Keynote Speaker

Michelle is Director General of Strategic Policy at Environment and Climate Change Canada, a position in which she has responsibility for environmental files that cut across the department, including the circular economy and climate adaptation, among others. Immediately prior to this role, Michelle worked on clean technology policy and programs at the Canadian ministry of industry. Michelle has also been Director of Policy at the Smart Prosperity Institute in Ottawa, taught Economics at Mount Royal University in Calgary, Alberta, and worked in various Government of Canada departments and agencies advising on energy, cleantech, natural resource and climate policy. She holds degrees in economics from Mount Allison University and Queens University.

Practice - Hearing from the doers: Putting circular economy into practice.

Dr. Giorgos Demetriou has a passion for technologies that can expedite the transition from the linear economy to a Circular Economy and to this direction he is leading cutting edge research at the Circular Economy Research Center in Paris. He is a professor of Circular Economy at the École des Ponts Business School as well as a Professor of Circular Economy and New Business models at ENPC in Paris. He has worked for more than fourteen years in the EU landscape and has authored and co-authored numerous reports, scientific publications, and articles. Indicatively, he is an acknowledged contributor to the Global Risk 2013 report commissioned by the World Economic Forum, to a report carried out in collaboration with Harvard University and the European Parliament on a novel intervention to address the European Financial Crisis, and he has been a speaker in numerous events in the domain including the World Circular Economy Forum which was held in Tokyo Japan.

Policy - Debate: How can policy and regulation give traction to circular markets?

Nabil is Director of Resilient Design Lab (Toronto) and co-founder of the Strongly Sustainable Business Models Group (SSBMG). He has a MEE in computer engineering and a Ph.D. suma cum laude in digital data communications from Germany. He is also a graduate of the Executive Development Program of Schulich School of Business at York University. Development Program of Schulich School of Business at York University. Nabil has more than 40 years of experience as an engineer, technology executive, entrepreneur and educator with expertise in networks, sustainable business models, organizational transformation, and strategic foresight. He has advised national governments and international organizations such as UNESCO, W.H.O, the World Bank and IDRC.

Practice - Hearing from the doers: Putting circular economy into practice

Dr. Justin Bours is a green chemist and materials/polymer scientist that has consistently leveraged his knowledge of chemical reactivity and material life cycles toward eliminating chemical risks and keeping safe materials in circulation. Justin was first inspired by green chemistry and circular economy by taking a course called Greener Solutions at UC Berkeley during his graduate Chemistry program where he worked with a team of interdisciplinary students to help Hewlett Packard with a specific environmental issue: e-waste. Since then, he has advocated for and participated in many industry-academic partnerships, flexing his chemistry & sustainability knowledge to solve similar issues. Most recently, as a member of the Certification Team at Cradle to Cradle Product Innovations Institute, Justin leads technical projects to enhance the certification program and promote sustainable product manufacture and design. One such project has been the development of new criteria for the Product Circularity category in an upcoming revision to the C2C Certified Product Standard. Here, he has developed a novel draft framework for continuous improvement of all types of products toward optimal circularity that includes criteria for Circular Sourcing, Circular Design, and Circular Systems.

Practice - Hearing from the doers: Putting circular economy into practice.

Annie Osborn is the east coast University Innovation Specialist at The Good Food Institute, where she works with students, faculty, and university administrators to increase engagement and collaboration between universities and the rapidly-growing alternative protein space. Annie comes from a background of development economics and sustainable food systems. Prior to joining GFI, she researched nutrition, childhood development, and education in northwestern China with Stanford's Rural Education Action Project. She holds an M.S. and a B.S. with Honors in Earth Systems from Stanford University.

Practice - Hearing from the doers: Putting circular economy into practice.

Carrie Snyder is the founder of a circular economy consulting business and a lecturer at Harvard Extension School. Snyder’s clients have varied from circular strategies for high-tech companies to responsible consumption and production targets for a small country. Previously, she worked at Cisco for fifteen years, developing extensive expertise in product take-back, reuse, repair/refurbishment, and resale. Snyder holds a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Harvard College and an MBA from the Darden Graduate School of Business at the University of Virginia.

