John Sterman | MIT System Dynamics Group

This keynote will feature three leaders in sustainability and innovation at MIT. The three will discuss innovation at MIT and the challenges that universities face in accelerating innovation, the role of the university in catalyzing environmental solutions, and the power of integrating sustainability into processes of innovation and entrepreneurship. The keynote address will also focus in on some of the key stakeholders in SOI, including entrepreneurs, corporations, investors, and citizens.

Jason Jay | Senior Lecturer and Director, Sustainability Initiative, MIT Sloan School of Management

John E. Fernández | Director of Environmental Solutions Initiative, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Vladimir Bulović | Associate Dean for Innovation, Fariborz Maseeh (1990) Professor of Emerging Technology; MacVicar Faculty Fellow, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

What is required of leaders in order to drive sustainability oriented innovation? This question will be answered by industry leaders in sustainability and innovation, who will discuss the role of strong leadership in breaking the tradeoffs between performance and sustainability.

Kathrin Winkler | Senior Vice President, Corporate Sustainability and Chief Sustainability Officer, EMC

Paula J. Loomis | Deputy Civil Engineer, U.S. Coast Guard

Sophia Mendelsohn | Head of Sustainability, JetBlue Airways

Hans-Aloys Wischmann | Head of Philips Research North America, Philips Research

Michael Davies | Senior Lecturer, MIT Engineering Systems Division

This session will be split into three, 15 minute blocks. During each block, attendees will have the opportunity to engage in small group discussions based on a series of topics related to sustainability oriented innovation. Attendees can rotate between differently themed panels for each of the three, 15 minute blocks.

Topics will include:

- Precision Ag

- Biologicals

- Alternative Protein

- Venture Capital

- Corporate Funds

- Crowdfunding

- Climate Policy

- Circular Economy

- Sharing Economy

- Electric Vehicles

- Biofuels

- Public Transportation Infrastructure

- Desalination

- Water Reuse

- Nano materials

- Built Environment

- University Sustainability (Sponsored by Leadership Sponsor, MIT Office of Sustainability and In Kind Sponsor, TU Delft)

- Advanced Manufacturing (Sponsored by Leadership Sponsor, MIT Civil and Environmental Engineering)

- Renewable Energy

- Energy Efficiency

It is commonly perceived that sustainability goes against the interests of business. This panel, however, explores how companies can successfully incorporate sustainability into their business practice and establish infrastructure and mechanisms for sustainability-oriented innovation, as well as the challenges and lessons that have been identified in the pursuit of corporate sustainability.

Erin O’Driscoll | Global Ventures and Business Development Director, Dow Chemical

Daniel Aronson | Founder, SustainabilityOS

Asheen Phansey | Sustainability Lead, High Tech Industry, Dassault Systèmes

Tom Carpenter | Director of Sustainability Services, Waste Management

This panel’s focus will be on SOI venture financing. The panel brings together several prominent investors and entrepreneurs that work directly in the financing of startup companies. They will cover the angel, corporate, nonprofit, venture capitalist, and crowdfunding perspectives of SOI financing.

Sarah Kearney | Executive Director, PRIME Coalition

Daniel Goldman | President and Chief Financial Officer, GreatPoint Energy

Swati Chaturvedi | CEO and Co-founder, Propel(x)

Temple Fennell | Private Markets Consultant, Flagship Ventures

Steve Taub | Senior Director of Advanced Manufacturing, GE Ventures

This panel is the first in a series exploring different stages of sustainability-oriented innovation — from the lab to prototype, from prototype to pilot, and from pilot to market. Focusing on innovations’ origins, this conversation will explore how inventors identify need and opportunity, develop SOI in the lab, and push SOI forward into the prototype stage.

Brian Mayers | CEO, Nano Terra

John Harthorne | Founder & CEO, MassChallenge

Matt Tortora | Chef, Co-Founder and CEO, Crave Food Services

Zach Armen | Senior Associate, Flagship Ventures

The need for sustainability opens up doors to new ideas and new ways to think about business. This panels explores companies that utilize entirely new business models that help them to advance through sustainability-oriented innovation.

Andrew Savitz | Principal, Sustainabile Business Strategies

Dr. Matthew Silver | Founder and CEO, Cambrian Innovation

Frank Gorke | Senior Director of Sales, Opower

Chris Taylor | General Manager of the Boston Area, Uber

This panel’s focus will be on the metrics of SOI investment. The panel includes professionals from companies large and small and that specialize in environmental footprint and social handprint. They will discuss the multi-faceted investment returns generated by impact- and sustainability-oriented investments.

Allen L. White | Vice President and Senior Fellow, Tellus Institute

Catherine Benoit | VP Social Sustainability, New Earth

Hilary Young | Account Manager, Trucost

F. Charles Goodwin | Managing Director and Head of Public Finance, BNY Mellon Capital Markets, LLC

Christina Zimmerman | Managing Director & ESG Strategist, Wellington Management Companies, LLP

This panel is the second in a series exploring the different stages of sustainability-oriented innovations. The conversation will focus on what it takes for innovators to move an idea from bench scale to pilot scale, and to prepare for market launch.

Frank van Mierlo | CEO, 1366 Technologies

Sara Ross | CEO, Sungage Financial

Mark Barnett | Co-Chair of Energy & Cleantech Industry Group; Head of Renewable Energy Project Finance and Development Practice, Foley Hoag

Daniel Solomita | Founder and CEO, Loop Industries

Adam Rein | Managing Director, MissionPoint Partners

This panel will focus on strategies- successful and unsuccessful- to incorporate sustainability into new product design and development. It will explore the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches to embed sustainability-oriented innovation into design, including infrastructure development and organizational processes.

Jason Jay | Senior Lecturer and Director, Sustainability Initiative, MIT Sloan School of Management

Jonathan Maher | VP of CSR and Sustainability, L’Oreal

Johanna Jobin | Director of Global EHS and Sustainability, Biogen

Libby Wayman | Global Director of Innovation, Ecomagination, General Electric Company

This panel’s focus will be on public policy driving SOI. The panel features leading organizations and voices that are shaping regulation and enacting it. They will touch on the role of government and regulation in driving entrepreneurship and investment into SOI.

Anne Kelly | Senior Director of the Policy Program, Ceres

John Sterman | Director, MIT System Dynamics Group

Alison Ernst | Senior Manager of Investment, MassCEC

David Miller | Founder and Executive Managing Director, Clean Energy Venture Group (CEVG)

Jason Wible | Technology-to-Market Advisor, ARPA-E

The final panel discussing the different stages of sustainability-oriented innovation, this conversation will focus on how entrepreneurs create new infrastructure, or leverage existing infrastructure, to achieve wide market diffusion. Panelists from multiple industries will reflect on elements critical to success as well as common barriers, and how a sustainability focus factors into these opportunities and challenges.

Tod J. Hynes | Founder & President, XL Hybrids, Inc.

Eric Fleet | Co-founder and Men’s Creative Director, Threads 4 Thought

Timothy Ericson | Co-founder and CEO, Zagsters

Lisa Sebestsa | Managing Partner, Fresh Source Capital, LLC

Dave Bend | Energy Partnerships, Nest Labs

Dan Esty | Hillhouse Professor, Yale University