Ray Anderson  (See video)
Founder, Chairman and CEO of Interface, Inc.
Ray Anderson is a bold pioneer. His vision for sustainability in the textile business is a model for all industries. As founder, chairman and CEO of Interface, Inc., his mission is to produce quality products, taking nothing from the earth that cannot rapidly and naturally be renewed, while also doing no harm to the biosphere. Anderson has transformed Interface into a company that is sustainable in all its dimensions: People, process, product, place and profits. He is the author of Mid-Course Correction: Toward a Sustainable Enterprise -  The Interface Model.

Dr. Karl Henrik Robèrt  (See video)
Founder of The Natural Step Author of The Natural Step Story
Dr. Robèrt is one of the world’s foremost sustainability experts. In 1988 he founded The Natural Step in Sweden, an international environmental non-profit that coaches organizations to become role models in sustainability. A surgeon by training, Dr Robèrt is a prominent cancer scientist. He received the Green Cross Millennium Award for International Environmental Leadership in 1999. The following year he was awarded the Blue Planet Prize for his work in developing a systems perspective for sustainability and for increasing environmental awareness on the part of businesses and municipalities and other organizations.

Bob Willard   (See video) 
Author of  The Next Sustainability Wave: Building Boardroom Buy-in
Bob Willard is a leading expert on the business value of corporate sustainability strategies. He applies business and leadership development experience from his 34-year career at IBM Canada to help businesses proactively avoid risks and capture opportunities associated with sustainability issues. He is the author of The Sustainability Advantage: Seven Business Case Benefits of a Triple Bottom Line, and The Next Sustainability Wave: Building Boardroom Buy-in.

Paul Dudley Hart   
Director at Large, Mercy Corps
A member of Mercy Corps' senior management team since 2003, Mr. Hart has focused on mergers, funding diversification, strategic alliances and other new agency initiatives. Prior to that, he was president of The Brown Schools Education Services Group, the largest provider of education, therapeutic and family support services for children with extraordinary needs in the U.S. He also serves as CEO of Pacific Crest Outward Bound School.

BREAKOUT SESSIONS: 

Case Study: Sustainable Whistler, B.C.
Ken Melamed, Mayor of Whistler, B.C.
Whistler, B.C., a city of 10,000, hosts 2.1 million visitors a year, creating a huge strain on resources and services. In 2002, the city adopted The Natural Step Framework to unify its thinking and actions for maintaining the area’s environmental, economic and social integrity. The process helped the community see the future and the impact of their decisions in a new way. Melamed discusses how the community succeeds on multiple levels, overcoming challenges with creative, sustainable solutions.

Getting Started: Are you as efficient as you think?
Cheryl Welch, Sustainability Coordinator with Tualatin Valley Water District
A core team explored operations and efficiencies, facilities and systems to recreate a healthier model for sustainability. Learn how a rapidly growing region’s water administration agency changed its culture.

What an Inspiring Vision can do for your business
Duke Castle, The Oregon Natural Step Sustainability Consultant and Clark Brockman, Studio Leader, Associate Principal, SERA Architects
SERA Architects has been closely associated with historic preservation, urban infill, and redevelopment. “Recycling” buildings has helped the firm pioneer sustainable architecture and planning. Before urging clients to adopt sustainable environments and practices, SERA immersed themselves in The Natural Step backcasting process. Learn how it worked and the new perspectives they learned.

Case Study: Sustainable Business Models
(Panel discussion among mulitple representatives of Neil Kelly Companies)
The Neil Kelly Companies have brought an innovative business perspective to construction and remodeling. Based on family commitments to sustainability, the division integrated the Natural Step to create distinctive products through friendlier, healthier processes. Learn how they have achieved competitive advantage. Understand their decision processes, priorities, supply chain challenges and victories.


Getting Started: Measuring Results
Marsha Willard, Principal with Axis Performance Advisors
Service businesses face unique challenges in identifying and pursuing more sustainable business practices. Axis Performance Advisors developed the SCORE methodology to help businesses use sustainability to manage future risks and anticipate opportunities. This presentation reveals lessons learned by their clients, plus discoveries and improvements Axis made to its own model.

Beyond increments – Making significant change in sustainability
Derek Smith, Yolo Colorhouse®
YOLO creates premium environmentally compatible paints by eliminating volatile organic compounds (VOCs). These are the solvents in most paints which contribute to ozone layer depletion and continue to off-gas after paints dry. Learn how YOLO’s focus on environmental and social values created opportunity within a growing trend toward healthier homes and offices.