Recycling and Environmental Services Manager

King County Solid Waste Division

Andy leads the King County Solid Waste Division’s (SWD) team working on recycling programs, environmental stewardship and waste stream compliance activities. Recognizing the central role people, opportunity and innovation play in delivering healthy, safe and vibrant communities in a waste-free King County, Andy’s work aims to help facilitate partnerships to help realize the growth, low carbon and equity opportunities of the circular economy. Notable programs include Re+, market development, transfer station recycling, waste prevention, green building, hazardous waste, product stewardship, outreach and education, permit compliance and reporting, junk vehicle, and special waste programs. Before joining King County, Andy was a Senior Policy Advisor for the UK Government working on various roles including UK & EU climate targets, clean growth, international sustainable trade and UK natural resources policy.

Climate Mitigation and Circular Economy Policy Advisor

Seattle Public Utilities (SPU)

Ashima is the Climate Mitigation and Circular Economy Policy Advisor at SPU, City of Seattle. She is driving the development of a circular economy in the Seattle region and manages SPU's efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in its operations and supply chain. Ashima joined the City of Seattle from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, a global thought leader on the circular economy. At the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, Ashima managed the delivery of its programs in the U.S. and Canada, and led the Foundation's work on cities globally, engaging local governments in the transition towards a circular economy. She was also seconded to the World Economic Forum to support the development of its circular economy initiative. Prior to joining the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, Ashima worked as a management consultant with Deloitte Consulting in New York. Ashima graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a B.A. in Economics focused on Sustainability & Environmental Management.

Founder

Circular by Design

Behnosh is a design researcher and strategist with a passion for circular economies. For more than a decade she has helped foundations, businesses, nonprofits and government agencies to create useful and engaging products and services through meaningful connections with their customers, and with an eye for driving innovation. In her role as Founder of Circular by Design, she supports organizations' transition to circular business models to capture untapped value and meet sustainability targets, all while connecting with end-users and stakeholders in meaningful ways.

Statewide Recycling Coordinator

Washington Department of Ecology

Dan helps coordinate the development, implementation, and evaluation of statewide strategies focused on recycling, reuse, and waste reduction. He also leads the statewide Recycle Right campaign that aims to reduce contamination in the recycling stream by educating residents about proper recycling behaviors. He joined Ecology in 2012 as a data analyst and brings a data-driven approach to materials management issues. He has a Master’s in Public Policy from Oregon State University and a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Northern Iowa.

Chief Executive Officer

WasteXperts

Derek is the Chief Executive Officer of WasteXperts, Inc., a waste diversion and recycling company that provides onsite recycling solutions for 130k multifamily and commercial complexes on the west coast. Derek has over 13 years of experience in the solid waste and recycling industry where he has held the positions of Vice President of Recology in the Pacific Northwest and General Manager of Republic Services.

He is passionately focused on the zero-waste mission and thinking beyond waste. Derek is a graduate of the University of Arizona. He resides in North Bend, WA, with his wife and two young children.

Snohomish County Council Member

Megan has a 20-year work and volunteer background improving lives for working families and communities through thoughtful policy change. As a community leader and environmental health advocate, she has spent her career collaborating with community members to address complex issues facing Snohomish County. Prior to being elected, Megan was the Healthy People and Communities Program Director with the Northwest Center for Alternatives to Pesticides, where she led efforts to help protect communities from harmful pesticides and chemicals. She spent five years at Service Employees International Union (SEIU) where she worked to secure a city-wide contract which included the first ever guaranteed sick days, raises for workers, and safer working conditions. In addition to her work on the Snohomish County Council, Megan also chairs the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency, Chairs the Snohomish County Board of Health, and serves on the National Association of Counties’ Energy, Environment, and Land Use Committee. Megan has a bachelor’s degree in Biology-Geology from University of Rochester and a Master of Arts in Policy Studies from University of Washington-Bothell.

