Sawani Goonatilleke currently serves as the Assistant Director of Sustainability at the University of California, Merced, where she supports campus-wide efforts to advance climate action, operational sustainability, and student-centered environmental leadership. Her work is driven by the belief that universities are living laboratories places where sustainability is not only planned, but practiced, measured, and experienced every day.She brings a strong background in sustainability strategy, green building, and project management across higher education, real estate, and consulting.

Previously, she managed LEED and GreenPoint Rated projects for affordable housing developments across California and supported corporate and institutional clients in developing and implementing sustainability strategies. Her experience includes ESG benchmarking, climate resiliency assessments, stakeholder engagement, and translating complex sustainability goals into actionable plans.She holds an MBA in Management and a B.S. in Sustainability Studies from the University of California, Riverside, and is a LEED Green Associate, Certified Green Building Professional, and Fitwel Ambassador.

She is passionate about equity-centered sustainability, data-driven decision-making, and mentoring the next generation of climate leaders. She thrives at the intersection of strategy, implementation, and collaboration working to ensure sustainability initiatives create real, lasting impact.

Sawani Goonatilleke currently serves as the Assistant Director of Sustainability at the University of California, Merced, where she supports campus-wide efforts to advance climate action, operational sustainability, and student-centered environmental... Show more

Maram Falk is the Assistant Director of Facilities Engineering and Energy Efficiency at the University of Minnesota. Originally from Chicago, she studied Aerospace Engineering and Mechanical Engineering at the Illinois Institute of Technology. Her work experience covers the gamut of coal power generation, natural gas power plant conversions, biofuel applications, and efficient distribution systemsas well as pharmaceutical, nutrition, and food manufacturing from FDA-certified facilities. She adopted the Golden Gopher life in 2014 to live closer to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area and began working for the UMN as Senior Energy Engineer for the agriculture-oriented St. Paul campus. Through her experiences, she gained a passion for energy systems and sustainable practices. She earned a Master’s in Public Affair at the University of Minnesota Humphrey School of Public Affairs, aiming to better connect the technical energy world and the layman policy influencers. Through her work at UMN, she oversees the district energy conservation work for about 350 buildings across 1,500 acres, bridging multiple university initiatives to optimize energy use, advance the building automation system, and meet goals for the climate action plan and local utility energy savings.

Maram Falk is the Assistant Director of Facilities Engineering and Energy Efficiency at the University of Minnesota. Originally from Chicago, she studied Aerospace Engineering and Mechanical Engineering at the Illinois Institute of Technology. Her wo... Show more

Dana Milstein Santoscoy, PhD, ACC is the Assistant Director of AI at Rice University and Associate Professor in the Writing Program at the University of Southern California. Her work focuses on ethical AI stewardship in higher education, bioethics and health humanities, with particular attention to the environmental cost of AI use and the wellness dimensions — eco-anxiety, allostatic load, brain capital — that environmental practice opens up. She is the builder of the AI Impact Tracker, a free, peer-reviewed-coefficient-grounded personal-use tool that estimates the energy, water, and carbon cost of AI use and supports reflective rather than reflexive practice. She holds a PhD in literature and is an ICF Associate Certified Coach with emphases in trauma and burnout. She is committed to flourishing and creating a kinder world.

Dana Milstein Santoscoy, PhD, ACC is the Assistant Director of AI at Rice University and Associate Professor in the Writing Program at the University of Southern California. Her work focuses on ethical AI stewardship in higher education, bioethics an... Show more

Nick Goodfellow is the Sustainability Manager for the Office of Business, Hospitality & Auxiliary Services (BHAS) at the University of Pittsburgh, where he leads sustainability planning and implementation across Dining, Housing, Fleet, Mobility, Logistics, Surplus, Retail, and Hospitality - including development of the division’s first five-year sustainability implementation plan. He serves on the Steering Committee of the Chancellor's Advisory Council on Sustainability, the Active Mobility Committee, and chairs the BHAS Sustainability Committee. Before moving into his current role, Nick spent three years as Sustainability Coordinator for Pitt Dining by Sodexo, expanding local and sustainable sourcing, plant-forward dining, reuse, food recovery, and food waste diversion programs. He holds a BA in Communications and Urban Studies and a Master of Public Policy & Management, both from the University of Pittsburgh, along with LEED Green Associate, League Cycling Instructor, and TRUE Advisor credentials. Before his career in campus sustainability, he spent five years managing music tours across the U.S. and Europe – an experience that, it turns out, was excellent preparation for herding operational departments towards a common goal.

