Huda Alkaff is the Founder and Director of Wisconsin Green Muslims-a grassroots environmental justice group formed in 2005, connecting faith, environmental justice and sustainability through education and service.

Huda is an ecologist with higher education degrees in conservation ecology, sustainable development, and environmental education from the University of Georgia, and had experience teaching environmental studies courses at the University of Wisconsin. She spent two decades working as an advocate for environmental justice, initiating Muslim and interfaith programs focused on energy and water conservation.

In 2018-2019, Huda serves as a co-chair of the US Climate Action Network Socially and Economically Just Adaptation and Mitigation Action Team, leads the Wisconsin Faith Communities for Equitable Solar Initiative, facilitates the Midwest Equitable Local 100% Clean & Renewable Energy action team, and has been appointed to serve on the environmental justice task force for the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission.

Huda is a founding member of the Interfaith Earth Network of Southeast Wisconsin and Wisconsin Interfaith Power and Light. She also serves on the national Greening Ramadan | Green Masjid and Initiatives Team, the Milwaukee Environmental Consortium Board of Directors, the Milwaukee Community Water Assembly, and the Wisconsin Water Thinkers Network leadership team. In 2016, Huda served as one of the elected Wisconsin Climate Table leadership team members.

In 2015, Wisconsin Green Muslims received national awards and recognitions for their water and climate change-related work from both GreenFaith and the Interfaith Power and Light. Huda received the 2015 White House Champions of Change for Faith Climate Justice Leaders recognition, the 2016 Sierra Club Great Waters group Environmental Hero of the Year, and in 2017, Huda has been recognized nationally by Environment America as one of the Voices for 100% Renewable Energy. Also, Huda received the 2018 Wisconsin Association for Environmental Education Eco-Justice Award and the RE-AMP Network Superstar award.

Georges Benjamin is known as one of the nation’s most influential physician leaders because he speaks passionately and eloquently about the health issues having the most impact on our nation today. From his firsthand experience as a physician, he knows what happens when preventive care is not available and when the healthy choice is not the easy choice. As Executive Director of APHA since 2002, he is leading the Association’s push to make America the healthiest nation in one generation.

Dr. Benjamin came to APHA from his position as Secretary of the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. He became secretary of health in Maryland in April 1999, following four years as its deputy secretary for public health services. As Secretary, Dr. Benjamin oversaw the expansion and improvement of the state’s Medicaid program.

An established administrator, author and orator, Dr. Benjamin started his medical career in 1981 in Tacoma, WA, where he managed a 72,000-patient visit ambulatory care service as chief of the Acute Illness Clinic at the Madigan Army Medical Center and was an attending physician within the Department of Emergency Medicine. A few years later, he moved to Washington, DC, where he served as Chief of Emergency Medicine at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. After leaving the Army, he chaired the Department of Community Health and Ambulatory Care at the District of Columbia General Hospital. He was promoted to Acting Commissioner for public health for the District of Columbia and later directed one of the busiest ambulance services in the nation as Interim Director of the Emergency Ambulance Bureau of the District of Columbia Fire Department.

Dr. Benjamin is a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies and also serves on the boards for many organizations including Research!America, the Reagan-Udall Foundation and the University of Maryland Medical System. In 2008 and 2014, he was named one of the top 25 minority executives in health care by Modern Healthcare Magazine, in addition to being voted among the 100 most influential people in health care from 2007-2013 and one of the nation’s most influential physician executives from 2009-2014.

Heidi Binko is currently the executive director of the Just Transition Fund, which she co-created with Sandra Mikush in April 2015. Previously, Heidi served as associate director of Special Climate Initiatives at the Rockefeller Family Fund (RFF). Since October 2008, she has worked closely with key foundations, organizations, and thought leaders working at the nexus of climate and coal in that role. Before joining RFF, she was the executive director of the WestWind Foundation, a family foundation based in Virginia. She also previously served as co-chair of the board of directors of the Environmental Grantmakers Association (EGA) and co-chair of the Climate and Energy Funders Group, a project of the Consultative Group on Biological Diversity. Prior to her work in the field of environmental philanthropy, Heidi held positions with The Nature Conservancy and the Land Trust Alliance. She holds degrees from the University of Notre Dame and the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.

As a Rubenstein Fellow, Bonnie is working with students and faculty to address issues related to climate change and natural resource conservation, with a focus on rural America.

Through the Nicholas Institute’s Catalyst Program, Bonnie leads a project that is assessing rural attitudes on the environment in order to identify ways of engaging rural Americans – who manage large portions of America’s lands and watersheds – in collaborative solutions to addressing environmental challenges. Bonnie also led a 2017-18 Bass Connections project team that developed policy proposals to meet the goals of the Mid-Century Decarbonization plan and is leading a second Bass Connections project team in 2018-19 titled Rethinking the Endangered Species Act’s Implementation on Private, Working Lands. Bonnie also teaches courses in the Nicholas School of the Environment and the Sanford School of Public Policy.

Dr. Gail Christopher is president and founder of Ntianu Center for Healing and Nature. Prior to her Ntianu Center tenure, Dr. Christopher was senior adviser and vice president at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and, before that, vice president of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies’ Office of Health, Women and Families in Washington, D.C. She directed the Joint Center Health Policy Institute, a multi-year initiative created to engage underserved, racial, and ethnic minorities in health policy discussions.

Dr. Christopher has been a guest scholar in the Governance Studies Department at The Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., and executive director of the Institute for Government Innovation at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government in Cambridge, Mass. In addition, Dr. Christopher served as director and naprapathic physician with the Naprapathic Health Centers in Chicago.

