GTF New York Speakers

Andini Makosinski is a 24 year old inventor, speaker, writer, and 2022 Renaissance Woman. She is best known for her invention the Hollow Flashlight, a flashlight that runs off the heat of the human hand. Andini is currently writing a book on the Inventing Mindset, and how we are all innately inventors built to solve problems. Andini is also pitching a television show about Futurism that she hopes to host.

As Colgate-Palmolive’s Chief Sustainability Officer Ann leads Colgate’s Global Sustainability strategy and key initiatives, integrating a strong technical foundation across people, performance and planet into commercial strategic purpose. Ann holds a BA degree in Applied Science, a BS degree in Mechanical Engineering, and a Master’s of Engineering degree in Manufacturing Systems. Most recently Ann has completed a Certificate of Sustainability from the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership. Currently she is on the Boards or the UNGC Network USA and Flow Beverages.

Anthony is President and CEO of Siemens Financial Services, the U.S. financial arm of Siemens. Previously, Casciano served as CEO of the global Industry and Healthcare Finance business at SFS, overseeing the growth of SFS’s activities in the global healthcare and industrial markets in addition to managing the global leveraged finance business across all industries. Throughout his tenure, Casciano built a global equity business, namely with infrastructure finance expertise.

Barbara Humpton is President and CEO of Siemens Corporation, where she guides the company’s strategy and engagement in serving the company’s largest market. Siemens USA employs approximately 40,000 people serving customers in all 50 states and Puerto Rico and generated $17 billion in revenue in fiscal year 2020. She views the true purpose of technology as expanding what is humanly possible. She is also passionate about diversity, STEM education and what she calls a work life blend that honors her priorities both at Siemens and as a grandmother.

Barbara serves on the board of directors of the American Heart Association Greater Washington Region, Triumph Group, National Association of Manufacturers, Chief Executives for Corporate Purpose, Economic Club of Washington, D.C. and the Seabee Memorial Scholarship Association.

Cyrill is an award-winning designer and brand/product developer. In 1998 he created a method called Cross Intelligence, which brings a culture of collaboration to major organizations. In 2012 he decided to focus on a new client vital to us all: the oceans. He founded Parley for the Oceans as a collaboration network for creators, thinkers and leaders to raise awareness for the beauty and fragility of the oceans and to develop and implement strategies that can end their destruction. Parley and their partners won the Grand Prix for Product Design at Cannes Lions, two D&AD Pencils and an ADCN Grand Prix in 2014. Gutsch was named 2017 Environmentalist of the Year by the Surf Industry Manufacturers Association for his tireless work for the oceans. In 2018, Parley was named Environmental Organisation of the Year at EARTHx and Gutsch was honored with a Special Recognition Award for Innovation by the British Fashion Council. In 2019, Gutsch was inducted into the UBS Global Visionary community – a select group of leading entrepreneurs and individuals working towards one or more of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals.

I am a PhD physicist who has spent my career working towards fusion energy. I was one of the leaders of the team that achieved fusion ignition on the National Ignition Facility laser — which was an important step towards fusion energy. I have over 200 publications in scientific journals, am a Fellow of the APS, and recently received the Fusion Power Associates leadership award.

Denise Lee leads a team that is defining Cisco’s long-term sustainability vision and roadmap, building new business blueprints and embedding prototype offers across multiple portfolios. She and her team collaborate across every function of the business to develop and create integrated capabilities that serve as the foundation to incubate and scale sustainable products that accelerate the journey to net zero for Cisco, its customers and partners.

Dr. Sweta Chakraborty is a risk and behavioral scientist who is regularly interviewed on major, international news media outlets like CNN, the BBC, MSNBC, etc. Sweta is the US President for We Don’t Have Time, the world’s largest review platform for climate solutions. She is a partner at Pioneer Public Affairs and is on the steering committee of the Global Commons Alliance. She is an Independent Director at Lightbridge Corp. where she chairs their ESG committee, and is on several advisory boards like the New York Academy of Sciences and Climate Power. She is a book author from her time as a postdoc at Oxford University. She is a TEDx, SXSW, and globally recognized keynote speaker and consultant for multinational companies like Goldman Sachs and Mercer.

My mission is to scour the globe for technologies that can transform the Lufthansa Group airlines towards a more sustainable future operation, and then implement them into our organization. The CleanTech Hub focuses on scaling and commercializing homegrown tech from within the group companies and establishing partnerships with startups and corporates in the areas of aircraft retrofits, SAF and alternative fuels, digital solutions, waste and circular economy, and everything between and beyond, comprising new powertrains, hydrogen, electric, hybrid, etc. I have a background in logistics, aviation, IT, and have lived and worked in 6 countries.

