Business & Society

“In an age of seeming isolationism, where some countries tend to isolate, this is such a great way to bring people together. When you're doing music and the arts, all those barriers just fall away. People are just collaborating and having fun. It’s such a bridge-building endeavor. I don't mean that to sound cheesy either, because I just think it is really amazing. They end up being ambassadors who go back to their own country and say, “Wow, I had a great time at this festival in America or in the Netherlands.” It ends up being one more step in...

How can we meet the Paris Climate Accords through Environmental Credit Solutions?

Bill Flederbach is the President & CEO of ClimeCo and is a respected leader in the global environmental commodities market. Following his favorite motto, “To make a difference each day and always do the next right thing,” Bill has created scalable Greenhouse Gas reduction efforts while creating a work culture at ClimeCo that nurtures creativity and empowers his team to embrace an entrepreneurial spirit.

Today, ClimeCo operates at the forefront of an exciting transformation as global businesses, governments, and environmental advocates recognize that market-based solu...

How can we meet the Paris Climate Accords through Environmental Credit Solutions?

Bill Flederbach is the President & CEO of ClimeCo and is a respected leader in the global environmental commodities market. Following his favorite motto, “To make a difference each day and always do the next right thing,” Bill has created scalable Greenhouse Gas reduction efforts while creating a work culture at ClimeCo that nurtures creativity and empowers his team to embrace an entrepreneurial spirit.

Today, ClimeCo operates at the forefront of an exciting transformation as global businesses, governments, and environmental advocates recognize that market-based solu...

Gordon Lambert shares insights from his decades-long journey, addressing his roles, strategies, and contributions to environmental change and corporate evolution.

Lambert has been engaged in business and sustainability in the energy sector for 40 years. In 2015, Lambert was appointed by the Premier and Cabinet to the five-person panel that designed the Alberta Climate Leadership Plan. In 2016, he chaired the Alberta Climate Leadership Technology and Innovation Task Force, with $1.4 billion in carbon levy revenue being committed to innovation as an outcome. He also serves on the Export Development Canada CSR advisory council and as the Suncor Energy and Sustainability...

How did a century-old power company become a leader in renewable energy? How can industrial giants adapt to cleaner power? What role are women leaders and community initiatives playing in the renewable energy transition?

Julie Pierce stands as a beacon of innovation and foresight in the energy sector. As Vice President of Strategy and Planning for Minnesota Power, a part of the Allete family, she’s helping transform the landscape of renewable energy with a focus on sustainable development and community collaboration.

"Minnesota Power and its customers in Northeast Minnesota made the decision about a dec...

Gordon Lambert shares insights from his decades-long journey, addressing his roles, strategies, and contributions to environmental change and corporate evolution.

Lambert has been engaged in business and sustainability in the energy sector for 40 years. In 2015, Lambert was appointed by the Premier and Cabinet to the five-person panel that designed the Alberta Climate Leadership Plan. In 2016, he chaired the Alberta Climate Leadership Technology and Innovation Task Force, with $1.4 billion in carbon levy revenue being committed to innovation as an outcome. He also serves on the Export Development Canada CSR advisory council and as the Suncor Energy and Sustainability...

How can cultivating curiosity within an organization transform it from a place of work into a community driven by passion and purpose? Why is wetland conservation crucial for combating climate change, and how can public-private partnerships make a difference? What are the keys to maintaining operational excellence and how can we pursue excellence in our personal and professional lives?

Sam Smolik retired as Senior Vice President, Americas Manufacturing for LyondellBasell Industries in 2017. He previously served as Global Vice President for Environment, Health, and Safety for LyondellBasell, Shell, and The Dow Chemical Company. He currently serves on the...

"What happens is that companies get complacent. Things go well for a long time. All publicly traded companies are under tremendous financial pressure. Everyone's looking at quarterly earnings and all that, and they take their eye off of safety and operational excellence. And you can't do that."

Sam Smolik retired as Senior Vice President, Americas Manufacturing for LyondellBasell Industries in 2017. He previously served as Global Vice President for Environment, Health, and Safety for LyondellBasell, Shell, and The Dow Chemical Company. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Axalta Coating Systems, FlyGuys, and Ducks Unlimited Inc...