Industry - Panel discussion: Industry Challenges

José Manuel Moller is founder and chief executive officer of Algramo. The company offers no-waste distribution channels for everyday-products through a refillable dispensing system and a network of convenience stores in Chile. Algramo now reaches more than 1,700 family-owned stores and has the potential to reach over 275,000 end consumers. The company won Chile’s Social Enterprise of the Year award (2017), National Geographic’s Ocean Plastic Innovation Challenge (2019) and the MIT Solve award (2019). José Moller holds a Bachelor's degree in business administration and a Master’s degree in Advanced Design.

Industry - Panel discussion: Industry Challenges

Anna Meegan is the Head of Sustainability for Google Hardware & Services. She is responsible for creating and operationalizing the sustainability strategy encompassing both environmental and community efforts related to Google’s emerging hardware brand. Anna is also a board member for the Responsible Business Alliance.

Prior to her role at Google, Anna spent many years in various leadership positions at Cisco Systems, across sustainability, supply chain, and customer advocacy roles. She’s also worked in finance and academics, with a Master’s degree in Earth Sciences.

Anna lives in the Bay Area in California with her husband and daughter.

Industry - Panel discussion: Industry Challenges

Etienne Kechichian is a senior private sector specialist at the World Bank Group. Since 2013 he has led work related to Green Competitiveness, which looks to promote private sector growth through policy advice and financing measures for industries, industrial parks and circular economies in developing countries. He is currently expanding the World Bank’s knowledge capacity on circular economy and leading work on the link between climate resilience of industries and competitiveness. He manages a portfolio of 13 projects on lending and technical assistance in countries including Bangladesh, Turkey, Vietnam, Mauritania, Pakistan, Egypt, China, Cote d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Haiti. Etienne’s notable publications include A Greener Path to Competitiveness (2016), An International Framework for Eco-Industrial Parks (2018) and the upcoming publications on Resilient Industries (2020) and Circular Economy in Private Sector Development (2020). Prior to this work, Etienne worked globally on special economic zones projects. These projects helped improve the legal and regulatory framework governing SEZs in order to generate private sector investments into their development, management, and promotion.

Industry - Panel discussion: Industry Challenges

Michael A. Saltzberg is the Global Business Director for Biomaterials at DuPont. There he leads a portfolio of commercial and emerging businesses that utilize renewable feedstocks, rather than petroleum or natural gas derivatives, to make industrially important chemicals and materials, including DuPont Sorona® polymer and Bio-PDO™ propanediol. Through the development of renewable biochemicals and biomaterials, Dr. Saltzberg and his team are solving critical issues for industries as varied as packaging, cosmetics, apparel and carpeting, all facing the challenges of offering high-performance choices to their downstream customers while making their supply chains more sustainable. He is a veteran of the industry with over thirty years of experience at DuPont including R&D management, sales & marketing, and business development. He has led DuPont’s efforts in Biomaterials business development since 2006. Dr. Saltzberg holds a B.A. with Honors in Chemistry from Oberlin College and a Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania.

Finance - Roundtable: Financing for a circular economy at scale

Vikram S. Gandhi teaches Investing – Risk, Return, and Impact, The Entrepreneurial Manager, FIELD Global Immersion and various Executive Education Programs. He is a faculty member of the Impact Co-Laboratory focusing on research in the area of Impact Investing. He is the founder of Asha Impact, which leverages capital, networks, and expertise to address critical development challenges facing India and other emerging economies. Prior to teaching at Harvard Business School, he was Vice Chairman of Investment Banking and Global Head of the Financial Institutions Business for Credit Suisse in New York and Hong Kong, as well as Co-Head of Global FIG for Morgan Stanley, in New York. He is a Founding Member of Harvard University’s South Asia Initiative and a member of The Global Leaders Circle at Harvard Business School. He is also a Founder of Ashoka University, the first liberal arts college established in India, a Founding Board Member of Social Finance India, and he has recently worked with the National Innovation Council to set up The India Inclusive Innovation Fund.

