Calling Forth Our Leadership in Designing within a Circular Economy that Prospers People, Planet and Business. Standing for Radical Connection, Collaboration, Gratefulness and Abundance.
Featured Speakers
Award-Winning Architect, Author and Global Speaker
Eric Corey Freed
Eric is a Senior Vice President of Sustainability for CannonDesign. He leads the healthcare, education, and commercial teams toward better and higher performing buildings for over 15 million square feet a year. For two decades, he was Founding Principal of organicARCHITECT, a visionary design leader in biophilic and regenerative design.
His past roles include Vice President of the International Living Future Institute and Chief Community Officer of EcoDistricts, both nonprofits pushing innovative new paradigms for deep green buildings and communities.
Eric is the author of 12 books, including "Green Building & Remodeling for Dummies.” In 2012, he was named one of the 25 "Best Green Architecture Firms" in the US, and one of the "Top 10 Most Influential Green Architects." In 2017, he was named one of Build's American Architecture Top 25. He holds a prestigious LEED Fellow award from the US Green Building Council.
Eric has a new book out: Circular Economy for Dummies.
Circular Economy Pioneer Innovator
Carolyn Butler
Carolyn is a chemical engineer turned Circular Economy Pioneer innovator in zero-waste design. An entrepreneur who holds an MBA from Columbia Business School, she has 15+ years of experience creating business strategy, lean manufacturing, and supply chain logistics. Her work developing a circular business model has been celebrated by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. Borobabi is featured as the gold standard for the circular business model in the educational series, "Circular Economy for Dummies," released April 2021. Carolyn is also a proud supporter of female entrepreneurship and a parent to daughter, Avellina.
International Teacher, Speaker and Innovator
Manuel Maqueda
Manuel is an international teacher, speaker and innovator with a focus on regenerative economics.
He teaches, consults and lectures on Circular Economy. He created UC Berkeley’s Circular Economy Online Course (also available in Spanish and Portuguese). He has a strong background as an impact entrepreneur, innovator, and serial NGO founder. Manuel is a transformative organizational consultant with a focus on circular economy. He has consulted for a number of notable forward-thinking organizations, including being a Strategy Advisor to Jeff-Bezos-funded Long Now Foundation, dedicated to fostering long-term thinking in the context of the next 10,000 years. He is currently writing a book, The Meaning Economy, about how meaning is transforming the economy, and our future.
UX and Service Designer and Activist for Circularity
Marynes Rojas
Marynes is from Venezuela and lives in Barcelona, Spain. She helps people and organizations in their transformation towards circularity through consulting, trainings, talks, user experience design (ux) and service design that positively impact society and the planet.
As a designer and disseminator she is a defender of the transformation towards a circular economic model in order to solve real problems of humanity, promote responsible consumption, care for the environment, and the beings that inhabit it.
Junior Designer at the Innovative Lab of ECCO
Lucie Trejtnarová
Lucie Trejtnarová is a Junior Designer in Innovative Lab of ECCO Leather company in the Netherlands, which is related to her study of the PhD. program at Tomas Bata University in the Czech Republic, in the department of Product Design at the Faculty of Multimedia and Communication. Her research interests are in traditional and innovative materials, technologies and business models in footwear industry. Lucie's focus is on advanced footwear design: sustainability, product design, graphic design, research, exhibitions, publication activities, collaborative project work, integration of diverse materials in footwear, accessory and fashion design.
PhD student in Environmental Science, Policy, and Management at UC Berkeley and Advisor to Dispatch Goods
Jessica Heiges
Jessica is a PhD student in Environmental Science, Policy, and Management at UC Berkeley. In particular, her research examines sustainable and just transitions to disposable-free dining. By taking a systems-solution approach, she focuses on the mechanisms and stakeholders to make such transitions possible (e.g. policy, infrastructure, behavioral economics, and public health). Additionally, Jessica was an original co-founder and now advisor to Dispatch Goods, a reusable foodware service provider that allows you to enjoy your favorite restaurant meals without the waste. Finally, Jessica was the Student Lead on making Chou Hall (Haas School of Business) the first certified TRUE Zero Waste academic building in the world. She is passionate about eliminating disposable foodware waste by making reusable foodware accessible to all.
Founder of Akamae
Cara Boccieri
Cara is the founder of the Co-creation Fashion Movement and multiple social impact enterprises across the USA, Southeast Asia and Europe.
With a background as a UN researcher and a passion in communication methodologies, she designs social enterprises with communication and connection at the forefront.
Her work focuses on connecting creatives and artisans living in refugee situations to co-create change in the fashion industry. Through a model of human connection, abundance and worthiness, Cara cultivates creative spaces where people thrive.
Known for Co-creating inclusive solutions which challenge existing societal models, Cara is bringing lessons in circularity and sustainability from remote indigenous communities to today’s innovative cities.
Systemic and Circular Design Innovation Specialist, RSA Fellow
Courtney Savie Lawrence
Courtney Savie Lawrence is a connector by nature who thrives by working with others to bring system changing and meaningful initiatives to life- especially with a focus on inclusive innovation strategy, systemic and circular design for sustainable economic development. In the past 15 years she has lived, worked and traveled across more than 70 countries in pursuit of positive social and environmental impact using design and participatory based approaches to shifting systems. She is the cofounder and project lead for The Circular Design Lab based in Bangkok, Thailand and has worked with the UNDP Asia Pacific Regional Innovation Centre as Head of Exploration. In the past 10 years she has also formally co-founded two social enterprises and has worked in and among large scale organizations like Ashoka, the United Nations and collaborated with global academic centers such as MIT's D-lab and Stanford's Hasso Plattner Institute of Design. For the past 8 years she has been Asia-based working in the social impact sector as an entrepreneur, consultant, university lecturer and co-founder of DSIL Global.
