Leadership & Innovation Summit Agenda

9:30 – 10:15 a.m. Registration and Breakfast

10:15 – 10:30 a.m. Welcome Remarks

Paul Almeida, Dean and William R. Berkley Chair at Georgetown McDonough
Peter Blommer, Former President and CEO, Blommer Chocolate; Chair of the Business of Sustainability Advisory Group

10:30 – 11:15 a.m. Fireside Chat

Moderated by Vishal Agarwal, Henry J. Blommer Family Endowed Chair in Sustainable Business at Georgetown McDonough; Academic Director of the Business of Sustainability Initiative
Jigar Shah, Director of the Department of Energy Loans Program Office

Jigar Shah was most recently co-founder and president at Generate Capital, where he focused on helping entrepreneurs accelerate decarbonization solutions through the use of low-cost infrastructure-as-a-service financing.

Prior to Generate Capital, Shah founded SunEdison, a company that pioneered “pay as you save” solar financing. After SunEdison, Shah served as the founding CEO of the Carbon War Room, a global non-profit founded by Sir Richard Branson and Virgin Unite to help entrepreneurs address climate change. Shah was also featured in TIME’s list of the “100 Most Influential People” in 2024. Originally from Illinois, Shah holds a B.S. from the University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign and an MBA from the University of Maryland College Park.

11:15 – 11:45 a.m. Break

11:45 – 12:15 p.m. Fireside Chat

Moderated by Safak Yucel, Associate Professor at Georgetown McDonough; Associate Director of the Business of Sustainability Initiative
Kevin Rabinovitch, Global Vice President of Sustainability and Chief Climate Officer, Mars

Kevin Rabinovitch is the global vice president of sustainability and chief climate officer for Mars, Incorporated. In his role his team leads the corporate strategy for the Healthy Planet portion of Mars’ Sustainable in a Generation Plan. Rabinovitch covers the carbon, water and land targets, associated policies, business operating model redesign and external engagement with expert stakeholders and peers. He directly manages a global portfolio of renewable energy and carbon removal projects and investments, and his team leads the translation of external environmental science into policy and strategy for the business and the assessment of all sustainability impacts for Mars’ entire global value chain.

Externally, Rabinovitch helps lead the CGF Forest Positive Coalition of Action, sits on Board of the Livelihoods Carbon Fund 3, teaches business and sustainability at Virginia Tech, and frequently speaks externally on behalf of Mars’ sustainability program.

He has been with Mars for 30 years – 17 years in sustainability having helped start Mars’ program and the first 13 in research and development functions of multiple Mars business segments in the United States and Europe specializing in technology development, scale up, and intellectual property.

12:15 – 2:00 p.m. Working Lunch

2:00 – 2:45 p.m. Panel Discussion on Energy Transition

Moderated by Lucía Szyman Mulero (MS-ESM’24), Customer Success Lead, Proof
Jacqueline Wong, Senior Vice President for Climate and Energy, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)

Jackie Wong serves as the chief visionary and strategist for the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC’s advocacy to fight climate change and advance clean energy. In particular, Wong leads NRDC’s work in four critical sectors: power, transportation, buildings, and industrial ― all with a focus on equity and community. Before assuming this role, Wong led NRDC’s Industrial division and focused on the decarbonization of the industrial sector, the responsible deployment of green hydrogen in targeted applications, the mitigation of non-CO2 greenhouse gasses, and the development and commercialization of emerging technologies.

Previously, she was a senior advisor for energy and climate change at the White House during the Obama Administration. In that capacity, she focused on securing the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol to address hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), reforming the federal coal program, and ensuring protections in the Outer Continental Shelf. Wong also has experience working on international clean energy cooperation at the U.S. Department of Energy and in the private sector at Bain Capital and McKinsey & Company.

Wong holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and English from Yale University and an MPA with a concentration in economics and public policy from Princeton University. She is based in Washington, D.C.

Jen Zepeda, Commercial Solar Consultant, ReVision Energy

Jen Stevenson Zepeda (she/her) is a commercial solar consultant with ReVision Energy, an employee-owned B Corp serving northern New England. As part of the Massachusetts team, her primary focus is creating accessibility by helping frontline communities navigate the ins and outs of solar and energy storage solutions. Prior to joining ReVision, Zepeda was the associate executive director at the woman-run nonprofit Climable which assisted in developing community-led and clean energy microgrids in both Puerto Rico and the Greater Boston area. There, she honed her skills in the technical translation of climate science and clean energy. Zepeda also has prior experience with Sense, the home energy monitor, and got her start in the sustainability world through the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center’s internship program at the design-build firm Byggmeister.

