Vice President of Communication & Engagement, Project Drawdown
Dr. Katharine Wilkinson is an author, strategist, and teacher, working to heal the planet we call home. She is Vice President of Communication & Engagement at the nonprofit Project Drawdown and was the Senior Writer of Drawdown — the New York Times bestseller on climate solutions. Known for her work at the intersection of climate, gender equality, and women’s leadership, Katharine’s TED Talk on the topic has more than 1.5 million views. In 2019, TIME featured her as one of 15 “women who will save the world.” The Boston Globe dubbed her first book, Between God & Green, “a vitally important, even subversive, story” for its exploration of climate change and evangelical Christianity. Katharine speaks, moderates, and facilitates across diverse forums, including National Geographic, Skoll World Forum, and the United Nations. She holds a doctorate in Geography & Environment from Oxford, where she was a Rhodes Scholar, and resides in Atlanta, Georgia.
Founder and Chief Equity Officer, Partnership for Southern Equity
Nathaniel Smith serves as Founder and Chief Equity Officer of the Partnership for Southern Equity (PSE), which advances policies and institutional actions that promote racial equity and shared prosperity for all in the growth of metropolitan Atlanta and the American South. Among PSE’s notable accomplishments was the creation the American South’s first equity mapping and framing tool, the Metro Atlanta Equity Atlas, and co-authoring numerous reports including: “Growing the Future: The Case for Economic Inclusion in Metropolitan Atlanta”, and “Employment Equity: Putting Georgia on the Path to Inclusive Prosperity”.
PSE also led a coalition of diverse stakeholders to support a $13 million transit referendum that expanded Atlanta’s metropolitan transit system into a new county for the first time in 45 years. Smith’s advocacy activities were instrumental in the ratification of a 15 percent set aside of Atlanta Beltline Tax Allocation District (TAD) dollars for the development and maintenance of affordable workforce housing within the Atlanta BeltLine Planning Area - $250 million dollars over the 25-year lifespan of the Atlanta BeltLine TAD.
A child of Civil Rights Movement and Atlanta native, Smith holds a Bachelor of Arts in Urban Studies from Morehouse College and a Master of Science from the New School. Among many his many accomplishments, The Huffington Post honored Nathaniel as one of the eight “Up and Coming Black Leaders in the Climate Movement” in 2017. Nathaniel was also named to the Grist 50 by Grist Magazine in 2018 and designated one of the 100 “Most Influential Georgians” by Georgia Trend magazine in 2018 and 2019.
Former EPA Administrator Director of the Center for Climate Health and the Global Environment (C-CHANGE) and Professor, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
One of the nation’s most respected voices on the environment and public health, former EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy is now a Harvard professor leading strategies and actions at both the T.H. Chan School of Public Health the Kennedy School of Government and in the corporate and non-profit sectors. At Harvard TH Chan, she is Professor of the Practice of Public Health in the Department of Environmental Health and the Director of the Center for Health and the Global Environment (C-Change). In this capacity, McCarthy leads the development of the school’s strategy to turn climate and health science into actions that promote a more sustainable and just world. At the Kennedy School, she engages climate science leaders across the university and beyond. McCarthy also serves as an operating advisor focused on sustainability and wellness investments at Pegasus Capital and as a Member of the Board of Directors of the Energy Foundation and Ceres.
During 35 years of public service in both Republican and Democratic administrations, McCarthy dedicated herself to environmental protection and public health. Her leadership and perseverance led to federal, state, and local actions on critical environmental issues. McCarthy’s significant accomplishments include action to advance environmental, clean energy, public transportation and public health goals consistent with a growing economy in New England and across the United States.
From 2013 – 2017, McCarthy served as Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under President Obama. As Administrator, McCarthy was the nation’s leading advocate for common-sense strategies to protect public health and the environment. Willing to take bold action, Administrator McCarthy achieved notable success by finalizing the Clean Power Plan (CPP) which set the first national standards to reduce greenhouse gas emissions for fossil-fuel fired power plants. The CPP demonstrated the United States strong commitment to climate action, sparking broad international support for adoption of the Paris Climate Agreement. Under her leadership, EPA also finalized the Clean Water Rule to protect rivers and streams that 117 million American s rely on for their source of drinking water.