Policy - Debate: How can policy and regulation give traction to circular markets?

Mario Jales is an economist at the Trade, Environment, Climate Change and Sustainable Development Branch of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), where he works on the Sustainable Manufacturing and Environmental Pollution (SMEP) program and oversees a project aimed at fostering economic diversification into green sectors in Angola.

Previously, Dr. Jales was an economist at the Commodities Branch of UNCTAD, fellow at Cornell University, research fellow at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), and project director at the Institute for International Trade Negotiations (ICONE). He has also worked for the World Bank, FAO and OECD as a consultant. Dr. Jales holds a Ph.D. in Applied Economics from Cornell University and master’s degrees from Stanford University and Georgetown University. His recent research has focused on commodities and climate change, sustainable food systems, and the circular economy.

Finance - Roundtable: Financing for a circular economy at scale

Alessandro Moscuzza has spent the last two decades working on international development and sustainability issues.

He is currently working as a Climate Change and Environment Adviser with the UK Government’s Department for International Development (DFID-UKaid), where he is the Senior Responsible Owner in charge of the Environment Research portfolio. He has previously lived and worked in the Caribbean, Africa, Asia, and Brussels, where he was seconded to the European Commission. He is currently working on split-location between London and Washington, DC.

He has a Master’s degree in Environment and Development Geography from Royal Holloway, University of London and a Master’s degree in Environmental Management from Birkbeck College, University of London. He is also a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society in London and a Member of the American Geophysical Union in Washington DC. His current focus is on biodiversity, environmental pollution, and circular economy issues across Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.

Policy - Debate: How can policy and regulation give traction to circular markets?

Giuliana Torta serves as Counsellor for Environment, Fisheries, and Ocean policies at the EU Delegation to the US in Washington DC. The implementation of the Circular Economy Action Plan is an expanding area of policy work in the EU, and in the dialogue with partner countries, including the US.

Giuliana has been working in the European Commission headquarters for DG Environment and DG Climate for 11 years before moving to the US in February 2017. She has over 25 years of experience in environmental policies, ranging from biodiversity and nature conservation, international forestry, climate adaptation, and sustainable development. Before joining the European Commission, she carried out assignments in Bangladesh, in the Kingdom of Tonga and as Environment Expert at the EU Delegation for the Pacific, with responsibilities over regional programmes on environment, forestry and rural development. Giuliana holds a PhD in Ecology from the University of Padua and is a forester by academic background.

Finance - Roundtable: Financing for a circular economy at scale

Gwill York is a lifelong entrepreneur, financier, and philanthropist.

Holding an AB in Economics and an MBA, both from Harvard, she co-founded the venture-capital firm Lighthouse Capital Partners in 1994. There she focused on providing early-stage investments to life sciences and cleantech companies, including Impossible Foods, EnerNOC, and NanoH20. While working in finance, she was on the board of the New England Venture Capital Association for over a decade.

She has also served in various capacities at Harvard. She was elected to the University’s Board of Overseers and is the former Chair of the Harvard Medical School Board of Fellows. She has been assiduously involved with HBS since graduating; as an Entrepreneur in Residence, an advisor at the Rock Center for Entrepreneurship, and head judge of the Business Plan Contest.

Beyond her work in finance and around Harvard, Gwill is committed to sustainability and social justice causes both in her adopted home of Boston. She is Chairman of the Board of the Museum of Science, Trustee of the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and serves on the board of the Boston Green Ribbon Commission.

Finance - Roundtable: Financing for a circular economy at scale

Shannon Bouton is a scientist, environmentalist, and business strategist, who has dedicated her career to creating a more sustainable future for people and the planet. As the Global Executive Director of McKinsey.org, Shannon spearheads the organization’s vision to have a lasting and substantial impact on complex sustainability challenges.

