Advisors

Big Room is advised by an international group of sustainability and technology experts:

Jonathon Hanks, Founding Partner, Incite Sustainability
Cheryl Hicks, Manager, World Business Council for Sustainable Development
Jeff Keeler, Head of M&A, Iberdrola Renewables
Ashok Khosla, President, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
Bill Knight, President, Hebb, Knight and Associates
Tom Rotherham, Associate Director, Hermes Equity Ownership Services
David Runnalls, President, International Institute for Sustainable Development
Vanda Scartezini, CEO, ALTIS Software & Services
James Gustave Speth, Professor, Yale University
Peter Sibley, Founder, World Television plc
Chris Walker, Executive Officer (Head of US), The Carbon Trust
Professor Stuart White, Director, Institute for Sustainable Futures

Advisor biographies

Jonathon Hanks, Founding Partner, Incite Sustainability

Jonathon is the founding partner of an independent consultancy Incite Sustainability that specialises in corporate sustainability strategy, stakeholder engagement, and environmental policy and law. Recent clients include leading South African corporations (including Sasol, Engen, Pick n Pay and Anglo American plc), global organizations (such as the World Bank, the UN Global Compact, UNEP and the Global Reporting Initiative), and various national and provincial government departments and NGOs. He is a Senior Associate of the University of Cambridge Programme for Sustainability Leadership, and a Visiting Senior Lecturer at the University of Cape Town’s Graduate School of Business where he lectures on corporate sustainability policy on the MBA and Executive MBA programmes.

Jonathon currently chairs an international multi-stakeholder drafting team that is developing a global standard on social responsibility (ISO 26000) that addresses issues such as human rights, labour standards, environmental management, consumer protection and organizational governance. This is the largest multi-stakeholder negotiating process that has been undertaken by ISO, involving experts from more than 70 countries and six different stakeholder categories.

In 2007 he was responsible for bringing the international Carbon Disclosure Project to South Africa. The UK-based CDP, which provides a coordinating secretariat for 386 institutional investors with combined assets of over $57 trillion under management, seeks information from the world’s largest companies on the business risks and opportunities presented by climate change.

In his spare time he is a microlight pilot, avid hiker and (aspirant) kite-surfer.

Cheryl Hicks, Manager, World Business Council for Sustainable Development

Cheryl Hicks works with WBCSD company members on business and society issues and is the focal point for two workstreams: Sustainable Consumption & Consumers; and Valuation & Capital Markets in the WBCSD’s Business Role Focus Area.

Cheryl leads the WBCSD’s current work on sustainable consumption, exploring the relationship between business activities, consumer behavior and environmental and social challenges. Cheryl is an advisor on sustainable consumption and business issues to Transparence Source & Connect for luxury and jewelry brands.

Cheryl also leads a WBCSD initiative which brings business together directly with financial institutions to accelerate action on valuing sustainability in the capital markets. This initiative builds on the WBCSD’s expertise in sustainability reporting & accountability where Cheryl has been a member of the core team since 2004.

Cheryl has 12 years of business experience spanning the consumer goods, advertising, finance, chemicals, new technologies, NGO and public sectors with 7 years working at the intersection of business and sustainable development. Cheryl is Canadian and throughout her career has worked and lived in Australia, Canada, Colombia, South Korea, and is currently based in Geneva, Switzerland.

Since moving to Geneva in Cheryl has co-founded two professional networks of Geneva-based professionals working on sustainable development and corporate responsibility: CSR Geneva and Sustainable Finance Geneva.

Jeff Keeler, Head of M&A, Iberdrola Renewables

Jeff Keeler is Director of Business Development at Iberdrola Renewable Energies, a worldwide leader in the development of windfarms closing the year with 7,704 MW of operational wind capacity with more than 42,000 MW of projects in the pipeline. Prior to this position, Jeff Keeler was the New England Director of Community Energy, a national leader in voluntary clean energy markets.

Ashok Khosla, President, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)

Since 1983, Chairman of Development Alternatives, a social enterprise headquartered in New Delhi, dedicated to global, national and local sustainable development through innovation of technologies, institutions and policies.