When not working towards a just and equitable transition to clean energy, Zepeda spends her time baking and bike riding with her family in Maine or walking her dog.

She has a master’s in sustainable design from the Boston Architectural College and a B.A. in anthropology/sociology and Spanish from Middlebury College.

Chip Levergood, Senior Director, Investments, HASI

Chip Levergood is a senior director on the Investment Team at HASI, a leading investor in climate solutions. He is responsible for originating, structuring, and executing debt and equity transactions with a current focus on grid-connected solar, wind, and battery storage assets. Previously, he has worked on a wide range of transactions across HASI’s solar land, distributed generation, and community solar portfolios. Prior to joining HASI in 2016, Levergood worked with The AES Corporation, supporting the Global Engineering and Construction team as a mechanical engineer based in Vietnam. He holds an MBA from the University of Virginia Darden School of Business and a Bachelor of Science in engineering from Duke University.

2:45 – 3:15 p.m. Break

3:15 – 4:00 p.m. Fireside Chat

Moderated by Safak Yucel
Tom Craig, Vice President of Federal Government Affairs, Duke Energy

Tom Craig is the vice president of federal government affairs for Duke Energy; a Fortune 150 company that operates the nation’s largest electric grid. In that capacity, Craig oversees a team responsible for all the company’s interaction with Congress and the administration on federal energy and environmental legislation and regulation. In his role at Duke Energy, Craig serves on the Nuclear Energy Institute’s Government Affairs Advisory Committee and the Edison Electric Institute’s Government Affairs Steering Committee. Prior to working for Duke Energy, Craig spent 15 years working in the U.S. Senate for Senator Lamar Alexander, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, and Senator Fred Thompson – all of Tennessee.

Most recently, Craig served as the staff director and republican clerk of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development. In addition to his work with Duke Energy, Craig serves as member of the Board of Directors of the Diener School in Potomac, Maryland, and is the senior warden emeritus of Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Alexandria, Virginia. He is a past member of the Board of Directors of the Department of Energy’s Consortium for Advanced Simulation of Light Water Reactors (CASL), the City of Alexandria’s Community Services Board, and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory Science Advisory Board.

Julia Pyper, Vice President of Public Affairs, GoodLeap

Julia Pyper is vice president of public affairs at GoodLeap, a leading financial technology company focused on accelerating the deployment of sustainable home solutions, where she oversees government relations and policy-related communications. She also advises the nonprofit organization GivePower, which develops clean water and clean energy systems in communities around the world. Pyper is a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council Global Energy Center think tank and host of the Political Climate podcast, presented by Latitude Media. She previously worked with cleantech startup accelerator New Energy Nexus, where she supported the California Sustainable Energy Entrepreneur Development Initiative (CalSEED) grant program.

Prior to that, Pyper was a senior editor for Wood Mackenzie’s Greentech Media, where she covered the global energy transition. Prior to that, she was a staff writer for E&E News.

She has conducted several international reporting projects, including in Haiti, Germany, China, and India. Her writing also has been published in HuffPost, Scientific American, and The New York Times.

4:00 – 4:30 p.m. Break

4:30 – 5:00 p.m. Fireside Chat

Moderated by Vishal Agarwal Kristen Eshak Weldon (B’00), Founder, Eshak Capital

Kristen Weldon is a seasoned investment and strategy professional with executive level experience at global alternative asset managers and a leading commodity merchant. Weldon recently formed her own company to provide investment consulting and advisory services in climate and sustainable investing.

Previously, Weldon was global head of sustainable investing for BlackRock Alternatives investment platform where she was responsible for instilling BlackRock’s firmwide sustainable investing strategy across the firm’s private markets investment platform including real estate, infrastructure, hedge funds, private equity, and credit businesses.

Weldon is a 2018 graduate of the London Business School where she received a MSc in strategy and holds a BSc degree in finance and international business from Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business.

5:00 – 7:00 p.m. Closing Reception