Speaker

Elizabeth Balkan has extensive expertise in zero waste policy and implementation. She most recently served as Executive Director of Reloop North America. There, she built a circularity in packaging program comprised of leading decision-makers across the value chain and the most influential government and non-profit stakeholders, delivering tangible, data-oriented solutions. She previously led the Food … Read more

Lily is a Senior Associate in Communications and Engagement at Cascadia Consulting Group. She leads Bay Area project teams covering a broad range of topics including zero waste, food recovery, and circularity.  She has worked in the sustainability field as a business strategist, change manager, project manager, facilitator and community engagement lead. Organization:Cascadia Consulting GroupTitle:Senior … Read more

Angela Ober is the senior sustainability specialist at the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB). She has been working in the environmental field since 2015 and in higher ed sustainability since 2018. Her work includes data collection, analysis, and communication. She is passionate about ensuring data is both transparent and accessible to the public and enjoys … Read more

Leana Houser is the Sustainability Manager for Zero Waste in the Johns Hopkins University Office of Climate & Sustainability (OCS). In this role, she develops policies and best practices to support the university’s Climate Action and Sustainability Plan’s Responsible Consumption goals. Her favorite part of the job is supporting the divisions to find creative solutions … Read more

Sue Beets-Atkinson is the Global VP of Sustainability for SBM Management Services, LP. With more than 30 years of resource management and recycling experience, she has successfully designed and implemented many large and complex recycling programs for a multitude of Fortune 500 companies throughout the United States. Beets-Atkinson regularly reinvents systems for improved efficiency and is … Read more

Ashley Koller is the Sustainability Program Manager for Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. in Chico, CA. She is focused on developing and managing initiatives that further integrate Sustainability into Sierra Nevada’s culture and operations. Through collaboration and employee education, Ashley is dedicated to lowering Sierra Nevada’s environmental footprint.Outside of the brewery, Ashley sits on the Board … Read more

Maddy Gawler is the Senior Specialist, Sustainability & Continuous Improvement at The J.M. Smucker Company. She joined the Company through the Hostess acquisition in 2023 and in her current role she is focused on overseeing operations strategy relating to water, natural gas and electricity utilization. In this role she works with operations sites across the … Read more

Bob Gedert has 45 years of experience in building local economic development practices with zero-waste goals through private-public partnerships that utilize local markets for recyclables through innovative entrepreneurship and collaborative business networks. In his retirement, he is teaching climate change classes at Xavier University in Cincinnati and publishing his first book on the relationship of … Read more

Dave Bennink is Director of the Building Deconstruction Network and owns Re-Use Consulting. He trains groups focusing on reusable materials and embodied carbon, and has salvaged/deconstructed over 5000 projects in North America, existing within the circular economy since 1993. Significant to the City, Dave has formed the NYC Circular Construction Network whose goal is to … Read more