Ezgi Barcenas is AB InBev’s Chief Sustainability Officer since August 2021. Ezgi holds a bachelor’s degree in Biomedical and Electrical Engineering from Vanderbilt University, a master’s degree in Environmental Health from Harvard School of Public Health and an MBA from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Since joining the company in 2013 through the Global MBA Program, Ezgi has held key roles within the Corporate Affairs and Procurement functions. She most recently served as the Global Vice President of Sustainability. Prior to joining AB InBev, she worked in international trade, public health and international development.

Frank Reig is the CEO and Co-Founder of Revel, a Brooklyn-born company that’s accelerating EV adoption by providing the infrastructure and services that make it easy to go electric. Prior to Revel, Frank held senior roles in the energy and corporate sustainability sectors, most recently leading the North American Energy, Industrials & Real Estate Product Team at the Gerson Lehrman Group. Frank received an MPA in Environmental Science and Policy from Columbia University and also holds a Culinary Arts degree from the Culinary Institute of America and a Bachelor of Science degree from Rutgers University.

Kizzy Charles-Guzman is the Executive Director of the NYC Mayor’s Office of Climate and Environmental Justice. Her team delivers climate leadership and programs focused on sustainability, decarbonization, brownfields remediation, resiliency and environmental justice. Kizzy has spent over 15 years of her New York City service career developing and delivering work at the intersection of environmental policy, public health, and racial equity. She led the development of Cool Neighborhoods NYC, the city’s first strategy to address the impacts of rising temperatures and heat waves, and several adaptation initiatives to ensure that NYC residents are ready to withstand and emerge stronger from the impacts of climate change. Kizzy served as a Deputy Director at the NYC Mayor’s Offices of Sustainability and Climate Resiliency, as Director of the Climate Change and Health Program at the NYC Department of Health, and as Policy Advisor on Air Quality during the Bloomberg Administration. She received the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Environmental Quality Award and a Champion of Change Award from the U.S. White House in recognition of her work. She is a graduate of Carleton College and the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor.

As Head of Sustainability for Siemens USA, Matt is responsible for advancing the company’s decarbonization on its path toward becoming net zero across all operations by 2030. He manages the implementation of U.S. initiatives, furthering Siemens as an industry leader in sustainability. These initiatives include the ongoing transition to a zero-emission fleet, targeted installation of essential EV infrastructure, empowering renewable energy generation in the U.S. market, deploying distributed energy and energy efficiency projects across key Siemens U.S. sites, and creating partnerships with Siemens’ customers and stakeholders to drive toward common sustainability targets.

Murielle and her team are responsible for the Vodafone Business units in the Europe Cluster and Enterprise Americas & Asia Pacific, including Vodafone’s largest global corporate customers. This includes the strategy and operational execution required to help customers with a large international presence. Murielle has over 23 years of telecommunications experience at CEO level. Joining Vodafone in 2013, she managed Vodacom before becoming President of the Board and CEO of Vodafone Romania.

During her time at Vodafone Romania, she ran projects of high complexity from the acquisition process of UPC services, the transformation of Vodafone Romania into a convergent player in the telecom industry, the launch of the first 5G commercial services in the country and one of the first in Europe to position Vodafone as a trusted partner for digitisation both for the public and private sector.

As Director of the SME Climate Hub, Pamela works with international partners, multinational companies and governments to accelerate a global movement and develop a one-stop-shop platform mobilizing small and medium-sized enterprises to take climate action on net zero. Pamela previously served as Head of City Business Climate Alliances at C40, where she was responsible for expanding C40’s service offering to member cities relating to the acceleration of climate solutions with local and global businesses. Her experience also includes initiating and leading multi-partner programs focused on innovation and sustainability for Virgin Unite, the non-profit arm of the Virgin Group, and University of the Arts London.

Spencer Reeder leads Government Affairs and Sustainability at Audi of America and is responsible for Audi’s public policy voice in the U.S. on zero-emissions vehicles, EV charging infrastructure, and associated energy sector issues. Spencer has a background in engineering, geophysics, climate science, and policy spanning academia, industry and government. He served as a lead author on the 2014 U.S. National Climate Assessment and earlier as Lead Policy Strategist for Climate Change for the state of Washington. Spencer led Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen’s philanthropic investments in climate, energy, and transportation. Earlier in his career he held research and engineering roles at The Boeing Company. Spencer was twice selected as a finalist for NASA’s astronaut program and holds degrees in Chemical Engineering and Aerospace Engineering Sciences.