ROOTS TO REVOLUTION

2024

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  • Group of diverse people at a sustainability Summit or Conference, standing and sitting, listening to a woman speaker near a blackboard.
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  • Panel discussion with five people sitting on stools at an event titled 'Summit for Sustainable Organizations'. There is a blackboard behind them and banners from the University of Oregon. The panel includes a man and women holding microphones, and bottles of water and flowers on the table in front of them.
  • Two smiling professionals, a man with glasses and a woman, posing in a conference room with others in the background, during a Sustainability Summit or Conference.
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2024 Speakers

Kate Gordon

Former Senior Advisor to Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm | U.S. Department of Energy


  • Kate Gordon has spent the past two decades working at the intersection of climate change, energy policy, and equitable economic development. Most recently, Gordon served as Senior Advisor to U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, where she led a variety of place-based initiatives to help drive a more sustainable and resilient energy transition, including creating the agency’s “Community Benefits Plan” requirement for funding applicants. Gordon continues to serve on the Secretary of Energy’s Advisory Board (SEAB). Prior to her time in the Biden-Harris administration, Gordon served for several years in California state government as the Director of the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research and Senior Climate Policy Advisor to Governor Gavin Newsom. In this role, Gordon launched or led several initiatives to better integrate climate and economic development strategy across the state.

    Before entering public service, Gordon served in senior leadership positions at several nonpartisan think tanks including the Henry M. Paulson Institute, the Center for the Next Generation, the Center for American Progress, and the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University. Gordon got her start on energy and climate issues working at the national Apollo Alliance, where she ultimately served as co-Executive Director until the merger with the Blue-Green Alliance in 2011.

    Gordon earned a J.D. and a Masters in City and Regional Planning from the University of California-Berkeley, and an undergraduate degree from Wesleyan University

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Noel Kinder

Former Chief Sustainability Officer | Nike

  • Noel Kinder is a senior global operations executive with over 20 years of experience building, shaping, and transforming businesses. He has navigated Nike through periods of significant change holding transformational leadership roles across P&L, operations, sustainability, supply chain, and manufacturing.

    In his current role as Chief Sustainability Officer, Noel has successfully driven the acceleration of Nike’s materials innovation strategy to align with sustainability ambitions and positioned the company as a leader in the corporate sustainability space through active government, NGO, academic, and media engagement. He built the organization from 75 to 300+ people at its peak and integrated sustainability leadership, processes, and programs into major functions across the organization. He also serves as the external spokesperson for Nike’s leadership in sustainability with media, government, and non-governmental stakeholders.

    Throughout his career, Noel has acted as a change architect, from growing Nike’s sustainability programs and positioning the company as a leader on a global stage, to transforming Nike’s labor and environmental operations footprint, impacting 550 contract factories across 42 countries, and over 1 million workers, to turning around Nike’s Vietnam operations and stabilizing the 50% production campus during a period of tremendous political and government unrest.

    Noel is a gifted leader and communicator, recognized for his ability to shape culture and create followership among employees and stakeholders. Highly strategic, yet operationally minded, he is deeply respected both inside and outside of Nike.

    Noel serves on Collab Fund’s Sustainability Advisory Board, the NYSE Sustainability Advisory Council, and the Global Fashion Summit Steering Committee, among others.

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Michael Charles

Assistant Professor in the Department of Biological and Environmental Engineering | Cornell University

  • Michael Charles is Diné, a citizen of the Navajo Nation, and an assistant professor in the Department of Biological and Environmental Engineering at Cornell University. He also serves as an Affiliate Faculty member for the American Indian and Indigenous Studies Program. Michael’s research focuses on computational sustainable design and community engagement, particularly with Indigenous communities. Specifically, his work explores the role that ecosystems and landscapes can play in sustainable engineering, climate regulation, public health, and the development of sustainability metrics. Along with his research, Michael works with the International Indigenous Peoples’ Forum on Climate Change to advocate for Indigenous rights, leadership, and self-determination within UN Climate Negotiations. Although his interests and advocacy transcend many disciplines and labels, most of his work is focused on increasing Indigenous representation in academia, policy, and social movements in the pursuit of justice and collective liberation.

