Rich Lechner was named vice president, Energy & Environment in September 2008. In this role, he leads IBM’s efforts in helping clients address the issues and opportunities around energy, the environment, and sustainability. He is responsible for defining strategy and managing the broad portfolio of capabilities and offerings that leverage IBM’s technology innovation, deep industry insight, and business process strategy.

Mr. Lechner has a strong track record for driving key cross IBM initiatives that deliver value to clients of all sizes.. Previously, he was vice president for Enterprise Systems addressing IBM’s large enterprise customer base and market opportunity by bringing to market a unified set of systems, software and services designed to optimize large-scale IT infrastructures. He has held a number of other senior leadership positions at IBM across the hardware, software, and services organizations including: IT Optimization, Storage Systems, Mainframes, Software Strategy, and Systems Management. Mr. Lechner spent ten years as a programmer for IBM and began his career as a micro-code programmer in the Financial Services Industry.

Neil Takemoto is the founder and CEO of CoolTown Beta Communities. His work over the last 17 years has been committed to the crowdsourced development of places with significant economic, environmental and social benefit, currently working in Washington DC, New England and New Orleans.

Neil is the founder of CoolTown Studios, a ‘crowdsourcing cool places for creatives’ blog/news site that attracts 40,000 unique visitors a month. It has been featured in Architect Magazine and the ULI’s annual developers conference.

He is also the cofounder of Bubbly, a crowdsourcing web application, and Mobfuse, a crowdsourcing consulting firm.

With Andres Duany, Neil co-founded the National Town Builders Association in 1997, the only business trade group of Smart Growth/New Urbanism real estate developers. Prior to that, he founded a national nonprofit educational clearinghouse for the New Urbanism field.

Erin Rae Hoffer fosters the adoption of innovative approaches to design and practice as Industry Programs Manager with Autodesk, a leading provider of software for architecture and engineering. An architect with twenty-five years of experience in technology and computer-aided design, Erin contributed programming for solar energy analysis software in the early 80s, developed computer-aided design tools and techniques for architecture and engineering with Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, and created award-winning effects for the entertainment industry on “The Last Starfighter” and other features.

Prior to joining Autodesk, Erin served as Executive Vice-President with the Boston Architectural College and served on the board of directors of the Boston Society of Architects as Commissioner of Technology. She led technology and services organizations for Harvard, MIT, and Tufts University. Erin publishes articles in professional journals, teaches graduate level courses, and is a frequent presenter with industry conferences worldwide. Erin received a Master in Architecture from UCLA, and a Master in Business Administration from MIT’s Sloan School of Management. She is registered to practice architecture in California and is a Ph.D. candidate in Northeastern University’s program of Law, Policy and Society. She is a LEED Accredited Professional and member of the AIA and CSI.

Scott Vitters has worked to advance The Coca-Cola Company’s commitment to sustainable growth for the past thirteen years.  He is currently responsible for stewarding the company’s worldwide packaging sustainability program.  Some notable advances under Scott’s leadership include establishing a zero waste vision, opening the world’s largest plastic bottle-to-bottle recycling facility, creating a for-profit recycling collection enterprise, activating a multi-million dollar recycling marketing campaign and launching PlantBottle PET- a breakthrough plastic containing up to 30% plant-based material.

Scott recently was selected to serve as the overall business lead on the company’s global PlantBottle program.  He is accountable for governing a cross-functional team focused on transforming the PET plastic beverage bottle by creating a consumer preferred package that is 100% renewable, commercially recyclable and sustainably sourced.     

In 2002, Scott managed the development and execution of Coca-Cola’s environmental platform at the Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City.  His success in implementing a cutting edge zero-waste program received high acclaim and was formally recognized by the US EPA.

Scott served as a consultant to EPA’s Office of Solid Waste with the Eastern Research Group prior to joining Coca-Cola.  He also was a research fellow with the Environmental and Energy Study Conference, a congressional legislative caucus in Washington, DC.

Scott is a respected leader in the field of sustainable packaging, regularly speaking at global conferences and events.  He is an advisor to Michigan State University’s Center for Packaging Innovation & Sustainability and served multiple terms on the Board of the National Recycling Coalition in the United States. 

Eric J. McNulty serves as Editorial Director for the Executive Council’s Sustainability Leadership Summits. He works extensively on thought leadership projects related to sustainability, social enterprise, executive leadership, and related issues.

