Malawi Leadership Program
An Intensive Environmental Education and Leadership Program for Secondary Students
30 students joined a training to connect them to Malawi's most pressing environmental issues.
They also learned critical leadership and creative problem strategies that they can utilize in the communities.
Launchpad Summit Speakers
Keynote Speaker
David Gottfried
Founder and CEO, U.S. Green Building Council
David Gottfried is a systems inventor and movement builder, working for thirty years to advance health for the planet and all life.
He is best known as the father of the global green building movement: founding both the U.S. Green Building Council and World Green Building Councils (with GBCs in over half the globe). Gottfried’s work started a new industry classification with hundreds of thousands of green buildings and accredited professionals in more than 160 countries: a trillion dollar market.
Gottfried is the host of the Regen360 iTunes podcast and instructor of BuildMove - a training course to help professionals advance legacy as they create their own movement and boost triple-bottom-line profitability.
Gottfried also serves as the CEO of Reset360 brand of nutritional products and digital courses, following the research and 4 bestselling books of Dr. Sara Gottfried. The goal is to help balance hormones, boost healthspan and live younger.
Prior strategic consulting work under Regenerative Ventures includes serving over 100 leading global corporations such as Dreamworks, Starbucks, Genentech, Apple, Stanford University, the State of California and the Government of China.
Gottfried’s degree is in Engineering and Resource Management from Stanford University. He has received numerous leadership awards, is a global keynote speaker and the author of three books including the award winning bestseller Explosion Green.
Panelists
Dr. Diego Ponce de Leon Barido
Director of Analytics, East Bay Community Energy
Dr. Diego Ponce de Leon Barido is the Director of Analytics at East Bay Community Energy, and CEO of Xinampa. At EBCE Diego is in charge of internal and external data innovation to help meet EBCE’s goals of access to 100% renewable, clean and equitable energy in the East Bay. At Xinampa, he works on developing information and communication solutions and ubiquitous data products monitoring energy waste in the 30 fastest growing economies in the global south, and environmental justice across Latin America. He holds a PhD and M.S in Energy and Resources from UC Berkeley, with a B.A in Economics and a B.S in Civil Engineering. He is a Link Foundation, National Geographic Energy Challenge, and CONACYT-UCMEXUS fellow, and his work has been supported by the USAID Development Impact Lab, the Interamerican Development Bank, and the National Geographic Society among others.
Becca Au
Volunteer Coordinator, National Parks Service
Becca is a first generation Chinese immigrant from Vietnam and has embarked on a long journey through the arts, humanities, and park world. She holds a BA in Fine Arts with a minor in Art History from San Jose State University and a MA in Museum Studies from Durham University in the United Kingdom. Her passions has opened her to jobs at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the New England Aquarium, as an Art Director for an event planning company, a Researcher for an Environmental Education Curriculum Organization, Program Management for an Environmental Consortium in the Bay Area, and finally to the National Park Service where she helps manage the largest Volunteer In Parks Program at the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.
Josheena Naggea
PhD Candidate in
Environment & Resources,
Stanford University
Josheena is a third year doctoral student supporting marine governance in small island states which are facing current impacts of climate change. Her focal area is in the Western Indian Ocean, where she is exploring innovative ways of sustainably managing Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in the Republic of Mauritius, her home country. Her research is situated at the nexus of political ecology and marine policy and focuses on adaptive management of marine protected areas, community inclusion, and the valorization of natural and cultural heritage in marine resource management.
Brian Reyes
Climate & Sustainability
Analyst, San Francisco
Department of the Environment
Brian is a climate and sustainability practitioner with over 16 year of environmental services, government, non-profit/NGO, and academic/research industry experience providing consulting and program management services in the areas of environmental planning and policy, climate action planning and mitigation, outreach and communication strategies, resource recovery and waste programming, and community engagement. Brian also currently works for the City of San Francisco as a Climate and Sustainability Analyst helping steward and implement the City's climate action plan and activities.