Prior to her role as EPA Administrator, McCarthy held the position of Assistant Administrator in EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation. Previously, McCarthy served as the Commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, where she began an initiative called “No Child Left Inside” to introduce families to the natural world by visiting state parks, and she helped design and implement the nine-state Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), the nation’s first cap and trade program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions for power plants. She has also held senior positions in Massachusetts, serving five governors, including Deputy Secretary of the Office of Commonwealth Development and Undersecretary for Policy for the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs.
McCarthy earned a Bachelor of Arts in Social Anthropology from the University of Massachusetts at Boston and a joint Master of Science in Environmental Health Engineering, Planning and Policy from Tuft’s University.
Head of Sustainable Investing, Putnam Investments
Katherine Collins is Head of Sustainable Investing at Putnam Investments and portfolio manager for Putnam's Sustainable Leaders and Sustainable Future strategies, with over $5 billion in assets under management. A recognized thought leader, Ms. Collins is the author of The Nature of Investing and founder of Honeybee Capital, an independent investment research firm focused on sustainable investment themes. Earlier in her career, she served as Head of Equity Research, Portfolio Manager, and Equity Research Analyst at Fidelity Investments. Katherine serves on numerous boards, including Last Mile Health, Santa Fe Institute, Omega Institute, and Harvard Divinity School Dean's Council. She earned a Master of Theological Studies from Harvard Divinity School and a B.A. from Wellesley College.
Executive Director and Co-Founder, Sunrise
Varshini Prakash is the Executive Director and co-founder of Sunrise, a movement of young people working to stop climate change, take back our democracy from Big Oil, and elect leaders who will fight for our generation's health and wellbeing. As an undergrad at the University of Massachusetts, she took on the fossil fuel industry by pushing her university to stop investing in coal, oil, and gas. She led the campaign to victory after a 2-week long escalation involving thousands of students, alumni, and faculty. Varshini has been a leading voice for young Americans on climate change, including last fall when she helped lead a historic mass demonstration for the Green New Deal that went viral and put climate change on the map for Congress for the first time in a decade. Varshini's work has been featured in the New York Times, the New Yorker, Teen Vogue, BBC, Washington Post and more. She recently was Sen. Ed Markey’s (D-Mass.) guest to the 2019 State of the Union address and was named one of Grist’s 50 “Fixers” in 2018. Varshini currently lives in Boston, MA.
Head of Corporate Sustainability, Zurich North America
Ben Harper is Head of Corporate Sustainability for Zurich North America, a leading global insurer. In this position, Ben is responsible for coalescing Zurich's people and capabilities to create innovative solutions that advance the company's sustainability priorities of workforce in transition, climate resilience and confidence in a digital society. He works closely with Zurich's business units, functions, customers, government organizations, NGOs, industry groups and trading partners to influence, deliver, connect and prioritize the company's current sustainability activities. Ben has more than 31 years of sustainability and insurance experience and has been with Zurich for 18 years.
Most recently, he served as the global environmental subject matter expert in Technical Underwriting and as head of the pollution team responsible for providing technical, policy, strategy and underwriting guidance in support of environmental coverages. He has also been active in Zurich's climate, environmental, social and governance initiatives through product development, actuarial modeling, green investment advising and internal evaluations. He served as part of Zurich Group's Climate Office from 2009 to 2013 where his team developed products to address concerns ranging from renewable energy sources and carbon emissions to geologic sequestration. He has been a guest speaker and panelist at the United Nations and contributing expert to the International Energy Agency. Ben has a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering and sits on sustainability advisory boards for the American Society of Civil Engineers, the U.S. Department of Energy, New York University and others.
MBA Managing Partner, Director of Equity Research & Shareholder Engagement
Natasha works with clients to integrate Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) factors into their investments, while engaging major corporations to improve their performance through shareholder activism. Named by Bloomberg Businessweek as one of the “Bloomberg 50” most influential people who defined global business in 2017, Natasha was also featured on the cover of the magazine in June 2017. In 2018, she was named to InStyle magazine’s ‘The Badass 50: women who are changing the world” list. Natasha has been profiled in Forbes, Fast Company, and the Boston Globe, while her work has been featured in Rolling Stone, the Economist, the Wall Street Journal, and the New York Times, as well as on NPR and CNN.
