ESG Conference

December 9, 2022
1 to 6 p.m.
Van Munching Hall

Read the Report Overview

Read the sub-sections: Entertainment, Financial Services, Hospitality, Healthcare, Automobile, Consumer Goods and Retail, Energy, Technology, Telecommunications

This year’s ESG Conference is themed around UMD’s first-ever State of Impact Reports. These reports highlight best practices and lessons learned in ESG across industries, featuring cross-cutting research from industry experts, UMD faculty, and alumni. The reports consist of an executive summary, an overview, and nine industry-specific reports. The reports will be released at the conference and embedded into the theme and discussions of the day.

Our goal for this event is to raise awareness of ESG’s impact across industries, highlighting research and practical trends in the impact business space.

Speaker Bios

Tracy Akinade
Associate Director, Community Engagement & Economic Impact
Office of Experiential Learning - Johns Hopkins Carey Business School

Tracy Akinade is a writer, strategist, and communicator rooted in creating sustainable change around diversity, equity, and inclusion within the workplace and throughout the brand experience. In her role as Associate Director, Community Engagement & Economic Impact for the JHU Carey Office of Experiential Learning, she heads the development and mobility of The Johns Hopkins Carey Business School’s community impact programs and initiatives. She cultivates business relationships to deliver on the university’s commitment to DEIB, talent management, and innovation in the region. Tracy leads the Community Consulting Lab - a BIPOC and minority-driven small business accelerator bridging local entrepreneurs and graduate students to create a profitable impact.

Carolyn Berkowitz
President & CEO
Association of Corporate Citizenship Professionals (ACCP)

Carolyn Berkowitz joined ACCP as President and CEO in July 2018. She is a nationally recognized corporate social impact leader who has guided nonprofits, foundations, and Fortune 500 companies to solve complex social issues and realize their greatest impact. Under her leadership, ACCP has grown its corporate membership by 20% and introduced new programs, research, and partnerships for corporate citizenship professionals on topics including racial equity, ESG, and benchmarking. Carolyn was twice named among the “100 Most Influential Business Leaders” in Washington, DC by the Washington Business Journal, earned the Washington Area Women’s Foundation’s Visionary Award, and was appointed by Governor Terry McAuliffe to serve two terms on the Virginia Community College Board. She received her BA in Psychology from GW.

Jenny Brusgul
ESG Practice Leader
CohnReznick LLP

Jenny Brusgul is the ESG Practice Leader at CohnReznick based in the D.C. Metro Area, focusing on driving cross-functional ESG solutions intersecting sustainability and business objectives in the following areas: climate change and decarbonization, supply chain sustainability, social strategy, and governance. Jenny is a seasoned strategy professional with over 20 years of experience in strategy development and execution, mergers & acquisitions, business transformation, and financial accounting. Prior to joining CohnReznick in 2022, Jenny led the ESG Program at KPMG US. Jenny earned her MBA from Northwestern University and attended George Mason University for her undergraduate degree.

Emily Hardin
Director Credit & Underwriting
LISC

Emily Hardin is the Director of Credit and Underwriting for LISC Fund Management, LLC (LFM), a mission-driven real estate and private equity fund manager that deploys impact capital into real estate investments and businesses in underinvested communities across the country. She and her team pursue a range of high-impact investments that create jobs, fuel small businesses, revitalize commercial areas, improve housing, expand local incomes and make communities safer and stronger. Emily received a BA in economics from Cornell University.

Orrin Marcella
Head of U.S. Government Affairs
GE Health Care

Orrin Marcella is an experienced Government Affairs Executive with a demonstrated history of success in Washington and is skilled in policy development, business strategy, communications, and public speaking. Orrin graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Political Science and Government from Mary Washington College.

Ben McGovern
Senior Manager, Global Consulting Solutions
CohnReznick LLP

Ben McGovern is a Senior Manager within CohnReznick’s Global Consulting Solutions practice based out of Philadelphia, PA. Ben has extensive experience helping clients across all industries (e.g., energy and natural resources, private equity, manufacturing and industrials, real estate, technology, and pharmaceuticals and medical devices) assess, design, implement, validate and report on their environmental, social, and governance (ESG) programs.

Sarah Mihalecz
Senior Director, Transaction Acceleration Group at Clean Energy Buyers Association (CEBA)
Clean Energy Buyers Association

Sarah is a Senior Director in the Clean Energy Buyers Association where she is focused on engaging energy customers to support their clean energy deployment. She previously served as head of Sustainability at Tata North America, Senior Manager at Deloitte Consulting, and Sustainability lead at the World Bank. Sarah has spent her career focused on the intersection of business and sustainability and has an undergraduate degree in Environmental Science from James Madison University and a Master’s of Environmental Management from Yale University.

Alpana Mittal
ESG & Social Impact Strategist
Twilio

Alpana specializes in driving social impact and maximizing business value through equitable grantmaking, DE&I, and ESG initiatives. She brings a decade of experience working to create lasting societal change in the areas of racial and environmental equity. Her areas of expertise include ESG impact management and reporting, designing and leading signature CSR programs, and operating corporate foundations. She holds an MBA from Wharton with majors in Strategic Management and Organizational Effectiveness and a graduate certificate in Sustainability. She is also a certified TRUE Advisor and LEED Green Associate, with expertise in climate change, zero waste strategies, and green building practices.

