the city of Pittsburgh, and the Trust for Public Land. In his work for the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives, he launched the greenhouse gas emissions inventory and planning project for the city of Boston. The coauthor of Good Cop/Bad Cop: Environmental NGOs and Their Strategies Toward Business, Banks has also received the Business Sustainability Initiative award from Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business.

As Director of Business Engagement for the Climate Reality Project, Sarah Orsay helps make climate action an urgent reality within the private sector. To do this, she applies her diverse experience from nearly 30 years working on Wall Street, with nonprofit organizations, and with municipal governments. During her career, Orsay has served as a Managing Director in derivative sales at Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, and as CEO of the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research. In late 2007, she retired from her New York-based career to spend more time with her family and volunteer in her community. In 2013, she became the Director of Parks and Recreation for her hometown, Rumson, New Jersey. She currently serves on Rumson’s Environmental Commission.

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Cammie Erickson is working to build a purpose-driven culture at LinkedIn. As Head of Employee Engagement for LinkedIn for Good, Erickson works to inspire all 9,000-plus LinkedIn employees across 30 cities to drive social impact through strategic, skills-based volunteering and giving programs. Prior to joining LinkedIn, Erickson spent seven years working in the social sector, first at Ashoka, supporting the work of innovative social entrepreneurs, and then at BSR, as part of the Partnership Development and Research team. Erickson is currently pursuing an MBA at UC Berkeley Haas School of Business, where she is a Forte Fellow and 2014 Public Service Scholarship Recipient.

EmSemm

Emily Baseman leads social media strategy across social impact, consumer, and healthcare with Weber Shandwick. She currently focuses on leading content creation to support Bank of America’s corporate communications programs including women’s empowerment and financial inclusion, philanthropic giving, and diversity. She also has experience in leading strategy and managing teams across digital executive visibility, influencer relationship management, and community management. Baseman’s clients have included UNICEF, McCormick, Campbell’s Soup Company, USPS, Holiday Inn, Johnson & Johnson, Centers for Disease Control, Prudential, and W. K. Kellogg Foundation.

With more than 17 years of experience in the hospitality, meetings, and events business, Carole Garner brings a rich background in corporate and nonprofit event planning, marketing, and management to MeetGreen. During her tenure, she has been responsible for meeting management and training, and she oversees the Conference Management Department. Prior to joining MeetGreen, Garner was President of Specialized Meetings & Events, Inc., a full-service professional event-planning company with offices in Bend and Portland, Oregon. Garner is also Founding Editor of the Meeting Vision, an online publication to educate junior planners and administrative staff on best practices in the meetings industry. Her articles and planning advice have appeared in national publications such as the Meeting Professional, MeetingsWest, Meeting Ideas, and Oregon Business magazine.

Internationally known as a trailblazer in sustainable events, Nancy Zavada is President of MeetGreen, a full-service sustainable event planning and consulting firm that collaborates with BSR to put on the annual BSR Conference. A decade after founding MeetGreen, Zavada cofounded the Green Meeting Industry Council. In 2012, she was awarded the “Top 25 Women in the Meetings Industry,” and in 2015, she was named one of 22 “Meetings Trendsetters.” Zavada’s latest book is Meet Better: 167 Easy Ways to Make Your Events More Environmentally and Socially Responsible.