Dr. Christopher received her doctor of naprapathy degree from the Chicago National College of Naprapathy in Illinois and completed advanced studies in the interdisciplinary Ph.D. program in holistic health and clinical nutrition at the Union for Experimenting Colleges and Universities at Union Graduate School of Cincinnati.

Dr. Christopher received a 2007 Leadership Award from the Health Brain Trust of the Congressional Black Caucus for her work with the Health Policy Institute of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies and its impact on public policies to reduce racial and ethnic health disparities. She has authored and co-authored three books, a monthly column in the Federal Times, and has written more than 250 articles, presentations, and publications. Dr. Christopher is also a frequent national broadcast and print media news interviewee and content contributor.

Danielle Deane-Ryan has more than two decades of multi-sector experience leading innovation in the clean energy and climate change sectors through her innovative work shaping advocacy and communications strategies while integrating equity and inclusion, directing strategic philanthropic investments and boosting meaningful stakeholder engagement.

Most recently, Danielle served in the Obama Administration as senior advisor for external affairs and acting director for stakeholder engagement at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), communicating the impact of the historic impact of the Obama Administration’s investments.

Prior to joining the Obama Administration, Danielle was principal at the Raben Group. Her time included serving as executive director of Green 2.0, which catalyzed for the first time transparency on diversity and equity from the largest environmental funds and NGOs. Green 2.0’s work won praise from foundation presidents, chief executives of environmental advocacy organizations and members of Congress, and was recognized by Inside Philanthropy as one of 2015’s Boldest Moves and Top Trends.

Before that, she was the energy and environment program director at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies and managed the Commission to Engage African Americans on Energy, Climate Change and the Environment. She also served as a program officer at the Hewlett Foundation, where she integrated grassroots and grasstops stakeholder feedback to design and run the New Constituencies for the Environment initiative, guiding investments of more than $20 million dollars during her eight-year tenure. Investments in those partners helped to deliver hundreds of millions of dollars to benefit the economics and health of underserved communities.

Danielle holds a M.Sc. from the London School of Economics in Environment and Development, and a B.A. from Williams College in Political Economy with an Environmental Studies Concentration. She is a native of Trinidad & Tobago.

The Rev. John C. Dorhauer, former conference minister of the Southwest Conference of the UCC, is the ninth general minister and president of the United Church of Christ.

Prior to his role at the Southwest Conference, Dorhauer served as associate conference minister in the Missouri Mid-South Conference, and also served local churches in rural Missouri. He has a Master of Divinity degree from Eden Theological Seminary and a Doctor of Ministry degree from United Theological Seminary, where he studied white privilege and its effects on the church. His new book, Beyond Resistance: The Institutional Church Meets the Postmodern World, will be released in June.

Dorhauer is passionate about justice. Two statements that shape his theology are: “God is love. God is just.” Along with his passion for justice, Dorhauer has a passion for and love of baseball – specifically the St. Louis Cardinals – music, literature and poetry. He has been married to his wife for nearly 31 years and they have three children.

Dorhauer was chosen as the GMP candidate by an 18-member search committee in February 2015. His candidacy was confirmed by the UCC Board of Directors by a two-thirds vote in March. He was elected at the 30th General Synod, which met June 26-30, 2015 in Cleveland.

For over 42 years, Dupont-Walker has been a professional in the public and private sectors. Mrs. Dupont-Walker’s strong commitment and calling to “faith-centered and empowering” development has made her a prophetic voice locally and nationally. Mrs. Dupont-Walker was a pioneer for desegregation at a major university, and has trailblazed on behalf of women and people of color in many arenas. She is the founding president of the Ward Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) and for 30 years has led it in developing over 280 units of affordable housing and one major shopping mall. WEDC has encouraged indigenous leadership, created neighborhood networks, facilitated job creation, conducted asset mapping, and spearheaded an intergenerational community building effort. In addition to WEDC, Mrs. Dupont-Walker serves as President of the Lafayette Square Association, Social Action Chair of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority (Century City), and a host of other civic organizations. As a lifelong member of the AME Church, Mrs. Dupont-Walker created AME V-Alert (voter mobilization). She is an officer of Ward AME Church in Los Angeles where she serves on the Board of Stewards (Membership Education Chair) and chairs the Social Action Commission, Lay and Missionary ministries. She has served on a host of committees and commissions.

Dr. Gerald L. Durley was born in Wichita, Kansas. He grew up in California and graduated from high school in Denver, Colorado. While earning a Bachelor of Science Degree in Psychology, playing on a championship basketball team, and serving as student government president at Tennessee State University, he became very active in the civil rights movement. After graduating, Dr. Durley became one of the first Peace Corp volunteers to enter Nigeria, West Africa. From Africa he ventured to Switzerland where he enrolled in postgraduate studies at the University of Neuchantel. When he returned to the United States, Dr. Durley enrolled in Northern Illinois University where he again became intensely involved in the struggle for human dignity, and earned one of the first Masters Degrees in Community Mental Health. He earned a Doctorate Degree in Urban Education and Psychology from University of Massachusetts and a Master of Divinity Degree from Howard University. Dr. Durley recently retired as Pastor of Providence Missionary Baptist Church in Atlanta and is a highly sought speaker on civil and human rights issues and the environment. He and his wife, Muriel, have 2 children and 4 grandchildren.

David T. Dyjack, Dr.PH, CIH has been named NEHA's executive director and chief executive officer effective May 4, 2015.

Dyjack’s 30-year career includes expertise in environmental health, emergency preparedness and response, public health informatics, infectious disease, workforce development, governmental infrastructure, maternal and child health, health equity, and chronic disease. A board certified industrial hygienist, Dyjack also has advanced degrees in public health with a doctorate from the University of Michigan and a master’s degree from the University of Utah.