“Oil and gas companies, along with any company engaged in the production and burning of fossil fuels, must cease these activities if we are to have any hope of reaching net zero by 2050, which is only 26 years away. The pace of change needs to be extremely rapid. Currently, the world is emitting about 55 gigatons of CO₂ equivalent, with 70% of this coming from fossil fuels, which provide 80% of our energy. Demand for energy continues to grow due to increasing populations. However, we must bring down the 55 gigatons of emissions to net zero by 2050, even though emissions are still on the rise...

Jeff Olson is an American urban architect who dedicated his career to alternative  transportation, and became a founder of the largest bike share system in North America, New York City’s CitiBike. He is a co-founder of re:Charge-e and author of The 3rd Mode: Towards a Green Society. His major projects include the Grand Canyon Greenway, the Empire State Trail, the White House Millennium Trails Program, the Dubai Bicycle/Pedestrian Master Plan, and the NW Arkansas Razorback Greenway.

https://recharge-e.com/

Season 3 of Business & Society focuses on CEOs, Sustainability & Environmental Solutions
Business & Society is a...

What kind of strategic, collaborative and critical thinking skills will we need to adapt to climate change and biodiversity loss? How can we learn to cooperate and avoid the conflicts that arise from competition for resources?

Robin Phillips, a retired US Army officer with a distinguished career in National Security, has extensive experience in Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East. She served as commander of the Virginia Defense Force's 1st Regiment and was the first female colonel in the VDF to command at the brigade or regimental level. Proficient in Russian, she holds a Master's...

What is conscious capitalism? How can we create businesses that are more holistic and connected to the communities they serve?

Dr. Larry Clay Jr. teaches business modeling. His focus is on business management research, sustainable development analytics and leadership development to create sustainable value for enterprises, communities, and cities.

https://marymount.edu/academics/college-of-business-innovation-leadership-and-technology/school-of-business/school-of-business-faculty

https://www.humanitysteam.org/masterclasses/cb-change-agent#googtrans(en)

Season 3 of Business & Society focuses on CEOs, Sustainability & Environmental Solutions
Business & Society is a limited series co-hosted by Bruce Piasecki & Mia Funk
www...

How can we turn hope into real-world solutions to tackle the biggest challenges facing our world today? How can we bridge the gender divide and create a more fair and sustainable future for all? What steps can we take to educate and empower the next generation of leaders and change-makers?

Nina Luzzatto Gardner is the director of Strategy International, a corporate sustainability advisory firm she founded in 2000. She works with companies to improve their commitment to sustainability and the SDGs, and with investors to better understand Environmental, Social & Governance risks in their portfolios. Nina has been teaching...

You’re listening to Wealth & Climate Competitiveness: The New Narrative with Bruce Piasecki and guests. This program was recorded in January 2024 at Caffe Lena.

What does Robin Hood tell us about climate competitiveness? Using this 700- year-old narrative, Piasecki reminds his readers that business in society reading has been a classic concern, from Dante’s Inferno to Tom Wolfe’s Bonfire of Vanities.

Wealth and Climate Competitiveness, which pays homage to Henry David Thoreau’s Walden and explores the new narrative offering grounds for hope for the rest of this swift and severe century...

Leah Thomas is an intersectional environmental activist and eco-communicator based in Southern California. She’s passionate about advocating for and exploring the relationship between social justice and environmentalism and was the first to define the term “Intersectional Environmentalism.” She is the founder of @greengirlleah and The Intersectional Environmentalist platform. Her articles on this topic have appeared in Vogue, Elle, The Good Trade, and Youth to the People and she has been featured in Harper’s Bazaar, W Magazine, Domino, GOOP, Fashionista, BuzzFeed, and numerous podcasts. She has a B.S. in Environmental Science and Policy from Chapman University and worked for...

Bruce Piasecki is a NYTimes bestselling author, and organizational innovator. As founder of AHC Group, Inc. a global management consulting firm advising major corporations on social response capitalism, sustainability, and innovation, he has worked for over a third of the Fortune 500 in change management, including BP, Merck, and Toyota. Piasecki has been an agent of climate solutions for over 40 years. He’s also co-founder of the Creative Force Foundation which annually awards young authors writing on business and society issues. He is the author of Doing More With Less, Doing More With One Life: A Writer’s Journey through the...

