About Global Electronics Council

Cara supports and manages the oversight of EPEAT’s Conformity Assurance Bodies and their participating manufacturers, by providing program support, technical expertise, quality management functions and training to ensure consistent implementation of EPEAT criteria and policies.

Cara has over ten years of experience in ecolabeling and conformity assurance programs, working with manufacturers around the world in a wide range of industries, including: chemical products, renewable energy, electronics, building materials and furniture. Prior to this role, Cara managed the EPEAT registration and verification processes for GEC’s Conformity Assurance Body. Before joining GEC, Cara worked as a Program Manager of an internationally recognized ISO 14024 Type I ecolabel. Cara has extensive experience in building and training teams and promoting the growth of sustainable manufacturing.

Cara is Lean Six Sigma Green Belt certified and has a Master of Business Administration and a Bachelor of Science from Carleton University. She is based in Ottawa, Ontario.

As GEC’s Director of HR and Administration, Julia leads the strategy, execution, and delivery of human resources and employee-related administrative activities with an emphasis on GEC’s commitment to staff development and work/life balance. Julia has over twenty years of experience in human resources and administration and has devoted her career to the public and non-profit sectors. She received her BA in Spanish and International Studies from the University of Oregon.

Patty oversees the criteria development process, strategy, and team at GEC for new and existing EPEAT product categories as well as other GEC initiatives. She leads the initiative to transform the GEC criteria development process into a more efficient, agile, science-driven process that engages broad and diverse stakeholders and experts. Her team is responsible for the ongoing surveillance and development of new product categories, preparing State of Sustainability Research on the sustainability impact of electronics and strategies to mitigate the impacts, managing multi-stakeholder processes that build and maintain sustainability criteria for implementation on the EPEAT Registry, and developing GEC’s electronics environmental benefits calculator. She joined GEC in 2016, bringing a deep understanding of consensus-based criteria development and a long history with EPEAT. She has been involved in the standards that form the foundation of EPEAT since its inception, first as a stakeholder invited to participate in the development of the initial computer standard, and subsequently, in leadership positions for the television, server, and photovoltaic standards.

Patty has over thirty years of research, facilitation, and program management experience in standards development, environmental policy, and business strategy with extensive work in electronics, plastics, and packaging. Before joining GEC, Patty was an independent consultant, a part-time program manager at the Northeast Recycling Council, where she managed the State Electronics Challenge and Toxics in Packaging Clearinghouse, and a research associate at Tufts University. Patty holds a master’s degree in Civil Engineering with a concentration in Environmental Engineering from Tufts University, and a bachelor’s degree in Biology from Tufts University.

Erik plays a critical role in the communications and promotion of GEC. He strengthens and deepens connections to its stakeholders around the world, with an emphasis on designing and executing both live and virtual events. He also specializes in the creation of compelling content and managing digital communications.

His experience covers both traditional print and digital marketing and communications. Prior to joining GEC, Erik was the Marketing Coordinator at Binary Fountain, which ranked as the 7th fastest-growing Virginia tech company on the 2020 Inc. 5000 List.

Erik has a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Entrepreneurship from North Carolina State University.

As Director of Finance, Val is responsible for managing the financial functions of the organization. Val ensures the integrity of the organization’s financial information and partners with senior management to develop sound fiscal plans that support and maintain GEC’s programs.

Val brings over 20 years of combined financial reporting experience with over 10 years in the nonprofit sector. Her experience ranges from small, privately held companies to Fortune 500 corporations across a variety of industries including professional services, commercial real estate, specialty insurance, and distribution.

Val holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Wright State University, a Master’s of Professional Accountancy from Indiana University – Indianapolis, a certificate in Sustainable Business Practices from UC San Diego, and is working towards her professional certification from the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Academy.

As Director, Global Development, Debbie Graham-Clifford drives and measures purchaser demand and manufacturer supply for sustainable IT products and services. Debbie is a sustainability professional who most recently worked with Sims Lifecycle Services, assisting global clients by maintaining transparency in their global supply chain related to the disposition of IT assets.