He most recently served as the associate executive director for programs at the National Association of County and City Health Officials managing the organization’s grant and contract portfolio and 75 health professionals in support of the nation’s 2800 local health departments. Dyjack has a wealth of management and leadership experience ranging from local health departments to federal agency collaboration.

“David’s background in both environmental health and association management are an ideal fit for NEHA’s new executive director. We are extremely excited about David joining us as we chart a course to further advance and elevate the environmental health arena both nationally and globally,” said NEHA Board President Carolyn Harvey.

Jay Faison is the Founder of ClearPath, whose mission is to accelerate conservative clean energy solutions. Jay is also the Founder and Chairman of SnapAV, a high growth company that designs and distributes more than 2,000 audio-video related products to technology integrators worldwide. SnapAV has been named to the prestigious INC 500/5000 List, which ranks the fastest growing privately held companies in the US, for four years running. In 2013 SnapAV was acquired by General Atlantic, a leading growth equity firm, and Jay donated $165 million to start ClearPath. The success of ClearPath led Politico to name Jay one of the top 50 “visionaries transforming American politics” in 2015.

A serial entrepreneur, Jay has started, managed and sold two businesses prior to SnapAV. In 2013 Jay won the EY Entrepreneur of the Year award for the Southeast region. Jay has served on numerous non-profit boards and is active in his community. Jay graduated with a degree in economics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1990 and received his MBA from University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business in 1995. Jay resides in Charlotte, NC with his wife and three children.

Dr. Jonathan Foley is a world-renowned environmental scientist, sustainability expert, author, and public speaker. His work is focused on understanding our changing planet, and finding new solutions to sustain the climate, ecosystems, and natural resources we all depend on.

Foley’s groundbreaking research and insights have led him to become a trusted advisor to governments, foundations, non-governmental organizations, and business leaders around the world. He and his colleagues have made major contributions to our understanding of global ecosystems, food security and the environment, climate change, and the sustainability of the world’s resources. He has published over 130 peer-reviewed scientific articles, including many highly cited works in Science, Nature, and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. In 2014, Thomson Reuters named him a Highly Cited Researcher in ecology and environmental science, placing him among the top 1 percent most cited global scientists.

A noted science communicator, his presentations have been featured at hundreds of international venues, including the Aspen Institute, the World Bank, the National Geographic Society, the Chautauqua Institution, the Commonwealth Club, the National Science March in Washington, D.C., and TED.com. He has taught at several major universities on topics ranging from climate change, global sustainability solutions, the future of the food system, and addressing the world’s “grand challenges”. He has also written many popular pieces in publications like National Geographic, the New York Times, the Guardian, and Scientific American. He is also frequently interviewed by international media outlets, and has appeared on National Public Radio, the PBS NewsHour, the BBC, CNN, and in the New York Times, the Guardian, the Washington Post, Salon, WIRED, the HBO documentary on climate change “Too Hot Not to Handle”, and the upcoming film series “Let Science Speak”.

Foley has won numerous awards and honors for his work, including the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, awarded by President Clinton; the J.S. McDonnell Foundation’s 21st Century Science Award; an Aldo Leopold Leadership Fellowship; the Sustainability Science Award from the Ecological Society of America; and the National Science Foundation’s Faculty Early Career Development Award. In 2014, he was also named as the winner of the prestigious Heinz Award for the Environment.

Vanessa Hauc is an Emmy Award-winning journalist and senior correspondent for Noticias Telemundo. From social, cultural and political events to natural disasters, Vanessa has been a valuable source of information for U.S. Hispanics, reporting the news from right from where it happens. From Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico to Matthew in Haiti Vanessa has covered the story. Recently she travelled to Rome to lead a conversation between Pope Francis and children from six countries affected by natural disasters. Her passion for environmental issues inspired her to create the “Alerta Verde” segment to inform and educate the community about the importance of protecting our planet.

Today she is leading the investigative unit on environmental issues at Telemundo Network “Planeta Tierra”.

Vanessa is the co-founder of Sachamama or “Mother Jungle,” a nonprofit organization that works to inspire, empower and educate the Latino community on climate issues and sustainable attitudes, behaviors and lifestyles. She has worked hand-in-hand with The Climate Reality project and Vice President Al Gore in his global initiative “24 Hours of Reality” for the past 7 years, the global broadcast reached 500 million people in 2017. This year she was name one of the ten Latinos leading on Climate by the HuffPost.

In addition to earning her degree in Communications and Journalism, Vanessa also received a master’s degree in Economy and International Politics from the University of Miami.

Tom Kiernan began as CEO of the American Wind Energy Association in May, 2013. Prior to joining AWEA, Tom was President of the National Parks Conservation Association for 15 years. Previous positions include Deputy Assistant Administrator of EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation where he assisted in leading the implementation of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments, President of the Audubon Society of New Hampshire, and a senior consultant with Arthur Andersen & Co. Tom is a native of Arlington, VA, has an undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College in Environmental Computer Modeling, and an MBA from Stanford’s Graduate School of Business.

Ken Kimmell is president of the Union of Concerned Scientists, a leading science-based nonprofit that combines the knowledge and influence of the scientific community with the passion of concerned citizens to build a healthy planet and a safer world. Mr. Kimmell has more than 30 years of experience in government, environmental policy, and advocacy. He is a national advocate for clean energy and transportation policies and a driving force behind UCS’s “Power Ahead” campaign to build a large and diverse group of clean energy leadership states.