Sustainability & Measurement Director

BECU

Natasha works at BECU as the Sustainability & Measurement Director as part of the larger Social Impact and Financial Health Programs team. In this role, Natasha proposes short- and long-term sustainability initiatives in addition to supporting the data collection for BECU’s carbon footprint calculation. Her professional skills and experience include developing original grant programs for the BECU Foundation; building out an Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Framework & Strategy by elevating the "E" in ESG; community engagement and outreach; as well as financial health and social impact measurement. Natasha is a Leadership Tomorrow alum, a Social Venture Partners Brainerd Fellow, and community advocate.

Senator

WA 34th Legislative District

Senator Joe Nguyen was the first person of color to win a senate seat in Washington’s 34th District, the district where he grew up. The son of Vietnamese refugees, he is also the first Vietnamese American state senator. He is the Chair of the Environment, Energy & Technology Committee. Elected to the state Senate in 2019, he has spent his tenure advocating for working families and community members who historically have been left out of the political process. Joe has been a thoughtful and innovative leader in his efforts to mitigate the climate crisis. He knows only too well how marginalized communities experience environmental harm disproportionately, and that to ensure that our communities thrive as a whole, we need to act urgently. Senator Nguyen resides in West Seattle with his family.

Strategic Advisor, Waste Prevention and Product Stewardship

Seattle Public Utilities

McKenna is the waste prevention and product stewardship policy advisor for Seattle Public Utilities. In this role, she advocates for state and local policies to advance SPU’s vision of zero waste and support the development of a circular and inclusive economy. She is also part of Reuse Seattle, a City-led initiative working to make Seattle home to the first standardized, citywide reusable food and beverage container system. Previously, McKenna was a senior associate at Cascadia Consulting Group, where she led research and evaluation projects for local and state governments related to recycling programs, policies, and markets

C&D Program Manager

King County

Kinley manages the King County Construction and Demolition (C&D) materials diversion program. Building on over 29 years experience in the waste reduction field, Kinley is well versed in deconstruction and building salvage practices. He has been instrumental in promoting the local reuse of salvaged wood and the concept of design for disassembly to maximize the potential for future building reuse.

Environmental Operations Specialist

San Francisco International Airport (SFO)

Briana “Brie” plays a critical role in moving SFO toward its zero waste goals, including relaunching SFO Unites Against Hunger, which recovered over 17,200 pounds of surplus food for human consumption over 13 months, and ensuring ongoing compliance with SFO's Zero Waste Concessions policies, which eliminates single-use disposable plastic foodware and beverage containers by transitioning to reusable, compostable, and recyclable alternatives at SFO. Brie is also the Green Business Coordinator at SFO, supporting businesses in becoming California Green Business Network certified via meeting rigorous environmental standards in the credit categories of energy, water conservation, and pollution prevention. In her free time, she enjoys cultivating a more intimate connection with food through gardening, foraging, and cooking up plant-rich meals.

Program Manager

King County Solid Waste Division

Alex works on King County Solid Waste Division’s market development projects for wood, mattresses, and textiles, manages the What Do I Do With...? website, and works with the Northwest Product Stewardship Council to improve solid waste systems with producer responsibility.

CEO & President

Oregon Beverage Recycling Cooperative (OBRC)

Jules is President and CEO of OBRC, which runs the BottleDrop program in Oregon. As CEO, Jules is responsible for charting the future of Bottle Bill implementation and ensuring the deposit and redemption system remains convenient, relevant, and effective for Oregonians, and efficient for industry.

Prior to joining OBRC, Jules served as a Multnomah County Commissioner, and is a former state legislator in Oregon with experience working on the Bottle Bill and with the beverage industry. He is trained as an economist and environmental policy specialist, receiving degrees from Princeton University and Lewis and Clark College. He is a native of Portland, Oregon, where he lives with his

family.

OBRC is the industry steward of Oregon’s nationally recognized beverage container deposit program.

Our mission is to ensure that no resource goes to waste by empowering people to redeem every container easily, efficiently, and effectively.