Nick Goodfellow is the Sustainability Manager for the Office of Business, Hospitality & Auxiliary Services (BHAS) at the University of Pittsburgh, where he leads sustainability planning and implementation across Dining, Housing, Fleet, Mobility, Logi... Show more

Traci N. James fosters community resilience and sustainability as the assistant director of the Center for Neighborhood Resilience. Her work advances food and environmental justice through initiatives such as the Govans Community Fridge & Pantry, as well as organizing cleaning and greening activities to enhance the local environment. By forging strategic community partnerships along the York Road corridor, Traci improves food access and security for residents. Her unique background, transitioning from an 11-year journalism career to earning master's degrees in divinity and education, equips her with a diverse skill set and a profound understanding of the intersection between community engagement and sustainable development.

Traci N. James fosters community resilience and sustainability as the assistant director of the Center for Neighborhood Resilience. Her work advances food and environmental justice through initiatives such as the Govans Community Fridge & Pantry, as ... Show more

As Senior Sustainability Manager, Caroline oversees the development of strategic outreach and engagement programs and communication campaigns to increase visibility of Temple’s climate commitment, improve literacy on critical sustainability and environmental justice issues, and build the capacity of the students, staff, and faculty to support the university's sustainability efforts. She coordinates and facilitates the implementation of the university's climate action plan and campus sustainability initiatives and assists in institutional reporting.

Prior to joining the Office of Sustainability, Caroline worked as an electoral and advocacy organizer and political campaign strategist, most recently serving as the Pennsylvania State Director of Defend Our Future, the campus climate action organizing project of the Environmental Defense Fund. Caroline graduated from Florida State University with a B.S. in Sociology and a B.A. in American Studies in 2014.

In 2023, Caroline earned a Master of Arts in Urban Bioethics from Temple University Lewis Katz School of Medicine. Her thesis investigated the role of university health systems in climate action planning processes, and she has general research interests in organizational ethics, critical urban studies, spatial justice, environmental health equity, and climate embodiment.

As Senior Sustainability Manager, Caroline oversees the development of strategic outreach and engagement programs and communication campaigns to increase visibility of Temple’s climate commitment, improve literacy on critical sustainability and envir... Show more

Michael is the co-founder of Fable, a food company transforming humble mushrooms into extraordinary whole food, center of plate proteins — starting with pulled shiitake and shiitake-infused meat blends. Since launching, Fable has grown from a single retail product into a business spanning foodservice and retail partnerships across Australia, the UK, Europe and North America.

The idea for Fable took root while Michael was living on a 41-acre property, growing much of his own food and eating a minimally processed, whole-foods diet. That firsthand experience of what real, simple food could taste like made him want to bring the same quality and integrity to develop delicious, mainstream, whole food, mushroom based proteins.

2 years ago Michael moved from Australia to the US to lead the companies expansion into North America. He lives in Brooklyn, NY with his two children.

Michael is the co-founder of Fable, a food company transforming humble mushrooms into extraordinary whole food, center of plate proteins — starting with pulled shiitake and shiitake-infused meat blends. Since launching, Fable has grown from a single ... Show more

At Second Nature, I support member institutions in advancing climate action through transparent public reporting. I create resources for our network and help my team in organizing workshops and our annual summit. My work focuses on strengthening engagement across the Climate Leadership Network and ensuring our resources and events are useful, accessible, and aligned with member needs. I have a background in Environmental Science and Policy, and have held sustainability roles at several member institutions.

At Second Nature, I support member institutions in advancing climate action through transparent public reporting. I create resources for our network and help my team in organizing workshops and our annual summit. My work focuses on strengthening enga... Show more

Tim Sumner is a Project Manager with Crawford, Murphy & Tilly, Inc. in their Springfield, Illinois, headquarters. He has worked in the Water Resources Business Unit since graduating from Bradley University in 1991 with a B.S. in Civil Engineering. His work includes planning, assessment, modeling, and design of water, wastewater and storm water system maintenance, renewal and improvement projects. Tim is a Licensed PE in Illinois and Indiana, as well as a Certified Floodplain Manager and Certified Stormwater Manager.

