EarthxSpeakers

Richard Kaufman

Richard Kauffman is Chairman of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). In January 2013, Mr. Kauffman served in the Executive Chamber of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo as New York State’s first “Energy Czar,” or Chairman of Energy and Finance. He stepped down from that role in January 2019 while continuing as Chairman of NYSERDA and, as such, he remains energy advisor to Governor Cuomo and his Administration.

Anne L. Kelly

Anne L. Kelly is the vice president of government relations and leads Ceres Policy Network, Business for Innovative Climate and Energy Policy (BICEP). BICEP is a coalition of 52 leading consumer-facing companies advocating for meaningful climate and energy policy at the federal and state levels.

Mike Kingsella

Mike Kingsella is the Executive Director of Up for Growth, a Washington, D.C.-based national research and policy organization that is committed to fostering equitable growth across the nation by eliminating structural barriers to housing, in the places that need housing the most.

Greg Kraus

As Managing Director, Greg Kraus leads Invesco Real Estate’s (IRE) Acquisitions group. In addition, he serves on IRE’s Investment Committee, North American Executive Committee and Direct Management Committee. Since joining IRE in 2000, Mr. Kraus has served in both a portfolio management and acquisition role with the firm.

Ryan Kushner

Ryan Kushner is an expert in energy, climate, and innovation ecosystems (incubator, accelerators, and prizes). He is the author of Accelerate This! A Super Not Boring Guide To Startup Accelerators And Clean Energy Entrepreneurship. He is the Global Network and Curriculum Lead at New Energy Nexus, and founder of The Oceantech Community.

Sandra Kwak

Sandra Kwak is CEO and Founder of 10Power, a certified Benefit Corporation providing commercialgrade renewable energy to communities that lack access to electricity. She is also a board member at the Foundation for Climate Restoration, working to bring the concentration of carbon in the atmosphere back down to 300 ppm by 2050.

Klaus S. Lackner

Klaus S. Lackner is the director of the Center for Negative Carbon Emissions (CNCE) and a professor in School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment at Arizona State University. He is a pioneer in carbon management and is the first to suggest capturing carbon dioxide from air in the context of addressing climate change.

Osprey Orielle Lake

Osprey Orielle Lake is the Founder and Executive Director of the Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network International, working nationally and internationally with women leaders, policy-makers, and diverse coalitions to build women’s leadership, climate justice, resilient communities, and a just transition to a decentralized, democratized clean energy future.

Chia-Ying Lee

Chia-Ying Lee is an Assistant Research Professor at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, working on tropical cyclone and climate. She is interested in high-impact weather phenomena, and their relation to climate, particularly regarding TCs.

Dawn Lippert

Dawn Lippert is CEO of Elemental Excelerator, a nonprofit that is a funder of startups solving climate and environmental challenges. Each year EEx funds 15 to 20 companies up to $1 million to improve systems that impact the planet and people’s lives: energy, water, agriculture, transportation, and beyond.

Leila Madrone

Leila Madrone builds breakthrough energy technologies at the intersection of mechanics, electronics, and software. She has spent the past 12 years developing new energy solutions for grid applications and, since founding Sunfolding in 2012, has focused on building machines to make solar an unstoppable force in the clean energy transition.

Cheryl Martin

Cheryl Martin is founder of Harwich Partners. Harwich Partners, LLC works with public and private sector entities to identify critical business, technology, finance, regulatory and policy drivers that would accelerate adoption of new technologies into key markets.

Cooper Martin

Cooper Martin is an expert in urban policy, sustainable development, and climate resilience with more than 12 years of experience working with local, state, and federal government. He currently serves as the Director of Sustainability & City Solutions with the National League of Cities.

Arielle Martinez-Cohen

Arielle Martinez Cohen is an 18-year-old singer, songwriter, producer and activist from Los Angeles, CA. She has been working in the music business since she was 9 years old, singing backup vocals for artists such as Imagine Dragons, Frank Ocean, Macklemore, Foster The People and Linda Perry.

Karen Maurice-O’Leary

Karen Maurice-O’Leary is a specialist in creative ideas that inspire, motivate, evoke compassion and empathy. She works for Facebook’s Creative Shop team in North America, providing creative support, community strategies and technical storytelling ideas for brands and agencies.

Veery Maxwell

Veery Maxwell is a partner at Ajax Investment Strategies and a director at Energy Innovation. She focuses on regulatory, financial, and legal due diligence on technology companies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions at scale.