Senior Engineer

Metro Vancouver

Karen works on circular economy and waste reduction programs and policies for the largest regional district in BC. She is the lead for the single-use item, textiles, and circular economy work. Her latest project for her circular economy MBA looks at how local government procurement can benefit the local economy and address climate change, social resilience, and biosphere resilience.

Founder & Chief Engagement Officer

Spark Interaction

Leif Hansen is a internationally recognized group facilitator, speaker & coach. His workshops have been featured on a variety of media including NBC’s Today Show, PBS Online & the LA Times. Leif is known for using highly engaging, innovative and often playful processes to accelerate personal growth, catalyze communities and transform teams.

Executive Director

Center for Inclusive Entrepreneurship

Mike founded CIE because he deeply believes in the transformative power of entrepreneurship. Working with CIE’s Board of Directors, Mike sets the strategic direction for the organization, develops and stewards strategic partners, establishes the organizational culture, and relentlessly advocates for entrepreneurs in the margins of our rural communities.

Supervising Librarian

The Seattle Public Library

Jay Lyman is a librarian at the Seattle Public Library where he routinely helps entrepreneurs navigate the information they need to succeed in business. He and a team of colleagues offer free 1:1 business information assistance through a program called Library to Business. They also help people who are pivoting their services with market research about their competitors, customers, and industry trends.

Associate Teaching Professor

Seattle University

April Atwood is a full-time lecturer at Seattle University, where she teaches courses in consumer behavior, marketing principles, marketing and social issues, and sustainability. She has decades of teaching experience at the University of Washington, and she has been on the faculty at Bainbridge Graduate Institute (accredited MBA program in Sustainable Business) since its third year of operations.

Director of Innovation & Partnerships

Impacti

Yolanda Saito is the Co-Founder of Impacti, a sustainability consultancy and technology firm that designs an ecosystem of solutions for companies to achieve net zero and zero waste. She has worked with the United Nations, World Bank and large organizations around the world to transform their operations and supply chains towards sustainability.

Attorney

Cleantech Law Partners

Joshua is an experienced corporate transactional attorney that serves manufacturers, EPC contractors, service providers and developers in the construction, technology and renewable energy sectors. In 2011 he founded Orbit Energy Legal Consultants after more than 25 years working in-house in manufacturing, real estate and renewable energy industries. Josh is also an attorney with Cleantech Law Partners, a law firm focussing on renewable energy law.

Creative Producer

Corbin Schweitzer

Corbin is a creative producer with over a decade of film production experience in video and post production including writing, directing, cinematography, and audio production. His experience comes from creating independent films, documentaries, and commercial videos for corporate clients such as Microsoft and Disney. Corbin approaches the creative production process very methodically, combining imagination, strong attention to detail, and a passion for creative storytelling.

Director of the WA Women’s Business Center

Business Impact NW

Jessica has been a successful business owner since 1995 and has worked across all disciplines involved in operating a small business. She has built two restaurants and four WSDA certified food processing facilities, with full responsibility for all aspects of business operations. She has created and implemented training programs and has been responsible for assessing the effectiveness of operational policies and procedures under 3rd party audit review.

Co-Founder & CEO

Neptune Snacks

Nick is Co-Founder & CEO of Neptune, a mission-driven snack food brand bringing convenience and sustainability to the seafood category. From an upbringing on a New Mexico cattle ranch, Nick developed food system, fisheries, and seafood supply chain expertise working in eight countries and sailing trans-Pacific research expeditions as a Stanford Marine Scientist. He broadcasts his passion for improving the seafood industry as a speaker, published author, and passionate entrepreneur.

Small & Rural MFG Account Executive

Impact Washington

Miguel is an international bilingual senior manager, with experience in the implementation and maintenance of Quality Management Systems and process improvement, project management, customer and vendor relations, in nationwide companies, different environments, and industries. He loves new challenges and is eager to learn about new processes.

Business Advisor

WA Small Business Development Center (SBDC)

A seasoned business mentor recognized for the aptitude to foster strategic relationships and her ability to help people in under-served communities access information, capital, and markets to start and grow small businesses in Washington State.