In 2016, Natasha received the Upstart Business Journal Upstart 100 Award and the Aiming High Award from Legal Momentum for pioneering a shareholder campaign on gender pay equity. Her 2014 landmark negotiation with Exxon Mobil led to the company’s first public report on global warming and carbon asset risk. Natasha is a trustee of The Food Project and Chairman of the Crane Institute of Sustainability, host to the Intentional Endowments Network. She holds an M.B.A in Sustainable Business from Presidio Graduate School, where she taught sustainable investing for 5 years. Natasha received her B.A. cum laude from Mount Holyoke College.
Chairman, Risk Committee and Academic Advisory Board at Kepos Capital LP
Robert Litterman is the chairman of the Risk Committee and Academic Advisory Board at Kepos Capital LP. Prior to joining Kepos Capital in 2010, Litterman enjoyed a 23-year career at Goldman, Sachs & Co., where he served in research, risk management, investments, and thought leadership roles. He oversaw the Quantitative Investment Strategies Group, a portfolio management business formerly known as the Quantitative Equities and Quantitative Strategies groups, and Global Investment Strategies, an institutional investment research group.
While at Goldman, Litterman also spent six years as one of three external advisors to Singapore's Government Investment Corporation (GIC). Bob was named a partner of Goldman Sachs in 1994 and became head of the firm-wide risk function; prior to that role, he was co-head of the Fixed Income Research and Model Development Group with Fischer Black.
During his tenure at Goldman, Litterman researched and published a number of groundbreaking papers in asset allocation and risk management. He is the co-developer of the Black-Litterman Global Asset Allocation Model, a key tool in investment management, and has co-authored books including The Practice of Risk Management and Modern Investment Management: An Equilibrium Approach (Wiley & Co.). Litterman earned a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Minnesota and a B.S. in human biology from Stanford University. He is also the inaugural recipient of the S. Donald Sussman Fellowship at MIT's Sloan School of Management and serves on a number of boards, including Commonfund, the Sloan Foundation, and World Wildlife Fund.
President, Middlebury College
Laurie L. Patton is the 17th president of Middlebury, and the first woman to lead the institution in its 219-year history. Patton joined Middlebury in 2015 after serving as dean of Duke University’s Trinity College of Arts and Sciences and as the Robert F. Durden Professor of Religion. From her first days as president, Patton began to design a new agenda for Middlebury. In her inaugural address, Patton described a vision of a Middlebury that would actively engage with the most challenging issues facing society and challenged the community “to have more and better arguments, with greater respect, stronger resilience, and deeper wisdom.” In 2016 Patton launched Envisioning Middlebury, the planning effort that created a strategic framework to guide the institution over the coming decade.
In 2019, she announced Energy2028, Middlebury’s bold plan to address the threat of climate change and put the institution on the path toward a complete shift to renewable energy. Patton is an authority on South Asian history, culture, and religion. She is the author or editor of nine books and more than 50 articles and has translated the classical Sanskrit text, The Bhagavad Gita. Patton earned her BA from Harvard University in 1983 and her PhD from the University of Chicago in 1991. She was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2018. From 1996 to 2011, Patton served on the faculty and administration at Emory University, where she was the Charles Howard Candler Professor of Religions and the inaugural director of Emory’s Center for Faculty Development and Excellence in the Office of the Provost. Patton began her career at Bard College, where she was assistant professor of Asian religions from 1991 to 1996.
Executive Vice President of Finance and Administration, Middlebury College
David J. Provost is the Executive Vice President of Finance and Administration at Middlebury College and plays a strategic role in the overall management of the Middlebury enterprise. Primary responsibilities for planning, implementing, managing and controlling all financial-related activities, including accounting, finance, student financial services, investments/debt/treasury, forecasting and strategic planning. The College currently has in excess of $1.2 billion in assets under management. Other responsibilities include oversight of facilities, capital planning, dining operations, information technology services, and business services. Provost is responsible for the annual operating budget in excess of $280 million. In January of 2019, Provost was successful in gaining board support of Energy 2028.
In May of 2019 Provost to the Board of Trustees presented the College’s first balanced budget for 2020 since 2012, with a true 5% endowment withdrawal. David is also the President of the Green Mountain Higher Education Consortium, and has led efforts to create an administrative cost solution for Middlebury College, Champlain College, St. Michael’s College and Norwich University. David previously held the position of Senior Vice President of Finance and Advancement, and Senior Vice President of Finance and Administration at Champlain College. At Champlain David was responsible for the business operations of the College including Finance, Advancement, Campus Planning, Physical Plant, Safety and Security, Event Center and Auxiliary Services.