Earlier, set up and headed the Office of Environmental Planning and Coordination, Govt of India – the first national environmental agency in the South.  Subsequently was Director, INFOTERRA, the global information system of the UN Environment Programme.

Was Special Advisor to the Brundtland Commission.  Served as advisor to the United Nations, World Bank, GEF and other inter-governmental and government agencies.

Currently President of the Club of Rome and also President of IUCN.  Has served on several international boards, including the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF), EXPO 2000 in Hannover, IISD, SEI, ANH; also WEF NGO Council and the World Future Council.

Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE).  Won the United Nations Sasakawa Environment Prize 2002, the premier global prize in the field.  Also received the Klaus Schwab Outstanding Social Entrepreneur Award, Stockholm Challenge Award, and the Nehru Award for Popularising Science.

Ashok Khosla graduated from Cambridge University and received his doctorate in experimental physics from Harvard University.  He lectured at Harvard on physics, astronomy and environment.  Has also taught at Yale, MIT, Oxford, Turin, Leiden, JNU, and IITs. He has authored more than 300 papers and articles.

Bill Knight, President, Hebb, Knight and Associates

William G. Knight (Bill) is the President of Hebb, Knight and Associates, a consulting firm based in Canada. He has expertise in emerging marketplace business issues or policy issues, identifying and analyzing patterns in industry/sector and regulatory developments in Canada and abroad.

Prior to joining the firm, he was the Commissioner of the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada from 2001 to 2006 where he was delegated with the authority of a deputy head by the Canadian Federal Government. His Mandate was to oversee 3.24 trillion dollars of financial services related to market conduct. Between 1995 and 2001, Mr. Knight held the position of President and Chief Executive Officer of the Credit Union Central of Canada, where he undertook a number of strategic initiatives in order to distinguish Canadian Credit Unions as the competitive alternative to the banks.

Mr. Knight’s responsibilities included direct oversight of a number of satellite companies integral to the group of financial services offered through the retail credit unions. Mr. Knight was Chairman of the Board of Directors for Credential Group of Companies: Credential Securities Inc., Credential Asset Management, and Ethical Funds Inc. He was a member of the Board of Directors for Canadian Co-operative Agricultural Financial Services, Canadian Co-operative Leasing Services, and served as an Alternate Board Director of the Canadian Payments Association. Mr. Knight was the Chairperson for Canadian Central’s CEOs Advisory Committee.

Mr. Knight also served as a Federal Member of Parliament from 1971 to 1974. As the youngest Member of Parliament, he was elected Chief Whip for the Minority Parliament 1972 to 1974 and served as a member of the House Finance Committee during an important tax reform period. He was also a member of the Regional Development and Public Accounts Committees, and the committee responsible for overseeing the Foreign Investment Review Agency. He received the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal for excellence in Public Service on behalf of Canada.

Mr. Knight presently serves on the Desjardins Advisory board; the Board of Directors of AIG United Guarantee (Canada); the Board of Directors of Citizens Bank of Canada; as an advisor to the World Bank affiliate – C-Gap, the Canadian credit union system and CCAs International Development branch.

Tom Rotherham, Associate Director, Hermes Equity Ownership Services

Tom Rotherham is currently Associate Director, Hermes Equity Ownership Services. Previously, he was Head of Corporate Responsibility at Radley Yeldar, a UK-based corporate communications consultancy, where he leads a team of four CR consultants. Clients range from FTSE100 global companies to UK-oriented small-cap firms.

Tom is also a Senior Advisor to the UN Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI). Tom was part of the expert group that helped to develop the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), an investor-led initiative with over 360 signatories representing over $15 trillion of assets.

Prior to joining Radley Yeldar, Tom spent 10 years advising governments and multinational companies on sustainable development, trade, standardisation and eco-labelling. During this time, Tom worked for and with a number of international organisations including IUCN-The World Conservation Union; the UN Environment Programme (UNEP); the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD); the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD); the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD); and the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO).

Tom was IISD’s representative in ISO TC207 (Environmental Management Systems and Tools) and is presently part of the leadership team of the ISO Working Group developing an international standard on Social Responsibility (ISO26000).

