Whoa, Day 3. We explored what we’re fighting for, not just against. And took that one (small, big, or medium) step forward together.

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Welcome: Gateway

The stories holding us back

Cultural barriers are built by our stories—which means that what we tell ourselves and each other can either limit or expand the possibilities. This session will explore how stories drive culture, and then how culture shapes our behavior and what we consider “normal.” We’ll explore how myths and norms have changed before, and question which ones might be holding us back now.

  • Panelists: Brandon Schauer (SVP U.S. Climate Change @Rare.org) and Bristol Baughan (Executive Producer of Emmy-winning and Oscar-Nominated films and Founder @Inner Astronaut)

  • Moderator: Heidi Hackemer (Executive Creative Director, North America @Oatly)

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Disrupting culture through media

Culture is entirely man-made, which means it can be un-made and re-made. As humans, the only thing we're really constrained by is physics and biology. The rest is negotiable. To start, all we have to do is imagine it. What are cultural undercurrents and how can we use them to move toward a better future? This session will deep dive into the role and influence of media and entertainment and how we might unlock alternate pathways.

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Imagine alternate futures: Home, wellbeing, and collaboration

Let’s explore our universal need for home and belonging alongside visions for wellbeing for all life. Consider what it might look like to collaborate with each other or with nature? What can we create? Gather around for stories from a variety of visionary creators, entrepreneurs, designers, and scientists with big ideas and for the future we can realize.

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Optimism as a strategy

It's easy to fall back into thinking how you—just one person—could make a big enough difference. But that’s where stubborn optimism and teamwork come in. Explore the many paths and options we have and how exactly you can help fill in the gaps and contribute to the domino effect of change.

  • Guides: Smita Satiani (Public Policy @X the moonshot factory and Adjunct Climate Innovation Instructor @Carnegie Mellon Policy Innovation Lab) and Kyla Westphal (Climate Tech Marketing @X the moonshot factory)

Closing: Plan your next steps

Every single step counts.

Community conversations

Let’s recap today, and the entire conference, and re-focus on how we’re moving forward, together. We got this.

DAY 3 SPEAKERS

 

Smita Satiani

Smita Satiani has worked on climate change and internet connectivity projects at X, Alphabet’s moonshot factory, for the last three years. She also serves as an adjunct professor in Sustainability and Policy at Carnegie Mellon University. Previously, she served as deputy director for the White House’s Presidential Innovation Fellows, a program started by President Obama focused on social impact, design, and technology. Her work has been featured at the MIT Media Lab, the New York Tech MeetUp, and in Forbes.com, TechCrunch, and The Wall Street Journal.

Workshop: Optimism as a strategy

Alexandria Villaseñor

Alexandria Villaseñor is a climate activist living in New York City. A follower of the Fridays for Future movement and of fellow climate activist Greta Thunberg, 16-year-old is a co-founder of US Youth Climate Strike and founder of Earth Uprising. Alexandria was named by Global Landscapes Forum as one of 16 Women Restoring the Earth, to mark International Women’s Day.

Replay: Disrupting culture through media

Alex Blumberg

Alex Blumberg is the co-founder of the podcasting media company Gimlet and host of How to Save a Planet, a podcast about solutions to the climate crisis. Before Gimlet, he was a radio journalist for This American Life, and the co-founder of the Planet Money podcast on NPR.

Replay: Disrupting culture through media

Heidi Hackemer

Heidi Hackemer is a dynamic entrepreneur, strategic leader, and inspirational team builder with a proven track record of helping companies and people discover their purpose and make an impact on the world. She has served as a trusted advisor and consigliere to some of the world’s top brands, including Nike, Unilever, Google, and now Oatly where she is now the North American Executive Creative Director. She has also advised the Obama White House, served as VP of Engagement for the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, and co-founded the Creative Alliance, an organization that matches social movements with powerful creators to make a positive change in the country.

Replay: The stories holding us back

Bristol Baughan

Bristol Baughan is an Executive Producer of Emmy-winning and Oscar-Nominated films and founded Inner Astronauts to invite people to shift from the relentless pursuit for ""more"" (money, power, love) and into aligned purpose, fulfillment, and creative leadership. She is currently weaving regenerative community in Darby, Montana. She is a TED Fellow and served as a delegate for the State Department Documentary Showcase in China and as an intern at the White House.

Replay: The stories holding us back

Kristina Reed

Kristina Reed is an Academy Award-winning producer with a 25+ year career in VFX, animation, and immersive entertainment. Kristina Reed leads teams to create emotionally resonant stories in highly technical pipelines. She's pivoting to apply her large project experience to the fight against climate change.

Replay: Disrupting culture through media

Allison Begalman

Allison Begalman is an LA-based activist, entrepreneur, and writer. She's the co-founder and CEO of YEA! Impact, a social impact marketing consultancy, and co-founded the Hollywood coalition, Young Entertainment Activists. She is the Executive Producer of the annual Hollywood Climate Summit. Allison has worked at companies such as CAA and Annapurna Pictures and on series such as AMC’s PREACHER, and Hulu’s MONSTERLAND. Allison is also a screenwriter represented by Alison Mann at Fourth Wall.

