The Speakers

Tensie Whelan, Clinical Professor for Business and Society, is the founder and Director of NYU Stern School of Business’s Center for Sustainable Business, where she brings 25 years of experience working on sustainability issues. As President of the Rainforest Alliance, she built the organization from a $4.5 million to $50 million budget, transforming the engagement of business with sustainability, recruiting 5,000 companies in more than 60 countries. Her previous work included serving as Executive Director of the New York League of Conservation Voters, Vice President of the National Audubon Society, and Managing Editor of Ambio, a journal of the Swedish Academy of Sciences. She has served on numerous nonprofit boards and corporate advisory boards for companies such as Unilever and Nespresso and currently serves on the advisory boards of ALO Advisors, Buzz on Earth, Giant Ventures, and Inherent Group. She was most recently appointed to the board of InvestIndustrial SPAC, and is an Advisor to the Future Economy Project for Harvard Business Review and is a member of the “Exploring the Future of Sustainable Production and Consumption” Working Group of the Council on Competitiveness. Tensie was awarded the Stern Faculty Excellence Award in 2020.

Esi Seng is a proven, inspirational global leader with more than two decades of accelerating growth and building high-performing CPG businesses and teams across North America, Europe, Asia and Latin America. She is a results-driven General Manager with proven success across all business strategy and operations including: product development, consumer marketing, insights, P&L, and supply chain, including manufacturing. Esi has a track record for cultivating a growth culture with focus on world-class brand building campaigns, breakthrough innovation, commercial excellence and empowering teams to realize their full potential. A strategist recognized for her progressive business acumen, she has led digital transformation strategies across multiple organizations, built ecommerce teams from the ground up, and launched DTC business models.

Currently, Esi serves as General Manager, Tom's of Maine overseeing all strategic and commercial activities for this leading manufacturer of natural personal care products. Headquartered in Kennebunk, Tom’s of Maine is a Certified B Corporation with a long-standing commitment to social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability as part of the brand’s mission to be a force for good. Esi is also a driver in instilling the company’s true commitment to do good for people and the planet. In 2020, Tom’s of Maine manufactured the first-of-its-kind recyclable tube toothpaste, which was recognized as one of The Best Inventions of 2020 by TIME Magazine and recently launched a 100% plastic free deodorant line. The Tom’s of Maine plant is a certified Energy Star Challenge for Industry.

Prior to Tom’s of Maine, Esi was the Head of Marketing of Colgate Brazil, one of the largest toothpaste markets in the world. In this role, she helped the company achieve record market share in Toothpaste and Mouthwash. Additionally, she helped further fortify Colgate brand leadership with the introduction of Colgate Naturals and paved the entry into new categories with the launch of Protex Facial and Protex Baby. Expanding brand and category footprint has been Esi’s hallmark at Colgate-Palmolive. Under her leadership, Colgate became the #1 Toothbrush brand in the U.S. in 2014 and later in Malaysia, where she served as Marketing Director for Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. As European Division Director, she led the expansion of the Sanex brand in six countries.

Before joining Colgate in 2007, Esi held marketing and brand management positions at companies including L'Oréal and Nickelodeon. Esi earned an M.B.A. from New York University’s Stern School of Business, participated in The Tuck School of Business’ Global Leadership Program at Dartmouth and received her Bachelor’s Degree from Boston University. She was named one of Brand Innovators 40 under 40.

A LEED AP architect, Pat holds a Master’s in Architecture from the Harvard Graduate School of Design and has served on their Alumni Council. She is past Co-Chair of the Committee on the Environment of the New York Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, a member of the Board of Building Energy Exchange, a frequent lecturer and industry panelist, and an active member of the U.S. Green Building Council and Urban Green. Prior to joining UFL/ACRE, Pat worked in venture capital at Good Energies and consulted with startups in the building energy efficiency space. She was CEO of Watt Not, an LED lighting consultancy, and Build Efficiently, LLC. As a Visiting Scholar at Harvard’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, she assisted in translating biologically-inspired technologies into commercial products. She brings 15+ years of experience in the industry, connecting startups to sources of funding, customers, and business mentors.

Most recently, Birju was the former head of product at Uber Health & Sustainability. He is founder of Loam.ag, a data science platform & blockchain protocol to real-time track land based carbon projects.

Prior to this role, Birju owned multiple groups at Uber that look to solve the most difficult real-world problems with advanced technologies like AI, computer vision and sensing and perception. Problem examples measuring emissions of uber vehicles, visualizations of rides & emissions, predicting/preventing accidents, and much more. He is now applying his expertise to land based carbon tracking. Previously, Birju was an executive at Climate Corporation, Arrowstream where he dove into farm to table data science on the food supply chain. Birju has launched more than 10 products that attribute to about $3B in revenue over the last decade.

Birju holds an MBA from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Business, where he was a McGovern Scholar and a Legatum Scholar. Birju is a graduate of Northwestern University with a BSE in Industrial Engineering.

Fernando Assad is co-founder of Vivenda, an award-winning Brazilian social business that seeks to revolutionize the housing renovation market for the low-income population. Elected Young Social Entrepreneur of the Year by Folha de São Paulo and the Schwab Foundation, he is an Ashoka fellow and holds a master's degree in business administration from the University of São Paulo.

Espen Kvelland is the CEO of Wakandi Group AS. He is a technologist who is passionate about how devops and modern technology can drive the digital transformation and social innovation needed in developing parts of the world. He is highly experienced in technology management and building services in demanding segments and markets.