Mr. Kimmell serves on the Commission on the Future of Transportation in the Commonwealth, which will advise Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker’s administration on future transportation needs and challenges. Kimmell was one of 18 members the governor appointed to the panel charged with looking at five areas anticipated to have a dramatic impact on transportation: climate and resiliency, transportation electrification, autonomous and connected vehicles, transit and mobility services, and land use and demographic trends.

Prior to joining UCS in May 2014, Mr. Kimmell was the Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP), an agency with a $100 million budget and 800 employees, including a large staff of scientists and engineers. As commissioner, he also served as chairman of the board of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, helping to prod the nine member states to reduce power plant carbon emissions by almost 50 percent through 2020, reducing emissions in the region by some 90 million tons.

Mr. Kimmell has also served as general counsel at the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs in Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick’s administration, and spent 17 years as the director and senior attorney at a Boston-based law firm specializing in environmental, energy, and land-use issues.

Mr. Kimmell decided to focus his legal work on environmental issues after clerking for the U.S. District Court in San Francisco, where he assisted a judge in a case involving the health effects of Agent Orange. Originally from New York, he earned his bachelor’s degree at Wesleyan University and his law degree at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Mr. Kimmell has been quoted widely, including by the Associated Press, the Boston Globe, Bloomberg Business, the New York Times and the Washington Post, and has appeared numerous times on E&E TV and National Public Radio.

Bret Kugelmass is an former technology entrepreneur who has dedicated his focus to climate and energy challenges. One the early pioneers in commercializing drone technology he founded and remained CEO of Airphrame for 5 years up until its acquisition. Prior to this, he received his masters in robotics from Stanford in 2011 and his earlier work includes designing a lunar rover controller for NASA and a concept electric car for Panasonic. In 2017, he launched a DC based research institute, the Energy Impact Center, focused on exploring the challenges and opportunities of nuclear power's role in deep decarbonization. Their work includes publishing audio interviews with hundreds of experts throughout the nuclear sector which can be found at titansofnuclear.com.

Celinda Lake is one of the Democratic Party's leading political strategists, serving as tactician and senior advisor to the national party committees, dozens of Democratic incumbents, and challengers at all levels of the electoral process. Celinda and her firm are known for cutting-edge research on issues including the economy, health care, the environment and education, and have worked for a number of institutions including the Democratic National Committee (DNC), the Democratic Governor's Association (DGA), AFL-CIO, SEIU, CWA, IAFF, Sierra Club, NARAL, Human Rights Campaign, Planned Parenthood, The Next Generation, EMILY's List, VoteVets Action Fund, and the Kaiser Family Foundation. Her international work has included work in Liberia, Haiti, Ukraine, South Africa, and Central America. In 2008, Celinda worked as pollster for Vice President Biden.

Since its formation, Lake Research Partners has become one of the most respected Democratic polling firms in the country. The firm's work has moved the progressive agenda forward on a variety of issues. Working against the conservatives, Celinda’s research demonstrated that the phrase "religious political extremists” was much more communicative than the vernacular "religious right." In the healthcare arena, her research showed that talking about "reducing health care costs" and the 8 out of 10 working families without adequate health insurance was key. Her interviews and statistics have been quoted in the Washington Post, New York Times, Wall Street Journal as well as a variety of magazines, including Newsweek, Glamour and Marie Claire, and Celinda has appeared on numerous television and radio news programs, including CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, Fox News and NPR, discussing her work and providing expert commentary.

Celinda is one of the nation's foremost experts on electing women candidates and on framing issues to women voters. American Politics calls Celinda a "super-strategist or, better yet, the Godmother," and Working Woman says she is "arguably the most influential woman in her field." She is renowned for her groundbreaking research on single women voters in conjunction with the Voter Participation Center and has helped elect numerous female candidates, including Barbara Mikulski, the "Dean" of Women Senators, former Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano, Annise Parker the Mayor of Houston (the 4th largest city in the country), Patricia Madrid the first Hispanic woman Attorney General in New Mexico, and others.

Gina McCarthy is Professor of the Practice of Public Health in the Department of Environmental Health at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the Director of the Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment (C-CHANGE). In this capacity, she leads the development of the School’s strategy in climate science, health, and sustainability; strengthens the climate science and health curriculum; and liaises with climate science leaders across the University.

McCarthy has been a leading advocate for common sense strategies to protect public health and the environment for more than 30 years. She served under President Barack Obama as the 13th Administrator of the EPA from 2013–2017. Her tenure as EPA Administrator heralded a paradigm shift in national environmental policy, expressly linking it with global public health. She led EPA initiatives that cut air pollution, protected water resources, reduced greenhouse gases, and strengthened chemical safety to better protect more Americans, especially the most vulnerable, from negative health impacts. McCarthy signed the Clean Power Plan, which set the first-ever national standards for reducing carbon emissions from existing power plants, underscoring the country’s commitment to domestic climate action and spurring international efforts that helped secure the Paris Climate Agreement. McCarthy worked with the United Nations and the World Health Organization on a variety of efforts and represented the U.S. on global initiatives to reduce high-risk sources of pollution.

A longtime public servant, McCarthy was previously Assistant Administrator for the EPA Office of Air and Radiation, Commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, Deputy Secretary of the Massachusetts Office of Commonwealth Development, and Undersecretary of Policy for the Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs. In the EPA Office of Air and Radiation, McCarthy strengthened collaborative efforts with public health agencies and organizations across the U.S. to identify and reduce threats to human health from harmful air pollution, including carbon pollution that fuels climate change, by updating health and technology based emissions standards, establishing greenhouse gas standards for cars and trucks, promoting energy efficiency and alternative fuels, and mitigating harmful exposures to indoor air pollution.