Replay: Disrupting culture through media

Martin Wainstein

Martin Wainstein is the founder and Executive Director of the Open Earth Foundation, a research and deployment non-profit focusing on digital innovations and open collaborations around planetary-scale projects such as developing a global climate accounting system—Open Climate. He is also a resident fellow at the Yale Center for Business and the Environment, where he leads the research efforts behind the Yale Open Innovation Lab. He founded the Hyperledger Climate Action and Accounting SIG at the Linux Foundation, and actively advises deep tech startups.

Replay: Imagine alternate futures

Diego Saez-Gil

Diego Saez-Gil is an ecopreneur originally from Argentina. He’s the co-founder of Pachama, a leading technology startup with the mission of restoring nature to solve climate change, by harnessing satellite data, AI and the internet to help drive funding to effective reforestation and nature conservation. Diego has been selected as Technology Pioneers by the World Economic Forum and has been awarded as Innovators 35 Under 35 by the MIT Technology Review. His company Pachama has been awarded as the Most Innovative AI Company of 2021 by FastCompany as well as 20 Most Impactful Startups by Fortune Magazine.

Replay: Imagine alternate futures

Billy Almon

Billy is an Astrobiofuturist, exploring biology-inspired solutions to improve the human condition for those of us on earth and those who will travel to the stars. He speaks to multiple generations of inventors, designers, scientists, and engineers on designing the future they wish to see. Previously, Billy was a creative director at Walt Disney Imagineering, leading efforts to develop immersive experiences and environments around the world. He is an inventor and holds a master's degree in Biomimicry from Arizona State University, sits on the Board of Directors for the Biomimicry Institute, and teaches biomimetic design at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design.

Replay: Imagine alternate futures

Dave Finocchio

Dave Finocchio is the Co-founder and former CEO of the Bleacher Report, one of the most engaged sports media brands in the United States. He scaled Bleacher Report's audience from scratch to well over 100M monthly users across the web, app, newsletters, and social channels. As a business, BR was approaching 200M in annual revenue when he departed in 2019. Finocchio is passionate about leveraging digital content strategies to connect mainstream audiences with the climate crisis.

Replay: Disrupting culture through media

Paul Gambill

Paul is the CEO and one of the co-founders of Nori. In 2015, Paul founded the first known community dedicated to carbon removal called Carbon Removal Seattle. Prior to founding Nori, he was a product manager working at various agencies including Deloitte Digital, where he led teams building mobile apps for Fortune 500 clients including Nike, Showtime, Target, and Starbucks. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Engineering degree from Arizona State University, and his Master of Engineering Management degree from Duke University.

Maddie Hall

Maddie is the CEO & Co-founder of Living Carbon PBC, a climate change biotech company. Living Carbon’s mission is to responsibly rebalance the planet’s carbon cycle using the inherent power of plants. The team develops photosynthesis-enhanced seedlings that capture more carbon and metal accumulating seedlings to clean soil and increase the duration of stored carbon. Prior to Living Carbon, Maddie worked on special projects at OpenAI and held various roles in VC and product management.

Replay: Imagine alternate futures

Christina Agapakis

Christina Agapakis is the creative director of Ginkgo Bioworks, a synthetic biology company based in Boston designing biology for applications from fragrance to farming to pharmaceuticals. Her work brings together diverse perspectives to explore the future of biotechnology.

Replay: Imagine alternate futures

Brandon Schauer

How do you engage Americans in adopting the highest impact behaviors for reducing carbon? Brandon’s program leads that effort at Rare, a non-profit leader in applying behavioral science to conservation challenges. Previously the CEO @adaptivepath, he’s a designer who loves finding a story in the data.

Replay: The stories holding us back

Kyla Westphal

Kyla Westphal is a product and brand marketer with a deep love for technology, impact, and problem-solving. She thrives in ambiguity and brings constant curiosity to my work. Kyla heads up the product marketing function at X, formerly Google [X], where she is focused on helping very early-stage teams of entrepreneurs shape, develop, and launch their nascent brands and products.

Workshop: Optimism as a strategy

Tenzin Seldon

Tenzin Seldon is the Co-Founder & President of The Plant. She has spent her career, over a decade in climate, tech, migration and social enterprise. Tenzin has been at the intersection of building social impact companies, philanthropy and building international refugee policy. Tenzin served as Senior Advisor, Board Member of Earth's Call Fund, in partnership with Lever for Change, which deploys 100 MM for solutions in the climate crisis. She is the founder of Kinstep, a social enterprise platform that connects immigrants to safe and steady jobs across the US.

Replay: Imagine alternate futures

Sasha Rabin

Sasha Rabin is a builder, activist, educator and researcher. She believes housing is a human right and is dedicated to dismantling the barriers that block access to safe, ecologically responsible housing. She is currently the natural building advocacy director at Quail Springs, and founder of Earthen Shelter. She currently sits on the board of directors of the Cob Research Institute where she collaborates on scientific study of earthen building traditions and the solutions they offer for our current housing and climate crisis.