Professor | Oberlin College

David W. Orr, a Professor of Environmental Studies & Politics (Emeritus) at Oberlin College, is a pioneering, award-winning thought leader in the fields of Sustainability and Ecological Literacy. The author and co-author of countless articles and papers and several seminal books, including, most recently, Dangerous Years: Climate Change and the Long Emergency, he has served as a board member or adviser to many foundations and organizations (including Bioneers!). His current work is on the state of our democracy.

Director of Policy and Systems Design | Schumacher Center for a New Economics

Greg Watson, Director of Policy and Systems Design at the Schumacher Center for a New Economics, has spent four decades seeking to apply systems thinking to achieve a just and sustainable world. His long CV includes stints as Massachusetts’ Commissioner of Agriculture, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust and of the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative, and founding the Cuba-U.S. Agroecology Network, among many other prestigious positions.

Founder | Project Drawdown

Paul Hawken, one of the most important environmental authors, activists, thinkers and entrepreneurs of our era, has dedicated his life to sustainability and changing the relationship between business and the environment. His many bestselling books include such massively influential texts as: The Next Economy; The Ecology of Commerce; Blessed Unrest; and most recently, Drawdown, The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming.

Professor | Oberlin College

David W. Orr, a Professor of Environmental Studies & Politics (Emeritus) at Oberlin College, is a pioneering, award-winning thought leader in the fields of Sustainability and Ecological Literacy. The author and co-author of countless articles and papers and several seminal books, including, most recently, Dangerous Years: Climate Change and the Long Emergency, he has served as a board member or adviser to many foundations and organizations (including Bioneers!). His current work is on the state of our democracy.

| Truong & Associates

Vien Truong, JD, a leading expert on building an equitable green economy, has helped develop many major energy, environmental and economic justice policies and programs at the state, federal, and local levels. A former President/CEO of the Dream Corps, her firm, Truong & Associates, advises lawmakers and organizations globally on developing sustainable, equitable environmental policies. Among her many award-winning achievements Vien co-led the coalition to pass California’s law creating the biggest fund in history for the most polluted communities.

Founder | Flourish.ink

Christiana Musk, whose background spans environmental and social entrepreneurship (including as a founding partner of Green Mountain Energy) and non-profit and foundation leadership, currently curates the Flourish content for the Near Future Summit and advises several food initiatives. An operating partner at Satori Capital, a sustainable investment firm, she was formerly Executive Director of Food Choice Taskforce and led the food system program for Avatar Alliance Foundation. (flourish.ink)

Co-Founder/Director | Climate Parents at the Sierra Club

Lisa Hoyos, co-founder/Director of Climate Parents at the Sierra Club, has been a campaigner in the labor and environmental movements for 20+ years, working with such organizations as the BlueGreen Alliance; AFL-CIO; Greenpeace; and as a staffer to the California Senate Natural Resources Committee. She also serves on several boards, including for the California League of Conservation Voters, the Labor Network for Sustainability, and the Alliance for Climate Education.

National Field Director | Moms Clean Air Force

Heather McTeer Toney, born and raised in Greenville, Mississippi, was elected that town’s first African-American, first female, and youngest ever Mayor at the age of 27. After her 2nd term, she became Regional Administrator for the EPA’s Southeast Region, appointed by President Obama. A nationally and internationally renowned, award-winning leader in Environmental and Climate Justice, she is currently Field Director for Moms Clean Air Force, an organization of over 1 million parents committed to fighting climate change and air pollution.

CEO and Founder | Bioneers

Kenny Ausubel, CEO and founder (in 1990) of Bioneers, is an award-winning social entrepreneur, journalist, author and filmmaker. Co-founder and first CEO of the organic seed company, Seeds of Change, his film (and companion book) Hoxsey: When Healing Becomes a Crime helped influence national alternative medicine policy. He has edited several books and written four, including, most recently, Dreaming the Future: Reimagining Civilization in the Age of Nature.