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Tim Miller

Director | Oregon Business for Climate

  • Tim Miller brings decades of executive, management, non-profit and Board experience to his work addressing the connected challenges of climate change and equity. As Director of Oregon Business for Climate, he brings the voice of forward-looking businesses to advance equitable, aggressive climate action in Oregon. Previously, Miller served as the CEO of Enhabit, a leading non-profit program that helped over 6,000 families improve the energy efficiency and health of their homes. Prior work includes strategic consulting for over 30 non-profits, agencies, and clean-tech companies, advancing sustainability and climate solutions, as well as high-tech and low-tech industry roles (at Intel, CitySearch, O’Neill, and others) in manufacturing and operations, marketing, sales, and general management. Tim also serves on the Board (formerly as Board Chair) of Climate Solutions, the Northwest’s leading equitable climate policy and advocacy organization, and on the Board (previously as Board Chair) of Forth, a leading equity-focused transportation electrification organization. He earned his MBA and BA (economics), both with honors, from Stanford University

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Linda Tang

Founder | Contingenci®, by Good Human LLC

  • I founded Contingenci®, by Good Human LLC, in 2020 to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic. We produce sustainable, performance reusable masks that have reached their end-of-life phase and are being upcycled into pet beds for the veterinary and pet industry. We also create energy-efficient and pet-comfort products for veterinarians. Our company specializes in sustainable upcycling solutions and pet soft goods using leftover waste (deadstock). 280 Billion dollars annually are left in warehouses and end up in landfills; we partnered with major outdoor apparel industry brands (The North Face, Marmot, Specialized Bicycles) & are the first carbon-neutral circular manufacturing facility in San Jose, CA, & last 3 % of US Apparel manufacturing.

    As a COVID start-up that has been self-funded And is both women—and minority-owned, we have faced many challenges and learned valuable lessons. We want to invite you to join us in fostering awareness and building actual infrastructure to facilitate a circular economy in California and the future USA. We can do this by advocating for more government incentives, policies, and education on how consumer habits can help heal the planet.

    As a fourth-year Asian female start-up founder (non-VC) in the Bay Area, I would love to share my experience and challenges as a business owner. My goal is to help other aspiring minority female sustainable businesses thrive in California and prove that sustainability can be profitable. Our website has more information about our core veterinary product and carbon-neutral factory, as well as important links, handles, and videos.

    I have always wanted to design and produce high-tech, trendsetting action sports apparel and ergonomically fashionable accessories. My passion for fashion and extreme sports has brought me to The North Face, one of the largest brands in outdoor exploration. I also have experience in the entertainment and sports marketing industry.

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Dr. Jonathan Reichental

CEO | Human Future

  • Dr. Jonathan Reichental is the founder of Human Future, a global business and technology advisory, investment, and education firm. Previous roles have included senior software engineering manager, director of technology innovation, and he has served as chief information officer at both O’Reilly Media and the City of Palo Alto, California.

    In 2013 he was recognized as one of the 25 doers, dreamers, and drivers in government in America. In 2016, he was named a top influential CIO in the United States and in 2017, he was named one of the top 100 CIOs in the world. He has also won a best CIO in Silicon Valley award and a national IT leadership prize.

    Reichental is a recognized global thought leader on a number of emerging trends including urban innovation, smart cities, sustainability, blockchain technology, data governance, the fourth industrial revolution, and digital transformation.

    He holds several degrees including a Ph.D. in Information Systems. He is an adjunct professor in the School of Management at the University of San Francisco and instructs at several other universities. Reichental regularly creates online video courses for LinkedIn Learning.