Christine McEntee is Executive Director and CEO of the American Geophysical Union (AGU), a worldwide scientific community that advances the understanding of Earth and space through cooperation in research. She is the third Executive Director in AGU’s 92-year history. Over 25 years she has made her mark as an association leader and innovator, building a steady record of achievement in leading large organizations through changes in governance, membership and the fluid public policies that confront them.

McEntee’s previous leadership experience has spanned the fields of aging, healthcare and architecture. She served as Executive Vice President and CEO of the American Institute of Architects and previously served as CEO of the American Collegeof Cardiology and its Foundation. McEntee began her career as a legislative representative for AARP and moved on to the American Hospital Association in 1986, where she rose to the position of Executive Vice President.

McEntee graduated from Georgetown University and holds a Masters in Health Administration-Health Policy from George Washington University. She serves on the board of numerous groups, including the MedStar Health Research Institute, where she serves as Chair, the American Board of Ophthalmology and the American Board of Medical Specialists Health Policy Committee, and she has served as a member of the ASAE Awards Committee and Innovation Task Force.

McEntee is a Fellow of ASAE, and her honors include CEO Update's CEO of the Year (2016), ASAE Women Who Advance Excellence, GWSAE’s Visionary and Executive Update “Smart CEO” Award, the Annual Achievement in Health Care Management Award from Women Health Executives Network, and Crain’s Chicago Business Under 40 Movers and Shakers. In 2011 she was chosen for America’s Top Women Mentoring Leaders and in 2012 she was featured in the “100 Women Leaders in STEM.” In 2013 she was invited to author a chapter on the role scientific societies can play in informing public opinion on climate change for a publication titled, “Advances in Natural and Technological Hazards Research: New Trends in Earth Science Outreach and Engagement: The Nature of Communication.”

Matthew C. Nisbet, Ph.D. is Professor of Communication, Public Policy, and Urban Affairs at Northeastern University. He is Editor-in-Chief of the journal Environmental Communication, a monthly columnist at Issues in Science and Technology magazine, and a regular contributor to Scientific American.

Nisbet studies the relevance of communication, advocacy, and philanthropy to managing complex social problems such as climate change and political polarization. He is the author or co-author of more than 75 peer-reviewed studies, scholarly book chapters, and reports including the recent American Association for Advancement of Science report on Scientists in Civic Life: Facilitating Dialogue-Based Communication and the 2017 U.S. National Academies consensus study on Communicating Science Effectively: A Research Agenda.

With his co-author Declan Fahy, he is currently writing a book with Harvard University Press that examines the influence of a special generation of public intellectuals who have helped define the major scientific and social issues of our time. By evaluating the careers of writers like Bill McKibben, Michael Pollan, Malcolm Gladwell, and Naomi Klein, the book explores the power of ideas and narratives to influence public opinion, inspire social movements, and alter political decisions.

In recently funded projects, Nisbet analyzed the role of strategic philanthropy in supporting actions to address climate change; evaluated sources of financial support for non-profit journalism; and is currently identifying best practices in journalistic coverage of climate change resilience.

At Northeastern, he teaches courses in political communication, strategic communication, and media advocacy. Nisbet holds a Ph.D. and M.S. in Communication from Cornell University and a BA in Government from Dartmouth College.

Among awards and recognition, he has been a Visiting Shorenstein Fellow at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, a Health Policy Investigator at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and a Google Science Communication Fellow. His 2018 edited volume The Oxford Encyclopedia of Climate Change Communication was recognized as a PROSE award finalist by the Association of American Publishers. According to Reuters Web of Knowledge, Nisbet’s research has been cited in the peer-reviewed literature more than 3,500 times, and according to Google Scholar more than 9,500 times.

Before founding Climate Resolve, Jonathan Parfrey served as a commissioner at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (2008-2013). Jonathan is a founder and Vice Chair of CicLAvia, the popular street event, as well as a founder of the statewide Alliance of Regional Collaboratives for Climate Adaptation. He served as director of the GREEN LA Coalition (2007-2011), and as the Los Angeles director of Nobel Peace Prize-winning organization Physicians for Social Responsibility (1994 to 2007). Prior to that, Jonathan founded and directed the Orange County Catholic Worker (1987-1993). He was appointed to Governor Schwarzenegger’s Environmental Policy Team in 2003.

Jonathan received the Paul S. Delp Award for Outstanding Service, Peace and Social Justice (1992), and was awarded a Durfee Foundation Fellowship (2002), a Stanton Fellowship (2010), and was appointed a Senior Fellow at the USC Marshall School of Business (2011). He is currently a fellow at the Los Angeles Institute for the Humanities; a member of the State of California Climate Adaptation Technical Advisory Committee (2016); a member of the steering committee for the US Climate and Health Alliance (2016); and Vice Chair of the BizFed Institute. In April 2016, he was received the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Chair’s Green Leadership Award. When he’s not at work, Jonathan likes to hang out with his wife, Nancy L. Cohen, his four children and two grandchildren, as well as going with friends on epic hikes and bike rides.

Bob Perkowitz is an entrepreneur, environmentalist, writer, investor and distance cyclist. Over the past 25 years Bob has been President of direct marketing and manufacturing organizations with revenues ranging to $600 million, including Cornerstone Brands, Smith+Noble and Joanna Western Mills. He currently is Managing Partner of VivaTerra LLC, Chairman of Potenco, Inc., President of Paradigm Management, Inc., a Director of SRAM, Inc., and a partner in Firebrand Partners, LLC and Arqua Equity Partners, LLC. In the non-profit sector, in addition to his work with ecoAmerica, Bob is also on the board of the Environmental Defense Fund, Environmental Defense Fund of North Carolina and the Queens University Learning Society. He also serves on the Sierra Club’s National Advisory Council and served a Trustee of the Sierra Club Foundation from 2001-2007. Bob received a B.S. in Social Thought from Lake Forest College and an M.B.A. from Lake Forest Graduate School of Management. He resides in San Francisco and Charlotte, NC with his wife Lisa Renstrom. Bob has ridden his bike across North and South America, Australia and Europe and is currently trying to figure out how to ride across Africa and Asia.