A field biologist by training, and with a Ph.D. in natural resources and the environment from the University of Michigan, Shannon spent her early career working directly with grassroots communities on conservation in Brazil.

Prior to joining McKinsey.org in 2018, Shannon spent 12 years at McKinsey & Company, most recently as the Chief Operating Officer of the McKinsey Center for Business and Environment. While at McKinsey & Company, Shannon helped to launch the firm’s Sustainability practice. Notably, in her work with the Cities Special Initiative, Shannon helped develop tools to enable cities to improve economic development, climate action planning, service delivery, transportation, and organizational performance.

Policy - Debate: How can policy and regulation give traction to circular markets?

Mr. Shunta Yamaguchi is a Policy Analyst of the Environment and Economy Integration division of the OECD Environment Directorate. He joined the OECD in 2014 and works on trade and environment issues, including regional trade agreements and the environment, and trade and circular economy, since 2016. He is also a member of the Trade and Competitiveness Research Committee for the Green Growth Knowledge Platform (GGKP) since 2017. Prior to his current assignment, he worked on waste management and resource productivity projects as well as environmental accounts at the National Accounts Division (Statistics Directorate). Prior to joining the OECD, he worked with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) on energy and environmental projects across Asia, Middle-East and Africa. More specifically, during his 5-year work experience with JICA, he was responsible for policy analysis and project design on international harmonization of energy efficiency labeling and testing standards, and to promote mutual recognition agreements for laboratory testing under the World Trade Organization Technical Barriers to Trade (WTO-TBT) agreement. Mr. Yamaguchi holds an MSc in Development Economics from the University of Bradford and a BSc in Physics from the Tokyo University of Science.

Finance - Roundtable: Financing for a circular economy at scale

Courtney Thompson is a Vice President in Morgan Stanley’s Global Sustainable Finance group, supporting development of sustainable investing products and solutions across the firm’s Institutional Securities, Investment Management and Wealth Management divisions. She also contributes to thought leadership from Morgan Stanley’s Institute for Sustainable Investing. Courtney began her career in economic consulting at Analysis Group, followed by a strategic advisory role at Next Street. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a B.A. in Economics from Williams College and received her M.B.A. with honors from Columbia Business School. Courtney currently serves on the board of Microlumbia, a student-led impact investing fund, and as a member of Columbia University’s Advisory Committee on Socially Responsible Investing.

Industry - Panel discussion: Industry Challenges

As Chief Strategy Officer for Rubicon Global, Michael Allegretti leads the company’s rapidly-growing RUBICONSmartCityTM SaaS business, while overseeing all public policy, corporate communications, marketing, and sustainability operations company-wide.

Prior to joining Rubicon, Michael oversaw public policy for Uber Technologies Inc. in the company’s largest global market, New York City. He has also served as a senior advisor to The Climate Group, where he advised the Rt. Honorable Tony Blair; organized the historic C40 Large Cities Climate Summit in May 2007, and led public policy for the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, a national think tank focused on solving urban issues with free-market solutions. Michael was also a formerly Political and Public Policy Analyst for UBS (NYSE: UBS).

Michael holds a Bachelor of Arts in History from Boston College and a Master’s degree in Public Policy from Harvard University. He serves as an advisor to Citizen, a start-up that alerts citizens in real-time to crimes and other emergencies in their vicinity, and he is a member of the Citizen’s Advisory Committee to the Hudson River Park Trust. He recently served as U.S. Chair of the British American Project and was a Board Member of the New York State League of Conservation Voters.

Practice - Hearing from the doers: Putting circular economy into practice.

Heather Henriksen has served as Harvard University’s chief sustainability officer since 2008, advising the President and senior leadership on strategy and building an organizational change enterprise. Heather leads the Office for Sustainability which oversees the implementation of the Harvard’s comprehensive Sustainability Plan (co-created with faculty and students in 2014) and the University’s ambitious Climate Action Plan (to be fossil fuel-free by 2050 and fossil fuel-neutral by 2026) which builds upon the 2016 achievement of Harvard’s initial science-based climate goal.