She has landed million-dollar contracts and grown a global subcontractor network by 150% across Canada and Latin America. She pushed to move the organization into the global space, championed a global service delivery model process, and forged impactful partnerships with Fortune 500 enterprises to devise strategies to drive revenue back into their businesses utilizing innovative recycling methods and reuse and resale opportunities. Debbie recently completed an Executive & Organizational Leadership Program through UC Davis Continuing and Professional Education.

Gabrielle ensures the credibility and success of GEC’s EPEAT Program by providing high-level oversight of GEC-approved Conformity Assurance Bodies (CABs), including auditing, training, and performance management. She also supports ongoing continuous monitoring of EPEAT-registered products, and the implementation, maintenance, and continuous improvement of EPEAT’s quality management system to meet internal needs and external accreditation requirements.

Gabrielle has broad-ranging experience across multiple facets of sustainability, including regulatory compliance with environmental standards, corporate greenhouse gas accounting and emissions reductions target-setting, and product life cycle assessments. Prior to this role, Gabrielle worked as the program manager of a global carbon neutrality ecolabel, supporting hundreds of businesses in developing and maintaining sustainability initiatives for their products, activities, and enterprises. Gabrielle holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of Wisconsin – Madison where she majored in conservation biology.

As Senior Manager, EPEAT Registry Product Lead, Kim creates synergies between organizational strategy, customer experience, and software development as core drivers of growth for the EPEAT Registry and GEC.

Kim brings 15 years of experience leading projects and process improvement initiatives across a variety of industries. Most recently, she maintained the continuous alignment of a portfolio of commercial real estate projects to revitalize the town center in Columbia, MD. As a project leader, Kim has a bias for action and takes a holistic approach to problem solving, leveraging her training in design thinking, systems practice, and agile and lean methodologies.

Kim holds a Master of Science in Management and Predictive Analytics from the University of Maryland Global Campus, and a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from the University of Maryland at College Park. She is passionate about the intersection of sustainability and regenerative community development and plans to pursue doctoral studies researching key drivers of social impact in those fields.

Susan oversees GEC’s ecolabels and manufacturer resources and ensures that the veracity of products registered under the EPEAT ecolabel can be relied on by institutional purchasers, and that brands have the training, resources, and underlying support needed to participate. As a member of GEC’s senior leadership team, she works collaboratively with the CEO to set and drive GEC’s mission and vision, organization-wide goals, operational strategy, and hiring needs.

Susan has more than 25 years of experience managing the policies and processes needed for successful ecolabels. She has designed and implemented conformity assessment programs, helped build capacity through training and education, performed lifecycle-based research for sustainability leadership standards, and overseen large multi-stakeholder engagement processes. She has worked with a wide range of clients worldwide in a diverse range of industry value chains including electronics, renewable energy, forestry pulp and paper, consumer packaged goods, and consumer chemical products. Her focus has been to find practical approaches to their unique sustainability challenges.

Prior to joining GEC, Susan worked with TerraChoice to ensure the organization’s assurance and advisory services had the scientific rigor and responsiveness depended on by government, purchasers, and the public. She also managed the EcoLogo Program, the world’s second-oldest Type I ecolabel; spearheaded the development, implementation, and launch of a new validation-services subsidiary; and oversaw all scientific and technical activities relating to TerraChoice’s diverse suite of programs.

Susan holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University and undertook postgraduate studies in mechanical and biomedical engineering at the University of Toronto. She spends her time in both Ottawa, Ontario, and Portland, Oregon.

Maythavee Tjhang is Manager, Global Marketing Communications. In this role, she supports both international and U.S.-based GEC initiatives with a focus on content development, digital promotions, and logistics for GEC training and external events.

Maythavee has more than 8 years of digital marketing and design experience. Prior to GEC, she was Digital Brand Manager for Inland Pipe Rehabilitation, a pipe rehabilitation company focused on sustainable restoration methods. During her college career, she volunteered with multiple nonprofit organizations such as the Borgen Project, Sierra Club, and the Repurpose Project.

She has a Master’s Degree in International Business and a BA in Business Administration with a Mass Communications minor from the University of Florida.

Katherine plays a critical role in ensuring the credibility of the EPEAT Program, and supports manufacturers as they seek to increase the availability of sustainable electronics globally. Katherine manages the continuous monitoring EPEAT-registered product claims, develops EPEAT policies and implementation guidance regarding conformity assurance and technical decision-making, and expands the tools and resources available to participating manufacturers.