Tim Sumner is a Project Manager with Crawford, Murphy & Tilly, Inc. in their Springfield, Illinois, headquarters. He has worked in the Water Resources Business Unit since graduating from Bradley University in 1991 with a B.S. in Civil Engineering. ... Show more

Student an der Hochschule München und seit März 2025 als studentische Hilfskraft im Studentischen Green Office der Hochschule München tätig

Student an der Hochschule München und seit März 2025 als studentische Hilfskraft im Studentischen Green Office der Hochschule München tätig Show more

Josh Adlerman is the Academic Manager at Greener by Default, a non-profit that uses behavioral science to help organizations serve more sustainable, inclusive, and healthy food. Before Greener by Default, Josh worked in food systems program development at Food Policy Pathways, and spent 6 years working in higher education in both operations and student leadership development. Josh holds a Master of Education in College Student Affairs from Rutgers University.

Josh Adlerman is the Academic Manager at Greener by Default, a non-profit that uses behavioral science to help organizations serve more sustainable, inclusive, and healthy food. Before Greener by Default, Josh worked in food systems program developme... Show more

Nico Rikken has a track record in maximizing the potential of Free and Open Source Software in the energy sector and in the Netherlands. As Open Source Ambassador at grid operator Alliander he helps make open source project participation successful and ensure control over the company software supply chain. As Country Coordinator for the Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) he has successfully influenced policy to ensure the rights of open source software users and developers.

Nico Rikken has a track record in maximizing the potential of Free and Open Source Software in the energy sector and in the Netherlands. As Open Source Ambassador at grid operator Alliander he helps make open source project participation successful a... Show more

Abhishek Ghosh is a Data Scientist and Applied AI practitioner specializing in computer vision, machine learning, insurance risk, infrastructure safety, and production AI systems. With six years of experience building and deploying machine learning solutions, beginning with his wildfire research in 2020, he has worked across insurance, environmental risk detection, infrastructure monitoring, and enterprise technology.
In his current role with a Berkshire Hathaway owned insurance company, Abhishek designs and deploys AI systems that support underwriting, underreporting detection, document intelligence, and risk identification. His work includes production ML pipelines, image classification, automated underwriting workflows, LLM-powered property risk analysis, and computer vision systems that analyze business and property characteristics. He has developed solutions using technologies including Azure Cognitive Vision, EfficientNet, XGBoost, and other machine learning frameworks.
Abhishek also brings significant experience in applied computer vision for public safety. His wildfire detection work focused on identifying smoke from real-time camera imagery and distinguishing smoke from clouds, fog, and environmental noise while minimizing false positives. His contributions to AI-powered wildfire detection were recognized in a published technical article by Roboflow leadership. He has also developed infrastructure risk models using drone imagery to identify vegetation-obscured utility assets and support large-scale inspection workflows.
Earlier in his career, Abhishek worked with Accenture on Duck Creek insurance platform implementations, gaining experience in enterprise insurance systems, underwriting, claims, data analysis, and system integration.
He holds a Master of Science in Management Information Systems from Texas A&M University and a bachelor's degree from KIIT University.

Abhishek Ghosh is a Data Scientist and Applied AI practitioner specializing in computer vision, machine learning, insurance risk, infrastructure safety, and production AI systems. With six years of experience building and deploying machine learning s... Show more

Professor Ashenmiller is an environmental economist at Occidental College. She is the faculty advisor to the Touchdown Thrift, Occidental’s student-led campus thrift shop. Her research focuses on individual and household recycling behavior as well as climate adaptation policy and how to quantify the value of the non-market benefits of nature-based interventions.

Professor Ashenmiller is an environmental economist at Occidental College. She is the faculty advisor to the Touchdown Thrift, Occidental’s student-led campus thrift shop. Her research focuses on individual and household recycling behavior as well ... Show more

Dushyant is Executive Vice President heading the Global Engg. & IT for Cyanconnode. He brings 25+ Years’ experience in IT leadership roles in his past organisations like TCS, Cognizant, LTM. His focus area is enabling technology led transformation for organisations through technology pillars of Industry 4.0, Digital Transformation, Data & AI.
As key member of Cyanconnode Exec Team, he is leading company's next gen product portfolio development in IoT communications, Edge Intelligence, Data & AI solutions. Cyanconnode's comprehensive technology portfolio enables the Energy and Utilities sector clients in their transformation journey for improved customer satisfaction, leaner operations and accelerated path to Net Zero. With over 5 million IoT endpoints across 8 countries globally, it is a leader in IoT solutions. Cyanconnode Pvt. Ltd. India, a subsidiary of the UK-based Cyanconnode Group that is listed in London Stock Exchange. It’s subsidiary DigiSmart is an AMISP and actively working with a key state Utility in Smart Meter rollout and transformation journey to being the Utility of the future.