    He is a popular global keynote speaker and writer. He has written three books on the future of cities: Smart Cities for Dummies, Exploring Smart Cities Activity Book for Kids, and Exploring Cities Bedtime Rhymes. His latest books include Data Governance for Dummies and a Cryptocurrency QuickStart Guide.

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Phoebe Yu

Founder and CEO | ettitude

  • Phoebe Yu is the Founder and CEO of ettitude (www.ettitude.com), an award-winning material science company with the mission to dramatically reduce the harmful environmental impact of textiles. After moving to Melbourne, Australia, Phoebe spotted an opportunity within the textile market to create sustainable luxury for less. Phoebe brings together entrepreneurial instincts, a passion for sustainability, and an understanding of fabric technology. After years of testing materials, weaving and dying techniques, and harnessing a decade of experience in supply chain management, Phoebe perfected and launched ettitude's innovative CleanBamboo® fabric in 2014. The manufacturing process is a clean alternative to the highly polluting cotton, viscose, silk and cashmere. In 2017, ettitude began expanding globally, opening a headquarters in Los Angeles the following year. ettitude was named an Inc. 5000 fastest-growing private company in the US in both 2020 & 2021. Phoebe was on the list of 100 Most Influential Chinese in 2023 by Forbes China and has been a guest lecturer on entrepreneurship and sustainability at several universities. Prior to ettitude, Phoebe founded two international trading and sourcing companies in Asia. Since 1993, Matt has lived and worked across the globe on wildlife, conservation and environmental issues. Prior to joining The Nature Conservancy, he was a MacArthur Foundation postdoctoral fellow at the California Academy of Sciences and lead mammalogist on a project cataloging the biodiversity of the Gaoligongshan area in China’s western Yunnan Province.

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Mayor Lucy Vinis

Mayor | The City of Eugene, Oregon

  • Lucy Vinis has served as Eugene’s Mayor since January 2017. She is now in her second term. It is her only elected office.

    In her professional life, Mayor Vinis worked for nonprofits addressing land use, natural resources, agriculture, housing, and homelessness. Her focus as mayor continues those priorities: addressing the dual challenges of climate change and population growth, increasing the supply of housing that people can afford, supporting efforts to stabilize people who are homeless, and encouraging economic development.

    As mayor, she chaired the Ad Hoc Work Group on Eugene’s Climate Recovery Ordinance; and the Ad Hoc Committee on the Protection of Individuals and Groups – leading to Eugene’s sanctuary city ordinance. She serves on the Poverty and Homelessness Board and the HOME Board that oversees the granting and expenditure of federal housing funds. She serves on, and is the past chair of, the Metropolitan Policy Committee governing the priorities and allocation of federal and state transportation funding; and represents Eugene on the Lane Area Commission on Transportation. She also serves on the Public Safety Coordinating Council overseeing public safety funding. She is a past board member and Development Chair of the Oregon Regional Accelerator and Innovation Network (RAIN) that promotes and supports local emerging businesses.

    She is a member of the US Conference of Mayors, where she is a regular panelist advocating for investment in transportation and infrastructure, and for municipal governments to retain local authority over Rights of Way, specifically with respect to the telecom industry. She is a Climate Mayor, bringing Eugene’s leadership and experience into the national discussion about the role of cities in responding to climate change. Mayor Vinis is also a member of Mayors and CEOS for US Housing Investment, where she advocates for investment in housing as infrastructure. In 2021, Mayor Vinis was appointed to the EPA’s Local Government Advisory Committee, and was appointed Vice Chair in 2022. In 2022. Mayor Vinis was appointed to the Joint Task Force on Resilient Efficient Buildings, an ad hoc advisory committee to the Oregon legislature.

