Sustainability
Becoming CarbonSmart
About This Talk
Speakers
Dr Jennifer Holmgren is CEO of the revolutionary carbon recycling company, LanzaTech. Prior to joining LanzaTech, Dr Holmgren was VP and General Manager of the Renewable Energy and Chemicals business unit at UOP LLC, a Honeywell Company. She was one of the key drivers of UOP’s leadership in aviation biofuels, and under her management, UOP technology became instrumental in producing nearly all of the initial fuels used by commercial airlines and the military for testing and certification of alternative aviation fuels. Today, under Dr Holmgren’s guidance, LanzaTech is working towards developing a variety of platform chemicals and fuels, including the world’s first alternative jet fuel derived from industrial waste gases. Dr Holmgren is the author or co-author of 50 US patents and more than 30 scientific publications. In 2003, she was the first woman awarded the Malcolm E. Pruitt Award from the Council for Chemical Research (CCR). In 2010, she was the recipient of the Leadership Award from the Civil Aviation Alternative Fuels Initiative (CAAFI) for her work in establishing the technical and commercial viability of sustainable aviation biofuels. In 2015 Dr Holmgren and her team at LanzaTech were awarded the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Presidential Green Chemistry Award and she was awarded the BIO Rosalind Franklin Award for Leadership in Industrial Biotechnology. Sustainability magazine, Salt, named Dr Holmgren, the world’s most compassionate businesswoman in 2015. In October 2015, Dr Holmgren was awarded the Outstanding Leader Award in Corporate Social Innovation from the YWCA Metropolitan Chicago. Dr Holmgren was named as #1 of the 100 influential leaders in the Bioeconomy by Biofuels Digest for 2016-2017.
Jillian Manus is an experienced banking and media executive, a technology investor and entrepreneur. She is Managing Partner of an early stage Silicon Valley venture fund, Structure Capital. Branded” Architects of the Zero Waste Economy” they invest in underutilized assets and excess capacity. Jillian serves on numerous boards including: Stanford University Digital Health, Stanford University School of Medicine Board of Fellows, Advisory Board of Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Fuqua School of Business at Duke University, NASDAQ Entrepreneurial Center Board of Directors, NYU Tisch School of the Arts, and Communities in Schools. Prior to Structure Capital, Jillian was Founder of Broad Strategy, Manus Media and Global Goal Sports Management. She served as Co- Director of TMT for Credit Suisse Zurich, and Director of Development for Universal and Warner Bros and Associate Publisher of the national publication Upside, reporting on the financial strategies of the technology industry. As a frequent global public speaker, Jillian provides business and political commentary in the media, primarily on CNBC’s Squawk Alley and Bloomberg Business news. She also co-hosts Gimlet Media’s business podcast “The Pitch.” Ms. Manus attended The University of Oxford & NYU, where she served on the Board of Trustees. Throughout her careers, she has been a strong advocate for inclusion and diversity, frequently speaking on the topic of “Investing in Values, not just Valuations”.