Speakers include business leaders, authors, government officials, investors & entrepreneurs
By Weekly Sun Staff
“What do a NASCAR driver, an ultra-distance athlete water advocate, a visionary entrepreneur and author of “The Ecology of Commerce,” a top clean tech venture capitalist, a corporate environmental innovator, and a former Pentagon strategist all have in common?” asked Sun Valley Institute Executive Director Aimee Christensen.
Presented by the Sun Valley Institute, the second annual Sun Valley Forum on Resilience, July 10-12, will be held at the nexStage Theatre in Ketchum. The Forum gathers leaders from government, business, academia and advocacy, who are evolving some of the world’s most complex environmental and social challenges. The Forum will explore the opportunities and solutions that are redefining business as usual.
New this year, the Institute will also host a Resilience Film Festival, with a new film each night at the nexStage.
The Forum is presented in association with Confluence Philanthropy, an impact investor network representing over $130 billion under management, and GreenBiz, a green business events and media company.
“The Institute is pleased to bring global innovators to Sun Valley and showcase local leadership for resilience as well,” Christensen said. “Following global agreement last year to both the Paris climate change accord and the United Nation Sustainable Development Goals, leaders in government, business and communities are working to accelerate the transformation to clean, healthy, and more resilient economies.”
Forum Schedule
The Forum’s audience includes investors, policymakers, business owners, communications professionals, nonprofits, academics, and local leaders, visitors and residents. It will be aired live online.
July 10: Resilience: The Strategic Opportunity of Our Time. An inspiring, informative introduction to resilience, with speakers from business, security, investment and philanthropy perspectives.
July 11: Investing In, Protecting and Enhancing Resources for Resilience. From the global to the local, speakers will outline investment opportunities across resilience, including energy, food, water, land and forests – including in our own communities.
July 12: Engaging Society: We’re All In This Together. This is our opportunity to learn from the experts and practitioners how best to communicate with and support the public in taking action.
Forum Will Include 33 Speakers
Paul Hawken, visionary, entrepreneur, environmentalist and author of four national bestsellers, including “Natural Capitalism, Blessed Unrest and The Ecology of Commerce,” executive director of Project Drawdown, a social profit organization identifying the 100 most substantive, rigorously researched solutions to climate change.
Rob Bernard, environmental leader who as chief environmental strategist at Microsoft rolled out the first-of-its-kind internal carbon fee across the company and leveraged technology to build Microsoft’s own “City of the Future” on the Puget Sound Campus.
Mina Guli, ultra-distance athlete who earlier this year ran across seven deserts in seven weeks on seven continents – 40 marathons, five per week – to raise awareness about the global freshwater crisis.
Bob Hemphill, co-founder of global energy firm AES and former CEO of AES Solar on the great energy transformation underway
Oran Hesterman, president and CEO, Fair Food Network and author of “Food: Growing a Healthy, Sustainable Food System for All.”
Peter Knight, partner (and co-founder with Al Gore and David Blood) of pioneering sustainability investment firm, Generation Investment Management; president of Generation Investment Management U.S.
Joel Makower, chairman & executive editor, GreenBiz, and creator of GreenBiz.com, host of annual GreenBiz forums and VERGE events, author of the annual State of Green Business report and more than a dozen books, including “The New Grand Strategy: Restoring America’s Prosperity, Security and Sustainability in the 21st Century.”
Leilani Münter, biology graduate, professional race car driver and environmental activist whom Discovery’s “Planet Green” named the No. 1 eco athlete in the world.
Colonel Mark “Puck” Mykleby, former special strategic assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, former member of U.S. Special Operations Command developing strategy for Special Operations Forces, an F/A-18 pilot who executed numerous land-based and ship-borne deployments to the European, Pacific, and Southwest Asian theaters, a founder and co-director of the Strategic Innovation Lab at Case Western Reserve University, and co-author of “The New Grand Strategy: Restoring America’s Prosperity, Security and Sustainability in the 21st Century.”
Nancy Pfund, founder and managing partner, DBL Partners, pioneering investor in consumer companies (Tesla, Nest, SolarCity).
Brooks Preston, vice president for Investment Funds, Overseas Private Investment Corporation
Lila Preston, partner, Generation Investment Management.
Viraj Puri, co-founder and CEO, Gotham Greens, TED Fellow (2011), Wild Gift Fellow (2005).
Rick Saines, partner, Baker & McKenzie, head of the North American team of the Global Climate Change & Clean Energy Practice.
Julie Shafer, head of Strategic Philanthropy & Purpose Investments, Bank of the West
Michael Shuman, author of “The Local Economy Solution.”
Silda Wall Spitzer, senior advisor, NewWorld Capital, and former First Lady of New York State, where her initiatives promoted green buildings, alternative energy, and local food sources.
The film festival features “Time to Choose” with executive producer Tom Dinwoodie and cast member Nancy Pfund, and “Racing Extinction” with Oscar-winning director Louie Psihoyos and cast member Leilani Münter. As well, there will be the Sun Valley premiere and sneak peek of the Tony Robbins documentary film “I Am Not Your Guru,” which will be released on Netflix on July 15. The film was directed by Joe Berlinger, with video introduction by Tony Robbins.
Conference and day passes are available to the public for purchase at www.sunvalleyforum.com. Scholarships are also available. Films will screen each night at 7 p.m. at the nexStage followed by a Q&A with the film directors, producers and cast members. The films are free and open to the public with a suggested donation of $10. For more information and for passes, www.sunvalleyforum.com.