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Eli Spevak

Co-Founder | Electrify PDX

  • After moving to Portland in 1994 as a construction supervisor with Habitat for Humanity, Eli Spevak managed the finance and construction of over 250 units of affordable housing through work in the non-profit sector. He served on the board of Portland’s community land trust for its first 5 years and worked with residents of Dignity Village, a self-built homeless camp, during its first two. After taking a year off to work as a backcountry ranger, Eli launched a development and general contractor company, Orange Splot LLC, to pioneer new models of community-oriented housing, ideally within an easy bike ride of his house. Completed projects have been featured in the New York Times and Sunset Magazine – and his most recent community, Cully Grove, just received a 2016 AIA Housing Award. He’s led tiny house bike tours, advocated for regulatory changes to support accessory dwellings, and co-founded the www.accessorydwellings.org website. Eli was awarded a Loeb Fellowship in Advanced Environmental Studies at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design in the 2013-2014 school year. Since then, he’s participated in Portland’s Residential Infill Project to reform zoning in single dwelling areas, co-founded an advocacy organization (Portland for Everyone) to support diverse, abundant and affordable housing, and he is past chair of Portland’s Planning and Sustainability Commission (and still serves). He continues to launch new communities and hopes they go well enough to fund his policy habit.

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Ben Ulrich

Lead Energy Resource Analyst | EWEB

  • Ben Ulrich is a Lead Energy Resource Analyst for EWEB and has been at the utility since 2016. He leads EWEB’s Integrated Resource Planning efforts which include forecasting future electricity needs (including electrification) and performing studies to identify the best mix of energy resources to fit those needs. Prior to joining EWEB’s Power Planning Department, he spent over a decade as a licensed CPA focused on financial reporting for both public and private institutions. Ben graduated from George Fox University in Newberg, OR with a BA in Business Administration and Accounting.

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Joshua Skov

Assistant VP in Sustainability, Energy, and Climate Change | WSP USA

  • Joshua Skov has been a consultant to business and government organizations on sustainability strategy for more than twenty years. Acting as a liaison between technical analysis and executive-level decision making, he has served more than 50 clients in the United States and abroad in a range of industries, including energy, food, waste management, tech, and consumer products.

    Outside of the University of Oregon, Skov is assistant vice president in the sustainability, energy, and climate change practice of WSP USA.

    Skov designed the gateway course to the undergraduate minor in sustainable business (MGMT 250: Introduction to Sustainable Business). He was a member of the diversity committee of the Lundquist College of Business.

    He has served on advisory bodies for World Resources Institute, Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, ICLEI, and the National Academies. He was previously a member of the statewide board of directors for Oregon League of Conservation Voters, and he served as one of Oregon governor Kate Brown’s appointees to the Lane Transit District board of directors and the board's vice president. He is a cofounder and former principal of Good Company, a leading regional sustainability consultancy.

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Stephen Hagen

Owner and Farmer | Antiquum Farm

  • Antiquum Farm is the birthplace of Grazing Based Viticulture. Owner and farmer, Stephen Hagen is a global thought and practice leader in the regenerative agriculture movement. He is quietly instituting a paradigmatic shift in how the concept of terroir is derived from vineyards and returning authenticity to the idea of sustainability in winegrowing. Looking to natural systems for models of symbiotic nutrient acquisition, Hagen has built a 100% self-sustaining vineyard through year-round rotational grazing of multi-species livestock and utilizing native vineyard floor cover. His ambitious and imaginative farming has untethered Antiquum Farm from historical, regional and varietal expectations; creating one of the world’s most exuberantly expressive voices in the viticulture. This farm is an emphatic and articulate translation of one family’s hopeful vision for their home and a future. filled with life, energy, and abundance.

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Jordan Guess

Director, Customer Success | Persefoni


  • Jordan spent seven years as a Program Manager at Gartner, developing benchmarks and monitoring industry trends for Fortune 500 CIOs and CISOs. In 2022 he completed an MBA in sustainable business practices from the University of Oregon. He then transitioned to the sustainability industry at Providence Health, a $27B health care system with 120k employees, where he built awareness and stakeholder engagement towards their carbon negative by 2030 target. He is now the Director of Customer Success at Persefoni, enabling partners, Fortune 500 customers and financial services firms on their carbon accounting.