Katherine has over 10 years of experience as a sustainability professional, providing customized sustainability advice and solutions to a wide variety of organizations and industries ranging from multinational food and beverage companies, and technology sector clients, to small non-profits. Prior to joining GEC, Katherine lead the extended producer responsibility and recycling efforts at a large global retailer. Having served as the Secretariat Manager of the Global Ecolabelling Network for several years, Katherine has a deep appreciation and understanding of the very important role ecolabels play in increasing the production and consumption of more sustainable products.

Katherine holds a Master of Science in Environmental Policy from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and a Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Science from Queen’s University. She resides in Ottawa, Canada and spends most of her down time exploring the city with her young family.

As Director, Sustainability Criteria Development, Erica leads the development of lifecycle, science-based sustainability criteria for GEC ecolabel product categories, as well as other GEC tools and resources to enable sustainable procurement.

Erica has over 25 years of professional experience in the environment, health, safety, and sustainability field.  Her environmental policy and standards development work in particular includes participating as a stakeholder in the development of the original IEEE 1680.2 imaging equipment standard and serving as co-chair of the environmentally sensitive materials subgroup (IEEE 1680.2/1680.3 combined working group) for the EPEAT ecolabel. She has experience executing workplace chemical exposure risk assessments and leading environment, health and safety audit teams, as well as facilitating product environmental compliance, specifically e-waste, chemical material restrictions, and ecolabels. For the past decade, Erica has worked across disciplines and geographies to facilitate the development and communication of consensus policy positions for a range of product environmental issues in the ICT industry, from eco-design to responsible end-of-life.

Prior to joining GEC, Erica held various positions including Senior Director of Policy with the Information Technology Industry Council (ITI) and most recently as a Senior Product Environment Regulatory Engineer with Dell Technologies. Erica has a B.S. from Rochester Institute of Technology, an M.S. from the University of Rochester, and a master’s in International Public Policy (MIPP), environmental policy focus from Johns Hopkins University.

As Chief Executive Officer of the Global Electronics Council, Bob provides leadership and strategic oversight of the organization to fulfill its vision and mission. He brings a deep background in business & human rights, environmental sustainability, non-profit management and corporate sustainability & programs.

As former Vice President of Human Rights & Environment at the Responsible Business Alliance (RBA), Bob led the strategy development and implementation for responsible business conduct programs in a multi-industry, multi-stakeholder environment. In this role, he drove the inception and launch of significant efforts in areas such as Forced Labor Due Diligence, Decarbonizing Supply Chains, Circularity and Supply Chain Resiliency.

He is a veteran of Hewlett Packard and Hewlett Packard Enterprise, with over a decade and a half working in the sustainability field. Prior to working at the RBA, he was Director, Global Social & Environmental Responsibility at Hewlett Packard Enterprise, leading a team of professionals in human rights, product environmental stewardship, supply chain responsibility and conflict minerals, among other issue areas. Bob also served on the RBA Board of Directors and Advisory Board of Social Accountability International (SAI). He holds an MBA from the University of Arizona, and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia.

Mr. Emmanuel Nwodo is GEC’s Senior Manager, Global Relations. In this role, he drives engagement with stakeholders to stimulate the demand and supply of sustainable IT products and services. He is a project management professional with over eight years of experience in government affairs and business operations.

Prior to joining GEC, Emmanuel worked with NIRSAL. He led a special duties team in partnership with the Togolese Government to establish the Togolese Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending. Earlier in his career, he worked as the Legislative Director to the House of Representatives Chairman on Banking and Currency in the Nigerian National Assembly.

Emmanuel is based in Washington, DC, and holds a Master’s Degree in Public Administration and Public Policy from American University and a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science from Howard University. Emmanuel is also a Certified Prince2 Practitioner in Project Management.

As Senior Director, Strategic Growth, Kaushik Ramakrishnan drives GEC’s long-term impact and growth strategy. As a member of the senior leadership team, he works closely with the CEO and GEC’s leadership to ideate, incubate, and realize high-growth opportunities globally to deliver on the organization’s mission and vision.