Sustainable Business Development Director

WA Department of Commerce

Rob received a Bachelor of Science in Zoology from the University of Massachusetts and a Master of Science in toxicology from the University of Washington. For several years, Rob worked for state agencies to limit the impact of pollution on human health and the environment. Rob is currently involved in stimulating markets for recycled materials and connecting businesses to reduce and utilize waste streams with the WA Department of Commerce.

Digital Marketing & Sustainability Strategy Consultant

Anim8

Sarah O'Sell is a digital marketing and circular economy strategist with the goal to inspire open minds, curiosity, and stewardship to shape future realities. She is an ambitious technology systems innovator with over 10yrs experience in recognized impact entrepreneurship, community growth, STEAM education, and strategy development for emerging transformative infrastructure companies. Sarah is a Global 50 Woman in Sustainability (2022), a featured contributor for digital manufacturing in the “Circular Economy for Dummies'' book (2021), and helped seed a successful Solar Window innovation.

Executive Director

YES! Media

Christine is currently Executive Director of YES! Media, a nonprofit independent media organization covering community-led solutions to systemic issues. She is a cofounder of Seattle Good Business Network and a former board member of Zero Waste Washington. Christine has always been particularly excited about circular economy solutions, and has an MBA in entrepreneurship in innovation from the University of Washington.

Owner / Designer

Traversal Design

Kamal has a decade plus of experience facilitating events, mapping stakeholder needs, co-designing priorities, interventions, and summarizing complex concepts for communities. He's worked on circular economy, just transition, and stakeholder research projects with King County Solid Waste, Seattle's Office of Economic Development, the Equitable Development Initiatives, and many more community-based projects or organizations. His background is grounded in design, complex systems thinking, and sustainable practices, with a specific focus on intersections of economics and community involvement.

Methow Recycles

Executive Director

Sarah Jo Lightner is passionate about all things rural North Central Washington. She believes that the key to creating successful circular programs in the rural space is community.

Sr. Director of Innovation

Elemental Excelerator

Kim has over 15 years of experience in launching and growing engineered systems into industrial and municipal markets. Kim co-founded an early stage venture and led the market launch of a product line as a Sr. Product Manager for a company through its acquisition. She works at the intersection of the built environment and industrial related investments together with the design of technology demonstration projects. Kim participates in ongoing speaking engagements, delivering keynotes related to climate innovation and early-stage technology deployment and holds a BS in Environmental Engineering and an MBA in Sustainable Management.

Associate General Counsel

DTG Recycle

In addition to being an in-house attorney at a solid waste company, John is an experienced startup founder having taken his company through a technology accelerator program.

At DTG Recycle, he leads their internal and external development efforts, including building their own Beyond Recycling Innovation Center (BRIC) to create end markets for difficult to recycle plastics from scratch.

Policy Analyst

King County Solid Waste Division

Hannah is a Policy Analyst for the King County Solid Waste Division. She supports policy and projects related to product stewardship, recycling, and circular economy. She is passionate about environmental justice and ensuring programs and policies benefit all community members. Hannah is a board member of the Washington State Recycling Association and the Seattle Solid Waste Advisory Committee. Prior to her work at King County she managed education and outreach for Waste Management and served as an environmental technician for Peace Corps Paraguay.

President

Second Use Building Materials

Dirk Wassink has over 25 years of experience in reuse and recycling, with a focus on building materials salvage and retail. He has served on the Seattle Public Utilities Solid Waste Advisory Committee as well as the board of a national reuse non-profit. He is currently president of Second Use Building Materials.

Sr. Product Manager, Circular Economy

Amazon

Jessica is a passionate sustainability professional with more than twenty years experience running projects and strategic programs across all types of organizations. Jessica received an MBA in Sustainable Business from Bainbridge Graduate Institute (now Presidio) in 2009 and is currently working in the Worldwide Sustainability team at Amazon based in Seattle. Jessica is also a facilitator for Climate Fresk, an interactive workshop teaching fundamentals of climate science.