The time to start looking into tomorrow is now.
Scott Tew is the leader of the Center for Energy Efficiency & Sustainability at Trane Technologies (CEES) and is responsible for forward-looking sustainability initiatives aimed at transitioning to more efficient and climate-friendly solutions and minimizing resource use within company facilities. Trane’s smart solutions support many of the challenges businesses, buildings, and the transport sector face in the fight to decarbonize our future, which we will continue to face in the decades ahead. Scott serves as a thought leader in linking public policy, economic impacts and a value-stream approach to su...

As President of Scott Meredith Literary Agency, Arthur Klebanoff has represented J.D. Salinger, Arthur C. Clark, several U.S. Presidents, Michael Bloomberg, Bill Bradley, Paul Krugman, among others, and has handled books with over $1 billion in sales. In 2001, Klebanoff founded RosettaBooks, an independent eBook publisher which for twe nty years disrupted the publishing business. Klebanoff has published, represented or packaged over 75 thought leadership titles. He founded RodinBooks to publish books by impactful leaders.

www.scottmeredith.com

www.rodinbooks.com

Season 2 of Business & Society focuses on Leaders, Sustainability & Environmental Solutions
Business & Society...

Professor Lisa Jackson Pulver is a proud Aboriginal woman with connections to communities in southwestern New South Wales, South Australia, and beyond. She is the Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Indigenous Strategy and Services for the University of Sydney and leads the institution's strategy to advance Indigenous participation, engagement, education, and research, including the university's One Sydney, Many People 2021-2024 strategy.

She is a recognized expert and tireless advocate for health and education. Her research focuses on capacity building for healthcare workers and improved health for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. She serves her country in the Royal Austral...

Josh Kampel is the CEO of Clarim Media where he oversees the overall strategic direction of the organization as well as works closely with the management teams of the individual portfolio companies to build scalable products and services. 

Prior to Clarim, Josh served as CEO of Techonomy Media, which was sold to Clarim Holdings in 2018. At Techonomy, Josh spent 8 years driving sustainable business growth through strategic partnerships and new product development. He built Techonomy to be one of the leading media companies covering technology and it’s impact on business and society. Techonomy Climate 2023 takes place March 28th...

Join New York Times bestselling author Bruce Piasecki at Caffè Lena for an afternoon of stories, memories and interactive conversation. He will also dive into personal narratives about book tours of Australia, his personal conversations with Tom Wolfe, his admiration for Bob Dylan and other master storytellers, artists, and sustainability leaders, and read from his latest book, A New Way to Wealth. Musical accompaniment for this episode is provided by Gordon Lambert. Piasecki has dedicated 40 years of his life to climate solutions with years of experience working for The White House, helping big corporations get on board his fight f...

“Each day you wake up you make decisions that shape your own fate, your ascent, position, your own creativity. I like to think of it as fate is a personal construct. When I was at Cornell they had me teach an Emerson essay called “Freedom and Fate” where he said that fate was so overwhelming in some traditions that it’s as though we were each involved in a shipwreck and we were each thrown off the ship and all we had a chance to do was look at each other. I’ve come to believe is that not only is th...

Bruce Piasecki, PhD., NYTimes bestselling author (A New Way to Wealth, Doing More with Teams, Missing Persons, 2040: A Fable), is founder of AHC Group, Inc. a global management consulting firm advising major corporations on social response capitalism, sustainability, and innovation. Piasecki has been an agent of climate solutions for over 40 years. He’s also co-founder of Creative Force Foundation, Inc which annually awards young writers globally on business and society issues.  


www.doingmorewithlessbook.com

www.ahcgroup.com

Colin Steen is CEO of Legacy Agripartners. He has had a lifelong career in agriculture, spending over 25 years with Syngenta in a variety of commercial leadership and Venture Capital roles before joining Legacy Seed Companies (now Legacy Agripartners) in July 2020. His prior experience in running Golden Harvest Seeds has given him a deep understanding of the needs of the U.S. farmer. Colin grew up on a grain and cattle farm in Weldon, Saskatchewan, and holds a B.S. in Agriculture from the University of Saskatchewan and an MBA from the University of Guelph.

"So we're a...

