Experts Behind the Experts (EbE) is a curated interview series of thought leaders and innovators in the cultural shift to sustainability created and hosted by Ci’s Kierstin De West. It launched October 2010 on Sustainable Life Media.
Much like the during tech boom, in the cultural shift to sustainability a new gang of rockstars and headline grabbers has emerged. But these aren’t the people we’re interested in for EbE.
For this interview series, we connect with those people truly driving change, innovation and business success behind the scenes. They’re the leaders but not necessarily the headline and PR seekers. What they have in common is a big picture understanding of sustainability, beyond ‘green’.
They are connected by authenticity, intelligence, integrity and a real commitment to positive change and business success. Go behind the scenes to learn, be inspired and connect with the Experts Behind the Experts, a new ongoing podcast series co-produced by Sustainable Life Media and Ci: conscientious innovation, created and hosted by Kierstin De West.
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Recent Interviews
Darcy Winslow – Founder, Designs for a Sustainable World Collective Executive in Residence at MIT
Asking the Right Question: What is the future we want to create?
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Darcy Winslow has been a pioneer and active practitioner of sustainability frameworks and principles, exploring and experimenting with the application of these to all aspects of business. Darcy worked at Nike, Inc. for over 20 years and held several senior management positions within the business. 
Get inspired by Darcy’s world class experience as an executive, a thought leader, an educator and an athlete who is committed 100% to sustainability. In our latest EbE interview she shares her thoughts on sustainability, success and innovation and where courage, collaboration and goal setting fit into an equation that will support the cultural shift to sustainability.
Integrating Sustainability into the Business. In 1999, Darcy Winslow spearheaded a major sustainability initiative at Nike to ensure that the creation of the world’s most recognizable brand of athletic-wear was also the most socially responsible and environmentally friendly. Darcy Winslow is one of the foremost hands-on experts on the process of steering a large and successful company toward more environmental and financial sustainability.
Sustainability from the Top Down. Winslow is an Executive-in-Residence and Senior Lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management, Program Director for Willamette University’s Sustainable Enterprise Program, and the founder of Designs for a Sustainable World Collective, LLC, a firm that focuses on the development of practical yet aggressive strategies for organizations to create and adopt more sustainable and ultimately regenerative business practices. In addition, she is an Adjunct Faculty member with the Center for Creative Leadership.
Sustainable Inspiration. Winslow participated in the 2009 Inspire Antarctic Expedition, hosted by British Petroleum and led by polar explorer, Robert Swan, and returned in the spring of 2010 as part of 2041’s Leadership On The Edge program. 
She played a vital role in helping shape the program activities and bringing depth and experience to the Climate Change dialogue and vulnerability of natural resources and ecosystems. The expedition engaged climate scientists, business leaders, youth leaders, and polar experts to collaborate in unprecedented ways to understand the roles we play as citizens, members of corporations or universities, and community leaders.
Dawn Danby – Autodesk
The Benefits of Mistakes and Multiple Personalities
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An Industrial Designer merged with a Sustainability Consultant merged with an MBA: Meet Dawn Danby, the Sustainability Program Manager at Autodesk.
Another down to earth thought leader as part of our EbE Sustainable Innovators interview series, Dawn Danby explores the intersection of design, sustainability and business. Which is a fancy way of saying that she wants the things we make to benefit both people and the world.
An industrial designer by training, she’s a boundary-spanner and synthesist who has acted as a cross-disciplinary designer, strategist, art director, project manager, producer and artist. She currently manages Autodesk’s Sustainable Design Program, integrating sustainable thinking into the digital tools used by 9 million designers and engineers worldwide. Through – Dawn is now connecting with 
students putting tools for change – and a dose of inspiration – in their hands.
Dawn holds a design degree from the Rhode Island School of Design (2000), and an MBA in Sustainable Business from the Bainbridge Graduate Institute (2007). She apprenticed in green building and policy with the Fisk-Vittori team at CMPBS, and in furniture design with Macek Furniture. She collaborated with international artist Noel Harding on Windsor, Ontario’s Green Corridor initiative, where she helped teach an interdisciplinary course at the University of Windsor. She designed a $3.5M tree-covered, wind-powered pedestrian bridge on the US-Canada border, has developed closed-loop manufacturing strategies for a leading outdoor footwear manufacturer, and helped establish a public art master plan for a major American airport. Dawn was also one of the founding writers behind Worldchanging.
Web: | Twitter:
Scott McDougall – President and CEO, TerraChoice
An Activist and a Greenwasher Meet in a Bar….
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As the President and Chief Executive Officer of TerraChoice, Scott McDougall ensures that clients – genuine environmental leaders – get the expert advice and innovative solutions they need to grow their businesses.
With Scott at the helm, TerraChoice has built a global reputation and a strong consulting portfolio that includes clients such as Drax Power, WWF-Canada, Yellow Pages Group, Georgia-Pacific, Avmor, AIR MILES My Planet, Oxibrite, Earthcycle Packaging, and many others ranging from Fortune 100 companies to great green start-ups.
Scott is the author of the Sins of Greenwashing studies, which have been instrumental in bringing the issue of greenwashing to the forefront. The campaigns have garnered mass media attention including TV appearances on Canada AM, Business Week, CBC, and CNBC; and coverage in publications such as The New York Times, The Economist, Newsweek, Marketing Magazine, USA Today, and Fast Company as well as the UK’s The Guardian and BBC.