Founder | 350.org

Bill McKibben, our nation’s most significant environmental activist, is also a leading journalist, author and academic. A Scholar in Environmental Studies at Middlebury College, Bill’s The End of Nature (1989) was the first book for a general audience about climate change. A founder of 350.org, the first planet-wide, grassroots climate change movement, he has won slews of prestigious awards, including the Right Livelihood Award and the Gandhi Prize and Thomas Merton prizes.

Co-Founder | Utah Youth Environmental Solutions

Mishka Banuri is an 18-year-old organizer from Salt Lake City, Utah. After moving to Utah from a suburb in Chicago, she fell in love with the Colorado Plateau's mountains and red rock. She has been politically active since 7th grade, holding statewide organizations, institutions, and politicians accountable for their actions on climate and social issues.

CEO and Founder | Bioneers

Kenny Ausubel, CEO and founder (in 1990) of Bioneers, is an award-winning social entrepreneur, journalist, author and filmmaker. Co-founder and first CEO of the organic seed company, Seeds of Change, his film (and companion book) Hoxsey: When Healing Becomes a Crime helped influence national alternative medicine policy. He has edited several books and written four, including, most recently, Dreaming the Future: Reimagining Civilization in the Age of Nature.

Founder | Project Drawdown

Paul Hawken, one of the most important environmental authors, activists, thinkers and entrepreneurs of our era, has dedicated his life to sustainability and changing the relationship between business and the environment. His many bestselling books include such massively influential texts as: The Next Economy; The Ecology of Commerce; Blessed Unrest; and most recently, Drawdown, The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming.

Founder | 350.org

Bill McKibben, our nation’s most significant environmental activist, is also a leading journalist, author and academic. A Scholar in Environmental Studies at Middlebury College, Bill’s The End of Nature (1989) was the first book for a general audience about climate change. A founder of 350.org, the first planet-wide, grassroots climate change movement, he has won slews of prestigious awards, including the Right Livelihood Award and the Gandhi Prize and Thomas Merton prizes.

Professor of Economics | UC Berkeley

Clair Brown, an eminent economist, Professor of Economics at UC Berkeley, has published research on many aspects of inequality and sustainability, including the book Buddhist Economics: An Enlightened Approach to the Dismal Science, which describes an economic framework that integrates global sustainability, shared prosperity, and care for the human spirit.

| Fossil Free UCSC

Laurel Levin, a just graduated, award-winning student activist at UC Santa Cruz (UCSC) working at the intersection of the food and climate movements, worked with the Fossil Free UCSC campaign and other initiatives, and still leads backpacking trips with the UCSC Recreation Department and UCSC Wilderness Orientation Program.

U.S. Digital Campaigner | 350.org

Kristy Drutman, a Filipina American, is a U.S. Digital Campaigner with 350.org and the creator and host of Brown Girl Green, a podcast and media series dedicated to critical conversations around building an environmentally just society in which she discusses diversity and inclusiveness with a wide range of environmental leaders and advocates. While at college, Kristy co-founded the Students of Color Environmental Collective at UC Berkeley.

Chair | Everett Program

Chris Benner, Ph.D., the Dorothy E. Everett Chair in Global Information and Social Entrepreneurship and a Professor of Environmental Studies and Sociology at UC Santa Cruz, directs the Everett Program for Technology and Social Change and the Santa Cruz Institute for Social Transformation. He has authored or co-authored six books (most recently Equity, Growth and Community) and more that 70 journal articles, chapters and research reports.

Founder | Santa Cruz Permaculture

David Shaw, a permaculture and whole systems designer, facilitator, and educator, founded Santa Cruz Permaculture and the Right Livelihood College at UC Santa Cruz, a partnership with the “Alternative Nobel Prize.” He supports communities locally and globally to transform their shared future through strategic dialogue and collective action.