Dushyant is Executive Vice President heading the Global Engg. & IT for Cyanconnode. He brings 25+ Years’ experience in IT leadership roles in his past organisations like TCS, Cognizant, LTM. His focus area is enabling technology led transformation fo... Show more

Michelle Harrod is celebrating her 20th year in the Water industry, with a career spanning water quality and water distribution system management to wastewater inflow and infiltration assessment and mitigation. Michelle earned her B.S. degree in Computer Science from North Central College and since then has sought to leverage technology to improve the safety, security, and useful life of our precious water and wastewater assets.

Michelle Harrod is celebrating her 20th year in the Water industry, with a career spanning water quality and water distribution system management to wastewater inflow and infiltration assessment and mitigation. Michelle earned her B.S. degree in Comp... Show more

As an independent and committed product designer, I explore new design practices to put my knowledge at the service of a more desirable future for the environment, society and individuals.

As an independent and committed product designer, I explore new design practices to put my knowledge at the service of a more desirable future for the environment, society and individuals. Show more

Karin L. Burns has spent two decades building and reshaping organizations at the intersection of energy, finance, and technology. Her career blends operating leadership with substantial investment and corporate finance work across energy and climate markets, and it has consistently produced measurable results.

She began in global finance, holding positions at JPMorgan Chase, GE Equity, i2i Capital, Gulf Capital, and Ambata Capital Partners. There she led investment banking, private equity, and advisory transactions across both mature industries and early-stage climate technologies, including a $1.1 billion cross-border sell-side deal and the sale of an electric vehicle company to a Fortune 500 buyer.

That grounding in capital led her into operating roles. As CEO of Build It Green, she returned the organization to profitability for four straight years, doubled revenue, and cut turnover in half. She later expanded her scope at Franklin Energy, running programs across six states before moving into national corporate development and M&A. As Executive Director of Code REDD, she led forest-conservation strategy and launched the Stand for Trees campaign, a platform that brought voluntary carbon credits to the public.

Today Karin leads one of California's largest community choice clean-energy providers, serving nearly 1 million customer accounts across the San Diego region. Under her leadership, annual revenue has climbed from under $350 million to more than $1 billion, and she has championed a plan to reach 100% clean and renewable power by 2035.

Karin earned a Master in Public Administration from Harvard's Kennedy School and an MBA in International Finance from Edinburgh Business School, and holds a BA from Duke University. She lives in California with her husband and two sons.

Karin L. Burns has spent two decades building and reshaping organizations at the intersection of energy, finance, and technology. Her career blends operating leadership with substantial investment and corporate finance work across energy and climate ... Show more

Pruthvithej is a Lead Engineer at Oracle, specializing in scalable cloud-native systems. He focuses on enabling agentic workflows with large language models and robust transaction orchestration. With expertise in Kubernetes, distributed systems, and AI integration, he bridges enterprise reliability with cutting-edge AI. He actively contributes to open-source projects and cloud architecture initiatives at Oracle.

Pruthvithej is a Lead Engineer at Oracle, specializing in scalable cloud-native systems. He focuses on enabling agentic workflows with large language models and robust transaction orchestration. With expertise in Kubernetes, distributed systems, and ... Show more

tba

tba Show more

I am from Accra, Ghana. I'm passionate about, internet governance, e-governance, and green tech, among others.

I am from Accra, Ghana. I'm passionate about, internet governance, e-governance, and green tech, among others. Show more

Adam Grzanka is a Polish television presenter, comedian, event host and writer based in Kraków. He is known for hosting programs including “Dwie Stolice” and “1200 Muzeów,” as well as for his stand-up performances and cultural projects connected with Nowa Huta. His work combines humor, improvisation and positive audience interaction.

Adam Grzanka is a Polish television presenter, comedian, event host and writer based in Kraków. He is known for hosting programs including “Dwie Stolice” and “1200 Muzeów,” as well as for his stand-up performances and cultural projects connected with... Show more

Florence is all about making the digital world work for everyone, especially where technology, disability, and gender intersect.

Florence is all about making the digital world work for everyone, especially where technology, disability, and gender intersect. Show more

Data Scientist

Data Scientist Show more

Nick Davitashvili is a Principal Architect at Aviatrix.

He started in network engineering, moved into cloud architecture via edge infrastructure for autonomous vehicles and deep learning for transportation systems, and has operated in the multi-cloud area code ever since. He has given a TEDx talk on technology and environmental advocacy and contributed to Packet Pushers and other technical media.