McNulty also Senior Editorial Associate at the National Preparedness Leadership Initiative (NPLI), a joint program of the Harvard School of Public Health and Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.  His work with the program centers on research and writing about leadership lessons derived from observation and analysis of leaders in high stakes, high stress situations such as those encountered in emergency response. He is currently working on a book based on meta-leadership, the leadership framework that this the core of the NPLI curriculum.

He is the co-author of the forthcoming second edition of Renegotiating Health Care: Resolving Conflict to Build Collaboration (Josey-Bass, 2010).

McNulty is a widely published business writer having written multiple articles for the Harvard Business Review (HBR), the most recent of which appeared in the March 2010 issue and centered on leadership during a crisis, as well as articles for Harvard Management Update, Strategy and Innovation, Marketwatch, the Boston Business Journal, Crisis Response, HPH Now, and Worthwhile magazine among others.

His HBR case study on change management, “Welcome Aboard. Now Don’t Change a Thing,” was among the highest rated in the magazine’s history. His HBR cases have been anthologized through the HBR paperback series and have been used in business education curricula in the United States and as far away as France and the Philippines. His interview with Michael Watkins, “Taking Charge Fast” ranked 6th among Harvard Management Update’s most frequently purchased articles in 2006.

McNulty co-founded Harvard Business Publishing’s conference business and served as its director for six years. He produced thought leadership events around the world working with some of the most celebrated executives and management experts. He also developed custom programs in collaboration with leading companies such as Accenture (Overcoming the Challenges to the Adoption of Electronic Health Records), Coca-Cola (The Science and Psychology of Happiness), SAS (Analytics and Decision Making), UPS (Global Trade and Supply Chain Issues), Visa (Data Security), and others.

In previous positions, McNulty was an award-winning creative director and copy writer as well as a marketing executive. He has worked for and with such leading brands as Bloomingdale’s, Infiniti Motor Corporation, and Legal Sea Foods.

McNulty holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics (with honors) from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst (1981). An early student of globalization, he completed extensive independent study projects comparing the global expansion strategies of Coca-Cola and Pepsi and examining global integration in the ready-to-wear apparel industry. 

He serves on the Board of Directors at The Family Center, a family services agency based in Somerville, Massachusetts and is a past member of the Corporate Executive Board at WGBH, the Boston-based public television and radio station, and Board of Director of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation of New York. He is on the board of advisors of CraterCom, a Los Angeles, California-based public relations firm specializing in green brands.

Fiona Cousins has extensive project management and mechanical engineering experience.  She has worked for both corporate and institutional clients on a wide variety of building projects including offices, trading floors, laboratories, libraries, performing art centers, airports and educational buildings.  Her projects have ranged from small to extremely large and have included renovation and new build, fast-track cost-efficient space and complex buildings with tight control requirements for humidity and temperature.  Systems required have included conventional VAV systems, solar heating systems, chilled beams and ventilated façades.

She has undertaken project management responsibilities at all stages of projects from initial programming through project opening.  This work requires coordination and cooperation with owner, design team and contractor.

Fiona has maintained a strong interest in the thermal performance of buildings throughout her career.  Work in this area has included development work for thermal analysis software, energy analyses, thermal mass calculations and façade analysis. 

Fiona also has a strong interest in sustainability, and has made significant contributions to projects where the broader aspects of sustainable design have been important.  She has worked with SPeAR®, the in-house Arup sustainability analysis software, and is also a LEED® accredited professional with experience on a number of projects that are pursuing LEED® goals.

She has presented technical papers at EnvironDesign, Sustainable Steel, Earthday New York, Green Building Challenge, GreenBuild and the Architectural Record Innovation Conference.

As a director of Atelier Ten and leader of its global energy analysis practice, Nico consults on a wide variety of large scale residential, commercial and institutional buildings, as well as on masterplan and renovation work in the United States, Europe, and the Middle East.

Nico has particular experience with the application of advanced building analysis including facade optimization, daylight and shading analysis, and optimization of building systems.Recent work includes the first LEED Platinum condominium high rise in New York City, the sustainability framework for Columbia’s new Manhattanville Campus, and the adaptive reuse of the Horno3 blast furnance for the Musem of Steel in Monterrey, Mexico. Nico teaches building systems integration at Pratt Institute’s Graduate Architecture Program and the core building systems class at Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture Planning and Preservation.