Kathleen Murphy Toms is the director of digital strategy for GivingTuesday. The biggest philanthropic movement in history, GivingTuesday leverages social media and a broad network to ignite a movement and global call to action to give. It has seen record-breaking engagement at every level of society - from some of the world's biggest celebrities and influencers to students, volunteers, and everyday givers. Kathleen studies the use of digital tools in social movements, particularly their use in shifting power, creating mass mobilization, and achieving global equity. She is a faculty member at the Center for Global Affairs at New York University.

Named as a top thought leader and one to follow by Forbes and BizTech Magazine, Julia Campbell is a nonprofit digital consultant on a mission to make the digital world a better place. Host of the Nonprofit Nation podcast, she’s written two books for nonprofits on social media and storytelling, and her online courses, webinars, and talks have helped hundreds of nonprofits make the shift to digital thinking and raise more money online. You can learn more about Julia at www.jcsocialmarketing.com/blog

Professor Kapur is the Chief Medical Officer of a Health Tech company. Previously she was the Chief Medical Office (CMO) for Specialty care and Population Health at a large multispecialty organization (Essen Healthcare) in New York. In addition, Dr Kapur is also a Medical Director in a healthcare management company (Evicore/Cigna), a practicing physician, Clinical Researcher / Physician Scientist and a Consultant in the field of healthcare. She is an adjunct Professor at NYU Stern and teaches healthcare management and operations.

Dr Kapur is a mental health advocate and her areas of interest are use of AI in behavioral and mental health, and early intervention for chronic diseases to reduce hospital admissions, cardiac care and stroke. She has worked on data analytics and use of AI to reduce inequities in US healthcare as part of population health initiatives in her previous roles.

Mio is co-founder and VP of Design at Ash Wellness, a startup which focuses on paving the way for more inclusive and accessible healthcare by enabling providers and businesses alike to provide at-home diagnostics care to their patients.

Previously a neuroscience researcher, she spent years studying the circuitry of the visual system before entering the biotech sector to help develop therapeutics that harness the gut-brain axis. She simultaneously earned her graduate degree in Data Visualization at Parsons School of Design. Her desire to combine health and science, tech, and design manifests in her work at Ash Wellness.

Dr. Scott Kaiser, a board-certified family physician and geriatrician, is the co-founder and CEO of Determined Health, a health startup focused on driving meaningful engagement and decreasing isolation through its connection1st platform.

Dr. Kaiser completed his undergraduate studies at Vassar College with a degree in Science, Technology, and Society. He received his medical degree from the Keck School of Medicine of USC and went on to train within the Lawrence Family Medicine Residency, a program dedicated to community health and the care of underserved populations.

Following residency, Dr. Kaiser joined the Harvard Geriatric Medicine Fellowship, where he refined his clinical skills, conducted research on health behavior change, and launched a series of community health promotion programs. He completed additional fellowship training within UCLA’s Primary Care and Health Services Research Fellowship as a Health Media Fellow.

Following his training, Dr. Kaiser joined the Motion Picture & Television Fund (MPTF), a charitable organization serving members of the entertainment industry community, as their Chief Innovation Officer. In this role, Dr. Kaiser leads efforts to improve population health and well-being through social and community-based interventions that aim to support people in living and aging well.

Dr. Kaiser has authored numerous peer-reviewed publications, including novel research on the impact of combined exercise and memory training on cognitive function, and is frequently invited to speak to a broad range of both expert and general audiences. He is passionately committed to advancing novel approaches to improving health and innovations in geriatric care.

He serves on the board of several community organizations and is an active member of the American Geriatrics Society, Gerontological Society of America, American Society on Aging, American Medical Association, and Massachusetts Medical Society.

Nina Hersher is CEO of the Digital Wellness Institute, author of the bestseller Your Playbook for Thriving in the Remote Work Era, and an internationally renowned speaker. A leading expert in Digital Wellness, Hersher holds a specialized MSW from WashU St. Louis in Digital Culture and Program Development. Hersher is also the co-founder of Digital Wellness Day, reaching over 7.5 million people across the globe in 2021. She runs Evolving in the Digital Age™, a consulting firm dedicated to mental health best practices in a fast-paced world, and holds additional credentials as an Oasis in the Overwhelm Facilitator, Teen Outreach Program Facilitator, and Meditation Teacher. Hersher’s work was recently featured in publications including The Stanford Social Innovation Review, Al Jazeera, and Voice of America.

Sophie Purdom is a sustainable business practitioner; first at the Brown University endowment, followed by a few years decking at Bain & Co., published a book on ESG along the way, and founded an agtech venture (Kula Bio, raised +$65m). She now writes Climate Tech VC (20,000+ newsletter readers) and is building something new while investing in early stage climate technology companies.

Jason is Co-founder & Managing Director at Energy Foundry, a leading early-stage venture capital fund that builds groundbreaking cleantech and energy companies. Jason sets the firm’s vision, leads investments, and coaches entrepreneurs. Energy Foundry is ranked as one of the top firms in the US and world in its focus areas and has backed some of the most transformative companies in the cleantech and energy space.

For the last decade Jason has been an Adjunct Professor at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, teaching how to turn science into high growth businesses. He is Executive Director of ISEIF, the nation's largest independent power education foundation. Jason also serves as a Board member of an array of high growth companies and is on the Advisory Boards of several leading industry intuitions.

Jason frequently speaks on energy and cleantech growth and innovation and has been featured by numerous media outlets (TV, Print & Radio) including NBC, New York Times. Entrepreneur, PBS, Forbes, Jerusalem Post, Chicago Tribune, INC and Bangkok Post. NBC named him one its top “Eco-preneurs” and WGN as their “Entrepreneur of the Week.”

He earned his MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, receiving the Dean’s Award of Distinction and a BA from Michigan State University.

Julia is a Women's financial inclusion expert specializing in financial capability, livelihoods, employee and agent empowerment, microfinance, and DFS.