Kaushik has more than 20 years of experience working in the private sector and with startups and non-profit organizations across four continents. He is a sustainability professional who has worked extensively on corporate sustainability strategies, sustainable supply chains and climate finance. Prior to joining GEC, Kaushik held leadership roles with Sustainalytics, Rainforest Alliance, IDH – the Sustainable Trade Initiative, Ericsson, Infosys and Pula Advisors.

Kaushik holds an MBA from the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad and a Bachelor of Engineering, Computer Science, from Visvesvaraya Technological University. He currently lives in Ghent, Belgium.

As GEC’s Accounting Manager, Joann supports the Director of Finance with the preparation of financial statements and maintenance of financial systems, assists with legal and regulatory compliance, and manages and promotes adherence to GEC’s internal financial policies and procedures. Joann has over 15 years of experience working as a senior level accountant and over 5 years in management. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting from Christopher Newport University.

As Senior Manager, Technology Assessment and Resource Development, Rachel manages criteria development and maintenance for new and existing technology categories. She works on a full range of activities in GEC’s Category Development function, from developing business cases for new technologies and State of Sustainability research to criteria development and the creation of tools and resources to support the procurement of sustainable electronic products and services.

Rachel has over 12 years of experience partnering with industry to research and assess the sustainability impacts of chemicals, materials, and products. She has worked on projects for the electronics sector and beyond, utilizing a range of techniques, such as product life cycle assessment, and chemical alternatives assessment, to identify opportunities for improvement.

Prior to joining GEC, Rachel served as the Director of Supplier Engagement for the Green Chemistry and Commerce Council, where she facilitated industry and government stakeholder groups to promote the commercialization of safer, more sustainable, chemicals. In this role, as part of the University of Massachusetts Lowell Center for Sustainable Production (LCSP), she also published research on alternatives assessment, a framework to assess the advantages and disadvantages of prospective solutions to replace chemicals of concern.

Rachel holds a Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering with a concentration in Sustainable Manufacturing from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Bachelor’s degree in Applied Math from Sonoma State University.

Shela Gobertina von Trapp is GEC’s Director, Global Relations. In her role, she leads several global initiatives, including the GEC Purchaser Commitment and participation in the Circular Electronics Partnership (CEP).  

Shela brings 20 years of sustainability experience, spanning the nonprofit, government, and corporate sectors. She spent a decade at a retail Fortune 500 company where she was recognized for her contributions toward the development of the office supply industry’s first comprehensive product green rating system and first green reporting analysis tool for customers. She was also significant in the company being awarded the #1 Greenest Large Retailer in America by Newsweek’s Green Rankings three years in a row, as well as assisting on the first Gold-certified LEED for Existing Buildings: Operations and Maintenance in a retail setting. 

Additionally, Shela served on several boards including The Sustainability Project (TSP) in Santa Barbara, California, and SOFEA (Sustainable Office European Association) based in Brussels, as well as being a founding member of the European Commission’s Organization Environmental Footprint (OEF) Retail Pilot.    

Shela holds a Masters in Energy & Environmental Analysis from Boston University. During her collegiate years, she interned at the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) in Washington, DC. 

Amy works with manufacturers in GEC’s Conformity Assurance Body to provide technical support to GEC CAB’s client manufacturers, to ensure that conformity assurance activities are completed, and to complete continuous monitoring rounds.  

Amy has 10 years of experience as a sustainability professional, in industries including regional government, real estate, reclamation/remediation, and standards and certifications. Prior to joining GEC, Amy worked as a project manager for an internationally recognized Type I Ecolabel. She also worked on other ecolabel and certification programs with manufacturers from around the world in industries including electronics, food and beverage, cleaning products, personal care products, furniture, building materials and renewable energy. 

Amy has a bachelor’s in Environment and Business from the University of Waterloo. She is based in Vancouver, BC.    

Trisa currently serves as an Advisor to Pledgeling Inc, a charitable giving platform for the corporate world. In this role, she provides strategic advice on corporate needs, as well as growth opportunity areas for the business. She also serves as an independent board member to CIBO Technologies, a regenerative agriculture tech company.