He is a LEED Accredited Design Professional, and serves as on the GSA National Registry of Peer Professionals. Nico holds a Dipl. Ing. in Architecture from the Technical University in Munich, an M.S. in Building Technology from MIT and a Doctor of Design from the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University.

Alison is responsible for representing Siemens' position on environmental issues with Congress and the Executive Branch. She develops and promotes legislation and works with various operating companies within Siemens to develop coordinated positions and projects in environmental areas, such as air quality, emissions, water quality, industrial pollution and climate change. She provides input into the development of worldwide environmental positions and policies, particularly Siemens' sustainability and climate protection policies.

Prior to joining Siemens, Alison was Chief Counsel to the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works for five years, and counsel to the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce for six years.. Ms. Taylor has been a member of the U.S. delegation to United Nations conferences on Climate Change, Biodiversity, Sustainability and Ozone Layer Depletion.

Prior to her service on Capitol Hill, Alison was an equity partner in the Denver-based law firm Davis, Graham and Stubbs, LLC where she specialized in water law, mining law and environmental law. She clerked for several Denver firms. She has contributed to numerous environmental publications and has been a frequent speaker for American Bar Association courses on environmental subjects. Ms. Taylor is admitted to the practice of law in the District of Columbia and Colorado.

Clean Skies News Managing Editor and News Anchor Susan McGinnis anchors The Energy Reports and Clean Skies Sunday. Susan has distinguished herself as one of Washington DC’s leading energy journalists, and is much in demand as a moderator of national energy forums and debates. Before joining Clean Skies, Susan served as anchor of the CBS Morning News and as a business-news contributor to The Early Show on CBS. Susan also reported for CBS’ MarketWatch.com and anchored MarketWatch Weekend.

Relina Bulchandani is a director in the Cisco Internet Business Solutions Group (IBSG) Connected Real Estate Practice. She focuses on real estate solutions, technologies, and systems for the real estate sector, helping companies transform the user experience, streamline and design/build processes, and create environmental sustainability.

Prior to IBSG, Bulchandani was senior vice president of strategic projects at Forest City Enterprises, a publicly traded real estate developer, responsible for enterprise resource planning, enterprise content management, and organizational change management. She created the outsourcing strategy for strategic relationships and reduced total cost of ownership for the CIO and CTO with third-party partners in India. Prior to Forest City, Bulchandani managed client services for Realm Business Solutions, a real estate software company. She was also a senior member of the real estate consulting practice at Ernst & Young for more than 5 years, and has worked extensively with commercial real estate clients in the United States and Australia with a focus on retail.

Bulchandani has led consulting and systems implementations for more than 15 years, focusing on identifying and implementing operational enhancements, selecting and implementing technology-based solutions, constructing and implementing revised organizational structures, assisting in the merging of one or more separate organizational entities, determining and deploying e-commerce strategies in the marketplace, and conducting organizational reviews on various operational departments.

Bulchandani holds an MSE in technology management from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and the School of Engineering, University of Pennsylvania and a B.A. with a double major in economics and political science from the University of California at Berkeley.

Mark Madden is Alcatel-Lucent's Regional Vice President, Americas Energy Markets where he is responsible for market strategy, solutions portfolio, strategic relationships and business development in the Utility, Oil, and Gas markets.   Mr. Madden joined Alcatel-Lucent in 1996 and has over 25 years experience with leading companies in the IT and telecommunications industries. He has held management positions with International Network Services; C&S Associations, Computer Science Corporation; and Analytics, Inc.
Mr. Madden holds degrees from Northern Illinois University and the University of Illinois.

As Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Telx, Eric Shepcaro is responsible for leading and directing the growth and operations of the company. Focusing on service providers, enterprises and content providers, Shepcaro has expanded the company to 15 locations nationwide.  Under his leadership, Telx has become the company of choice for interconnection and network-rich co-location services.

Shepcaro joined Telx with over 25 years of experience working in the Network/IT industries in both public and startup companies. Most recently he worked for AT&T, where he served as Senior Vice President of Business Development.