Rabbi Jonah Dov Pesner serves as the Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism. He has led the Religious Action Center since 2015. Rabbi Pesner also serves as Senior Vice President of the Union for Reform Judaism, a position to which he was appointed to in 2011. Named one of the most influential rabbis in America by Newsweek magazine, he is an inspirational leader and tireless advocate for social justice.

Rabbi Pesner’s work has focused on encouraging Jewish communities to reach across lines of race, class, and faith in campaigns for social justice. In 2006, he founded Just Congregations (now incorporated into the Religious Action Center), which engaged clergy, professional, and volunteer leaders in interfaith efforts in pursuit of social justice. Rabbi Pesner was a primary leader in the successful Massachusetts campaign for health care access that has provided health care coverage to hundreds of thousands and which became a nationwide model for reform. Over the course of his career, he has also led and supported campaigns for racial justice, economic opportunity, immigration reform, LGBTQ equality, human rights, and a variety of other causes. He is dedicated to building bridges to collectively confront anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, and other forms of hate and bigotry.

Rabbi Pesner has trained and mentored students on all four campuses of the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, and gives speeches in interfaith and secular venues all over the world. Rabbi Pesner serves as a board member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, JOIN for Justice, the National Religious Partnership for the Environment, and the New England Center for Children. He is a member of the Leadership Team for the Jewish Social Justice Roundtable. He has served as a scholar for the Wexner Foundation, American Jewish World Service, the Nexus USA Summit, and Combined Jewish Philanthropies, among others.

Ordained at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in 1997, Rabbi Pesner was a congregational rabbi at Temple Israel in Boston and at Temple Israel in Westport, Conn. A graduate of Wesleyan University and the Bronx High School of Science, Rabbi Pesner is married to Dana S. Gershon, an attorney. They have four daughters: Juliet, Noa, Bobbie, and Cate.

Alonzo Plough joined the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation as chief science officer and vice president, Research-Evaluation-Learning in January 2014. He is responsible for aligning all of the Foundation’s work with the best evidence from research and practice and incorporating program evaluations into organizational learning. He also oversees the two grantmaking portfolios focused on innovation and emerging issues: Pioneer and Global Ideas for U.S. solutions.

Plough has been a national leader in public health practice for over 25 years. He came to the Foundation from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, where he served as director of emergency preparedness and response from 2009–2013. In that role, he was responsible for the leadership and management of activities protecting the 10 million residents of Los Angeles County from natural disasters and threats related to disease outbreaks and other public health emergencies. He coordinated activities in emergency operations, infectious disease control, risk communication, planning, and community engagement.

Prior to this position, Plough served as vice president of strategy, planning and evaluation for The California Endowment from 2005–2009. Before this, he served 10 years as director and health officer for the Seattle and King County Department of Public Health and previously served as director of public health in Boston for eight years.

Plough earned his PhD and MA at Cornell University, and his MPH at Yale University School of Medicine’s Department of Epidemiology and Public Health. He has held academic appointments at Harvard University School of Public Health, Tufts University Department of Community Medicine, and Boston University School of Management. He is currently clinical professor of health services at the University of Washington School of Public Health in Seattle. He has been the recipient of numerous awards for public service and leadership and is the author of an extensive body of scholarly articles, books, and book chapters.

Plough lives in Princeton and Los Angeles, and is married with two adult sons and two granddaughters. He is a jazz guitarist and vocalist.

Councilwoman Hattie Portis-Jones, MPA is a second-term council member re-elected November 2017. She served as Mayor Pro Tem (2017) and is a recipient of the Georgia Academy for Economic Development’s Region 3 Economic and Leadership Development Program; Georgia Municipal Association’s (GMA) Certificate of Excellence; and National League of Cities (NLC) University Gold Level Certificate. She is currently an NLC Board of Director serving on its Legislative Action Committee and Chair of NLC’s - Energy Environment and Natural Resources Policy Committee; NLC Leadership Fellows; Member, Water Now Alliance; Member, GMA-Federal Policy Advocacy Committee; and Board of Director (Treasurer), Georgia Municipal Black Caucus.

As a member of the City’s six-member Legislative Branch, she develops policy, enacts laws for the well being of its 14,000+ citizens and ensures the proper stewardship of its resources. Her many accomplishments as part of the city council include: an 88-unit active Senior Living Facility; Duncan Park Football and Water Park Complex; Downtown Amphitheater; Farmer's Market (expanding market to provide access to SNAP recipients); Award-winning Let's Move (to encourage a healthy lifestyle and environment); City Employee Wellness Program; City Re-branding (Situated to Succeed); major economic development projects-creating hundreds of jobs; Improved Bond Rating to double-A-minus (AA-) from triple B (BBB).

Councilwoman Portis-Jones is a veteran public servant who is semi-retired with extensive municipal government and non-profit experiences in executive positions of administration, finance, public works, and health. She served as a board of director for several non-profit organizations, - locally, nationally and internationally. She has a Masters Degree in Public Administration from City University of New York-Baruch College and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She is the recipient of numerous awards and honors including recognition as one of the National Urban Fellows 50 Icons (2019); Woman of Courage in Government (2018); and Who’s Who in Black Atlanta (2017).