In 2015 upon taking on the responsibility of Advancement, David gave up his responsibility of Human Resources and Information Technology. He was instrumental in creating the College’s 1st comprehensive Master Plan that creates a road map for Champlain’s projected growth and needs for the next 10 to 15 years. Recently led the transformational restructuring of the Advancement Office and create a focused and well executed Development Plan. In addition was an integral part in establishing the Champlain College Campuses in Montreal and Dublin, and the creation of a sophisticated financial modeling tool for Champlain College’s Board of Trustees.
President, Denison University
Adam Weinberg became the 20th President of Denison University in 2013. Dr. Weinberg has focused on positioning Denison in ways that address the major issues facing higher education in the 21st century, including affordability, career readiness, internationalization, civic education, and social inclusion. Under Dr. Weinberg’s leadership, Denison has expanded the curriculum with a new generation of liberal arts programs, reinvented how the college prepares students for careers and professions, and focused Denison on a campus-wide effort to deepen mentorship, which he believes is the defining feature of a transformative education. Prior to coming to Denison, Dr. Weinberg served as president and CEO of World Learning, where he led education programs in more than 70 countries. Dr. Weinberg started his career at Colgate University, where he was a member of the sociology and anthropology department and served as vice president and dean of the college. Dr. Weinberg is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Council on Competitiveness. He has served on a variety of national and local boards, including The Talloires Network, InterAction, The Columbus Partnership, The Works, The Ohio Foundation for Independent Colleges, and the Alliance for International Education and Cultural Exchange. He has published widely, including two books on environmental sustainability.
Paul Sears Distinguished Professor of Environmental Studies and Politics and Special Assistant to the President of Oberlin College
David W. Orr is the Paul Sears Distinguished Professor of Environmental Studies and Politics and Special Assistant to the President of Oberlin College. The Oberlin Project was formed out of David's vision of full-spectrum sustainability: an all-encompassing joint venture by the town and College to create a thriving, sustainable and environmentally friendly community in Oberlin. He is the recipient of six honorary degrees and other awards including The Millennium Leadership Award from Global Green, the Bioneers Award, the National Wildlife Federation Leadership Award, a Lyndhurst Prize acknowledging "persons of exceptional moral character, vision, and energy."
David has been a scholar in residence at Ball State University, the University of Washington, and other universities and served as a Trustee for many organizations and foundations including the Rocky Mountain Institute, the Aldo Leopold Foundation, and the Bioneers.
Orr's career as a scholar, teacher, writer, speaker, and entrepreneur spans fields as diverse as environment and politics, environmental education, campus greening, green building, ecological design, and climate change. He is the author of seven books and co-editor of three others. In an influential article in the Chronicle of Higher Education 2000, Orr proposed the goal of carbon neutrality for colleges and universities and subsequently organized and funded an effort to define a carbon neutral plan for his own campus at Oberlin. Years later, hundreds of colleges and universities, including Oberlin, have made that pledge.
Managing Partner, Lahti Search Consultants and President Emeritus, Allegheny College
With over thirty-five years of higher education experience, Richard Cook has devoted his entire professional career to the independent college sector. After sixteen years of service as a chemistry professor, division chair, and faculty leader, Dr. Cook became provost of Kalamazoo College (MI) in 1989. He was named president of Allegheny College (PA) in 1996, presiding over significant growth in enrollment, program innovation, and national institutional recognition. He served successfully in that capacity for twelve years prior to stepping down to pursue independent consulting and environmental advocacy. Dr. Cook is an honors graduate of the University of Michigan and holds a Ph.D. from Princeton University. He was conferred an honorary doctorate and the title president emeritus by Allegheny College and is the recipient of numerous other awards and recognitions in education and civic service. He is currently a principal of Lahti Search Consultants and is an inaugural 2009-10 Senior Fellow of Second Nature and currently serves on the Second Nature Board of Directors.