Planner & Policy Specialist

WA Department of Ecology

Janine has 25 years experience working on waste reduction, recycling and sustainability issues in local and state government.

Program Director

University of Washington

Cheryl is a purpose-driven learner and educator who has extensive experience creating transformative learning experiences for students and professionals. Her main interests in the zero waste field are home permaculture systems, composting, and designing products for total repairability. At the University of Washington, Cheryl has created and managed a variety of environmental education programs for international students since 2005 and manages the Green Square grant-funded community garden for the university. Cheryl is also currently vice president of the all-volunteer Seattle-based non-profit Ecologists Without Borders.

Food Waste Lead

Washington State Department of Ecology

Jade Monroe is the Food Waste Reduction Lead at the Washington State Department of Ecology. She focuses on regional food waste reduction through the Pacific Coast Food Waste Commitment and is the lead author of the Use Food Well Washington Plan. Jade is dedicated to shifting our food system to a more resilient and just framework that truly values food.

Co-Owner & Lead Designer

Atwil Design

Taylor owns and operates a Staging & Design business with a Zero Waste focus. Everyday they strive to provide the best product with most efficiency and little waste.

Robotics deployment engineer

Amazon

See bio in the “Mentors” section below.

Environmental Specialist

WA Department of Ecology

See bio in the “Mentors” section below.

Faculty

Highline College

See bio in the “Mentors” section below.

Founder & Director

Kokki LLC

See bio in the “Mentors” section below.

Coordinator for the Recycling Development Center

WA State Department of Ecology

See bio in the “Mentors” section below.

Environmental Engineer

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

See bio in the “Mentors” section below.

Founder & Creative Director

Modern Species

See bio in the “Mentors” section below.

Communications

Sustainable TriCities

See bio in the “Mentors” section below.

Chief Operations Officer

BOMA Jewelry

See bio in the “Mentors” section below.

Owner/Sustainability Consultant

Stormo & Co. Sustainability Design

See bio in the “Mentors” section below.

VP Economic Development

CleanTech Alliance

See bio in the “Mentors” section below.

Waste Diversion Planner

Seattle Public Utilities

See bio in the “Mentors” section below.

Associate Professor of Marketing

Pacific Lutheran University

Qin Zhang is an university Marketing Professor with experience of teaching students how to develop marketing plans to introduce/promote products/services. She has great concern for environment and is enthusiastic about how to develop recycling programs that is both effective and efficient.

Policy & Market Development Manager

King County Solid Waste Division

Adrian works on recycling and waste prevention. He holds a PhD in sustainable design methodologies and circular business models from the Technical University of Denmark (DTU). Originally trained as a mechanical engineer, he has worked for several different companies such as LEGO, Novo Nordisk and Nokia designing and developing products, and helped companies such as Adidas, Michelin and Steelcase integrate sustainability and circular business models in their organization.

Founder & Creative Director

Modern Species

Gage sees everything as a design challenge. Whether it's designing new business strategies, designing to solve community problems, or designing your life to be more fulfilling. He’s the founder of Modern Species and Evolve CPG where he helps better-for-the-world brands grow through purpose-driven strategy, design, and community.

Faculty

Highline College

Nathan attended Missouri State University for his undergraduate degree and upon graduation joined the Peace Corps. Upon his return to the U.S. he realized the opportunities available and started graduate school at the University of Missouri, Columbia. Upon earning his PhD he started teaching full time at Columbia College where he taught a diversity of science courses for 16 years.

Nathan completed a Fulbright Scholarship in Uruguay related to sustainable agriculture in 2017. He started teaching at Highline College in 2021.

Management Team

Ellensburg Glass Recycling Cooperative

As an inaugural participant in the SGBN's Circular Innovation Challenge of 2021, Suzanne understands the immense resources and opportunity in being a contestant for this challenge. Her experience in community building for sustainability of our common space spans decades and includes all ages of stakeholders with unique contributions to a like-minded mission.