Tom studied economics at McGill University, Montreal, Canada. He has also undertaken research at INSEAD, and is a guest-lecturer in the MSc programme on Environmental Sciences at Imperial College, London.

David Runnalls, President, International Institute for Sustainable Development

David Runnalls is President of IISD. He is a member of the Board of the Institute of Advanced Studies of the United Nations University. He is a member of the Advisory Council for Export Development Canada; a member of the Council for Sustainable Development Technology Canada; and a member of the Ivey Business School Leadership Council. He also serves on the Inquiry Team for Tomorrow’s Global Company, the SAM/SPG Leadership award, the International Sustainability Innovation Council of Switzerland (ISIS), and the Shell Report External Review Committee.

He has served as Co-Chair of the China Council Task Force on WTO and Environment. Runnalls was the Leopold Fellow at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and a member of the federal External Advisory Committee on Smart Regulation (EACSR). He served as Chair of the Adjudication Panel for the ALCAN Prize for Sustainability.

Runnalls has served as Senior Advisor to the President of the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) in Ottawa, Canada, and to the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme. He was Director of the Environment and Sustainable Development Programme at the Institute for Research on Public Policy in Ottawa. He worked with Barbara Ward to found the International Institute for Environment and Development and directed both its London and Washington offices.

Runnalls was the Canadian Board member of IUCN-the World Conservation Union for six years and the Chair of the Committee for the World Conservation Congress in 1996. He served as a member of the Boards of the World Environment Center (New York), IIED (London) and Pollution Probe (Toronto).

An occasional writer and broadcaster, he has served as environment columnist for the CBC radio program, As it Happens and for CTV’s Canada am. He was a member of the Discovery Channel’s regular environment panel and political columnist for the Earth Times, the paper of record for the United Nations Earth Summit in 1992.

Vanda Scartezini, CEO, ALTIS Software & Services

Vanda Scartezini is an Electronics Engineer and a Brazilian citizen, and graduated from college in 1970. Since then she has held many management positions with private technology companies and public institutions.

She is the co-founder of and has been an active partner in Polo Consultores, a Brazilian IT consulting company, since 1985. She also acts as President of Altis, a Software & Service outsourcing company and as chair of the board of FITEC, an ICT R&D foundation. She is also an associate partner of Getulio Vargas Foundation Projects and member of the board of ABES, the Brazilian Software Industry Association.

She served as National Secretary of Industrial Technology and as National Secretary of Information Technology in the Brazilian Federal Government. She is also former President of the Brazilian Patent Office. From 2000 until March 2004 she was the Brazilian representative on the ICANN Governmental Advisory Committee. She also served as GAC Vice Chair until March 2004.

She has acted as Brazilian Government representative in many international missions around the world as well as an expert and consultant for international institutions. She was honored with many of the major prizes in the Brazilian IT Industry. She is also honorable member of Abranet, the IST Brazilian Association, and of the Brazilian Chamber of Electronic Commerce. Among other ICT associations, she is also a member of WTN – World Technology Network.

Peter Sibley, Founder, World Television plc

Peter Sibley is the founder of World Television plc, Europe’s leading moving image communications company. The company was established in 1992 and employs over 125 media professionals in six countries. It provides consultancy, high quality video content production and on-line technical intelligence to help clients actively manage their internal and external global image.

The company works with over 250 of the world’s most visible organisations, blue-chip multinationals and governments including WWF International, World Economic Forum, European Space Agency, Sony, Microsoft, British Government and the Nobel Peace Prize. Over the last 17 years Peter has been the CEO and Vice-Chairman of the Group and took the company public on the London Stock Exchange in 2004. It has recently returned to become a private company. He currently serves on the Board of World Television as a Non-Executive Director. He is a member of the Institute of Directors (IoD) in Paris and London, and a member of the Society of Authors.

Peter has previously worked for Greenpeace International, WWF International, Reuters and Ogilvy and Mather. He’s also created and produced award-winning television series including ‘Take A Minute’ for MTV, and ‘The Business of Development’ for CNBC.

Peter has lived and worked close to Geneva, Switzerland since 2001.