The Office for Sustainability (OFS) has expanded a multi-disciplinary living laboratory research program that partners with faculty and students to use the campus as a test bed for piloting and sharing innovative solutions to real-world sustainability challenges. Heather is leading an effort with faculty within Harvard to translate research into practice, in partnership with business and non-profit leaders, to address health in the built environment and sustainable development at a community scale. OFS has also spearheaded numerous pilot projects across Harvard focused on advancing circularity in the built environment and seeking to translate innovative sustainable development concepts into everyday practice. Heather also advises courses throughout Harvard College and the professional graduate schools and speaks nationally and internationally on sustainability.

Heather is on the Board of Directors of the Health Product Declaration Collaborative. Heather serves as Advisory Committee Co-chair of the International Sustainable Campus Network (ISCN), and she is a member of Environmental Entrepreneurs (E2). Heather holds a Master in Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School.

Practice - Hearing from the doers: Putting circular economy into practice.

Libby McDonald is a lecturer at MIT D-Lab (D-Lab: Gender and D-Lab: Inclusive Economies) and leads D-Lab’s Inclusive Economies Program. Using a co-design approach, the program brings together informal sector workers, multinationals, and government representatives to address livelihood and environmental challenges experienced by people working at the margins of society. Recent projects have included working with Danone to incorporate wastepickers into formal waste systems in Accra, Ghana (2018-2019) and with Mineros S.A. and Apple to introduce zero-mercury mining and diversify local economies in communities in Antioquia, Colombia (2019-2021). Prior to her work at D-Lab, McDonald was MIT CoLab’s Program Director of Global Sustainability Partnerships where she worked with the Inter-American Development Bank and the United Nations Development Program to design and implement integrated waste management solutions in Nicaragua, Panama, and Mexico. A writer and a documentary filmmaker, Libby’s film and written work explore issues of race, equality, and the environment.

Finance - Roundtable: Financing for a circular economy at scale

Justin Goldstein has been with Goldman Sachs for 18 years with a focus on public and project finance in the infrastructure and energy sectors in the US. Justin specializes in private projects that qualify for US tax-exempt debt financing, such as solid waste recycling facilities and wastewater treatment facilities. His recent experience successfully raising capital for projects in this space include renewable jet and diesel, renewable natural gas, and waste pulp and paper facilities.

Practice - Hearing from the doers: Putting circular economy into practice.

Monica is a senior project manager and design anthropologist, and works in the intersection of design, cities and sustainable business development.

Monica has worked with cities for more than 8 years and has extensive knowledge in urban development, architecture and urban research. She has driven innovation and development processes across public and private sector. Monica was responsible for a number of Danish Design Center's Design Cities projects, including topics such as smart city strategies, circular economy and sustainable business models, as well as urban technology and urban innovation.

Monica currently leads the ambitious 1-year innovation competition Circular Construction Challenge — Rethink Waste, initiated by Realdania, and is responsible for the daily progress of the program as well as the development and facilitation of innovation processes, business development and co-creation among the program's participating companies and partners. In addition, Monica is in charge of the Danish Design Centre's contribution to the 3-year Urbantech accelerator program, where 10 startups annually develop sustainable urban solutions.

Policy - Debate: How can policy and regulation give traction to circular markets?

Mark Wu is the Henry L. Stimson Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, where he specializes in issues of international trade and international economic law. He is a member of the Advisory Board of the WTO Chairs Programme and of the World Economic Forum’s Global Futures Council on International Trade and Investment. He also serves a liaison to the U.S. Trade and Environment Policy Advisory Committee and has participated in the Green Environment and Trade meeting series convened by UNCTAD. Prior to joining the faculty, he served as the Director for Intellectual Property in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. He began his career an economist and operations officer with the World Bank in China, where he worked on a number of environmental, water, health, and sanitation projects. He is a graduate of Yale Law School and Oxford University, where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar. He received an A.B. summa cum laude from Harvard College.