Environmental Engineer

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Margaret McCauley is an environmental engineer with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Margaret lives in Seattle where she pedals her children over the hills and through the drizzle. She designed her own major in Urban Ecology at Harvard and has worked as an international negotiator for the U.S. Department of State on environmental issues. As part of an effort to respond to requests for sanitation assistance from remote communities in Alaska, Margaret created an international research consortium on cold climate anaerobic digestion.

Communications

Sustainable TriCities

Originally from the Netherlands, currently working as a User Experience Lead, Jenni has been spending much of her free time to advocate for, or initiate 'zero waste' initiatives, first in Atlanta GA, now in TriCities WA.

Chief Operations Officer

BOMA Jewelry

Cleo is a wife and a mother of 3, who also happens to be a business executive. She is passionate about incorporating sound business strategies that benefit the triple bottom line: people, planet and profit.

Owner/Sustainability Consultant

Stormo & Co. Sustainability Design

Stacey is the Owner and Chief Sustainability Consultant of Stormo & Co. Sustainability Design, a consulting firm utilizing design thinking to find new and innovative solutions to sustainability and other impact-related problems. Stacey's previous work experience gives her deep roots in sustainable and ethical fashion, sustainability education and training, circular economy, as well as service, product and UX design. Stacey holds a Master's Degree in Strategic Design and Management from Parsons, as well as a Bachelor's degree in Spanish from the University of Washington.

VP Economic Development

CleanTech Alliance

Rachelle Ames is the Vice President of Economic Development for the CleanTech Alliance. She leads the BUILT Cluster focused on accelerating the decarbonization of the built environment. She also leads the Alliance’s entrepreneur support programs including, co-directing the Department of Energy (DOE) award winning Cascadia CleanTech Accelerator, with joint program partner VertueLab. She represents the CleanTech Alliance on the DOE Energy Program for Innovation Clusters supported Northwest CleanTech Innovation Network with VertueLab and Washington Clean Energy Testbeds that provides an integrated network of resources and support programs for early-stage clean energy startups.

Waste Diversion Planner

Seattle Public Utilities

Serving as Seattle Public Utilities’ Waste Diversion Planner focused primarily on construction and demolition (C&D) waste. Katie manages the City’s requirements around C&D recycling and diversion including material disposal bans, the mixed C&D waste processing qualified facility program, and waste diversion reports for building permits. She also works to increase salvage and deconstruction as well as measure and communicate greenhouse gas benefits from increasingly focusing on reuse and waste prevention.

Managing Director

Appropriate Technology Group

Brian helps mission-driven, planet-regenerating startups to apply circularity and sustainability in their culture and operations.

He is a greentech entrepreneur and technologist, providing strategic planning, operations and appropriate technology consulting to clients in the water, food, energy, building, transportation, telecommunications, information technology and finance sectors. Brian’s experience ranges from small non-profits and medium-sized firms to Fortune Global-500 corporations with demanding production environments worldwide.

Director of Clean Energy Solutions

Sazan Group

Jack is a certified Renewable Energy Professional and works at Sazan Group as Director of Clean Energy Solutions, and serves as President of the Board of Directors at Solar Washington, a non-profit organization overseeing Washington’s rapidly growing solar industry. With a background in utility renewable energy program management, interconnection policy, solar project development, and Zero Energy Program management at the International Living Future Institute, Jack seeks to engage the latest sustainability strategies and clean energy technologies for projects in design, construction, and operations.

Organics and Landscape Resource Conservation Planner and Program Lead

Seattle Public Utilities

Kate has deep experience in soil science, organic residual management, and technical communications. She has served as a consultant helping utilities and industry groups with science communications and strategic planning, a biosolids project manager for King County, a research assistant at the University of Washington, and a chemist at Soil Control Lab in Watsonville, CA. In her free time she enjoys gardening and spending time outdoors with her family.