At Aviatrix, he has shipped a public MCP server for network operations and maintains open-source Obot blueprints for agentic AI workloads. The attack scenario in this talk came directly from that work: securing AI agent deployments in production cloud environments, then discovering that Kubernetes NetworkPolicy cannot see what MCP tools are doing.

Georgian-born, Edinburgh-based. First KCD talk.

Nick Davitashvili is a Principal Architect at Aviatrix. He started in network engineering, moved into cloud architecture via edge infrastructure for autonomous vehicles and deep learning for transportation systems, and has operated in the multi-cl... Show more

Ishita Daga is a Senior Machine Learning Engineer at Tesla, building enterprise AI systems that combine semantic retrieval, metadata infrastructure, and business-aware reasoning to make analytics agents reliable in production.
Previously, she was an AI Scientist at Covera Health, where she built multimodal and weakly supervised ML systems for radiology intelligence. Her interests include deep tech and climate tech, enterprise agent architectures, and operational AI systems.

Ishita Daga is a Senior Machine Learning Engineer at Tesla, building enterprise AI systems that combine semantic retrieval, metadata infrastructure, and business-aware reasoning to make analytics agents reliable in production. Previously, she was a... Show more

Samuel Amoakoh is an AI and Automation Expert specializing in Microsoft Power Automate, M365 Copilot, and Copilot Studio. He helps organizations modernize their operations by designing intelligent workflows, building custom copilots, and creating automation systems that reduce manual work and improve enterprise efficiency.

He believes that any task that is repetitive is a candidate for automation, a principle that guides his work across financial services, operations, and enterprise transformation. Samuel focuses on practical, real‑world applications of AI, building solutions that get work done rather than just demonstrating concepts.

With a strong blend of technical expertise and business understanding, he empowers teams to adopt AI confidently, automate the boring stuff, and unlock new levels of productivity through the Microsoft ecosystem.

Samuel Amoakoh is an AI and Automation Expert specializing in Microsoft Power Automate, M365 Copilot, and Copilot Studio. He helps organizations modernize their operations by designing intelligent workflows, building custom copilots, and creating aut... Show more

I am a Marketing and Digital Strategy professional with over seven years of experience in banking, sales, and digital marketing. I specializes in customer engagement, brand growth, and leveraging digital tools to drive business results.

I have worked with organizations such as the Institute of Environmental Assessment (IOEA),First Atlantic Bank as a sales and leading digital campaigns and managing client relationships.

I am passionate about empowering individuals and businesses especially women through digital skills, sustainability, and professional development. I facilitate for She Rise Technology on most of their training sessions.

I am a Marketing and Digital Strategy professional with over seven years of experience in banking, sales, and digital marketing. I specializes in customer engagement, brand growth, and leveraging digital tools to drive business results. I have wor... Show more

Yari, also known as Iaroslav Tugai or Ярослав Тугай, is the founder of AF SCOOTERS, an electric scooter shop and repair workshop with locations in Castellón de la Plana and Borriana, Spain.

Since March 2017, AF SCOOTERS has specialised in electric scooter repairs, custom-made lithium batteries speed an autonomy and the sale of scooters, batteries, spare parts and accessories throughout Spain and the European Union.

Yari shares practical knowledge about electric mobility, specialised workshop management, scooter repairs, range extension and lithium battery manufacturing according to the vehicle model, voltage and configuration.

Yari is also known like a founder of ANNANAS which is an international barbershop in Valencia specializing in men’s haircuts, fades, beard shaping and styling, as well as other grooming services. ANNANAS has two locations, ANNANAS Alfahuir and ANNANAS Blasco Ibáñez, serving local and international clients in Ukrainian, Spanish, English and Russian. The first ANNANAS barbershop has been operating in Valencia since 2021.

Yari, also known as Iaroslav Tugai or Ярослав Тугай, is the founder of AF SCOOTERS, an electric scooter shop and repair workshop with locations in Castellón de la Plana and Borriana, Spain. Since March 2017, AF SCOOTERS has specialised in electric... Show more

I am a Principal of Student Programs at Shasta County Office of Education, specializing in special education and school leadership. With 13 years of experience, I have dedicated my career to supporting students who are outside of the educational box.

Currently, I lead a team at Excel Academy, a regional special education placement program, where we focus on supporting students with high needs and creating space for them to thrive. We are thrilled to share our insights on Designing From the Fringe at this year's Women in School Leadership Forum.

I am a Principal of Student Programs at Shasta County Office of Education, specializing in special education and school leadership. With 13 years of experience, I have dedicated my career to supporting students who are outside of the educational box.... Show more