Shepcaro also served as Vice President of Business Strategy/Development and Emerging Technologies and Chief Strategist, leading AT&T’s transformation into a premier integrator of enterprise and application networking solutions. He joined AT&T Business in June 2002 as Senior Vice President and General Manager of Application Networking & Emerging Services. In March 2004, he assumed the responsibility as the overall Transformation Officer for AT&T, accountable for programs to build shareholder value and create a framework for the future.

Previously, Shepcaro spent numerous years in the content delivery and content management domains serving as Chief Executive Officer and President of Netelligence Technologies, and leading the international content delivery, managed hosting and applications businesses at Digital Island. His background also includes 17 years at Sprint, where he held a variety of positions in marketing, sales and operations.

Perry Stoneman is a Vice President and the Global service line leader for Capgemini’s Smart Energy Services solutions.

Stoneman began building the practice for Capgemini’s Smart Meter and Smart Grid solutions in 2004, and under his leadership, the Smart Energy Services have evolved into one of Capgemini’s most innovative solution offering sets. Stoneman has played the primary role of selling Smart Energy Services to Hydro One Inc., in Canada, and to San Diego Gas & Electric in the United States, and to Fortum in Sweden. During that time, Capgemini’s offerings have also garnered the attention of other international utility clients in Australia, Austria and the United Kingdom.

Prior to Stoneman’s current role, he was the leader of Capgemini’s Business Development practice for the company’s Canada Outsourcing business as well as the North America Energy Utility & Chemicals sector. In this role since 2006, Stoneman’s responsibilities includeed a comprehensive portfolio of Capgemini’s strategy, sales, marketing and alliances in the United States and Canada.

During his time with Capgemini, Stoneman has also been responsible for the delivery of outsourcing projects to large clients such as Ontario Power Generation, Hydro One, and Bruce Power. These clients deliver electricity to more than 13 million customers in Ontario, Canada.

Stoneman has a solid track record of delivering on commitments for large-scale system integration, project management, quality control, client relationship management and business development. 

With more than 20 years of experience in a corporate business environment, Stoneman has accumulated a wealth of experience in virtually every facet of the Information Technology Outsourcing and Business Process Outsourcing service industries. Over the course of his career, he has been responsible for founding and leading a successful information services company, as well as holding executive leadership roles in delivery and sales positions across a wide range of industry sectors.

Stoneman is a Canadian citizen who lives in Toronto. When he is not travelling he enjoys spending time with his family.

Nicholas is an environmental entrepreneur and business strategist.  At GreenOrder, Nicholas is responsible for managing overall firm development and growth, overall team management, and key client relationships.

Previously, Mr. Eisenberger has founded or co-founded several enterprises that have pioneered change in their respective fields, including an environmental law and policy institute in Budapest, Hungary, MyPoints.com in San Francisco, California, and Ecos Technologies. Nicholas has also practiced as an environmental attorney at the San Francisco law firm, Heller Ehrman, White & McAuliffe, and worked as a cleantech venture capitalist at Churchill Capital.

Nicholas is an honors graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School and a recipient of a Certificate in Environmental Law from the University of California Boalt Hall School Of Law. He serves on the X-Prize Foundation’s Energy & Environment Advisory Board, the Scottish Government’s Saltire Prize Advisory Board for Marine Renewable Energy, the Harvard Law School Environmental Law Society Advisory Board, the Board of Directors of New York SunWorks, and the Board of the New York Growing Up Green Charter School.  He was also a founding member of Environmental Entrepreneurs (E2), a member of the Harvard University Center for Environment Advisory Board, and the former Chair of the AHC Group's Governance & Innovation Workshop Series.

Jonathan E. Furr is a partner in the Chicago office of Holland & Knight and practices in the areas of state and local government contracting, education, and state advocacy. Mr. Furr is experienced in the representation of public bodies in multiple areas of legal services, including general corporate counseling, environmental matters, zoning, development, and contracts. Mr. Furr counsels private sector clients on zoning and land use matters (with an emphasis on green building and urban redevelopment), state agency approvals and advocacy, and other transactional issues. Mr. Furr also represents public and private sector clients on energy performance contracting projects that guarantee significant reductions in energy consumption in existing buildings. 

Sumir Karayi founded 1E in 1997 with the goal to drive down the cost of IT for large organizations. Built upon a strong belief in technical excellence and team spirit, Sumir has steered 1E into becoming a successful, global organization with head offices both in New York and London.

