Katie Singer

Author, An Electronic Silent Spring

Katie Singer is a writer. She spoke about the Internet’s footprint at the United Nations’ 2018 Forum on Science, Technology & Innovation, and, in 2019, on a panel with the climatologist Dr. Jim Hansen. Her Letters about nature and technology are published by Wall Street International Magazine, Other-News, and at www.DearGreta.com. Katie Singer's books include An Electronic Silent Spring, Honoring our Cycles, The Garden of Fertility and The Wholeness of a Broken Heart. A consultant with the EMR Policy Institute, she speaks internationally. Visit www.DearGreta.com and www.ElectronicSilentSpring.com.

Brigitte Vicenty

Founder, Inner City Green Team

Brigitte Vicenty, a lifelong New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) resident, is the founder of the Inner City Green Team. She has led the fight for herself and fellow residents in their "Right to Recycle" for a decade. She created ICGT when she learned that NYCHA's recycling program was nonexistent and there were no other options. She envisioned a convenient way for residents to recycle that could create jobs in communities with some of the highest unemployment rates. As a teen, Brigitte observed her mother’s passion for caring about her community and witnessed the effects it had on others. Brigitte hoped to serve in a cause that would be impactful beyond where she grew up. With her passion for the environment and appreciation for its life-giving power, Brigitte wants others to join her “green ministry.” In 2018, she won the NYCx Co-Lab Challenge and was honored at the Zero Waste in Shared Space Recognition Ceremony. The project was recently featured on New York’s PIX11 and News12 as well as by Politico. Brigitte is a 2020 Echoing Green Fellow.

Alexandra McNair Quinn

CEO / Founder, Fashion FWD

A globally recognized change agent in sustainable fashion, Alexandra is a leading voice in the international dialogue to turn fashion lovers into conscious consumers through education and action. To help shed light on the hidden epidemic of harmful chemicals in the clothing people wear, Alexandra founded Fashion FWD in 2018. A non-profit aligned with many of the principles outlined in the UN Sustainable Development Goals, Alexandra established Fashion FWD to serve as a trusted source of content that would help close the transparency gap that exists between consumers and fashion and apparel brands.

A frequent speaker on sustainable fashion topics, Alexandra previously served on the U.S. team of the UK’s former Secretary of State for the Environment and Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, Lord Deben. When not sharing ideas to move fashion forward in the boardrooms of leading brands around the world, Alexandra can be found educating students on the global business of fashion.

Mike Schade

Campaign Director, Mind the Store

Mike Schade is the Mind the Store Campaign Director for Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families where he coordinates a national U.S. campaign challenging the nation’s leading retailers to transform the marketplace away from hazardous chemicals and towards safer alternatives. For the previous nine years, Mike was the Markets Campaign Coordinator with the Center for Health, Environment & Justice (CHEJ), a national environmental health organization where he led national campaigns to phase out PVC plastic, phthalates, bisphenol A (BPA) and dioxin in consumer products and packaging. Prior to CHEJ, he was the Director of the Buffalo office of Citizens’ Environmental Coalition (CEC), a NY statewide grassroots environmental health organization. Mike lives in Brooklyn, NY where he serves on the Newtown Creek Superfund Community Advisory Group (CAG), the Board of Directors of Neighbors Allied for Good Growth (NAG), and the Community Advisory Panel of the Greenpoint Community Environmental Fund.

Stephanie Herron, Environmental Justice Health Alliance

Stephanie is an Organizer for the Environmental Justice Health Alliance for Chemical Policy Reform (EJHA) where she works to support diverse movement towards safe chemicals and clean energy that leaves no community or worker behind. In this capacity she organizes direct engagement in industry reform strategies through grassroots organizations in frontline communities to promote environmental justice outcomes.

José Bravo, Environmental Justice Health Alliance & Just Transition Alliance

José, the Executive Director of the Just Transition Alliance, is a long-time leader on just transition, climate justice, and chemicals issues as they relate to environmental justice (EJ) communities and Labor (Organized and Unorganized). Born in México and brought to the U.S. as a child, José’s work in social justice issues is rooted in his upbringing in the Southern California avocado fields alongside both his parents. Since the 1990s, José has gained recognition as a national and international leader in the EJ movement. José has also worked on numerous campaigns in the U.S. and in México in his 30 years of organizing.

