Consensus in Conversation

Rinaldo Brutoco has dedicated his life to harnessing the awesome potential of business to create positive change in the world. As a pioneer in impact entrepreneurship, Rinaldo has spent more than thirty years building successful businesses ahead of the curve, and today, his eyes are on the green hydrogen space as a potential game-changer for the future of clean energy.

In this second part of our two-part conversation with Rinaldo – ...

How can business solve humanity’s most significant challenges? Why is business the best vehicle to solve them?  For the last 35 years, Rinaldo Brutoco has devoted himself to asking – and answering – these crucial questions. The founding president of nonprofit think (and do!) tank the World Business Academy (WBA) and founder and CEO of green hydrogen transportation firm H2 Clipper (H2C), Rinaldo is a trailblazer in both the the...

Agrovision, a global leader in superfruits, is on a mission to make the healthiest snacks the most enjoyable, by utilizing a cutting edge blend of genetic research, freshness technology, and – most importantly – perfectly-suited agricultural locations to supply more consistent, nutritious, and incredible tasting berries year-round through their Fruitist label.

That “vision,” in Agrovision, comes in part from co-founder and executi...

Agriculture is poised for a regenerative revolution, and Mad Capital wants to finance it. Led by co-founder and CEO Brandon Welch, the firm provides customized, long-term financing for farmers transitioning to regenerative practices, bridging a gap that traditional banks have been hesitant to meet and accelerating the next generation of land stewardship and ecological restoration.

Prior to Mad Capital, Brandon studied Environmental...

Dr. Bryan Staley knows a thing or two about waste. In fact, the president and CEO of the Environmental Research and Education Foundation (EREF) is one of the world’s leading experts on sustainable waste management and landfill emissions, and he’s on a lifelong mission to help scientists, corporations, and individuals alike better understand the impact of what we throw away.

For many of us, waste is one of the most immediate climate...

Data is one of the most critical, and underused, tools for combating climate change – the more information we have about our impact, the better decisions we can make towards managing it. Lauren Dunford, co-founder of revolutionary startup Guidewheel, is on a mission to place that tool in the hands of manufacturers, offering a unique, data-driven system for monitoring factory operations, reducing energy costs, and improving efficien...

In the more than a century since humans first took to the skies with powered flight, still only about 20% of the world’s population has actually flown on an airplane. But that demand is on the rise, and air travel’s CO2 emissions are set to triple by 2050. So Benjamin Stabler and Heart Aerospace have a groundbreaking solution: decarbonize and democratize flight for all.

Ben, who joined Heart as CTO earlier this year, has been leadi...

Marine biologist, policy expert, writer, and teacher Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson is in love with climate solutions, and her new book, What If We Get It Right? Visions of Climate Futures, offers a refreshing, inspiring look at what our best possible climate future could look like through contributions and conversations with leading voices in art, poetry, economics and science.

Ayana studied environmental science and public policy at ...

Knowing whether or not to invest in a startup isn’t easy – it’s a skill that makes VCs like Zal Bilimoria extremely valuable. And Zal, the co-founder and solo GP of seed-stage VC firm Refactor Capital, is leveraging his knowledge to build a portfolio of human and planetary health-focused startups merging profits, sustainability, and technology.

Zal honed his skills and eye for the market working for tech industry giants like Micro...

Soli Organic grows approximately 120,000,000 units of fresh herbs and greens every year, making it the number one grower of fresh, organic, culinary herbs in the U.S. That’s an impressive agriculture story on its own, but Soli has an even more amazing twist – they grow it all indoors! Led by CEO Matt Ryan, former head of brand management at Disney and chief marketing officer at Starbucks, the company is taking the indoor agricultur...

60 billion board feet of wood products are used in the U.S. every year, a majority produced by fresh logging and shipped from across the globe, while simultaneously, millions of tons of local wood waste ends up in landfills off-gassing carbon as it rots. But that inefficiency could rapidly change thanks to Cambium and its CEO and co-founder, Ben Christensen, who are revolutionizing lumber supply chains with their Carbon Smart Wood™...

C-Zero and Zach Jones, its co-founder and CEO, are using innovative thermocatalysis technology to convert natural gas into zero-emission hydrogen, offering the tantalizing potential to decarbonize major industries while scaling the fuel of the future.

Hydrogen is one of the most promising sources of clean energy in existence, and a key component in alternative fuels capable of decarbonizing hard-to-electrify industries like heavy s...

A favorite soda can be a huge part of people’s identity – roughly half of the American population drinks at least one soda on a daily basis – which is why OLIPOP is completely reimagining the soda industry with its healthier, prebiotic, low sugar alternative that tastes as good – if not better – than its traditional counterparts. 

Ben Goodwin has spent his entire career building the beverage industry and business skills nee...

The world currently removes less than .0001% of the carbon required to meet the IPCC’s 2050 goal – so there’s A LOT of work to be done – which is what makes Graphyte’s ready-to-go solution all the more valuable.

Barclay Rogers, a former environmental lawyer, mechanical engineer, and multi-time founder, is bringing his unique set of experiences and leadership skills to making scalable, affordable CO2 removal an immediate reality ...

Tom Neyhart founded PosiGen in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina to help the families and communities most impacted by the disaster rebuild their homes, save money, and boost energy resilience through solar power. He not only succeeded, but created an entirely new market by providing affordable solar and energy efficiency to low and middle income families. 

Tom, who moved from CEO to Executive Chairman of the Board last ye...

Goodr has a simple but powerful mission: feed more and waste less. The sustainable waste management firm’s founder and CEO, Jasmine Crowe-Houston, believes that hunger in America is not a scarcity issue– it’s a problem of logistics. Which is actually good news, because that’s an issue technology can solve! 

By leveraging detailed inventory management, predictive analytics and advanced supply chain logistics, Goodr is helpin...

With climate change causing unprecedented extreme weather, fluctuating temperatures, and rising sea levels, only one thing is certain: the future isn’t going to look like the past. And yet, all of our risk analysis models are based on past data from historical patterns that no longer hold true. How can businesses make intelligent decisions on building for that future while protecting themselves from tomorrow’s risks? That’s the que...

Alfred Johnson returns to the pod to give us the update on tax credit transferability and clean energy markets, just over a year after launching Crux Climate. As co-founder and CEO of Crux, Alfred has the startup’s revolutionary management software poised to capitalize on a multi-billion (if not trillion) dollar opportunity in clean energy tax credits. 

After graduating Stanford in 2008, Alfred worked for the U.S. Treasury ...

85% of used clothing ends up in landfills, but textile recycling and rewards platform Trashie is out to save our castaway garments from becoming mountains of waste. Launched only a few months ago, Trashie is taking the fashion industry by storm with its instantly recognizable Take Back Bag and viral closet cleanup videos, and the mind behind this magic is Trashie founder and CEO, Kristy Caylor. 

Kristy earned a BS in Indust...