Bruce Piasecki is a NYTimes bestselling author, and organizational innovator. As founder of AHC Group, Inc. a global management consulting firm advising major corporations on social response capitalism, sustainability, and innovation, he has worked for over a third of the Fortune 500 in change management, including BP, Merck, and Toyota. Piasecki has been an agent of climate solutions for over 40 years. He’s also co-founder of the Creative Force Foundation which annually awards young authors writing on business and society issues.

www.doingmorewithlessbook.com

www.ahcgroup.com

www.creativeprocess.info

Dr. Jessica Hernandez (Binnizá & Maya Ch’orti’) is a transnational Indigenous scholar, scientist, and community advocate based in the Pacific Northwest. She has an interdisciplinary academic background ranging from marine sciences to environmental physics. She advocates for climate, energy, and environmental justice through her scientific and community work. Her book Fresh Banana Leaves: Healing Indigenous Landscapes through Indigenous Science breaks down why western conservationism isn’t working–and offers Indigenous models informed by case studies, personal stories, and family histories that center the voices of Latin American women and land protectors. In 2022, she was named by Forbes as one of the 100 m...

Dr. Mona Sarfaty is the Executive Director and Founder of the Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health, comprised of societies representing 70% of all U.S. physicians. She founded the Consortium in 2016 in conjunction with the George Mason University Center for Climate Change. Under her leadership, the Consortium has grown into a nationwide coalition of societies, organizations, and advocates mobilizing support for equitable policies that address the health impacts of climate change.

Edward Maibach is Director of the George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication, a distinguished University Professor and communication scientist who is expert in...

Designer, author, educator and artist Bruce Mau is a brilliantly creative optimist whose love of thorny problems led him to create a methodology for life-centered design. Across thirty years of design innovation, he’s collaborated with global brands and companies, leading organizations, heads of state, renowned artists and fellow optimists. Mau became an international figure with the publication of his landmark S,M,L,XL, designed and co-authored with Rem Koolhaas, and his most recent books are Mau MC24: Bruce Mau’s 24 Principles for Designing Massive Change in Your Life and Work and, with co-author, Julio Ottino, dean of Nort...

Chris Coulter is CEO of GlobeScan, an insights and advisory consultancy helping companies, NGOs, and governmental organizations know their world and create strategies that lead to a sustainable and equitable future. He is a co-author of All In: The Future of Business Leadership, and The Sustainable Business Handbook. He is Chair of Canadian Business for Social Responsibility, a member of B Lab’s Multinational Standards Advisory Council and serves on Walgreen’s Corporate Responsibility Advisory Board. Chris also co-hosts All In: The Sustainable Business Podcast.

"While we need action, I think at the same time, the world and...

James Fallows has been a national correspondent for The Atlantic for more than thirty-five years, reporting from China, Japan, Southeast Asia, Europe, and across the United States. Winner of the National Book Award and National Magazine Award, he’s the author of twelve books and his work has appeared in numerous publications and on public-radio. For two years he was President Jimmy Carter’s chief speechwriter.

Deborah Fallows is a linguist and writer. The author of Dreaming in Chinese and A Mother's Work, she has written for The Atlantic, National Geographic, and The New York Times, among othe...

Daniel Sherrell is the author of Warmth: Coming of Age at the End of Our World, a memoir on the climate crisis framed as a letter to Sherrell's potential future child. He is a climate movement organizer and has led successful campaigns to phase out coal-fired power plants, divest millions of dollars from the fossil fuel industry, and pass a Green New Deal bill for New York State, legislation that the New York Times called “one of the world’s most ambitious climate plans.” He’s Campaign Director for the Climate Jobs National Resource Center, where he works with the Amer...

Frank Loy was Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs from 1998 to 2001. His portfolio included human rights, the promotion of democracy, refugee issues, international law enforcement and counter-narcotics, and the environment. He served as chief U.S. climate negotiator.
He was a senior official in the State Department as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Economic Affairs, and Director of the Office of Refugee Affairs. He served in the Obama Campaign as a co-leader of the Energy and Environment team. Formerly, he was president of The German Marshall Fund of the U.S. He has been chair of numerous non-profit...

Bill Novelli co-founded Porter Novelli one of the first social marketing companies and now a global PR agency, he started the Business for Impact program at Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business. He is formerly the CEO of AARP, the president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, and the COO of CARE USA. He’s the author of Good Business, The Talk, Fight, Win Way to Change the World and coauthor of Fifty Plus: Give Meaning and Purpose to the Best Time of Your Life. He served in and helped reposition and market the Peace Corps and began his ca...