Todd Larsen, Executive Co-Director for Green America

Todd Larsen directs Green America’s corporate responsibility and consumer engagement programs. Green America’s corporate responsibility programs educate consumers and investors about the environmental and social records of major companies and encourage them to take action to promote greater responsibility.  In addition, Green America provides tools and resources to companies to help consumers, businesses and investors improve their impacts on people and the planet. Green America’s campaigns succeeded in getting Hershey to address child labor in cocoa, Apple to reduce toxins in its factories, AT&T and Amazon.com to adopt renewable energy, 200 publishers to use recycled paper for their magazines, and over a dozen food companies to move to more sustainable food production.Todd has over 20 years of experience in public education and corporate campaign work and has a master’s degree in Political Science from the University of Wisconsin – Madison.

Monica Singhal, 

EcoPartyTime

Monica is the founder and owner of EcoPartyTime established in 2010. They offer a curated collection of the latest eco-friendly products to help make your events sustainable and most importantly, memorable. Their goal is to offer you  affordable substitutes for non-recyclable plastic trinkets that end up in landfills during celebrations.

John Potente, 

LI Natural Ecosystems Expert

John Potente spent his life on Long Island watching and studying nature. He graduated Stony Brook University and then Long Island University. He continued then, gaining his DMD at Washington University. Over the past 30 years, John was Editor of the Long Island Botanical Society, served on the Suffolk County Environmental Review Board, and wrote a reference book on the salt marshes of Long Island (Tidal Wetlands of Long Island, New York). His interest in the monarch butterfly blossomed on his 3 acre private refuge in Hauppauge. Recently, he has presented widely on Long Island his experiences and studies regarding this regal butterfly. 

Bob Rossi, Executive Director, New York Sustainable Business Council

Bob Rossi is the Executive Director of the New York Sustainable Business Council, a statewide alliance of businesses and business organizations committed to advancing a vibrant, just, and sustainable economy in New York State. Bob is passionate about businesses rooted in social justice and environmental sustainability. He has been involved in several business startups in software, manufacturing, and green building and most recently founded the CommonSpot, a co-working space and social enterprise incubator in Ithaca, NY.

Sarah Doll, National Director, Safer States

Sarah uses her unique strategic and collaboration skills to leverage collective state and local action to secure policy protections and create pressure for market transformation to reduce the threat of harmful chemicals in our daily lives. She has over twenty years of experience managing successful environmental health campaigns. She manages national campaigns, coordinating strategies between diverse partners at the state, local, national, market and international levels. Prior to Safer States, Sarah worked for the Oregon Environmental Council, the City of Portland, and on Capitol Hill. Sarah lives in Portland, Oregon with her partner and highly active pre-teen son.

Michael Waas, Global Vice President of Brand Partnerships for TerraCycle

Michael Waas is currently the Global Vice President of Brand Partnerships for TerraCycle, Inc. He joined TerraCycle, Inc. in 2008 to support one of the company’s first national recycling partnerships, and has since played a key role in leading the expansion of TerraCycle’s Brand Partnership platform globally. Prior to joining TerraCycle, Inc., Michael earned a B.S. in Political Science, History, and Music, and a M.A. in Political Science from Central Michigan University.

Carolina Zuniga & Stacey Vazquez, Island Bee Project

Carolina Zuniga is a veteran of the fashion design industry turned environmentalist and beekeeper. She believes there is something healing about watching bees create magic and appreciating their hard work in pollinating up to 1 in 3 bites of the food we eat. They are the keyholders to our good health and finds more similarities to humans than we think and our connection with the world.

Stacey Vazquez hails from hospitality industry having worked at notable restaurants around NYC and truly connects with honeybees bees with their vigor and passion to benefit all beings. She is passionate to fight for their survival and educate everyone she meets about their crucial role in our everyday lives.

Their mission at Island Bee Project, located on Governors Island in NYC, is to inspire and educate everyone they meet about the importance of the honeybee's role in our ecosystem and in our lives. They believe that in giving bees a chance gives us all a chance.