Trisa retired from Dell Technologies in 2018, where she was a Senior Vice President and the Chief Responsibility Officer from 2008 to 2018. In this role, Trisa created and directed the company’s long-term strategic CSR plan, the 2020 Legacy of Good. Under her leadership, Dell became a global leader in driving innovative circular economy practices. Under her leadership, Dell was recognized for many awards, including, among others, the 2018 CES Innovation Award, 2017 Environmental Leader Award, 2017 Fortune Change the World List, 2014 Keep America Beautiful Award, and the 2015 World Economic Forum Circular Award.

Prior to becoming Dell’s CRO, Trisa was a Senior Vice President in Dell’s legal department. Prior to her time with Dell, Trisa was a partner with Seyfarth Shaw in Washington, DC, where she specialized in federal, state, and local procurement law and litigation.

She earned a J.D. with honors from The National Law Center, George Washington University. She received her bachelor’s degree in Mass Communications from Boston University, magna cum laude.

Richard accelerates collaboration among businesses, governments, and non-profits when they work together to solve big problems. During his career, Richard has worked across the private, public, and civil sectors to co-create high impact solutions to shared problems at lower cost and in less time than traditional approaches. Over the course of his career he has worked with many Fortune 500 firms, foreign and domestic governments, international organizations, chambers of commerce, and numerous large and small non-governmental organizations.

Seeing firsthand how many multi-stakeholder collaborations often fall short of their goals, Richard developed the CollaborateUp Formula to help organizations collaborate more effectively. Richard has a proven track record of engaging stakeholders and leading co-creation initiatives across multiple organizations, sectors, and societies.

Richard serves a Senior Associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and as an adjunct professor at The George Washington University where he teaches public-private partnerships. He served as a Senior Fellow for the US Chamber of Commerce Foundation and as a featured lecturer on social innovation at Georgetown University and the Harvard School of Public Health. He serves on several boards, including the Green Electronics Council, the Listen Learn Care (formerly the Office Depot) Foundation, and the Programme Committee for the UN World Data Forum. Richard is an alumnus of both George Washington and the Harvard Business School.

Mark Buckley founded the One Boat Collaborative in 2018, a sustainability consultancy located in Essex, Massachusetts.

Mark is known a systems thinker bringing diverse groups of stakeholders to the table in uncommon collaboration to address some of business’s most pressing sustainability challenges. He has the ability to identify innovative, practical, pragmatic and scalable solutions in support of a more circular economy unlocking economic, social and environmental potential.

Mark previously directed Staples’ global environmental commitment and sustainable business practices as VP Sustainability. He was responsible for driving the company’s sustainability efforts in five major areas: the development of more sustainable products, packaging and services; customer recycling solutions; internal waste reduction; the development of global carbon reduction and renewable energy strategies; as well as environmental education for customers and associates focused on sustainable business solutions. A 28-year Staples veteran, Buckley had been in this role for 16 years and was previously Vice President of Facilities Management and Purchasing at Staples where he directed company-wide recycling and energy conservation programs. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in biology from St. Anselm’s College. He is an active member of several environmental and non-profit organizations, these included the Advisory Council for the Product Stewardship Institute, Former board member of Earth Force a national environmental education organization and the John Andrew Mazie Foundation, and current board member of the Belantara Foundation and the REMADE Institute.

Currently retired from IBM where he worked during 15 years in the IBM Corporate Environmental Affairs as Manager of Environmental Policy and Programs covering EMEA, ASEAN and Japan. He also managed globally the process to responding to client environmental inquiries, as well as to environmental and sustainability assessment entities and reporting organizations (EcoVadis, Enhesa, C2P, 1-report, BSR, etc.). He also led the gathering and assessment activities of environmental legislation in Latin America.

Following his start in IBM in 1982 in the IBM plant in Valencia (Spain), as Product Safety and Reliability Engineer, he held relevant management responsibilities at country and European level in the environmental, ergonomics, product safety, certification and standards areas. He led the certification of the Valencia Plant operations with ISO 9000 quality standards, and created, managed and achieved national and European certifications of an IBM Product Safety Testing Lab. He was the Management Representative for the ISO 14000 registration of IBM Spain.

He was the Project Manager of the IBM implementation of the EU WEEE directive, Vice Chair of the Steering Committee of the International Electronics Recycling Congress, member of the steering committees of waste and water management trade fairs in Spain and chairman of their Innovation Awards Review Board.