Web: www.terrachoice.com | Twitter:
Danielle La Porte – whitehottruth.com 
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Danielle LaPorte is the outspoken creator of WhiteHotTruth.com, which has been called “the best place on-line for kick-ass spirituality.” She is the author of The Fire Starter Sessions: A Digital Experience for Entrepreneurs, and works 1-on-1 with entrepreneurs who want to rock their career while making a difference in the world. An inspirational speaker, and lead author of Style Statement: Live By Your Own Design, she has been featured in Elle, Body + Soul, Vogue Australia, Better Homes & Gardens, Globe & Mail, The National Post, The Huffington Post, Entertainment Tonight, and most recently USAToday and BusinessWeek.com. Danielle was a news show commentator for CBC, and is a former director of a Washington-DC think tank, where she managed a team of analysts studying global trends for the likes of the Pentagon and the World Bank. Based in Vancouver, BC, she’s working on her next book for Random House, the “life edition” of The Fire Starter Sessions.
Jenifer Willig –
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Jenifer Willig is the Global CMO of (RED).
(RED)’s primary objective is to engage the private sector in raising awareness and funds for the Global Fund, to help eliminate AIDS in Africa. Companies whose products take on the (PRODUCT) RED mark contribute a significant percentage of the sales or portion of the profits from that product to the Global Fund to help finance HIV/AIDS programs in Africa, including interventions targeting women and children.
And they’re doing an amazing job! Since Spring of 2006, $150 million has been generated by (RED) partners and events for the Global Fund. (RED) money is at work in Ghana, Lesotho, Rwanda, South Africa, Swaziland, and Zambia and supports programs that have reached more than 5 million people
Denise Taschereau – 
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Denise is awesome. She is the behind the scenes authentic deal in the sustainability space. Denise is the Co-Founder of Fairware, a Vancouver based purveyor of custom branded sustainable products. Fairware works with leading sustainable brands across North America including AVEDA, Stonyfield Farm, Nature’s Path and Patagonia. Fairware works with Sustainability and Marketing Managers to ensure their promotional products, client gifts and marketing incentives align with their corporate values and sustainability programs. Fairware’s mantra is to create ‘Product with Purpose’.
Previous to launching Fairware, Denise spent seven years as the Director of Sustainability & Community for Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC), Canada’s leading outdoor retailer. Denise was responsible for overseeing MEC’s national efforts to be a leader in social and environmental responsibility. Denise was the Director of Policy and Communications for the Recycling Council of BC prior to her role at MEC. Denise served on the City of Vancouver’s Ethical Sourcing Task Force and is the co-chair of Vision Vancouver, Vancouver’s ruling civic political party. Denise has a Masters in Environmental Management from Simon Fraser University.
WEB: www.fairware.ca | BLOG: http://fairwarepromo.wordpress.com/ | TWITTER:
Karena Albers – Kontentreal
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Karena is the co-founder and Executive Producer at Kontentreal a leader in the world of strategic entertainment and brand funded content. Their productions include the acclaimed e2 Series (Economies of Being Environmentally Conscious) hosted by Brad Pitt. She is an ethicist, optimist and a non-partisan, free market capitalist.
Cursed with the inability to sit still, Karena has consciously made decadal changes and continuously fed her entrepreneurial spirit. Now she is exactly where she is supposed to be: telling stories about things she cares about. Like the planet we live on.
Her past life includes being an advertising executive at a global firm where she led the early development of brand funded content. Never quite comfortable with the suits, Karena journeyed east to join her like-minded partner and uses her marketing acumen to extend the life of the stories they are committed to tell.
WEB: www.kontentreal.com |
Mike Brown
– Brown & Wilmanns Environmental Consulting
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A surfer and environmental trail blazer, Mike Brown held one of the first known ‘Sustainability Officer’ roles as Patagonia’s first Director of Environmental Assessment. He is unassuming and modest but has impacted the sustainability path of major global brands in footwear and apparel. Here’s the formal bio:
Dr. Michael S. Brown has worked in environmental and energy management for nearly 25 years leading efforts to establish cutting-edge programs in industry and government. Clients in his consulting practice have included firms in apparel manufacturing and retailing, mail order, personal care products, footwear, and winemaking along with a public sector municipality and a nonprofit organizations.
He directed the Environmental Assessment Program at Patagonia, the outdoor clothing company recognized for its state-of-the-art environmental practices. His work in state and local government agencies resulted in the development of innovative technical assistance programs for businesses ranging from manufacturers of high tech components and biomedical devices to auto body shops and dry cleaners. His focus is on providing measurable environmental and energy improvements and bottom-line benefits through creative approaches to environmental issues integrated with an appreciation for the diversity and needs of different business organizations.
Mike received his M.R.P. and Ph.D. degrees from the Department of City and Regional Planning, specializing in environmental health policy, at Cornell University. He has written and spoken extensively on state-of-the-art environmental practices and is co-author of the book,Workers at Risk.
WEB: http://bw-environmental.com/ |
Upcoming Experts behind the Experts Interviews
Darcy Winslow – Designs for a Sustainable World Collective