Carter Roberts is President and CEO of World Wildlife Fund in the United States. WWF, the world’s largest network of international conservation organizations, works across 100 countries and enjoys the support of 5 million members worldwide.

Roberts leads WWF’s efforts to save the world’s great ecosystems and address climate change by linking science, field and policy programs with an ambitious initiative to work with markets and businesses to lighten their impact on the planet. He has worked with communities and heads of state in North America, Africa, Latin America and Asia; and has built partnerships with some of the world’s largest corporations, including Walmart, Cargill and Mars to set new industry standards for resource efficiency.

Roberts earned his MBA from Harvard Business School following a BA from Princeton University, and subsequently held marketing management positions for Procter & Gamble and Gillette. He went on to lead international conservation and science programs for fifteen years at The Nature Conservancy before coming to WWF in 2004.

Roberts serves on the Boards of the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy at Duke University and the Grantham Institute for Climate Change at Imperial College and the London School of Economics. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the International Finance Corporation’s Advisory Panel on Sustainability and Business, and also serves on the Advisory Board of the Sustainable Energy for All (SE4All) initiative chaired by the Secretary-General of the UN.

Roberts lives in Washington, D.C. with his wife Jackie Prince Roberts and their three children.

Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress
Chief Science Advisor, Emmy-winning TV series, "Years of Living Dangerously"
Author, "Climate Change: What Everyone Needs To Know

Dr. Joseph Romm is a Senior Fellow at American Progress. He oversees the blog ClimateProgress.org, which was named one of Time Magazine’s Fifteen Favorite Websites for the Environment in 2007. In December 2008, Romm was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science for “distinguished service toward a sustainable energy future and for persuasive discourse on why citizens, corporations, and governments should adopt sustainable technologies.” In a March 2009 column in the New York Times, Tom Friedman noted that Dr. Romm is “a physicist and climate expert who writes the indispensable blog climateprogress.org.” In March 2009, Rolling Stone also named him one of of “The 100 People Who Are Changing America” calling him “America’s fiercest climate-change blogger.” And in April, U.S. News & World Report named him “one of the most influential energy and environmental policymakers in the Obama era.”

Dr. Romm served as acting assistant secretary at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy during 1997 and principal deputy assistant secretary from 1995 though 1998. In that capacity, he helped manage the largest program in the world for working with businesses to develop and use advanced transportation and clean energy technologies—$1 billion aimed at energy efficiency, hybrid vehicles, electric batteries, hydrogen and fuel cell technologies, renewable energy, distributed generation, and biofuels. Dr. Romm helped lead the administration’s climate technology policy formulation, and initiated, supervised, and publicized a comprehensive technical analysis by five national laboratories of how energy technologies can reduce greenhouse gas emissions at low-cost: Scenarios of U.S. Carbon Reductions.

He is author of Hell and High Water: Global Warming—The Solution and The Politics (William Morrow, January 2007). He is coauthor of the Scientific American article, “Hybrid Vehicles Gain Traction” (April 2006) and author of The Hype About Hydrogen: Fact and Fiction in the Race to Save the Climate, named one of the best science and technology books of 2004 by Library Journal. Romm holds a Ph.D. in physics from M.I.T. and researched his thesis on physical oceanography at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

Politics from 1995 to 1998 and again from 2004 until 2005. He also was a senior research fellow in Harvard’s Environmental and Natural Resources Program from 2001 to 2003. He served 10 terms as a U.S. Congress member from Indiana, from 1975 to 1995. Following his decision not to seek an 11th consecutive term in the House, Phil joined Harvard’s Kennedy School, where he was a lecturer in Public Policy from 1995 to 2001. Earlier, he taught political science at Ball State University, from 1969 to 1974.

Phil earned a B.A. from Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, and a Ph.D. in Philosophy from the Department of Government, also at Georgetown.

Ellen R. Stofan joined the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum as the John and Adrienne Mars Director in April 2018.
Stofan comes to the position with more than 25 years’ experience in space-related organizations and a deep research background in planetary geology. She was chief scientist at NASA (2013–2016), serving as the principal advisor to former Administrator Charles Bolden on NASA’s strategic planning and programs. She helped guide the development of a long-range plan to get humans to Mars, and worked on strategies for NASA to support commercial activity in low Earth orbit as it transitions from the International Space Station (ISS) to sending humans to the Moon and Mars in the mid-2020s. She supported NASA’s overall science programs in heliophysics, Earth science, planetary science, and astrophysics. While at NASA, she worked with President Barack Obama’s science advisor and the National Science and Technology Council on science policy.

An accomplished public speaker, Stofan has addressed the World Economic Forum’s Council on the Future of Space Technologies at Davos and continues to serve as co-chair of the council. She has spoken at the World Science Festival, SciFest Africa, and numerous universities and schools around the world.

She earned her bachelor’s degree in geology at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, and her master’s and doctoral degrees at Brown University, both in geological sciences. While finishing her doctoral degree, Stofan joined the Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL) as a post-doctoral fellow and became the deputy project scientist for the Magellan Mission to Venus.

In 1994, Stofan became JPL’s chief scientist for the New Millennium Program where she managed a team of about 100 scientists working on new technologies. The following year, Stofan moved to London while continuing to work at JPL and was, and continues to be, an honorary professor at University College London.

For 13 years (2000–2013), Stofan was vice president and senior scientist at Proxemy Research, a consulting firm in the Washington area specializing in planetary research. She was on the board of the College of William & Mary Foundation for 10 years, serving as board chair and co-chair of the development committee as it planned a $1 billion fundraising campaign. Stofan’s research focuses on the geology of Venus, Mars, Saturn’s moon Titan, and Earth. Her favorite mission was Cassini, primarily because of her interest in Titan.