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Nicole Bassett

Co-Founder | The Renewal Workshop

  • Nicole Bassett is a leader in circularity, Nicole co-founded The Renewal Workshop, a circular business that is leading the apparel and textile industry towards circular business models through product life extension and recommerce. In March 2022, the global logistics company Bleckmann acquired The Renewal Workshop and Nicole now leads their Circularity strategy. She also is a partner in Cascade Circular a firm that leads workshops for companies shifting into the circular economy.

    Nicole was named Vogue Business 100 Innovators Sustainability Thought Leaders in 2022.

    Prior, Nicole applied her passion for environmental responsibility and human rights in consumer products. She has served as Director of Sustainability for prAna, Social Responsibility at Patagonia and Head of Human Rights at Specialized Bicycles. Nicole received her Master’s in Environmental Studies with a focus on Business Strategy and Sustainability from York University in Toronto, Canada.

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Michael Crooke

Former CEO | Patagonia

  • A sustainable business maverick, Michael Crooke advocates developing long-term business strategies that embed environmental and social considerations into a great product or service.

    In April 2012, the Ford Foundation named Crooke one of the ten innovators changing our world and profiled him as part of an elite, forward-thinking group of leaders who are shaping new sustainable businesses and influencing positive transformation around the world.

    Crooke grew up in Oregon and is a former Navy SEAL. He has served as the CEO or president of a number of companies including Patagonia, Kelty, Pearl Izumi, and Revolution Living. He also serves on the Advisory Board of the Nantucket Project, the annual forum for visionaries, thinkers, performers, and innovators.

    In his role as the Avamere Professor of Practice at the Lundquist College of Business, Crooke serves as an advisor and mentor to student venture teams. In addition, he has created and teaches a capstone advanced strategy course that integrates social and resource stewardship considerations with the traditional MBA disciplines of entrepreneurship, finance, and operations. Crooke firmly believes that this granular, multidisciplinary approach to creating and sustaining innovative businesses is the key to building a long-term competitive advantage in the twenty-first century.

    More than just a visiting instructor, as the Avamere Professor of Practice, Crooke has a hand in developing curriculum and programs, and is also a frontline liaison with government and industry. A Professor of Practice is a special designation at the Lundquist College of Business that brings highly accomplished professional, academic, or government leaders to campus with the status of a full professor.

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Ashley Bonn

Sustainability Specialist | Mountain Rose Herbs

  • Ashley Bonn is a visionary leader, community builder, and creative entrepreneur based in Eugene, Oregon. Her sustainability journey began after completing an International Business program and studying abroad in South America, where she became inspired to learn more about sustainable practices. Soon after, Ashley completed a master's degree in Sustainability Leadership from Portland State University and worked with several nonprofit organizations focused on social and ecological justice. Ashley is now the Sustainability Specialist for Mountain Rose Herbs, where she works to shift corporate culture by sharing innovative ideas through a sustainability lens, bridging gaps to support diversity and reciprocity for a resilient future.

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Peter Rushford

CEO/Founder | Shār

  • A life-long entrepreneur, Peter’s 37 years working in the Outdoor Industry led to launching shār, an “earth-first” farm-to-table snack food company. Shār’s award winning “impossibly good trail mix” comes in 100% plastic free, compostable packaging. Shār donates 20% of net profits to The Conservation Alliance, members of 1% for the Planet, and they are Climate Neutral Certified.

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McKenna King

Sr Sustainability Manager | Allstate

  • McKenna King is a sustainability professional currently working as a Senior Sustainability Manager at Allstate. She has experience in ESG strategy and reporting, as well as leading organizational change through collaborative education and empowerment. McKenna attended the University of Oregon for two Master’s, one in Advertising and Brand Responsibility and the other for her MBA in Sustainable Business Practices and Advanced Leadership & Strategy.