Indigenous Climate Action | Executive Director and Co-Founder

Eriel Tchekwie Deranger, a Denesuline Indigenous activist, member of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation (ACFN) of Alberta, Canada, is Executive Director and co-founder of Indigenous Climate Action (ICA), Canada’s premier Indigenous-led climate justice organization. Deranger, who previously spent 6 years building-up the highly successful international Indigenous Tar Sands campaign, has become widely known as one of the world’s most effective organizers and coalition builders to defend Indigenous people’s rights locally, nationally and globally.

Senior Climate and Sustainability Coordinator | City of Boulder

Brett KenCairn, Boulder, Colorado’s Senior Policy Advisor for Climate, Sustainability and Resilience, coordinates that city’s climate action and resilience initiatives, including a soil sequestration R+D project. Co-founder of several organizations, including the Rogue River Institute for Ecology and Economy, Veterans Green Jobs, and Community Energy Systems, he has worked across the western U.S. in community-based initiatives in rural, Native American and other marginalized communities.

Director | Hillary Institute of International Leadership

Mark Prain spent 15 years as a professional actor, playwright and opera singer, but has spent the last 25 years working globally in leadership roles in organizations working on sustainability and climate issues. Director of the Hillary Institute of International Leadership since 2006, he is also Executive Director of the Untouched World Foundation and an advisor to the Katerva Challenge (Canada) and Climate Changers (U.S.).

Former Chair | California State Water Resources Control Board

Felicia Marcus, JD, until recently Chair of the California State Water Resources Control Board, has, in her long, illustrious career, served in many leading positions in government, the non-profit world, and the private sector, including, to mention only a few, as Regional Administrator of the U.S. EPA Region IX, head of the Los Angeles Department of Public Works, Western Director for the NRDC, and Executive VP/COO of the Trust for Public Land.

Founder | Project Drawdown

Paul Hawken, one of the most important environmental authors, activists, thinkers and entrepreneurs of our era, has dedicated his life to sustainability and changing the relationship between business and the environment. His many bestselling books include such massively influential texts as: The Next Economy; The Ecology of Commerce; Blessed Unrest; and most recently, Drawdown, The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming.

Restorative Food Systems Director | Bioneers

Arty Mangan, Bioneers' Restorative Food Systems Director, joined Bioneers in 1998 as Project Manager for the Restorative Development Initiative. A former board president of the Ecological Farming Association and member of the Santa Cruz GE Subcommittee that banned GE crops, Arty has worked with farmers and agriculture since 1978, first as a partner in Live Juice and later with Odwalla, where he was in charge of fruit sourcing.

W.K. Kellogg Endowed Chair in Sustainable Food Systems | University of Arizona

Gary Nabhan, Ph.D., is a world-renowned, award-winning agricultural ecologist, ethnobotanist, Ecumenical Franciscan brother and orchard-keeper. A leading pioneer in the local food and heirloom seed-saving movements, he co-founded Native Seeds/SEARCH; helped create Ironwood Forest National Monument; was founding Director of the Center for Sustainable Environments; and founded the Center for Regional Food Studies. Author of 30+ books, his most recent is: Food from the Radical Center: Healing Our Lands & Communities.

Co-Owner/Farmer | Rise & Root Farm

Karen Washington, co-owner/farmer of Rise & Root Farm, has been a legendary activist in the community gardening movement since 1985. Renowned for turning empty Bronx lots into verdant spaces, Karen is: a former President of the NYC Community Garden Coalition; a board member of: the NY Botanical Gardens, Why Hunger, and NYC Farm School; a co-founder of Black Urban Growers (BUGS); and a pioneering force in establishing urban farmers’ markets.

Executive Director | Greenhorns

Severine v T Fleming, Executive Director of Greenhorns and a leading organizer and cultural worker within the young farmer movement for 12+ years, co-founded the National Young Farmers Coalition, FarmHack and Agrarian Trust. A part-time farmer and board member of the Schumacher Center for New Economics, her work has spanned many media to celebrate, bundle and broadcast the voices and life-ways of young agrarians.