Former Managing Director, Cornerstone Research
Christine Scott Nelson was a founder and Managing Director of Cornerstone Research until her retirement in 2012. She continues to serve on its Board of Directors. Cornerstone is a 750-person consulting firm that provides expert testimony and economic and financial analysis to attorneys in all phases of commercial litigation and regulatory proceedings. Mrs. Nelson was Chair of the Board of Trustees of Allegheny College when Allegheny became an early signatory of the American College & University Presidents' Climate Commitment.
She continues to serve as a Trustee of Allegheny and co-chairs the college’s current capital campaign. She also serves as Chair of the board of the Unitarian Universalist Urban Ministry and is Vice Chair of the board of Laspau, a Harvard affiliate. Mrs. Nelson received a BA from Allegheny College, an MA from Boston University, and an SM from MIT’s Sloan School of Management. Mrs. Nelson and her husband, an angel investor in clean energy start-ups, reside in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and are the parents of two adult sons.
President Emeritus, Allegheny College
James H. Mullen, Jr. became the 21st president of Allegheny College on August 1, 2008. With more than 30 years of experience in leadership roles in higher education, and a keen appreciation for Allegheny’s history and traditions, he is continuing the work of earlier presidents in building community while at the same time enhancing the College’s reputation as one of the nation’s preeminent colleges of the liberal arts and sciences. He became president emeritus on June 30, 2019, after 11 years of service to Allegheny. During Dr. Mullen’s tenure, Allegheny celebrated its bicentennial and also publicly launched the largest comprehensive fundraising campaign in College history, both in 2015. In addition, one of his key initiatives has been the establishment of the Allegheny College Prize for Civility in Public Life, which was created in 2011 to annually recognize two political figures, one liberal and one conservative, who argue passionately but with civility for their beliefs.
Dr. Mullen has served as chair of board of directors of the American Council on Education (ACE), the nation’s most visible and influential higher education association with a base of more than 1,800 member institutions. He continues to serve ACE as a representative of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU), which represents more than 1,000 private nonprofit institutions of higher learning on higher education policy issues with federal and state governments. Dr. Mullen also serves on boards for the Pennsylvania Economy League of Greater Pittsburgh and the Meadville Medical Center. In addition to his leadership roles in higher education and civic organizations, Dr. Mullen has been a sought-after lecturer in public policy and civility in public discourse, where his work focuses on the American presidency, as well as history and political science. Dr. Mullen is a Magna Cum Laude graduate of the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts. He holds a master of public policy degree from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and a doctorate in higher education from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
President, Allegheny College
Dr. Link has more than 20 years of experience across a broad range of institutions of higher education, from large public and private universities to small private colleges. She has built programs, increased resources, enhanced institutional visibility, and created innovative interdisciplinary and experiential approaches to education. Prior to her arrival at Allegheny, Dr. Link served for six years (2013) as dean of Temple University Rome. As the senior Temple University administrator in Rome, she was responsible for all aspects of Temple Rome’s campus, which annually enrolls more than 600 students in undergraduate and graduate programs. She strategically expanded and revamped curriculum to enhance enrollment by including more contemporary topics and developed new courses and internships with Temple’s Klein College of Media and Communication; College of Liberal Arts; College of Science and Technology; College of Engineering; and School of Sport, Tourism and Hospitality Management, among other divisions.
Dr. Link was instrumental in leading recruitment initiatives to achieve an enrollment that was the highest in the 52-year history of the campus, and she initiated and garnered support for a full-fledged development program, including creation of a Temple Rome Board of Visitors. Dr. Link’s professional and academic accolades include membership in the Stanford University Associates, honoring her long-term service to Stanford; selection as a Presidential Fellow of the Association of International Education Administrators (AIEA); the Administrator of the Year Award from the Barnard College Student Government Association; the Elizabeth Deering Hanscom Fellowship in the Humanities at Yale University; and the Pi Mu Iota Award for the highest achievement in the Italian Department at Stanford University. She is currently the vice chair of the American Overseas School of Rome Board of Trustees and is a member of the Centro Studi Americani Board of Directors.
A transdisciplinary and globally oriented scholar of Italian art and literature, Dr. Link is a professor at Allegheny College. She has taught at Temple University Rome, Barnard College, New York University, Columbia University, and Yale University. She is a graduate of Stanford University and earned her M.A. and Ph.D. from Yale University in Italian language and literature. Dr. Link and her spouse, Jeff Link, have three sons, Jason, Alexander, and Zachary.