He has been leading environmental legislation advocacy in EU Institutions in sectoral and employers’ associations as Digital Europe/EICTA, Business Europe, and at country level in his home country (AMETIC, CEOE), where he was IBM representative and issue leader. He has also been the IBM representative in different associations and think tanks as Tech America Europe and World Resources Institute.

Also served during four years in the IBM Management Consulting Group as Engagement Manager in the Business Process Re-engineering and Quality Practice with clients in the automotive, banking, car dealership, food processing, airlines, pharmaceutical sectors.

Daniel Kreeger is co-founder and executive director of the Association of Climate Change Officers (ACCO) and has a unique familiarity of climate change and sustainability initiatives being undertaken across the public and private sectors. Dan has led ACCO’s programming efforts since its founding in 2008, as well as the establishment of its certification and training programs. In 2017, Dan co-founded the nation’s first state-run climate change institution, the Maryland Climate Leadership Academy. Dan is a recognized expert on institutionalizing climate change into decision-making in the public and private sectors, and counsels numerous public and private sector entities on building organization-wide capacity on climate change.

Over the years, Dan led ACCO’s partnership with the White House Council on Environmental Quality to twice produce their flagship conference on sustainability in Federal agency operations, the GreenGov Symposium, and also served as a co-founding steering committee member for the consortium that jointly administered EPA’s Climate Leadership Awards from 2012-2015. He has also served as a reviewer for the IPCC 5th Assessment in 2014 and numerous Federal agency grant committees. An accomplished business executive with more than 20 years of cross-functional experience in change management and enterprise business strategies across sectors, Dan focuses upon the human capital, economic and operational implications of environmental and public health issues. Dan serves on the Dean’s Council of Advisors at the FIU College of Architecture and the Arts and frequently lectures at graduate and executive education programs nationwide.

Dr Jeanne Ng is the Founding Chair of the Hong Kong Institute of Qualified Environmental Professionals Limited (HKIQEP) and Director of the CLP Research Institute. Jeanne holds a BSc in Toxicology from the University of Toronto and a PhD in Environmental Management from the University of Hong Kong. Prior to joining CLP, she had accumulated a decade of consulting experience in Hong Kong’s environmental industry as one of Hong Kong’s foremost experts in air and greenhouse gas emissions inventories, including developing Hong Kong’s first greenhouse gas inventory manual for the HKSAR Government.

She joined CLP in 2003 and was involved in starting up its Group Environmental Affairs and Group Sustainability functions. In addition to establishing the foundation for the delivery of CLP’s award-winning Sustainability Report, she was also involved in setting up CLP Group’s first: renewable energy targets, Climate Vision 2050 carbon reduction targets and CLP’s Sustainable Development 2030 targets.

In 2015, she became the Founding Chair of the Hong Kong Institute of Qualified Environmental Professionals (HKIQEP), which was formed to support the development of the environmental professional industry in Hong Kong and beyond.

Her current international engagements include being a Board member of the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory at Arizona State University (ASU), the International Electric Research Exchange (IERE) and the Green Electronics Council (GEC).

Verena Radulovic is a cross-sector, multi-lingual, and entrepreneurial environmental leader with a diverse background and over fifteen years of experience working with corporations to improve their environmental sustainability.

In her current role as Vice President, Business Engagement at the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES) Ms. Radulovic works with businesses, policymakers, and other stakeholders to advance business action on climate mitigation and resilience and helps to galvanize business support for ambitious, practical climate policies and solutions. She also oversees C2ES’ work on climate-related financial risk disclosure, supply chains, resilience, and the annual Climate Leadership Conference.

In addition, Verena also manages the Business Environmental Leadership Council (BELC), one of the largest U.S.-based cross-sectoral groups of corporations focused on addressing the challenges of climate change and supporting mandatory climate policy. Three-quarters of BELC Members have set goals to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 or sooner.

Previously, Ms. Radulovic served as Lead, Center for Corporate Climate Leadership at the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) where she was a strategic advisor to companies seeking to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through the purchase and adoption of renewable energies.

Verena earned a Master of Science in Environmental and Development from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LS) and a B.A. in Political Science from Indiana University Bloomington. She was also a 2018 Fellow at the Centre for Responsible Business in New Delhi, India, where she conducted research on market mechanisms and the role of voluntary sustainability standards to advance environmentally sustainable electronics recycling in India.