Glenn Noble
Chief Executive Officer
ProudlyGive

Glenn is a proud(ly?) graduate of the University of Maryland. Since his UMD days, his entire career focus has been corporate finance. Decades of deals, documents, bruises, hard knocks, perseverance, and common sense have prepared him for his current CEO responsibilities. He serves as the CEO of Aspen Hill Partners a financial service holding corporation with interests in fintech (B2B), digital payment (B2C), and specialty lending platforms (B2B). He is Co-Founder and CEO at ProudlyGive®  The company is removing impediments to make giving easier. The company’s clients generate no-cost donations and other philanthropic activities by simply capturing them from ubiquitous everyday consumer and corporate expenditures. Its solutions support employers of any size who want to attract and retain employees and build their brand with clients and prospects by “doing well” for local communities. He serves as a Director at Prudent Capital, a Washington, DC-based mezzanine fund, which invests growth capital in later-stage operating companies. Many financings later, its most notable UMD-related transaction was with Under Armour in its early days back in 2001.

Andrew Shaw
Partner
Dentons

Andrew Shaw is a member of the Public Policy practice at Dentons, where he focuses primarily on energy, environmental and US-Canada cross-border issues. He uses his knowledge and experience of Congress and the Executive Branch to provide clients with guidance on federal legislative and regulatory issues, including Clean Air Act (CAA) regulations, climate change mitigation and adaptation, clean energy tax incentives, grid modernization, natural gas, nuclear power, trade, and transportation. In addition, he develops and implements government affairs strategies for domestic and international clients in engaging with Congress, the Executive Branch, industry associations and nongovernmental organizations. Andrew previously worked for the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and graduated from the University of Kansas with his J.D. in Environmental Law. Andrew earned his undergraduate degree from Tulane University.

Keesa Schreane
Author of “Gambling on Green and Corporations. Compassion. Culture.”

Keesa consults companies in a range of industries and sizes in developing ESG and corporate culture policies. She also is author of Gambling on Green: Uncovering the Balance among Revenues, Reputations, and ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) (Wiley, September 2022) and Corporations Compassion Culture: Leading Your Business toward Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (Wiley, 2021).

She is a broadcast television and livestream contributor and writer, who has appeared on numerous outlets including Black Enterprise, Cheddar News, CNBC, CBS, Essence, FinTech TV and Latina. She serves on numerous boards and committees, including Ceres President’s Council.

Keesa is co-founder of Refinitiv Sustainability Perspectives Podcast. Recognized as an industry leader, the show discusses global ESG trends, regulations, and investment strategies with asset managers, asset owners, and c-suite sustainability and corporate officers.

Keesa is a Fundamentals of Sustainability Accounting (FSA) credential holder and is a Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS). She holds a B.A. from Salem College, an M.A. from New York University and received an Executive Education Certificate from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in Investment Strategies and Portfolio Management.

Matt Sekol
Industry Advocate, WW Sustainability
Microsoft

Matt guides companies through digital transformation by delivering sustainability and ESG thought leadership and innovative ideas that challenge the status quo. He also sits on the LP Advisory committee for Morgan Stanley’s Next Level Fund, which invests in diverse-led and founded startups. With a 20-year career supporting technology initiatives across industries, Matt now helps global companies understand complex ESG concepts from his time supporting Capital Markets and hopes to help everyone drive impact. For more information on Matt’s sustainability and ESG work, check his Linktree.

Andrew Snowhite
Chief Strategy & Sustainability Officer
Snowhite Strategies

Andrew fosters business growth through innovating scalable ESG initiatives across the built environment, real estate, and consulting sectors. A few of his achievements include leading ocean, energy, and public diplomacy-focused public-private-partnerships for the U.S. Department of State in Kazakhstan and South Korea and co-founding an environmental consultancy with Philippe Cousteau, advising him on his ocean-focused EarthEcho International non-profit. Andrew received a BA in Environmental Science from the University of Virginia where he was a National Science Scholar, and a Master of Natural Resources from the Center for Leadership in Global Sustainability at Virginia Tech. Andrew is an accredited LEED Green Associate of the U.S. Green Building Council.

Deepika Yadav
Project Manager: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
International Finance Corporation

Deepika is passionate about the intersection of business and social value creation with expertise in business development for non-profits, consulting with entrepreneurs in emerging markets, and international development. She is currently a project manager for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at the International Finance Corporation, which is a member of the World Bank Group, and the largest global development institution focused exclusively on the private sector in developing countries. Deepika received her Bachelor of Engineering in Electronics and Telecommunications Engineering from Savitribai Phule Pune University and her MBA from UMD Robert H. Smith School of Business in 2019.

Garrett Zink
Senior Manager, Social Impact at Marriott International
Marriott

Garrett Zink is a corporate social responsibility specialist based in Washington, DC. Currently, he is the Senior Manager of Social Impact for Marriott International, where he manages strategic nonprofit partnerships and programs, oversees sustainability and social impact communications, and supports the company's ESG strategy, governance, and reporting. Previously, he worked in the Social Innovation group of WE Communications, supporting large corporations' social responsibility strategies. He is a graduate of the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, where he was a Social Innovation Fellow.