Founder and Editor-in-Chief | Civil Eats

Naomi Starkman is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Civil Eats, a daily news source for critical thought about the American food system. A former Journalism Fellow at Stanford, she co-founded the Food & Environment Reporting Network, worked as a media consultant to many leading publications, and served as the Deputy Executive Director of the City of San Francisco's Ethics Commission.

Co-Author & Strategic Advisor | The Global Deal for Nature

Carly Vynne, Ph.D, is an ecologist and conservation strategist who seeks out creative solutions for how we can leave more room for nature in a rapidly changing world. She recently co-authored The Global Deal for Nature, which calls for an ambitious, time-bound set of nature-based targets that must be achieved if we are to solve the climate and extinction crises. Vynne is also the founder and principal consultant at Osprey Insights.

Director of Global Strategy | Amazon Sacred Headwaters Initiative

Atossa Soltani is the founder and board president of Amazon Watch and served as the organization's first Executive Director for 18 years. Currently Atossa is the director of global strategy for the Amazon Sacred Headwaters Initiative, working to protect one of the most biodiverse rainforests on Earth in an alliance with Amazonian indigenous nations of Ecuador and Peru.

Director, Research & Development | Environmental Defense Fund

Rod Fujita, a marine ecologist and highly effective ocean conservationist, has studied ocean ecosystems all over the world and worked to protect them for 30+ years. He has helped protect over 10,000 square miles of ocean habitat, created a novel financing system for sustainability, and developed innovative analytical and conservation tools for improving the wellbeing of the ocean and the humans that depend on it.

Director of Policy and Systems Design | Schumacher Center for a New Economics

Greg Watson, Director of Policy and Systems Design at the Schumacher Center for a New Economics, has spent four decades seeking to apply systems thinking to achieve a just and sustainable world. His long CV includes stints as Massachusetts’ Commissioner of Agriculture, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust and of the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative, and founding the Cuba-U.S. Agroecology Network, among many other prestigious positions.

Director | Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society

john a. powell is Director of the Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society and Professor of Law, African American, and Ethnic Studies at UC Berkeley. His many previous roles have included Executive Director at the Kirwan Institute at Ohio State; National Legal Director of the ACLU; and teaching at numerous law schools including Harvard and Columbia. His latest book is Racing to Justice: Transforming our Concepts of Self and Other to Build an Inclusive Society.

Founder | 350.org

Bill McKibben, our nation’s most significant environmental activist, is also a leading journalist, author and academic. A Scholar in Environmental Studies at Middlebury College, Bill’s The End of Nature (1989) was the first book for a general audience about climate change. A founder of 350.org, the first planet-wide, grassroots climate change movement, he has won slews of prestigious awards, including the Right Livelihood Award and the Gandhi Prize and Thomas Merton prizes.

Author

Kim Stanley Robinson, one of the world’s leading science fiction writers, is the award-winning author of 20+ books, including the bestselling Mars trilogy, and more recently Red Moon, New York 2140, Aurora, Shaman, Green Earth, and 2312. Named a “Hero of the Environment” by Time magazine, he works with the Sierra Nevada Research Institute, the Clarion Writers’ Workshop, and UC San Diego’s Arthur C. Clarke Center for Human Imagination. In 2016 asteroid 72432 was named “Kimrobinson.”

Executive Director | Women's Earth and Climate Action Network International

Osprey Orielle Lake, founder/Executive Director of the Women's Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN) International, works with grassroots and Indigenous leaders, policy-makers and scientists to promote climate justice, resilient communities, and a just transition to a clean energy future. Osprey serves on the Executive Committee of the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature, co-directs the DIVEST, INVEST, PROTECT campaign, and authored the award-winning, Uprisings for the Earth: Reconnecting Culture with Nature. (wecaninternational.org)

Cooperation Humboldt

David Cobb, now working with Cooperation Humboldt, an effort to build a solidarity economy on the California North Coast, has had a long track record as a "people's lawyer" who sued corporate polluters, lobbied, run for political office, got arrested for non-violent civil disobedience and helped launch the Election Integrity movement. Working with the pioneering Program on Corporations, Law & Democracy (POCLAD) he also long worked to abolish “corporate personhood” rights.