Sumir is passionate about the environment, especially when it comes to wasted energy and resources in IT. His vision and leadership has enabled 1E to become the market leaders in PC power management with their flagship product, NightWatchman. Today, NightWatchman is deployed on 4 million PCs worldwide. Since its launch over 9 years ago, it has cumulatively saved organizations over USD $360 million in energy costs. The solution has prevented 3 million US tons of carbon dioxide from having entered the atmosphere - this is the equivalent to the annual greenhouse gas emissions of 0.5 million passenger vehicles.

1E remains privately owned with no external investors. 1E solutions are currently being used by more than 12 million users in over 1,100 organizations across 42 countries world-wide. 1E has featured for 4 out of the last 5 years in the Sunday Times Tech Track 100 listings which recognize 1E as one of the fastest-growing and successful private technology companies. 1E was recently awarded Best Green IT Supplier at the Green IT Expo in November 2008.

Sumir gained a BEng and MSc in Electronic Engineering from Warwick University. He is happily married with a 10 year old son.

In his role as vice president of global energy and sustainability for Johnson Controls, Nesler leads a worldwide team responsible for coordinating marketing, legislative affairs, resource management, product/service innovation and energy program management.

Nesler's responsibilities also include leading a professional services organization that develops collaborative planning tools and provides consulting services to Johnson Controls customers and third-party clients on a global basis. Since joining Johnson Controls in 1983, Nesler has held a variety of leadership positions in technology, new product development and marketing in both the United States and Europe.

Nesler received his bachelor's of science and master's of science degrees in mechanical engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, and is listed as a co–inventor on 10 patents.

John C. Santora is Cushman & Wakefield’s President and Chief Executive Officer for the Americas and one of the commercial real estate industry’s most experienced global executives.  A 31-year veteran of Cushman & Wakefield, he oversees the firm’s largest operating region, which includes 137 offices throughout North and South America.  In addition, he is a member of the firm’s senior governing body, the Cushman & Wakefield Board of Directors.

Jonathan F.P. Rose’s business, public policy and not-for-profit work all focus on creating a more environmentally, socially and economically responsible world.  In 1989, Mr. Rose founded Jonathan Rose Companies LLC, a multi-disciplinary real estate development, planning, consulting and investment firm, as a leading green urban solutions provider.  The firm currently manages over $1.5 billion of work, much of it in close collaboration with not-for-profits, towns and cities.  

The company’s mission is to repair the fabric of communities.  The firm draws on its human capital, financial depth and real estate expertise to create highly integrated solutions to real estate challenges. The firm’s work touches many aspects of community health; working with cities and not-for-profits to build not only housing, but also civic, cultural, educational and infrastructure open space.

A thought leader in the Smart Growth, national infrastructure, green building, and affordable housing movements, Mr. Rose is a frequent speaker and writer. His work has received widespread media attention from CNN to The New York Times and was recently profiled in e², a PBS series on sustainable development. 

The firm’s innovative development, planning, investment, new construction, conversion and historic preservation work has won awards from a wide range of notable organizations including: the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the Natural Resources Defense Council, Global Green USA, the Urban Land Institute, the American Planning Association and the American Institute of Architects. 

Mr. Rose is the chair of the Metropolitan Transit Authority’s Blue Ribbon Sustainability Commission, which developed the nation’s first green transit plan. He is a Trustee of several organizations including: the Urban Land Institute (where he co-chairs its Climate and Energy Committee); the Natural Resources Defense Council; and Enterprise Community Partners (with whose Green Communities program he is deeply engaged).  He also serves on the leadership councils of the Yale University School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and the Yale School of Architecture, and chairs the Trust for Public Land’s National Real Estate Council.   

Mr. Rose also serves on the Board of the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) and the American Museum of Natural History, and is a co-founder of the Garrison Institute with his wife, Diana Rose, where he leads the Climate, Mind and Behavior program.

Mr. Rose graduated from Yale University in 1974 with a B.A. in Psychology, and received a Masters in Regional Planning from the University of Pennsylvania in 1980.

Vinit is a business and marketing consultant, and has been an activist in the arenas of the environment, peace and human rights for about 25 years. He co-created and managed The New Paradigm Business Network in Marin County. He was a delegate at the UN World Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 2002 where the Sustainable World Symposium and SourceBook were conceived.