James Gustave Speth, Professor, Yale University

James Gustave Speth is Sara Shallenberger Brown Professor in the Practice of Environmental Policy at Yale where he served as Dean of the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies from 1999 to 2009. From 1993 to 1999, Dean Speth was Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme and chair of the UN Development Group.

Prior to his service at the UN, he was founder and president of the World Resources Institute; professor of law at Georgetown University; chairman of the U.S. Council on Environmental Quality; and senior attorney and cofounder, Natural Resources Defense Council.

Throughout his career, Dean Speth has provided leadership and entrepreneurial initiatives to many task forces and committees whose roles have been to combat environmental degradation, including the President’s Task Force on Global Resources and Environment; the Western Hemisphere Dialogue on Environment and Development; and the National Commission on the Environment.

Among his awards are the National Wildlife Federation’s Resources Defense Award, the Natural Resources Council of America’s Barbara Swain Award of Honor, a 1997 Special Recognition Award from the Society for International Development, Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Environmental Law Institute and the League of Conservation Voters, and the Blue Planet Prize.
He holds honorary degrees from Clark University, the College of the Atlantic, the Vermont Law School, Middlebury College, and the University of South Carolina. Publications include The Bridge at the Edge of the World: Capitalism, the Environment, and Crossing from Crisis to Sustainability, Global Environmental Governance, Red Sky at Morning: America and the Crisis of the Global Environment, Worlds Apart: Globalization and the Environment and articles in Foreign Policy, Foreign Affairs, The Nation, The Harvard Business Review, and other journals and books.

Professor Speth currently serves on the boards of the Natural Resources Defense Council, World Resources Institute, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Population Action International, The Center for Humans and Nature, 1Sky, and Climate Central.

In July 2010, Professor Speth will join the faculty of the Vermont Law School in South Royalton, Vermont.

Chris Walker, Executive Officer (Head of US), The Carbon Trust

Chris Walker is currently Head of US operations at The Carbon Trust. Prior to joining The Carbon Trust, Chris was Director for North America for The °Climate Group. Previously, Chris was Head of Swiss Re’s Sustainability Business Development. Here he ran the unit responsible for developing commercial applications to Swiss Re Sustainability commitments and, in particular, business opportunities in sustainability, ecosystem markets, emissions reductions and renewables.

Chris also served as a North American Sustainability Officer and government affairs liaison on climate change/GHG emissions issues. While based at Swiss Re’s Zurich headquarters, he created and advanced from concept to initiation the company’s Greenhouse Gas Risk Solutions unit, specialising in Greenhouse Gas risk mitigation and opportunity innovation. In 2000, he created and led Swiss Re Group’s worldwide GHG emissions market feasibility study determining the market facilitation role for Swiss Re.

An attorney, Chris was appointed to the California Climate Change Advisory Commission, and is a member of Environmental Entrepreneurs (E2), on the board of advisors for New Energy Finance publication, the Panama Canal Watershed Business Plan project at Yale University and the Climate Change Futures Study with Harvard University/ UNDP.

Chris received his BA in Government from St. John’s University, attended the Institute on Comparative Political and Economic Systems at Georgetown and is also a graduate of the St. John’s School of Law. Prior to joining Swiss Re in 1996, he practiced law in New York and New Jersey.

Professor Stuart White, Director, Institute for Sustainable Futures

Professor Stuart White is the Director of the Institute for Sustainable Futures. He has worked and undertaken research in sustainability for over twenty years, specialising in the use of least cost planning for utilities and the advocacy, design, implementation and evaluation of programs for improving resource use efficiency.

At the Institute, and previously as Director of Preferred Options (Asia-Pacific) Pty Ltd, he designed or implemented three of Australia’s largest water efficiency programs, in Kalgoorlie Boulderin Western Australia, in northern New South Wales and in Sydney. In 1998 he was appointed as a member of the NSW Task Force on Water Conservation and in 2001 as a member of the Expert Panel on Environmental Flows for the Hawkesbury Nepean.

In 2000 he was requested by the NSW Minister for the Environment to undertake an Independent Review of Container Deposit Legislation and has written and presented widely on sustainable futures including taxation, participatory decision-making and public policy.