Business Specialist

Ventures

Nekaycha Cavil is an entrepreneurial-minded fashion enthusiast driven by numbers and logic. Nekaycha’s role at Ventures entails assisting small business owners with Strategic Planning and Development, Business Planning, Operations, Logistical and Administrative Support. She is the CEO of a Modest Fashion called Kaycha C. Nekaycha has an AAS in Accounting, a BS in Business Management, and certificates in Computerized Accounting, Tax Prep, and Entrepreneurship. In her free time, Nekaycha likes to travel, eat good food, and partake in adventurous activities (zip lining & rock climbing).

AWS Innovation Incubator

Amazon Web Services

Mike spends his time focused on innovation with the implementation of user-centric product thinking principles to create new businesses and solutions at AWS. He has spent his career focused leading remote-first product development multi-disciplinary teams.

Executive Director

Reuse Works DBA Ragfinery

Ragfinery is a non-profit textile diversion center, thrift shop & creative space dedicated to educating our community about mending, repair, and creative reuse. Ragfinery opened in April 2014 as the second “jobs from waste” project of ReUse Works. ReUse Works' mission is to promote and support worker training, job creation, and business development opportunities for low-income residents by using waste and discarded materials.

Business Coach

Independent

Vera is a Business Development Coach with 5+ years of experience of creation, implementation and development of IT products. She also has 3+ years of experience with the successful business development of startups to help companies to lead and motivate teams of engineers, designers and partners to develop and take to market new products, and ensure successful execution of scope, schedule, and cost.

Environmental Specialist

WA Department of Ecology

Mya works for Ecology's Recycling Development Center primarily doing research, and contract management. She has an understanding of the flow of recyclable materials from haulers to end markets in WA state and is knowledgeable about policy.

English Language & Pitch Coach

Scottie Spurzem is a versatile English language coach who helps her domestic and international clientele polish their language skills (and grammar as needed) to promote executive presence, prepare for internal and external stakeholder presentations or investor pitches. She is known as the “English Language Coach” in the Bay Area and works with prominent accelerators and international bridge programs, leveraging her Investor Relations and communications background.

Sr. Portfolio Innovation Manager

Elemental Excelerator

Shaun is now eight months into a career change into climate tech and circularity. At Elemental Excelerator, he supports circular economy and water portfolio companies and partners, responsible for researching industry trends and climate priorities, building a pipeline of high potential start-ups, and problem solving with portfolio companies to ensure project success. Prior to Elemental, Shaun's professional experience spanned across consulting, software, and aviation industries, where he developed and honed skills in strategic planning, project management, and financial analysis.

Project Manager

GreenBlue

Lucy (she/her) leads work on a variety of special projects including packaging policy, reusable packaging, and plastic film recovery. Lucy earned her Master’s of Environmental Studies from the Evergreen State College and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Sustainability Studies and Cultural Anthropology from Otterbein University.

Software Engineer

Amazon Web Services

Vicki is a self-taught software engineer currently working on making emissions data tools at AWS. She has been a tech lead for multiple large scale software projects and migrations in different orgs within Amazon, and previously for startups. In a previous life, she studied mechanical engineering and completed 6 internships in product design, manufacturing, and defect analysis at Cisco, Apple, and Lenovo. She has experience with scaling software applications to support nearly any volume of traffic, developing and supporting product features end-to-end, as well as turning product ideas into technical requirements. In her free time, she enjoys reading literary fiction, climbing outdoors, and learning about sustainability!

Market Development Manager

Tradewater

Jenny partners with organizations through her role at Tradewater to help achieve carbon neutrality through sustainability consultation, emissions reduction, and the purchase of carbon credits. Jenny also owns a B Corp consulting agency, Pact Three, which helps organizations obtain and/or maintain their B Corp Certification. She is passionate in changing the way we view business and industry to be both profitable and purposeful.

CTO

17 Ways

Kristann is a human-centered designer and lean developer. She helps teams clarify the problem they are solving, communicate their value proposition, and develop hypothesis to test their understanding of the market. Kristann has experience in software development and systems design, focused on B2B and enterprise.

Digital Marketing Analyst

Jackie Jeffers is a Digital Marketing Operations and Analytics professional with experience at Seattle-area tech companies such as Microsoft and Amazon, with a focus on business sustainability.

