2012 EcoHour Speakers

• Suzanne Ehlers; Population Action International
• Kristin Anderson; GreenShape LLC
• Katrina Managan; Johnson Controls
• Seema Wadhwa; Urban Ltd
• Elizabeth Yeampierre; UPROSE

Suzanne Ehlers; January 2012

President & CEO; Population Action International

Suzanne Ehlers, President & CEO of Population Action International, has worked for the last 15 years to promote women’s health, rights and empowerment across the globe.

Under Suzanne’s leadership as President, PAI is leading US and global advocacy for family planning; providing key technical and financial resources to partners in Africa, South Asia and Latin America; and building the case for women’s health as the connective tissue that holds together a host of other development concerns, from the environment to state stability to food security. Suzanne has been with PAI for over eight years, most recently leading the strategic direction of campaigns as Vice President of International Advocacy.

For the last two years, Suzanne has served on the U.S. government delegation to United Nations Commission meetings. She also sits on the Steering Committee of the Bangkok-based Asia Pacific Alliance, and until recently chaired the board of the Janelia Family Foundation, a local environmental funder. She is an Environmental Leadership Liaison for Rachel’s Network, a network of women leaders “dedicated to the stewardship of the earth.”

Previously, she was Associate Program Officer at the Wallace Global Fund, where she supported a grantmaking portfolio that broke new ground in the fields of sustainable forestry and international financial institution reform, as well as laid the early foundation for philanthropic engagement on climate change.

Suzanne served as a sustainable agriculture Peace Corps volunteer in the Central African Republic, following her graduation from Cornell University with a degree in Government. Suzanne is an avid traveler and baker. She resides in Washington, DC, with her Argentine-Swiss husband and two young daughters.

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Kristin Anderson Arnoldi; February 2012 (panel)

Project Manager,  GreenShape LLC

Kristin Anderson Arnoldi is a Project Manager with GreenShape LLC and has managed over 40 sustainable projects at GreenShape and in her prior position as a Sustainability Coordinator for Moseley Architects in Richmond, VA.  She was an environmental Senior Consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton and recently served on the Board of Directors of the James River Green Building Council where she also served as co-chair of the national award winning Programs Committee.  Kristin volunteered as a member of the U.S. Green Building Council’s Government Committee and Government Summit Working Group.  She is also co-leader of DC EcoWomen’s EcoMoms group.

Kristin has a Master of Public Administration in Environmental Science and Policy from Columbia University, a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from The College of William & Mary, and is a LEED Accredited Professional.

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Katrina Managan; February 2012 (panel)

Program Manager,  Institute for Building Efficiency; Johnson Controls

Katrina Managan is a Program Manager with the Institute for Building Efficiency at Johnson Controls where she researches and analyzes market strategies and policy options that can significantly improve the energy efficiency of the built environment.  She contributes to the IBE’s mission on a global scale, while also focusing her efforts on the U.S. market and leading work in Latin America.

A member of the Building Efficiency business of Johnson Controls, Katrina also provides research and analysis for strategy, business development, and new product design efforts.

Prior to joining Johnson Controls, Katrina was a Fulbright Scholar at IE Business School in Madrid, Spain.  While there, she earned an MBA and authored a white paper on Financing Energy Efficiency Building Retrofits with the strategy consulting firm Climate Strategy and Partners.  Before that, Katrina spent five years at the National Wildlife Federation as their Senior Global Warming Legislative Representative -NWF’s senior representative to Congress on cap & trade and energy legislation.  Her work included analysis of U.S. climate policy design options as the lead NWF staff negotiator in the development of the U.S. Climate Action Partnership Blueprint for Legislative Action.

Katrina is fluent in Spanish and proficient in Portuguese having worked and studied in Spain, Chile and Brazil.  In addition to her MBA from IE Business School, Katrina has a B.A. in Politics with honors, a B.A. in Biology and completed the Environmental Studies Program at Brandeis University.

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Seema Wadhwa; February 2012 (panel)

Director of Sustainability; Urban Ltd

Ms. Wadhwa is the Director of Sustainability for Urban Ltd and is focused on helping organizations reduce their impact on the environment in a business framework.  Her current roles include Director of the Healthier Hospitals Initiative, a national campaign to promote healthcare sustainability and serving as the Director of Sustainability for Inova Health System. She is responsible for the creation and adoption of sustainable management practices, and has worked to align environmental and engineering best practices with business requirements, including cultural and process change throughout the healthcare industry.

Her leadership in promoting healthcare sustainability initiatives includes guest speaking at industry venues, content submissions for national healthcare symposiums supporting broad based industry change.

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Elizabeth Yeampierre; March 2012

Executive Director; United Puerto Rican Organization of Sunset Park

Elizabeth C. Yeampierre, a Puerto Rican civil rights attorney of African born and raised in New York City is Executive Director of United Puerto Rican Org of Sunset Park (UPROSE), Brooklyn’s oldest Latino community-based organization.  Her vision for an inter-generational, multi-cultural and community led organization is the driving force behind UPROSE; she is a long-time advocate and trailblazer for sustainable and just development in New York City.  She holds a BA in Political Science from Fordham University and a law degree from Northeastern University School of Law.

Elizabeth is part of the NYC environmental justice leadership responsible for passing the state’s first legislation governing power plants and solid waste management. In Brooklyn, she facilitated an aggressive urban forestry initiative, helped double the amount of open space, and developed a project that resulted in the retro-fit and re-powering of 12 diesel trucks for a local business.  Elizabeth created a community participatory model that resulted in a greenway design for the waterfront.  Elizabeth secured a million dollars for emission reduction projects that have been distributed throughout the community. Three years ago, she initiated a climate adaption and community resilience effort to address local concerns for local waterfronts.

Currently, Elizabeth serves on Mayor Bloomberg’s Sustainability and Long Term Planning Advisory Board, and served as a Commissioner on the historic NYS Traffic Congestion Mitigation Commission. Elizabeth is the first Latina to chair the US EPA National Environmental Justice Advisory Council.  Last year, she successfully advocated for the inclusion of environmental justice in the NYS State Climate Action Plan.  Elizabeth has been featured in Latina magazine, El Diario La Prensa, PBS, and several news outlets. She has a long list of awards and her work is highlighted in several books.

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