Founding Member | Cooperation Jackson

brandon king is an community organizer and cultural worker originally from Hampton Roads VA, currently living in Jackson MS. After graduating from Hampton University in 2006 with a BA in Sociology, brandon moved to New York City where he worked as a union organizer and later as an organizer working with New York City homeless people.

Climate Justice Organizer | Youth Vs. Apocalypse

Isha Clarke is a dynamic, passionate high school student environmental and social justice activist born, raised, and educated in Oakland, CA. Her experience has taught her first-hand that threats to the environment disproportionately affect people of color, low-income folks, and young people, and this realization has fueled her passion to fight to create a just and equitable world while maintaining a livable climate.

Executive Director | Amazon Watch

Leila Salazar-López, the Executive Director of Amazon Watch, has worked for 20+ years to defend the world’s rainforests, human rights, and the climate through grassroots organizing and international advocacy campaigns at Amazon Watch, Rainforest Action Network, Global Exchange, and Green Corps. She is also a Greenpeace Voting Member and a Global Fund for Women Advisor for Latin America.

Artist

Brus Rubio, of Huitoto and Bora ancestry, is a self-taught painter from the Peruvian Amazon, whose encounter with the anthropologist Jürg Gasché, who was conducting cultural studies in Brus’ community, led to exposure to a wider world and his evolution as an artist whose stunning work always draws from his cultural traditions but has now been able to reach a broader international audience beyond the Amazon.

Director of Global Strategy | Amazon Sacred Headwaters Initiative

Atossa Soltani is the founder and board president of Amazon Watch and served as the organization's first Executive Director for 18 years. Currently Atossa is the director of global strategy for the Amazon Sacred Headwaters Initiative, working to protect one of the most biodiverse rainforests on Earth in an alliance with Amazonian indigenous nations of Ecuador and Peru.

Co-Founder | Brasil Solidarity Network

Deputy Director of Equity, Jobs & Climate | California Workforce Development Board

Sarah L. White, Ph.D., Senior Advisor for Jobs and the Economy in Governor Gavin Newsom’s Office of Planning and Research, is working on California’s efforts to make an equitable transition to carbon neutrality. Sarah has a long track record of public service at the highest levels in both governmental and non-profit sectors. One of the nation’s leading experts on jobs and training in the low-carbon economy, she has written widely on inequality, de-carbonization, and social change.

| Truong & Associates

Vien Truong, JD, a leading expert on building an equitable green economy, has helped develop many major energy, environmental and economic justice policies and programs at the state, federal, and local levels. A former President/CEO of the Dream Corps, her firm, Truong & Associates, advises lawmakers and organizations globally on developing sustainable, equitable environmental policies. Among her many award-winning achievements Vien co-led the coalition to pass California’s law creating the biggest fund in history for the most polluted communities.

Labor & Coal Coordinator | Sierra Club Labor Program

Larry Williams Jr., Labor Coordinator for the Sierra Club's Labor and Economic Justice Program, works domestically and internationally as a strategist and organizer seeking to revive the labor movement's influence and strengthen working class voices in climate, economic and racial justice struggles. President Emeritus of Progressive Workers Union (PWU), Williams is known globally as the founder of UnionBase.org, the first secure social networking platform for unions and union workers.

Co-Founder and Executive Director | New Consensus

Demond Drummer is the Chicago-based co-founder and Executive Director of New Consensus, a nonprofit working to develop and promote the Green New Deal that has advised many progressive leaders and organizations, including Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and the Sunrise Movement. Demond’s other notable projects include CoderSpace, a computer science learning lab where youths develop leadership skills, and LargeLots.org, a community-driven effort to reclaim and city-owned vacant lots in Chicago.