Senior Waste Prevention Program Manager

Seattle Public Utilities

Liz Fikejs has worked over 25 years in local government focusing on resource conservation programs that encourage behavior change and foster environmental solutions. Liz leverages her work with partnerships that span public sector agencies, private businesses, and community organizations. Examples of her work include the Pacific Coast Collaborative’s Food Waste Reduction Commitment, leading Seattle Public Utilities’ food rescue work, and co-developing the Seattle-King County Threadcycle program. Liz is dedicated to systemic change that digs below surface-level challenges and creates larger scale solutions.

Coordinator for the Recycling Development Center

WA State Department of Ecology

Kara joined the Washington State Department of Ecology in 2006 and has worked in both the solid waste and hazardous waste programs. Currently, she is the coordinator for Washington’s Recycling Development Center.

Mentor-in-Residence

Coast Capital Venture Connection

Douglas really enjoys working with product-focused companies and sharing his experiences bending metal, writing code, building boards, and gearing up for manufacturing. He also knows first-hand what happens when you let the magic smoke out of a component on the lab bench. Douglas is a Mentor-in-Residence so that he can help entrepreneurs build successful companies.

Associate Professor - Plastics and Composites Materials

Western Washington University

Mark teaches plastics and composites classes at WWU. His research and interest include plastics product source reduction, recycling, material property measurement, etc. He has taught classes in sustainable materials and processes.

Founder & Director

Kokki LLC

Nayoung works at Amazon Web Services as a Program Manager She also founded a small business (thekokki.com) to help young professionals reach their career & life goals. Her B.B.A. focus was in Marketing & Strategy (Ross School of Business), and her Master’s degree is in Higher Education Administration (University of Pennsylvania). Having worked in a variety of roles across tech, marketing, consulting, education, and account management, she loves to enable and build confidence in students, especially those from underrepresented communities.

Education Coordinator

City of Spokane Solid Waste Department

Kris Major is the Education Coordinator for the City of Spokane’s Solid Waste Disposal Department. She has worked over 25 years as an informal educator for both public and non-profit organizations in Idaho and Washington states. As an Education Coordinator for Spokane, she works with all ages and audiences teaching about waste reduction, recycling, re-use, and composting. She coordinates the Master Composter/Recycler program and its volunteers who conduct community outreach on waste reduction throughout the county.

Policy Advisor

Seattle Public Utilities

McKenna advises and guides the City of Seattle policies around waste prevention and product stewardship. Prior to joining the City, she worked at a women-owned consulting firm (Cascadia) where she supported materials management policy and program work for local and state governments on the West Coast.

Robotics deployment engineer

Amazon

Yaminee works with Amazon Robotics on new technologies to reduce plastic waste packaging. She is passionate about innovative ideas, sustainable solutions, and thinking outside the box.

Senior Lecturer

Central Washington University

Dr. Sue Rivera is a knowledgeable science and technology manager with more than 20 years of experience in sustainable product development and team-building across diverse skill sets. She has worked in academic, industry, government, international policy, and non-profit sectors. Rivera currently teaches applied IT sustainability, IT management and sustainability decision-making courses. Her current interests are in cross-sectoral collaboration and partnerships that enhance life cycle thinking, energy/water reduction and the circular management of information communication technology assets.

Managing Partner

New Mobility Consulting

Alex has been fascinated with self-organizing, adaptive systems and agent-based models to understand complex system behavior. He also has been part of the Internet of Things (IoT) movement since its initial inception at the MIT Auto-ID Center in 2000. His current work centers around trusted data and digital sovereignty enabled by Web 3.0 technologies. Before working in the innovation ecosystem, Alex has worked for world leading organizations including Microsoft, SAP, Bosch and Infor.

Founder

Gossip & Glamour

Sydney Mintle is a Seattle-based fashion expert and founder of Gossip & Glamour, a boutique PR agency that works exclusively with fashion, beauty, and lifestyle clients. Her experience includes retail management, global sourcing, apparel manufacturing, strategic communications, and fashion marketing.