She has been featured in several publications such as E-Scrap News, Sustainability, and Vikalpa Journal Colloquium.

Carl E. Smith is the retired CEO & President of Call2Recycle Inc., North America’s first and most successful consumer battery recycling program. In this capacity, he oversaw the organization’s strategy, partnerships and management of its national promotion and education efforts, serving as a model for product stewardship. Working directly with its Board of Directors, Carl led the overall direction of the company. He also served on the Board of GEC from 2012 until stepping down at the end of 2021.

Between 2022 and 2023, Carl also served as GEC’s Acting CEO. His dedication to the origination’s mission ensured stability and continuity until a new CEO could be found. His strategic vision and tireless work ethic set GEC up for success during this period of transition.

Carl has extensive experience in strategic marketing, brand positioning, product / business development and environmental leadership. He previously served as the CEO of GREENGUARD Environmental Institute, a non-profit organization that develops and promotes indoor air quality standards and programs. Before that, he was a senior marketing and general management executive with several Fortune 500 companies and served in various capacities on Capitol Hill.

Carl has undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Pennsylvania. 

Tara Spann is a highly accomplished and enterprising People, Strategy, Diversity & Inclusion Professional with more than 20 years of leadership experience in Inclusive Excellence, Cultural Transformation, Strategy Development and Execution, Process Improvement and Emerging D&I Practices in Higher Education.

In her current role as Chief People & Strategy Officer for MENTOR National, Ms. Spann is responsible for developing people, processes and strategies with a focus on ensuring that MENTOR’s greatest asset – its staff – is best positioned to achieve ambitious organizational goals.

Previously, Ms. Spann served as the Head of Diversity & Inclusion for Eversource Energy, Director of Global Economic Inclusion & Supplier Diversity for Merck & Co. Inc., Associate Director & Executive Lead, Supplier Diversity for Bristol-Myers Squibb and Executive Director, Diversity Initiatives for Staples, Inc.

Ms. Spann holds a Juris Doctorate from Suffolk University Law School and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Northeastern University, as well as a certificate from Cornell University in Strategic Human Resources Leadership.

She is the recipient of and responsible for a multitude of prestigious Professional and Diversity & Inclusion Awards and has served as a panelist, speaker, keynote speaker, and moderator during her numerous speaking engagements and public relations appearances.  Ms. Spann is committed to economic inclusion and social justice, is a consultant and sits on several boards.  She currently lives in Boston and is living her life like its golden!

Michael K. Robinson was the Program Director, Global Supplier Diversity for IBM’s Integrated Supply Chain. He is responsible for leading IBM’s supplier diversity initiatives worldwide. In this role, Michael, and his team, focus on the utilization, development and mentoring of diverse suppliers who can provide value-add to IBM’s Supply Chain.

Under Michael’s leadership, IBM has been recognized for numerous awards and a sampling of these awards are: Corporation of the Year by the NMSDC (3x), one of the Top Corporations by WBENC (13x), USBLN Corporation of the Year (2x), NGLCC Corporation of the Year (2x), Apex Award by NGLCC and HRI, the Francis Perkins Van Guard Award by the SBA, WBEC-PA/DE/sNJ Corporation of the Year, CMSDC Corporation of the Year, NY/NJ MSDC Corporation of the Year, Michigan MBC IT Corporation of the Year, one of Asian Enterprises Top Corporations, and one of DiversityBusiness.com’s Top Corporations to name a few.  IBM has spent in excess of $2Billion, 1^st Tier, annually worldwide with diverse enterprises since 2006 and in excess of $1B, 1^st Tier, annually with diverse enterprises in the U.S. since 2000.

Michael’s IBM experience has spanned various disciplines. His previous positions include: Manufacturing Manager, Procurement and Production Control Manager in Charlotte, NC; Distribution Manager in Boulder, CO; ECAT Site Procurement Manager in Charlotte, NC; Materials Manager in San Jose, CA; Business Services Council Chair in Charlotte, NC and Federal Procurement Manager in Bethesda, MD.

Michael attended the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Georgia; received his BS from Cheyney University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and his MBA from Atlanta University, Atlanta, Georgia.