Courtney is a current RSA and Cordes (Opportunity Collaboration) Fellow, and recently a Vital Voices Global Fellow, and Social Entrepreneur Fellow of the Amsterdam based THNK School of Creative Leadership. She also volunteers her time as an advisory board member to the Frontier Innovators DFAT program. Since 2016 she has also worked with the MIT International Development Design Summits, by co-leading in the Colombia, Thailand and Australia programs.
Design Educator/Innovation Consultant
Jett Virangkabutra
Jett Pisate Virangkabutra is a lecturer and innovation consultant with a background in Industrial Design, specialising in Human Centered driven toy and play design. He teaches design and social innovation at various institutions such as Thammasat University and King Mongkut University of Technology. He manages projects and conducts design thinking workshops and training sessions for both the private and public sectors. Currently, his focus is on creating innovation for the public sector. He has worked on projects with Office of Public Sector Development,National Economic and Social Development Commission, Thailand Institute of Justice, UNDP and he is also a member of the teaching community at Stanford’s d school.
Co-Founder of the Circular Design Lab, Author, Publisher, Circular Economy Instigator
Chris Oestereich
Chris empowers communities and organizations to shift towards the circular economy via Linear to Circular, as well as community-oriented efforts with the Circular Design Lab. He is also a writer and the publisher of the Wicked Problems Collaborative, and a lecturer at Thammasat University’s School of Global Studies in Bangkok, Thailand, where he teaches active-learning courses on social innovation, social enterprise, and advocacy. Chris is a Circular Economy Advisor at the Linear to Circular, that helps individuals and organizations to reorient their approach to business via things like training, coaching, waste assessments, input reviews, and project leadership.
Author of four books: Pandemic Capitalism, What do we do after the pandemic?, What do we do about inequality? and The Dividing Kingdom.
Chris is currently working on a Circular Design guide and creating a framework and toolkit for systemic design.
Social Innovation Educator and Consultant, Systems Design Facilitator, and Co-Founder at Circular Design Lab
Praewa Satutum
Praewa’s passions include fostering emerging change-makers
through education and co-creating social innovations with partners
across sectors. She formerly served as the Head of Social Innovation
unit at Thai Social Enterprise Office. G-Lab, in association with the
School of Global Studies (SGS), Thammasat University, was founded
to help social entrepreneurs turn their ideas into reality and sustain
their social enterprises. Their mission is to partner with social
entrepreneurs and key supporting players to build the capacity of
social enterprises and co-create social innovation. G-Lab’s workshop
on Critical Thinking will provide a basic overview of critical thinking
and reasoning. Participants will be guided toward an understanding
of the importance of critical thinking, as well as how to apply this skill in daily life. At the end of the workshop, participants will see the relationship between critical and creative thinking, and will be attuned to questioning information from sources before accepting its veracity.
Partnerships Manager, Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute
Marissa Guber
Marisa leads the Institute's education and engagement initiatives to help manufacturers and designers apply the principles of Cradle to Cradle Certified to their work through continuing education, on-going interaction, and virtual and in-person events. She leads the development of processes, tools and resources, and is instrumental in the evolution of the Institute’s education and engagement strategy, activities, and partnerships.
Marisa is an engagement professional, with experience in managing and supporting positive impact initiatives in a range of environments, including business, education, research, not for profit, government, and social enterprise. She is a natural dot-connector, with a passion for the intersection of sustainability and social impact. Marisa completed a Master’s degree in Socially Responsible Business and Sustainable Communities focusing on the role of businesses as change agents, conscious consumerism, and the extent to which these can be strategies for leveraging sustainability. She is proud to work with the Institute because of organization’s vision and ongoing leadership in inspiring and empowering designers and manufacturers to think beyond the take/make/waste paradigm, and forge new paths for the circular economy and sustainable world.
Author of Wake Up Grateful, The Transformative Practice of Taking Nothing for Granted; Speaker, Teacher and Executive Director of the Gratefulness.org.
Kristi Nelson
Kristi has spent most of her adult life in non-profit leadership, fundraising, and organizational development. In a wide variety of roles, she has helped to lead, fund, and strengthen organizations committed to progressive social and spiritual change.
In 2001, Kristi founded a values-based fundraising consulting and training, and leadership coaching business, and in this capacity worked with organizations such as the Institute for Jewish Spirituality, Buddhist Peace Fellowship, Spirit in Action, Wisdom 2.0, and The Center for Contemplative Mind in Society. During this time, she was also founding Director of the Soul of Money Institute with Lynne Twist, Director of Development at Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health, and Director of Development and Community Relations for the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society.
Kristi received her BA from UMass/Amherst, a graduate certificate in Business and Sociology from Boston College, and her Master’s in Public Administration (MPA) with a concentration in Leadership Studies, from Harvard University.
Kristi is a stage IV cancer survivor who feels blessed to work with her beloved colleagues in sharing the gifts of gratefulness with people around the world. She lives in Western MA with her family, and gives thanks every day to be surrounded by the glories of the natural world and a vibrant, loving community.