Dr. Benjamin Strauss was elected President and CEO of Climate Central in April 2018 and also serves as Chief Scientist. He is author of numerous scientific papers and reports on sea-level rise and is architect of the Surging Seas suite of maps, tools and visualizations. Strauss has testified before the U.S. Senate and presented to state and local elected officials, and his past work has been cited by the White House and the Secretary-General of the United Nations. Surging Seas has earned more than 100 million page views, and with Strauss’s research has generated more than 10,000 appearances in U.S. and international publications, including the New York Times, Washington Post, AP, Reuters, Bloomberg, China Daily and The Hindu. He has appeared as an expert on national network news, nationally syndicated radio and documentary television.

In earlier roles at Climate Central, Dr. Strauss served as Chief Scientist, Vice President for Sea Level and Climate Impacts, interim Executive Director and COO. He was a founding board member of Grist.org and the Environmental Leadership Program. Strauss co-organized the 1994 Campus Earth Summit, and consulted to the Nathan Cummings Foundation on higher education and the environment. He holds a Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Princeton University, an M.S. in Zoology from the University of Washington, and a B.A. in Biology from Yale University.

Rhode Islanders know they can count on Sheldon Whitehouse to fight for the middle-class values that matter most to us. Sheldon believes that every child deserves the opportunities provided by a good education, and that anyone willing to work hard should be able to find a good job. He believes in the promise of Social Security and Medicare to provide a basic measure of dignity for seniors when they retire.

Sheldon has hosted more than 100 community dinners in every corner of the state to hear the concerns of Rhode Islanders. He is dedicated to helping small businesses grow, making health care affordable for every family, and fighting to break through the barricade of special interests in Washington that are blocking action on climate change. The Providence Journal described Sheldon as “a strong-willed and articulate member of the Senate on national issues and an energetic champion of Rhode Island economic and other interests.”

The examples set by people like his father, a World War II veteran and diplomat, and by great figures in Rhode Island public life, like U.S. Senator Claiborne Pell and Governor Bruce Sundlun, taught Sheldon the good that public service can do for our country and our state. Throughout his more than thirty years in public service, Sheldon has focused on the basic issues that make a real difference in people’s lives.

A graduate of Yale University and the University of Virginia School of Law, Sheldon served as Rhode Island’s Director of Business Regulation under Governor Sundlun before being recommended by Senator Pell and nominated by President Bill Clinton to be Rhode Island’s United States Attorney in 1994. He was elected Attorney General of Rhode Island in 1998, a position in which he served until 2003. On November 7, 2006, Rhode Islanders elected Sheldon to the United States Senate, where he is a member of the Budget Committee; the Environment and Public Works Committee (EPW); the Judiciary Committee; and the Finance Committee.

He and his wife Sandra, a marine biologist and environmental advocate, live in Newport. They have two children.

Whether at one of his community dinners throughout the state, meetings with small business owners, or discussions at senior centers, Sheldon is listening to Rhode Islanders—and putting their ideas to work in Washington.

For the latest updates on Sheldon’s work, be sure to follow him on Twitter and “like” him on Facebook.

Jalonne L. White-Newsome is senior program officer at The Kresge Foundation, responsible for the Environment Program’s grant portfolio on Climate Resilient & Equitable Water Systems (CREWS). Jalonne also leads the foundation’s work addressing the intersection of climate change and public health.

Before joining Kresge in early 2016, Jalonne served as director of federal policy at West Harlem Environmental Action Inc. (WE ACT), where she was involved with leading national campaigns and a 42-member national coalition of environmental justice organizations. Her work helped ensure that the concerns of low-income communities of color were integrated into federal policy, particularly on clean air, climate change and health issues. She is an adjunct professor at The George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and continues to engage in research on climate, health and equity. She was recently appointed to be a member of the National Academy of Sciences Board on Environmental Change and Society, and is serving as a lead author for the human health chapter for the 4th National Climate Assessment.

A native of Detroit, Jalonne earned a Ph.D. in environmental health sciences from the University of Michigan School of Public Health; a master’s degree in environmental engineering from Southern Methodist University; and a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Northwestern University. She serves on the board of US Climate Action Network, and is a steering committee member of the Health Environmental Funder’s Network. Jalonne is a 2017 PLACES Fellow with The Funders Network.

Melody serves as the Climate Justice Campaign Coordinator at Sojourners, a role she hopes to honor by lifting up the stories of people who bear the brunt of climate change (and who contribute the least to it) and cultivating leadership on earthkeeping within the Church. She is compelled to advocate for urban sustainability and climate justice because of Jesus' calling to love the least of these and His invitation to love her neighbor as herself. As Jesus draws himself nearest to the people most oppressed and ostracized in society, so she seeks to do the same. She believes deeply that although the Church is historically late to this conversation, it can and must play a critical role as the people of God through embodied practice of environmental justice.

Melody was born in Anhui, China and was raised in metro-Detroit, where she grew up in Asian American community and fellowship. She holds a BA in Environmental Studies and Philosophy from the University of Michigan, and serves as Co-Chair at Young Evangelicals for Climate Action. Upon graduating, she traveled and volunteered through Rome, Zurich, and Copenhagen on an independent study and worked as an urban design assistant in the Netherlands out of a passion for understanding how the distinct culture and values of local people spell out its city infrastructure. In the past, she has led creation care conversations at her church, apprenticed on a small organic farm, helped start the first sustainable living community at U-M, and worked as a graphic designer.

In her free time, Melody loves exploring parks of all shapes and sizes, reading, jamming out to indie rock, and listening to the smooth, velvety voice of Krista Tippett on On Being. She looks forward to making ugly pottery to provide a home for her indoor plants.