Presenters & Speakers

Rachel Beckhardt

Project Analyst, Corporate Partnerships
Environmental Defense
Boston, MA

Rachel Beckhardt is a Project Analyst in the Corporate Partnerships Program of Environmental Defense, a leading environmental organization that links science, economics, law, and innovative partnerships to create breakthrough solutions to pressing environmental problems.

Rachel collaborates with the private and public sectors to leverage new technologies and industry best practices to provide distinct business benefits and produce positive environmental results. She works specifically in the Clean Vehicles project, encouraging public and private fleet managers to purchase hybrid vehicles and works with federal and state regulatory agencies to encourage financial incentives toward low carbon transportation solutions.

Before Environmental Defense, Rachel worked as an analyst for a management consulting firm covering regulatory policy, sustainability practices and market drivers in the renewable energy and agribusiness industries. Rachel has an M.S. from Tufts University's interdisciplinary Agriculture, Food, and Environment program with a focus in public policy and environmental sustainability, and a B.A. from Bates College.

 

Catherine Greener

Vice President of Consulting
Saatchi & Saatchi

Catherine Greener is Saatchi & Saatchi's Vice President of Consulting. Catherine has more than 20 years of experience in the implementation of sustainability, lean manufacturing, and industrial quality management systems. She has led sustainability and resource efficiency projects for clients ranging from entrepreneurial start-ups to the industrial facilities of multinational corporations and Fortune 500 companies.

Additionally, Catherine sits on several advisory boards addressing sustainability in higher education programs, for-profit companies, and the city of Denver. She has experience in the food and beverage processing, automotive, chemical, semi-conductor, facility automation (robotics), and construction industries. She combines her sustainability, quality management, and lean manufacturing experience with acute problem solving skills and an exceptional ability to uncover process waste. Catherine has given numerous talks, facilitated visioning sessions and conducted training classes in sustainability, continuous quality improvement and other disciplines, developed waste reduction programs, and led problem-solving groups for manufacturing strategy.

Additionally, she has experience in ISO 9000, ISO 14000 and Six-Sigma. She holds a BS in Industrial Engineering from Northwestern University and a MBA from University of Michigan. Catherine lives in Boulder Colorado with her husband Alan in a home featured on the Boulder Solar Home tour.

 

Melanie Harman

Weyerhaeuser Recycling

Melanie has been with Weyerhaeuser in various roles for 16 years. She has a BA degree in Communication Arts and Journalism from James Madison University. For the last two years, she has served Weyerhaeuser as the Director of Sales overseeing all domestic and international sales, which equates to $435 million in gross sales for 2007 with a staff of 10. Melanie is a member of the NAPW, ISRI, and NRC. She is married, has three children, and lives in Virginia.

Brad Holt

Forest Certification Manager
Boise
Boise, ID

Brad has 30 years of experience in the forest and paper industry. He has managed silvicultural operations and research across all the forest types in North America. He has held industry positions with responsibilities in forest planning, forest information systems, research, ecosystem management and forest certification. He is currently involved with numerous industry committees focused on sustainability, responsible procurement, and product labeling.

Jolecia Marigny

Director, Safety & Environmental Services
Entergy

Entergy Corporation is an integrated energy company engaged primarily in electric power production and retail distribution operations. Entergy owns and operates power plants with approximately 30,000 megawatts of electric generating capacity, and it is the second-largest nuclear generator in the United States. Entergy delivers electricity to 2.7 million utility customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Entergy has annual revenues of more than $11 billion and approximately 14,500 employees.

Entergy is one of the largest producers of electric power in the United States and one of the nation's cleanest generators.

• Entergy recognizes its environmental leadership role and firmly believes that it should be proactive in its efforts to protect, preserve, and enhance the environment. That role is reaffirmed through the company's investments in gas-fired and nuclear generation, as well as its commitment to purchase combined-cycle gas turbines--with state-of-the-art environmental technology-- for ongoing and future development projects.
• Entergy is the only US utility to be named to the Dow Jones Sustainability Index for 6 consecutive years, and the only US utility to be named to the Dow Jones Sustainability Index - World in 2006 and 2007.
• Entergy is the second cleanest utility generator among the top 10 generators. This is due to our clean generation portfolio with significant nuclear and natural gas generation.

 

Susan A. Mills

Director, Environmental Practices
OfficeMax

Sue is the director of environmental practices at OfficeMax. Previous to joining OfficeMax, she worked for International Paper (IP) and Champion International Corporation, University of Cincinnati and Old Dominion University. She has worked in the environmental affairs, communications and sales areas, and has expertise in strategic environmental planning, product stewardship, environmental management systems, and environmental communication. Sue holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from DePauw University, and a Master of Education degree from the University of Vermont.

 

Allen Schuman

Sr. Sourcing Specialist
Disney Worldwide Services, Inc.

Allen Schuman is currently a Sr. Sourcing Specialist in Strategic Sourcing & Procurement with The Walt Disney Company. In this role, he is responsible for sourcing a number of critical products and services, which include office supplies, hazardous waste material, disposal and recycling of electronics, office furniture & cellular phone

Allen sits on the Green Sourcing Team which participates with the Environmental Board at The Walt Disney Company.

Allen has a Bachelor Degree in Business Law from UCLA and holds a Certification in Production, Inventory Management (CPIM) with the American Production, Inventory Control Society (APICS) and is a Certified Para-Legal.

Brandy Wilson

North American Office EMS Manager
Technical Writer and Editor
CH2M HILL
Boise, ID

Brandy Wilson is the Environmental Management System (EMS) Manager for CH2M HILL office operations in North America. She directs an Implementation Team representing the various functional aspects of CH2M HILL's business, including Information Technology, Facilities and Operations, Publications, Procurement, Business Travel, and numerous other functions. Ms. Wilson is responsible for establishing measurable targets for reducing the environmental impact for CH2M HILL office operations and publishing this information in CH2M HILL's Sustainability Report. Her background is in technical writing and geology. In addition to serving as the EMS Manager, Ms. Wilson writes and edits environmental impact statements, environmental assessments, and other documents, and serves as the public outreach coordinator for environmental cleanup projects.